–announce scholarship programme at launch of event

CARIBBEAN Nations Group (CNG), a relative newcomer on the promotions scene, has won the franchise to promote the annual New Amsterdam Town Week, the week-long celebration of the seat of the community becoming a town and the seat of administration of the County of Berbice.

But whereas in the past the event was celebrated in just seven days, this year it is being done in two whole weeks, beginning on Friday, October 18.

As Deputy Mayor Wainwright McIntosh told a packed to capacity audience at the launch at the Leisure Inn on Main Street and Theatre Alley in New Amsterdam, he is happy that CNG has shown an interest in coming on board with the New Amsterdam Mayor & Town Council to host the event this year, as they’ve brought to the table a very comprehensive and strategic proposal which promises much excitement.

The New Amsterdam-based NGO, which is fast becoming a household name since successfully hosting the ‘Emanuella for Emancipation’ show here, McIntosh said, is a well-established multicultural youth group whose primary interest is to afford persons access to quality entertainment through various mediums such as sports, live entertainment, concerts and outreaches.

Their mandate also includes community projects that enhance the lives of persons in their respective communities as well as providing educational and social support. In keeping with this mandate of theirs, CNG collaborates with various NGOs, government agencies, religious bodies and the private sector.

McIntosh said that while several groups would have indicated their interest in hosting the event, it was CNG’s proposal that gave them the edge, as it was in keeping with the mandate of the council. “We have decided that Public-Private-Partnership is the best way to go when we are talking development,” McIntosh said.

MAYOR’S BALL

According to CNG President Jevaughn Stephens, the calendar of activities kicks off with the grand opening ceremony followed by a Mayors Ball in recognition of the dedication shown by current New Amsterdam Mayor Winifred Haywood to restoring the township to its former glory, and will also have as its guests of honour the Chief Citizens of Atlanta and Texas and London, in the USA and the United Kingdom respectively.

There’s to also be a Birding Competition; an Inter-School Debating Competition; s Senior Citizens Breakfast Morning; a High School Basketball Competition; an All-White Cocktail Party; a Male Empowerment Pageant; Domino and Softball Cricket Competitions; a Poetry Competition; Medical Outreaches; the Renaming of Streets in the Stanleytown community; a Street Fair and Exhibition; followed on Sunday, November 3, with a Duck Curry Competition and Cooler Fete to bring the curtains down on the event.

Mayor Haywood observed that the theme under which the event is being celebrated this year, ‘Diversification is the focus, Inclusion is the goal: Celebration through transformation 2019’, speaks volumes of the CNG’s vision, and in closing wished the NGO every success in its future endeavours.

Director of Sports, Christopher Jones, who was also at the launching, promised to support the basketball and cricket games, as well as the hosting of a five-a-side footsall competition, through the National Sports Commission.

SCHOLARSHIP FUND

CNG also used the occasion to launch its ‘Esther and Edward Scholarship Fund’, named after Stephens’ grandparents for the role they played in his academic development.
The scholarships, seven in all, and in the sum of G$3M, were awarded to deserving students drawn from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) who were either successful at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) or Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

They are: Ike Crawford, Dhana George Reshana Jonas, Shaquan Fullerton, and Diamond Alladin, who are off to St Joseph’s High; Berbice Educational Institute; Berbice High School; Queens College; and Berbice Educational Institute respectively come September, and will each receive $300, 000 per school year for five years.

The other two are: Timothy Harris who gained eleven passes at CSEC, and will be attending the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), and Lamar Shultz, who defied the odds and wrote his exams from a hospital bed and gained six passes, and will be pursuing tertiary education when the time comes.

In addition to the monetary awards, the students were given backpacks, scientific calculators, along with geometry sets and other essentials.

A support group has also been formed, and among its functions will be to interact with the students at weekends to offer further guidance, as well as moral and any other support they may need.