THE LOVE revolution school campaign was launched last week and we have been extra busy with the rolling out of the initiative for it to be effective. I experienced an extra fulfilling and meaningful week and I am grateful to everyone who contributed. People are probably tired of me saying how passionate I am to contribute in a positive way to humanity and God willing, I will continue to do so, NO MATTER WHAT. The Sonia Noel Foundation for Creative Arts paid tribute to the Golden Jubilee anniversary celebrations of the republican status of Guyana, with a mission of ‘love’ as the catalyst for youth empowerment, social transformation and sustainable development.

The campaign was launched at Palm Court and the next day we started engaging the schools at Theatre Guild Playhouse. The beautiful and energetic Roshini Boodhoo-Persaud hosted the evening’s proceedings. Apostle Claude Brooks started the programme with a prayer and a message of love. We had two amazing performances from Jo Ann Forde and Shawn English. Dr Raquel Thomas Caesar and Richard Young made inspiring remarks. The audience was very mixed and from various nationalities. The collage below shows people’s celebration love from Guyana, Korea, Venezuela, Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba, Canada, UK and the USA. People received pins with the LOVE REVOLUTION message “The future leaders of this world have cemented a special place in my heart.” The schools at our first school event were President’s Collage, St Joseph High School, Kingston Secondary, Richard Ishmael and Peter’s Hall Primary that made presentations with the message of love.

I am sharing with the presentation from Amarylis Alen from Richard Ishmael Secondary School: “I’m honoured to be here to deliver this speech on Love Revolution. What is Love? Love, it is a complex set of emotions, behaviours and beliefs associated with strong feelings and affection, protectiveness, warmth and respect for each other individuals. Giving them your full attention, anticipating their needs, letting them know that you’re listening, cheering them up when they are down; these are just a few ways you can show love.

From observing my peers it is clear that they have a strong affection for materialistic things; for example, technological devices and brand name things. We no longer show affection to others; we don’t listen or give them our time when it’s needed. We seem to look a lot like robots with no emotion and this tends to reduce human interaction, because we are so into technology that we are also patterning the attributes we see in action movies. We are practising the violence we see; hence, young people show no signs of remorse. The level of indecent behaviour and lyrics sold through songs motivates one to disregard morals and values. These days neither sex is no longer looking for love and commitment, but rather they are looking to each other for a short-time ‘fun and excitement’; no morals are practised.

Given our society in today’s world which shows no love, no empathy, no kindness and no respect for each other, we behave like robots, bickering and fighting each other for no apparent reason. So, my fellow peers, I implore you to revisit the morals and teaching instilled into us by our foreparents, grandparents and parents. Let us begin to behave humanely again: let us be more sympathetic, exercise love, care, show kindness; especially to those in need, let us once respect our elders and each other; there must be no place for hate in our hearts. Let love shine through our actions in our daily life, and maybe one by one we will create an epidemic of love and kindness, thus making our society whole again.
In closing, I leave you with a quote from Ellen Degeneres “Be kind to one another, show light, happiness and love to everyone and you can change the world.”

The SNFCA objective is that the movement develops from national to regional and even gains international recognition because love is universal.

The corporate social responsibility of partners to the ‘Love Revolution’ school campaign launch were Palm Court, Trans Guyana Airways, Impressions Branding, Ramp Logistics, Tower Suites, BK International, Pastor Joseph (Liberty Church, NY), Crafted by Chey, Sonia Noel Designs, Trophy Stall, Eclipse Photo Studio, Spotlight Productions, Strategic Services, Theatre Guild of Guyana and the Ministry of Education.

I encourage you to visit our FB page and Instagram to be part of this mission that can change lives around the world.

“Let’s take care of each other and our environment” as we continue this beautiful journey called life BEYOND THE RUNWAY.