A number of young people, predominantly male students, at Blowing Point, have benefitted from a motivational lecture delivered to them on Tuesday evening, April 22, by a South African consultant, with Anguillian family ties, Amani Olubanjo Buntu.
Born and raised in Norway, Baba Buntu, as he is otherwise known, is the son of Mr Oliver Carty and Mrs Winifred Carty of Lower South Hill, Anguilla. He is a consultant, lecturer, practitioner and writer focussing primarily on education, leadership, social development and community empowerment. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Ebukhosini Solutions, a community-based company in Johannesburg. Buntu, who repatriated to South Africa in 2000, where he changed his name, is a Candidate for a Doctoral Degree in Education Philosophy.
Mr. Haydn Hughes and Mr. Oliver Carty (Mr. Buntu’s father)
The young people he lectured to are students at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School and who are enrolled in the after-school programme at the Blowing Point Youth Development Centre, managed by Ms Jemima Romney. Mr. Buntu and his wife, Tebogo, an Educational Development Administrator in South Africa, were welcomed by Mr Haydn Hughes, Parliamentary Secretary Tourism and Sports, and Ms Romney. Mr Hughes commended him on his work and said that his lecture to the students would be of much benefit to them.
Baba Buntu, who stressed that he was a member of the Carty family in Anguilla, said the fact that he had changed his name and relocated to Africa was not a disassociation from his Anguillian family, but “was just a natural cause”.
Speaking about his consultancy and community work, he explained: “We basically work with young people on issues of empowerment and we focus a lot on culture and family. The family has been challenged severely especially, and we want to be able to rebuild and strengthen the family so that we can have strong children coming up with great morals, great values and strong characters.
“I like to describe myself as an activist scholar. I am out in the streets with the youth and communities. I love working with young people and that’s why I am excited about the talk today with some of the youth at Blowing Point.”
Mr Buntu was asked what he intended to speak to the students about. He replied: “I will speak about how to carry yourself; how to build character; what it means to grow from boy to man (since the majority of the students are boys); what it is to be a strong man; can a strong man be ever weak or must he be strong and tough all the time. I know that in some places in Anguilla violence has been a problem; and in South Africa violence is a huge problem; so I also want to talk about what is violence, how do we understand it and how do we change it.”
Buntu, who arrived in Anguilla on April 17, his second visit after a number of years, left the island on Wednesday for Kingston, Jamaica, where he was invited to address a Pan African Conference. From there he will return to South African where he will be joined by his wife.
