“KEEP focused! Know that in your walk you are likely to fall, but this does not make you a failure. Becoming prey to the fall does; therefore, get up, dust yourself off, and continue to walk.”

This piece of sage advice comes to Guyana and Caribbean youths from aspiring international journalist and motivational coach, Delon Grandison.

He gives true meaning to the expression “Guyanese, like salt, can be found everywhere.” While most young men his age may be focused on temporary, short-lived aspirations and current day materiel glamour, this Den Amstel, WCD kid is on a different mission.

It has taken him and eleven other youths to a faraway place that most can but dream of…
Through funding from the Council World Mission, he is in China, rising above the language barrier as part of a quest to meet and influence all peoples for positive self, community, and national development through a ten-month course.

Because not everyone can speak fluent English, nor can he speak fluent Mandarin Chinese, they are sometimes forced to use Google translator to communicate, since the aim is to meet all people. “This makes the process very slow, but it’s gonna be worth it in the end,” he says.

Standing 6ft, 5 inches tall, the 21-year-old Grandison winged out of Guyana on March 3 as one of two Caribbean youths to attend the Council for World Mission Africa Region Youth Discovery programme to study at the Tainan Theological College and seminary, with attachments at the UN Alliance.

It may be cliché by now to state that “Guyanese, like salt, can be found everywhere”, but contrary to popular belief, not all are engaged in negative activities. This West Coast Demerara youth has found himself all the way in the Peoples Republic of China at Taiwan, undergoing training for a certificate in Practical Theology. He was chosen after he successfully completed training in Botswana and South Africa.
Already, he is nearing completion of the first semester, after which he heads to Kiribati in August, and then on to New Zealand in September.

How did this simple graduate of Stewartville Secondary School end up this far? Well, to begin with, in his quest to be a journalist/broadcaster, he was a regular bookworm who ended up as a guest host on the ‘Malcolm Wickedee’ show on NCN, even as he was humbly serving as the President of the Guyana Congregational Young People’s Union. This is in addition to him pursuing studies in Communications at the University of Guyana.

This ardent advocate for youths to remain in school on the West Side says the current programme serves to equip youths between 20 and 30 with skills necessary to serve others, which is his ultimate life mission.

He says training in China is mostly practical, but is along the lines of Missionary Theology. Upon completion of his studies, he will be able to employ his skills in his homeland Guyana and in the Caribbean, with maximum benefits to youths in both demographics, as it is a requirement for those on the course to complete community projects etc.

Once completed, he intends — if given opportunity — to work with Government ministries to influence youths in positive self, community and national development.

He has since returned to Guyana, and is now poised to pursue a dream as a Radio Broadcaster.

By Alex Wayne