ORANGE is the colour... Saturday August 25th is the day...

Violence against women and young girls has been and still is a problem associated with most societies and, even within the relatively peaceful Caribbean, we are not immune to acts of violence against the female gender. We hear all the speeches and the news inserts every year from various interest gro

ups on or around the time of the international day of recognition (November 25th of every year) set aside to raise awareness of the issue but we hardly even do anything after that day has passed.

So I was pleased when my friend, a CARICOM Youth Ambassador (CYA), sent me a blackberry messenger broadcast that they would be raising awareness of the issue soon through a social network rally. I'm personally joining this social network rally to fight v

iolence against women and girls by the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors on Saturday 25th, 2012 and if you want to join as well, just read the message below:

Friends, The CARICOM Youth Ambassadors are doing a social network promotion where they are rallying to fight

violence against women and girls. Everyone is asked to wear something ORANGE and take a PHOTO and post it on Facebook or Twitter or Blackberry messenger. Make a comment saying something to support our women. Join the fight as we support our women. Wear ORANGE on Saturday 25th, August 2012... Thank you.

I will be wearing an orange armband and an orange t-shirt. Look out for pics on my Facebook page and updates via my Twitter account: @DelroyNesta... (I may just post a pic or two in here as well).

and remember, ORANGE is the colour, SATURDAY is the day...

Stand with Linden

I stand with Linden

Just in case you're wondering, Linden is a community in Guyana. It was touched by acts of police shooting amidst a community demonstration due to high electricity bills (Google: Linden, Guyana police shooting incident for more information) which left a few people dead. But one person dead is already too many dead especially in a situation that could have been avoided.

My stance is one of solidarity as it relates to the right to peacefully demonstrate against social ills and injustice.

My brethren and sistren of Linden, I STAND WITH AND FOR YOU...

Out and About: Jamaica

Just in case you were wondering where I have been, or in case you missed me just a little itsy bitsy bit, here’s what I’ve been up to over the past week or so, I’ve been in Jamaica…

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:

1. Youth-In Caribbean Youth Think Tank
2. YourCommonwealth.org