YOUNG Rachael Sookhoo came out on top of the Young Pioneers’ annual Spelling Bee competition.
“This year, we took our competition to children within various communities. The two competing teams were children from the Church of God of Prophecy Better Hope and the Church of God of Prophecy Vryheid’s Lust,” said Founder of Young Pioneers, Shivanie Rampersaud, in an invited comment.

The competition saw various knock-out rounds comprising an average of 15 words per round. Despite having a champion, all of the competitors did exceptionally well she said.
Among the winners were Carlos Johnson and Tiffany Johnson, who brought second and third place respectively. Young Pioneers, founded by Rampersaud, is a charitable organisation that focuses on youth development and community work.

The organisation, founded in 2013, aims to expose youth to capacity building opportunities, while reminding them of their duties towards society through engaging in charitable projects.

It has conducted numerous online awareness campaigns in areas of suicide prevention, body shaming, importance of the Sustainable Development Goals, gender equality; hosted food, clothing and book distributions, training sessions and workshops; visits to elderly homes and orphanages; fundraisers for patients in need of medical care and surgeries, among others.

The group has branches on the West Bank and West Coast Demerara, East Coast Demerara, Georgetown and Berbice, with approximately 22 members