Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
February 20, 2008
New recruits for the UNESCO Youth Path Project are expressing excitement about the start of Phase 2 in which they will be exposed to entrepreneurship training in the field of tourism and heritage.
Loyola Challenger, one of the new Youth Path students told SKNIS that although she is not 100 percent certain about her future vocation, she hopes to expand her knowledge about the tourism industry and explore the possibility of working in the field, especially in the area of hospitality.
Secretary General of the National Commission for UNESCO Mr. Antonio Maynard recently announced that the launch of Phase 2 of the UNESCO Youth Path Project would take place at the Ocean Terrace Inn on Tuesday 26th February at 10:00 a.m.
Twenty five participants have been selected from Nevis while the same number of youths from St. Kitts will be a part of the project.
Mr. Maynard said that within a matter of weeks the participants will be immersed in activities including sessions on team building, business start up, marketing, computer training, national and cultural industries as well as vending, Hospitality, human resource management, languages and planning and organization among others.
A highlight of the Youth Path Project is heritage site development in which the youth actively take part in preserving heritage sites that have the potential for growth and development. As participants take part in this activity they develop a sense of achievement and personal involvement in their communities.
Mr. Maynard said he hoped to roll-out a more activity packed project for phase 2. He said increased opportunities would be there for the students to interact with youths from other countries who share the same fervour for entrepreneurship in the field of tourism and heritage.
He added that he thinks his coordination team in the persons of Maria Crawford in St. Kitts and Vanessa Webbe in Nevis are geared to carry out the mandate of the project and to ensure that participants benefit significantly.
Maynard said apart from the focus on tourism and heritage, any young person who participates in the project would profit, based on the sheer volume of life-skills training that the project involves.
He said his office would not turn down applications from any youth who still has an interest in the project, as that action would conflict with the project’s mandate to reach marginalized youth and give them the tools that would lead to financial empowerment through entrepreneurship training in the field of tourism and heritage.
Interested person can contact the National Commission for UNESCO at 466-8581. Although the second phase of the project is geared towards youth living in St. Pauls to Tabernacle Areas going west the Secretary General is accepting applications from all interested young persons.