Transforming boundaries into bridges

Excerpt from Feature address delivered on Friday, 29th June 2007 at the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Community College 2007

Part I

In my valedictory address in 1999, I modestly advised as follows:

“An exceptional cadre of multi-talented youth is needed, who would be able to effectively, and efficiently, plan, structure and govern both their lives and the life of this our blessed nation.”{{more}}

Eight years later brings me to this morning, and I must admit that I see such energy in you.

We are gathered here really to thank God for his tender mercies which have kept us over the past two years, to this end I think it will be beautiful that we borrow the words of the opening verse of Psalm 23, where David lamented, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want”. The Lord has indeed been our shepherd in times past and as one song writer puts it so assuring that, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness.”

If one is to properly describe the importance of today in your life, such a description would be void, if the word “transition” is absent. My address to you this morning is focused on the management of this transition, because it is only then that we will have a true appreciation of our theme “Transforming boundaries into bridges”.

Two years ago, you would have entered the doors of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, all as separate entities, derived from a wide and ranging cross section of secondary schools across our nation.

However, today, you sit here as a single unit, a class of distinguished, aspiring and maturing young men and women. We need show some appreciation for the distance you would have come.

I am most certain that you would have proven that the word SUCCESS though pronounced with great ease by many is painstakingly hard to achieve, yet with the support of your teachers, parents and friends you would have risen despite all the odds acting against you. You must however continue to rise.

The new millennium has unfolded, and will continue to unfold new challenges, many of which we will have to grapple with, in the not too distant future. Yet we must rise.

We must rise not only with a plan to overcome the obstacles, which we can now see, but we must also be prepared for the unknown. Though complex as this may sound, as young men and women, your education is one of the most secured plans to chart your way through the dark patches that may confront your future.

You must pause for a brief moment and turn your searchlights inward.

It is my humble view that a free nation is founded on two important tenets, (1) The Supremacy of God, and (2) the education of its people. The existence of a skilled and trained labor force is an absolute necessity for the progress and development of any country. It is only through the education of our youth and their acceptance of such knowledge, that the mistakes of the past will not be repeated.

As youth we must hold true to the values of integrity in public life that will be expected of us. The word integrity suggests a strong sense of morality, up-rightness and honesty, which should be the hallmark of us all.

In so doing, we must embrace a new vista as it relates to our culture, our people and our region. This new code of conduct ought to be one, which is modern in nomenclature, and multidimensional in its acceptance of all human beings as being equal.

Many are of the view that it is mythical or far-fetched to think of a region or a world in which we can all work together, well I have greater confidence in the capacity of our people to work together to get the job done, for in no way will we allow the letters from the past to haunt us.

As youth it is high time that we recognize that there is a much-needed independence from within, in this regard we cannot afford to entertain lethargy as an alternative to thrift. What is your role in poverty alleviation? Are you ready to place yourself in a position so that your human resources can be properly harvested? If we are to enhance our productivity, and efficiency for a developing people we must begin now.

We are living in a world where people who are ready to love are fast becoming endangered. I see a social environment marred by violence, so we must become our nation’s peacemakers, therefore, we must have zero tolerance for those who are not their brother’s keepers.

As youth, temptations would abound, but you must at all times be loyal to your never failing conscience. Our nation cannot boast with any degree of certainty of having gold, bauxite or oil as natural resources. What do we have? We have people, the likes of the ones we see graduating today, young and strong men and women with sharp and brilliant minds who comprise the core of our human capital. This resource properly managed and utilized is the key to our sustained well being as a Vincentian people. So from you must come new ideas, knowledge, experience, technical skills and the expertise necessary for deeper human understanding.

To be continued next week