JA teams with RBC to inspire young males

Organised by Junior Achievement of Trinidad and Tobago (JATT), the student conference held at the auditorium of Queen’s Hall earlier this month, took on an almost evangelical tone as the youths heard from former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday, musician David Rudder, religious leader Pastor Clive Dottin, Managing Director of RBC Royal Bank, Darryl White, and youth mentors Nikolai Edwards and Ashton Blandin.

The session, titled “Maximising Manhood, Exploring Opportunity for Growth and Empowerment”, was hosted in collaboration with RBC Royal Bank and underscored the bank’s commitment to youth development.

The attendance by President of Trinidad and Tobago, His Excellency Anthony Carmona, who stayed to the end of the session, demonstrated his interest in the welfare of the youth and his support of the JA/RBC initiative to guide and empower the nation’s young people.

“This initiative today is critical to the positive development of the young men of our country. We believe in you and are confident you will succeed in whatever you put your mind to.

If anyone of you here needs help, or you just need to talk, my office is open to everyone,” the President assured the youths.

The ambience at Queen’s Hall provided the perfect setting for the compelling inter-active exercise.

The primary aim of the conference is to prepare young people to succeed in a global economy by providing them with knowledge, skills and meaningful exposure to inspirational mentors to reinforce their desire to be successful in life.

This Junior Achievement/ RBC collaboration represents one facet of the bank’s corporate youth development platform which is underpinned by its flagship project, the RBC Young Leaders Programme which helps young people develop leadership skills, apply teamwork in pursuit of common goals foster care for the community and the environment.

In his usual engaging style, former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday recounted his early years in St Julien’s Village, Princes Town, where he walked barefoot to and from school — four miles each way on a gravel road. He had a dream to be the best he could be and pursued it to become Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.

“You must dream what you want to be and you must have a plan to fulfill that dream. There will be obstacles along the way but you must approach these obstacles as instruments for what you want to achieve.

If you keep dreaming and thinking positively, avenues will open up for you. Dream! Dream! Dream!” he exhorted the students.

Managing Director of RBC Royal Bank, Darryl White, told the audience that RBC welcomed the opportunity to partner with Junior Achievement in its objective to empower young people.

“The most critical investment that we can ever make is in people and that is exactly what we are doing here today.