Week-long summer camp highlights downtown Kingston’s kids with a vision
Published:Monday | August 21, 2023 | 12:08 AMChristopher Serju/Senrior Gleaner Writer
Young men from the inner-city communities of Kingston, who participated in the week-long New Vision Summer Camp, gave it the thumbs up when they gathered at the University of the West Indies for their graduation ceremony on Saturday.
During the camp, the youth took part in classes at the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean and the Regional Headquarters of the University of the West Indies, Mona, where they were exposed to a wide range of skills training and personal development sessions.
Carlos Lobban and Kajon Thompson, who are both 18 years old and from Fletcher’s Land, told The Gleaner that one of the main lessons which stayed with them was the reinforcement of the need to always show respect to others; how to speak to other people.
While this is something they had learnt at home and school, “when you go ‘round certain people you must know to behave,” Thompson said. “The camp was really about what you want for the future, to show us the right way to achieve it.”
For Lobban, the classes about civic responsibilities and how to cooperate with agencies such as the National Solid Waste Management Authority to keep their community clean also struck a chord.
For conceptualiser of the camp, Denham Town resident Unique Plummer, this was a vindication of her strong belief in the young men with whom she has grown up. And she recalled the naysayers who were out in their numbers when the camp started.
“A lot of them were like, ‘Weh you a go with them bwoy deh? Dem bwoy nuh want nutten.’”
However, with 25 of the 27 youngsters completing the course, Plummer feels vindicated.
“Some have signed up for courses with the HEART/NSTA Trust, and there are others who have signed up for evening classes and filled out applications for the Jamaica Defence Force and the Jamaica Constabulary Force. So we know that they are kids with a vision; and as older people in the communities, we just need to look out for them, uplift them.”
Sponsored jointly by the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston and the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Kingston, the camp received strong support from the private sector, with the NCB Foundation being the main sponsor. It proved to be a learning experience for the boys and saw them bonding with their mentors and instructors.
Grew beyond expectations
Aldrie Henry Lee, president of the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston, recalled that the camp grew beyond their expectations.
“We started with 20, and then one day we had 26 because friend tell friend that ‘something good is happening so [you] have to come’, and we were happy to have them. New Vision is not just a slogan but a guiding principle, an acceptance that we are born not to be failures or rejects. So New Visions is an embracing belief in ourselves that we are very valuable human beings – young men who are special and destined for greatness.”
Lieutenant Governor Carolyn McDonald-Riley reminded the cadre of young men that as they transition from the cocoon of youth into adulthood, the camp experience should provide an expanded horizon for their future, with limitless possibilities.
“Your vision holds the power to shape your reality. You hold that in your hands. And while you envision where your ambition, your talents, will take you, it means acting on those insights, creating a future that resonates with the value of what you aspire to be.”