(Photo courtesy: Ms. Joleyne Robin.)
Today, youth and friends of Youth in Anguilla, dance, shout, work and play in solidarity with the rest of our Caribbean brothers and sisters as we observe Caribbean Youth Day. The Anguilla National Youth Council and the National Youth Ambassador Corps promote youth participation and the creation of opportunities for young people. We focus on the strengths of our youth and therefore, we endorse and celebrate the qualities emphasised in this year’s theme:- “Creativity, Passion and Participation: Youth leading a stronger Caribbean”. It not onlyhighlights the uniqueness of our young innovators, movers and shakers, but acknowledges the tenet for a stronger Caribbean – the mobilisation of youth resources.
Caribbean societies are no longer isolated from one another by our idyllic blue sea or estranged from the rest of the world.Technology has made the world smaller and yet broader. Youth are integral in this technological change as they refuse to accept what has always been and seek to create the new, the now and the future. Moreover, we as Caribbean youth must support all forms of creativity and no longer seek to stratify it, instead accept, appreciate and promote all types.
Passion breeds purpose and with that comes great responsibility to any craft that youth are involved in. Encouraging and enflaming passions are necessary for youth to persevere and succeed at whatever task they choose. Passion takes us through the hard times when a brick wall comes between us and the final form. When you cannot type, cannot think and can no longer stand reading one moreline, it is our passion that motivates us to pick up the tablet, microphone, brush or whatevertool of choice is used to complete the work.
No man is an island and we as youth need each other, our families, communities, countries and this world to survive. We must share our talents, ideas, and passions to unify and strengthen our youth movement. We, as youth, should be active within our communities through volunteerism and also ensureour voices arereflectedin national and regional decision-making.
On this Caribbean Youth Day it is important for us to not only recognise that our youth are talented but elevate our youth and encourage them to use their creativity, share their passions and to actively participate in the realisation of their dreams and the visionfor the region. We are not just the future; we are the past and the present!
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
