“And so it begins…”

The Launch of the Youth Leaders’ Leadership Development Programme

WEEK ONE

In May Blue CAPS – a social change group – was launched. The group, founded by Clinton Urling, posited that the tenets on which the organisation rested were change, advocacy, policy and service. Its mission? To educate future leaders who will go back to their communities to serve and develop solutions to solve problems and advocate public policy prescriptions.

In keeping with these laudable goals of empowering change through youths – future leaders – Blue CAPS launched their first youth leadership development programme in June targeting a score of youth leaders from various organisations in a quest to aid in improving their capacity for leadership and their ability to achieve organisation goals.

The one month training session occurring over the course of four weekends was launched under the theme: “Creating the Future Begins with Cultivating the Leaders of Tomorrow”, an admirable theme encompassing the investment and work that is essential before leaders are created.

The name of the programme itself suggests so much. More than an incidental seminar where opinions are espoused for a congregation to absorb, the programme is specifically one of development – a process of bringing something to a more advanced or effective state. With this inaugural programme for the Blue CAPS, then, Mr Urling and company have honed in on committing to putting in the work to achieve the results. The Youth Development Programme exists as a means of changing, educating and advancing the abilities of the participants.

At 4:00 pm on Friday June 6 the programme was officially opened at the New Guyana School. In his address Mr Urling emphasised the goal of the programme and its intent on sharing essential information about leadership which would prove helpful to the participants.

The feature address by Major General (Retired) Joseph Singh applauded the Blue CAPS team for their initiative. In his presentation Mr Singh stressed the need for future leaders to avoid becoming like Alonso Quixano – the protagonist of Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote. Mr Singh’s intent was clear, as laudable as the staunch idealism of Quixano’s was in text form as youths on their way to become leaders it was vital to be aware of the real world issues and not be distracted or mired with thoughts of the imagined. In short, only with an awareness of reality could real world change be effected.

Major General (Retired) Singh’s presentation brought the opening of the event to a close.