Before you get too envious and so forth, it was a work trip. I spent most of my time stuck (for want of a better word) in a conference room discussion the need and establishment of a regional youth council, constitutions, mandates and other such stuff which may seem boring to you. Believe it or not, the discussions were very passionate; I guess that’s what you get when you bring over 20 youth leaders from across the Caribbean representation 15 different countries to discuss their issues.
There were squabbles, debates and I dare say fights (verbal) off course but at the end of the day, I think our good sense prevailed and we delivered a quality product. The work still continues though, does it ever stop?
But before you get to saying that I had no fun, au contraire mes amis, I had a ball of a time… Who can forget the Bahamian representative pouring a whole bottle of hot sauce over his jerk chicken, lol, just thinking of that moment makes it burn my lips and insides. Scotties was a remarkable place, for that and other reasons.
Other remarkable moments included our visit to the Portmore Youth Information Centre where we interacted first hand with the young people from the “Gaza” community. I provided the centre with a copy of my book, One Room Shack, one of many tokens that were handed over by the different delegates and the Commonwealth Youth Programme Caribbean Centre (CYPCC).
We also had an opportunity to visit a Speech competition, where poetry (dub, traditional, and other forms) took center stage among schools. I ate up that competition, so overjoyed to see young people embrace spoken word and other forms of poetry. I wish we had something similar in Dominica.
Who can forget also the Hon. Lisa Hanna, Minister for Youth and Culture in Jamaica as she graced the podium/stage during the opening ceremony for the Summit? When I say grace, I truly mean grace the podium (she’s a former Miss Jamaica and Miss World too). I also got to take a photo with her, with my arms well placed around her waist as a symbol of Caribbean integration and togetherness (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).
All in all Jamaica was a lot of work but some fun as well, enough fun to get me to come back for sure. I won’t go into too much detail but let’s just say the house party was very good, thanks again Mario for that one…
Nesta
For a more official report though, you can check the following sites:
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