THE Sophia Community Development Association (SOCDA), with its mission to promote youth empowerment and reduce the prevalence of crime and violence in the sprawling community, hosted its inaugural “Sophia Community Dialogue”, at the Sophia Training Centre on Saturday, February 9, 2019.

SOCDA has been in existence for more than 10 years. Its mission is to give at-risk youths a second chance at making themselves marketable in society.
SOCDA was registered as a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in 2015, with a mission to empower youths across all the borders of Guyana and not limit it to just Sophia. The group was founded by Leroy Adolphus, Sidney Nelson and several others, who envisioned the project to reduce the prevalence of crime and violence in the community.

It was initially intended to serve as a forum where individuals, organisations and other stakeholders met to exchange ideas regarding community development. This was during Guyana’s annual republic anniversary celebrations. Since then it has evolved reaching over 400 youths who have been able to positively benefit from this progamme.

The association aims to foster a sense of community identity. It hopes to achieve this by providing the needed resources, opportunities and gateways to promote self-determination through various channels: education, vocational training, civic engagement and community enrichment. It also aims to provide effective programmes that will enhance the well-being of community members and meet their basic human needs, while promoting literacy and numeracy.

Currently, the group is working towards attracting youths to take part in its CSEC night school which was established in 2016. Thus far, the response from youths has been beyond expectations and most have moved on to gainful employment. Various programmes, such as numeracy and literacy have also been introduced and attracted close to 35 individuals, primarily for young adults who cannot read and write.

The group has also ventured out to offer life skills exercises. This entails an education and sports camp for some 100 pupils between the ages of six to 11. The goal of this is to further develop an appreciation for physical activity and concepts.

Even though the response from the public has been great, obtaining financial sponsorship from stakeholders has been a challenge. Apart from government sponsorship, the organisation seeks the involvement of local private sectors.

“Youth empowerment is focused on creating greater community change that, in its methods, relies on the development of individual capacity. Organisations operating with a youth development framework are not addressing social inequities, but rather developing the individual within an unjust society and not changing the source of the problem”, opined one of the members.

SOCDA intends to continue pushing and striving for success amongst young Guyanese, so that they can develop a sense of being and purpose in today’s economy, one step at a time.