Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/2796/-1/133/
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HEARTICALLY YOURS: Stingray In The Valley
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If you are reading this early on Thursday afternoon, you can still be in time for the Valley Youth meeting at Triple Crown Culture Yard at 5.00 p.m. but then you would have to be a Valley Youth to be at that meeting. If you are an adult who lives or has business interests in The Valley (and I mean the Wider Valley), then it’s your turn to meet on Thursday 22nd September 2005 at the Yard at 6.00 p.m.
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Ijahnya Christian
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The September meetings in the Valley Community are intended to introduce the concept of the Anguilla Stingray Music Programme first to the young people for whom the programme is intended and then to the community whose support will be needed if the programme is to be a success. All of the community’s resources will need to be mobilized and applied in the appropriate time and places to ensure that the programme is effective in reaching those young people who need it most.
I am very excited by the entire prospect for several reasons and I also know that there will be trials and tribulations but I will use the word that Dr. Oluwakemi Linda Banks always encourages – there will be challenges. First of all, I have often stated and publicly too that we need to listen to what the young people have to say. The Youth meetings will therefore seek to find out from the young people in their respective communities what they think are the causes of the violence which impacts many of their lives. Their recommendations for solutions will also be taken seriously. In terms of community development, there has not been much by public service resources and delivery in recent years and while that will need to be addressed, it means that most of what is taking place in that arena is being done by individuals and groups who are conscious of the power of one. I have to thank the Optimist Club of Anguilla for highlighting that reality in their recent essay competition.
The very idea of community has been challenged and with the opening up of Anguilla’s tourist industry, what used to be community in terms of volunteer activities, meetings and so on, has now become the workforce and many persons have more than one job. The industry itself therefore needs to see how it can become more involved at the level of the community. There young people can be impacted directly not just as the potential labour force but also to prevent the kinds of disruption, destruction and fear that are the consequences of violence. If the parents are employed in the industry, the industry must show great concern about what is happening with the children of their employees. I am singling out tourism here but the case is the same for every employer in a context where the contact time between children and both parents generally tends to be less than in the past. Even grandmothers today are young people employed outside of the home. Without a strategy to keep volunteers highly motivated, the small group, the faithful few, become tired unless there is some kind of intervention to sustain the momentum.
All kinds of community resources need to be constantly mobilized and those who cannot give in cash are strongly encouraged to give in kind. The needs of the Anguilla Stingray Music Programme range from musical instruments and equipment to computers for the Community Internet Café and audio-visual equipment and music DVDs for the weekly video nights that will provide a means of sustaining the programme beyond any initial project funding. Right now Triple Crown Culture Yard is prepared to accept even second hand computers and other office equipment to get these aspects off the ground by January 2005. Biographies of famous musicians, music magazines and other literature will be used to generate interest in reading as some of our youngsters are grappling with literacy. While Bankie and I thought of assisting young people in learning to play an instrument, already we are receiving queries about voice training and dance. On Bankie’s list of things to do and acquire is a common facility for teaching, practice and rehearsal.
And then there are those parents who need support right now because they see their youths slipping and have not been adequately prepared for the challenges of parenting. The educational aspects of the programme are not to be sidelined. While in some instances the music may be an end in terms of developing talents and preparing for careers, in other instances, it is a means to an end and that end may be saving lives. As I said, all kinds of resources, human and non-human, are required and this means partnership with the government, the private sector, music teachers, other professionals, friends and associates and you.
There is also a challenge in the cultural habit of wanting to see something become a success before coming on board but this programme cannot succeed unless all Anguilla buys into it. It will be difficult for those who see Rastas as only lice-ridden locks and dope and people to be shunned at all costs. What! You didn’t know there were people like that in Anguilla? Thank goodness you are not one of them. There was also a time when Rastafari shunned the system we call Babylon and would never have considered anything called a partnership. However, the young man that you knew all along was going to end up in prison, is now in prison and he is my son. He is your son. They are our sons and daughters and just as we have been judging them, they have been judging us. Some of them have been terrorized by the very adults responsible for their care so what should we expect? What I and I have always recognized is that we are a positive force with something to offer to our wider community. The Anguilla Stingray Music Programme will not end violence in society but if we can look at the statistics down the road and see a marked reduction in youth violence, particularly in community pockets where the figures now show an escalation, we would have made a difference. If we see a reduction of the numbers of young people in prison from communities involved in this programme, we would have made a difference. If you still do not know how to get to Triple Crown Culture Yard, park up by the old hospital and walk down the first little rough road on the right hand side if you’re facing Roaches Hill. See you there next Thursday.