-aims to reduce unemployment, crime rate

THE members of the Campbellville Baptist Church are on the move to give young people a chance to connect with a local training or educational institution.

After noticing the “alarming” increase of the unemployment rate among youths in Campbellville, a group of young people from the church decided to take on the challenge of organising an event where youths, particularly those who are unemployed, can be made aware of the opportunities they have at their “finger tips.”

“We want to bring together unemployed young men and women and link them with training institutions in Georgetown,” said Pastor Charles Vandyke, who told the Guyana Chronicle that so far they have managed to get several institutions on board.
So far they have acquired the support of the Board of Industrial Training (BIT), the Carnegie School of Home Economics, the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED), and the Guyana Industrial Training Centre (GITC).

With this being the beginning of a continuous exercise, the church hopes to get more support and also to attract more young people from not just the community, but also other at-risk youths from around the country.
The pastor said that it was important for young people who are unemployed and who are school drop-outs to know about the opportunities that exist for them to better themselves.
And, similar to children not knowing of the opportunities, Pastor Vandyke pointed out that institutions said they cannot get young people on board, so the members of the church decided to get the institutions and church on board.

Although the youths might get involved in the courses and other activities, it was said that the members of the church will keep track of their progress, so as to ensure that they stay on the right path and become “assets to society.”
Pastor Vandyke stated that this initiative should be ongoing nationwide, because it is one of the ways in which the unemployment and crime rates can be decreased tremendously.
One of the youths who brought up the idea told the Chronicle that they started this initiative with the hope of getting young persons in their community involved in projects that can result in them bettering themselves.

“I like the programme, because some persons drop out of school and be at home and do nothing or turn to crime…so instead of them being on the road and having nothing to do, we decided to help them find jobs and educate themselves or even learn a trade. We hope to target every young person in the community and even those from around the country,” said the young church member.

Another initiator said that many people were not privy to the opportunities available, so they hope to open the doors to “good” opportunities.
She is encouraging youths to join their progamme in order to get help in getting a job or even becoming a member of a social group, so that they can enhance their futures.