YOUTH CHANGING THE WORLD....ONE STEP AT A TIME
TTSA HOLDS SUCCESSFUL CRIME SYMPOSIUM
Fri. 24th March
By: Chemeika James (assistant communications officer)
On Thursday 9th February 2006, at the UWI SPEC, the UWI Trinidad and Tobago Students Association hosted Footprints-a youth crime conference. It was to be a proactive approach to tackling the current crime situation. Several schools from across the nation were invited to attend this forum and approximately 325 students were in attendance on that day. The conference, though
off to a late start, began with a prayer to guide the day’s proceedings.
The opening speech was delivered by TTSA President Shomari Smith who emphasized the importance of the youth having a say in decision making, and remembering that their opinions, & concerns were only un-important if they made it that way. (Download his opening speech) Maximus Dan then delivered a very insightful and inspiring address in which he urged the audience to obey their parents and to keep on the straight and narrow.
Maximus Spoke about his life trails as he "..Spoke from the heart."
He made mention of how he was involved before in alot of the negative
things that young people are sometimes associated with but changed his
life to live a much more meaningful and positive life. He also explained
that he chose music to inspire others to live right and to remind them
of the presence of the almighty in this life. His address was
both emotional and inspiring as he was thunderously applauded when he
departed after speaking.
Anil Harry , the National Affairs Committee Chairperson of the Guild of Students was also a feature speaker . In addition , Mr. Anderson Ayeong addressed the audience on behalf of the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs who was unable to attend due to parliamentary duties. He commended the TTSA on behalf of the government of Trinidad & Tobago for encouraging youth to take a stance on the issue of crime. He also reminded the audience of his ministry & by extension his governments pledge to continue the fight against crimes, especially by giving assistance to positive ventures that involved young people.
Also featured at the conference was the group "The Barcam" who performed a series of skits which was informative, interactive as well as comical. The students were then given the opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns about the current crime situation in a question and answer segment. There was a brief lunch break, however because of the late start of the conference, the scheduled workshops did not take place. The decision was made that each school in attendance was required to choose a topic that was to be discussed in the workshops for further discussion among its student body. From there the school would present their soloutions and findings to the TTSA and this information about each category would be utilised towards creating a youth position paper and report to be given to various government ministries. Up to press time, some of the schools were visited by the TTSA facilitators. (A report on some of the TTSA school tour Visits will be available soon)
The TTSA also made the decision that each school will be awarded a Certificate of participation from the club which will be endorsed by the UWI Guild of Students.
Although some minor hiccups were experienced along the way, the conference was quite a success as the TTSA was able to realize its aim of providing the youth with a platform to express their views on the crime situation. Footprints was sponsored in great part by The Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs. The Trinidad Youth Council, T&TEC, the Tourism and Development Company and the UWI Guild of Students.
To view photos from the conference, please check out http://sta.uwi.tt/sac
