Some wonderful people who’ve impacted, and continue to impact, my life: Dad – instilled the importance of social work and contributing to my community/country. Mum – always ensured that I understood the importance of doing things properly and with a standard in mind. Tolerates me at my best and worst. Grandma Shiela, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Shazaha & my cousins Brandon and Chelsea – the core of my personal support system. Grandma continuously showered me with love and support. My aunts and cousins continue to be some amazing cheer leaders. Nadia – my absolute ride or die friend. She’s the one I’ll call to hide the body (jk). This woman has encouraged and support me through the formation of OYEA and in the latter part of my teens. OYEA would not be what it is without her support. Ian – A great cheerleader and supporter. Adds some fun and dimension to my, otherwise, boring life. Nikhil – Keeps me grounded and encourages me to think positively (even when I’m being a complete baboon). A truly special and amazing soul. Vandi & Esty - #SVEN. Some amazing, genuine people, who continue to encourage and support me through everything I do. The real spice of my life! Mustard Seed Communities - where it all started. An amazing organisation that dictated a major paradigm shift in my life. Global Changemakers - an organisation of wonderful people who have subtly impacted my life. A network I am extremely honoured to be a part of. Thank you to these amazing people. SidMonkey wouldn’t be who he is without you guys! MANY, MANY, MANY others. It’s impossible to acknowledge the many people that have touched my life directly and indirectly. It is important that I state just how grateful I am for the wonderful love and support.
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A quick overview and insight into my work. OYEA works to encourage youth participation in communities. The organisation focuses heavily on volunteerism, community work and the environment. However, due to my personal involvement with several other areas of youth work, I have realised the importance of lobbying for youth to become more involved in the decision making process, whilst ensuring that OYEA maintains its direct community involvement. It must be noted that early on OYEA experienced amazing growth, with approximately 100 members, but that quickly dwindled into a group of, maybe, 10 really active persons. My focus has always been on encouraging quality work as opposed to quantity. "Encouraging youth engagement in local communities and youth involvement in decision making processes through international collaborations and networking with direct involvement from young people in Trinidad and Tobago." But WHY You Ask? Young people form a large part of the world’s population. Therefore, they are largely affected by the decisions taken by community and world leaders. Young people are intelligent, innovative, and capable of making decisions in tandem with the current decision makers. Also, young people can sometimes be unconcerned about the major issues that affect the world, which leads to an overall lack of interest in local and international issues. Hence, it is necessary to direct their attention to such issues. Oh really? But HOW? Online discussions and collaboration through established youth networks have been extremely useful in ensuring that the largest cross-section of young people are able to contribute to collaborative sessions. It is also important to encourage youth action, via small community projects, in order to pull young people into an arena that they may not be exposed to. Say WHAT? We are able to facilitate dialogue, which places us in a unique position to lobby established decision makers locally and internationally. |
SidMonkeyJust a SidMonkey looking for ways to express himself. Archives
June 2017
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