ANTICIPATION pounded in his chest as he stepped off the plane and walked into a memorable experience of a culture that was as rhythmic as it was pulsating.

This young man, Astell Collins, and his twin brother, Allister, had set out on a journey to be the change in a country that seemed stricken with poverty. They intended to build a people of strength and a future of leaders, and this innate aspiration plunged Astell into destiny and fame.
“Talk about culture shock! That’s putting it very mildly…” said Astell, already an accomplished young writer. “When I arrived in South Africa, I was unsure as to what to expect,” he added. Straddling his year-old son on his shoulder, he recalled his stay in South Africa for the Guyana Chronicle.
Astell and Allister Collins are founders of the ‘Be the One (BD1) Leadership Development, a non-profit organization geared towards empowering people with leadership skills and thinking. The BD1 foundation has brought the brothers success and international fame.
Born Thursday, September 22, 1982 to Barbara Waldron and Selwyn Collins, the twins were raised by their mother. “She was the pillar of our lives,” Allister said. “We grew up in the Campbellville Housing Scheme, and we were taught to be men; we were taught to appreciate each other. That’s why we have a respect and appreciation for women. Our mother was the example; she treated us equally, and she carried us to church every Sunday.”
Growing up without a father was challenging for the brothers, but they learned to lean on each other. “We basically saw him seven times in our lives. It wasn’t smooth,” Allister said, adding: “Growing up without a father is hard; there is so much to deal with. And at the end of the day, it is just the presence of a man in a house that means a lot to a child; to a male child. As a male, you would look up to your father for guidance, because they are (the) ones that lead us through the maze of masculinity. You look to your father to know how to dress; how to walk…”
“So we looked for a father in every male figure,” Astell said, adding that it is the lack of masculinity that can stifle a home and the future of a child. “We were lucky to have male mentors; we drew close to our religion, because God said that He will be the father to the fatherless. So when your father fails you, you should look to your heavenly father.”
On the subject of displacement and the male identity in society, Astell posits: “Many men think that if they have a Guinness or a Stag in their hand and ten women, then they have made it as a man. But the truth is, maleness is not about  anatomy or biology, but about identity.”
The brothers reflected that their search ended when they met a man named Gavin Robertson, who filled the fatherhood gap in their lives, and taught them to be the men they now are. Allister recalled Robertson taking them for walks, and shopping to buy ice cream. “He filled the gap,” Allister said, adding that it was in a time when most of the boys in their neighbourhood were selling drugs and being locked up. “Our mother didn’t allow us to play on the road. We were called ‘home boys’, but we didn’t care; we had each other. We didn’t watch cartoons, because our mother wanted us to do meaningful things with our time,” he said. Rather, he said, they were taught equality.
“Our mother would make plantain porridge, and she would measure it down to the last teaspoon. She treated us equally; if she couldn’t buy two, then she wouldn’t buy one.”
Astell and Allister were pushed by their mother to be the men they needed to be, and soon, they were headed to the University of Guyana to study Medical Technology. In a few short years, Allister married Kaslyn Holder and became the proud father of a beautiful baby girl. He said the Holder family was very welcoming, and so his father-in-law became a father figure to him. “It was easy to call him dad; he is a good man.”
Astell followed suit and married a young woman named Marcia Blake, later becoming the branch manager of Eureka Labs in Parika. However, his life took a sudden turn when he ‘felt the call of God on his life,’ to pen a book of Christian poems in dedication to the late Balgobind Ragnauth of Lifespring Ministries.
It is this book, “The Voice within his Voice”, that brought Astell international fame, and soon he was touring the Caribbean, speaking about his poems. The tour was financed by Allister’s consultancy firm, and Astell’s life began to twist again, this time on the pedestal of prosperity. “It was during the tour that I met Doctor Myles Monroe,” he said, unable to keep from smiling.
Shortly after meeting the world-renowned inspirational speaker and author, Astell was asked to be his Youth Ambassador, and was invited by prominent South Africans to visit their country and talk about his book.
“My first time in South Africa? Well, I arrived during winter, and having seen Africa through the tainted lens of poverty, starvation and deserts, I never knew that they experienced winter, because Africa was not viewed as a desired destination… So, when I arrived there, I was unsure as to what to expect. First and foremost, I didn’t expect that level of development, from the infrastructure to the vehicles, and from the standard of living to the degree of unity among such diverse cultures,” Astell related.
The brothers were welcomed by South Africans with excitement. “I don’t know if there were plenty twins in South Africa, but they (South Africans) seemed excited about my being his twin,” Allister said.
He said he was shocked at the dignity of the people and the country’s lack of racial discrimination, adding that one night, a White South African man approached him and said, “Imagine you are black and you are not African, and I’m white and I’m African.”
“That was a mind-blowing experience for me; I never thought about it. The concept of being African was redefined; I can’t claim Africa. That white guy allowed me to see that. I’m Guyanese,” he declared. “That is a country where you experience a free black man. They walk and talk as free men. When you have come through slavery or the roots of slavery, then the concept of life is different. It is different how they think. In the Western world those whose forefathers were enslaved feel a need to prove themselves; to prove their wealth. When you look at Guyanese, they would wear all of their big jewellery to prove that they have the money, but these people are different because they know their wealth…they know their worth. We have to know ours, too.”
Allister said that during his visit to the country, the people named him ‘Litha’, which means light, and called Astell ‘Maluse’, meaning shepherd.
During his stay in South Africa, Astell befriended an influential capitalist, Hamilton Ratshefola, and signed a multi-million-dollar contact in order to bolster his new-found career as a motivational speaker. “When he told me he wanted to invest in me, I thought that he was joining to invest financially; and he did, but he told me, “Astell, I want to invest in your life to be a leader so that you make others leaders.”
“Mr. Hamilton in particular mentored me on the significance of honour and trusting God when you cannot trace Him. He literally created an environment for me to enlarge my mind, while teaching me to go beyond the mental limits that once encircled me,” he said, marking the moment of the beginning of his road to youth impact.
Astell was awarded the most influential non-citizen in South Africa, and received the Young Person of the Year Award.  “During that time, Doctor Monroe told me that my country needs me,” he related, adding that, after four years, he returned to Guyana. “The capacity in which I was entrusted to serve the South African society was nothing short of phenomenal. The magnitude by which I was able to impact and influence the many lives that I came into contact with could only be explained as the Will of God. Moreover, I was fortunate and blessed to be embraced and loved by the South African society is such a significant manner.”
Since his return to Guyana, Astell has partnered with the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports to empower Guyanese youths. “I’m expecting to do the same (thing) that I did in South Africa,” Astell said, adding that it is his aim to travel every part of Guyana and teach the youths.
Astell and Allister have visited the Sophia training centre and other homes for young people, and have talked to them about life and ‘getting up off the ground.’
“We choose these places because it’s the bottom, and everything starts from the bottom. These children need to know their value,” Astell said. “Leadership is a very fluid term, and often we define it as a position or title; but the leadership philosophy that I would teach is that it is self discovery. It is you, as an individual, taking the change to discover who you are. You have the responsibility to discover who you are, and serve others to discover themselves. When you realize how rare you are, then you realize how valuable you are.”