TODAY I would like to discuss an ongoing project that I believe many of you do not know about. It’s a project that I’m so proud to be a part of.
It’s an International Development Bank (IDB) project that focuses on the proper rehabilitation of our prisoners.
I’m very anti-prison in the sense where, it does not deal with the root of the problem. Locking someone in a cell is not in any way effective in reducing the future possibility of robbery, sexual assault, substance abuse or murder.
However, IDB has teamed up with Dr Brian O’Toole from Guyana to normalise proper rehabilitation- the kind that will actually make a difference in reducing crime and improving the life of prisoners- inside and when released.

Below is some information on the project from Dr. O’Toole himself.

Maybe, like us, you are exhausted by the daily diet from the media, both here in Guyana and internationally, about racial tensions, conflict and violence. The Youth Can Move the World  programme from Nations is trying to respond to that challenge.

The racial divisions in Guyana continue to curtail development in this country. Successive governments have had limited success in finding long-term solutions to this challenge.  Like so many countries, Guyana is plagued by racial disunity, conflict and violence. If the challenge is left unchecked it will lead to an ever-polarised country with a significant percentage of the youth disillusioned, apathetic and indifferent with nothing tangible to channel their idealism into.  Despite, our recent emergence as a petroleum producing economy, racial tensions and conflicts continue to hold out little for young people especially the trained and skilled, who continue to seek their future overseas.

A new future is fundamentally dependent on the role the youth of Guyana choose to take.  Nations is presently involved in a large scale, IDB funded, prison reform project. One aspect of this is a reintroduction of the Youth Can Move the World (YCMTW) programme that Nations   introduced throughout Guyanas over a 15-year period. The YCMTW programme explores issues of concern to youth; racism, poverty, conflict resolution, sexuality, protection of the environment etc. The 16 to 25-year olds on the programme explore these issues through the arts.

Louisa Mancey, a key member of the YCMTW team, also is the Program Manager for Youth of Solutions for We in the World.  This youth-focused program has been working with networks of youth to explore ways in which youth can step into leadership roles in their communities and apply frameworks and tools to create the transformations they want to see in diverse and varied settings, such as their schools and other training institutions, their communities and workplaces.

In response to the challenges outlined above, Nations and the We in the World programme are collaborating on this initiative.
Over recent weeks, we have organised a series of prominent speakers to present Zoom sessions on racism, conflict, a violence free society etc.

These sessions have included Zoom sessions by Gordon Naylor, Director of Hatts Off, a very successful treatment programme for troubled youth in Ontario, Canada, Terrence Simmonds, Senior Project Manager, The Human Brain Project, Geneva, Switzerland, Mam Yassin, Director of Starfish, an NGO in The Gambia, West Africa.  Future speakers include Dr Somav, CEO of the NGO, We in the World and   Mick Campion: a senior Prison Warder from Ireland who worked for many years on UN peace keeping missions in the Balkans and Lebanon:

Moving forward the YCMTW programme is planning a nation wide campaign to develop a youth movement across this country. We will begin with a survey exploring the kind of country that the youth of Guyana want to live in. The goal for the survey is to get 1,000 respondents from as wide a cross section of the country as possible.

The survey will ask participants to ;  
·      describe the Guyana you want to see
·      what could you and your peers do to create this vision of Guyana?
·      what support would you need?
·      who would you need this help from?
·      why is this change important to you?

The results of the survey will help define the direction in which this programme should focus.

The diaspora will also be approached to see how it can  contribute to this youth movement.

Once the results of the survey have been analysed, a National Youth Conference will be hosted where the youth will share the survey results. It will also be an opportunity to showcase the creative work of the youth in terms of art, posters, films, poetry on the Guyana they want to see.

In small groups at the Conference, the youth will formulate a Plan of Action on how to move towards the creation of a violence free society. Potential funders will be invited to attend to hear the plans and hopes of the Guyanese youth.

A key feature of this plan of action is the holding of a video competition. The video competition will have two themes: one on ‘racism’ and the other on ‘this is the Guyana I want to see’. Motivational prizes will be sourced. Nations is offering scholarships to some of their tertiary courses as prizes. A workshop on simple mobile phone, video production will help to introduce the competition. The mass media will be encouraged to give coverage of the process and the event.

To help stimulate input for the films we will offer a series of 8 weekly talks, via Zoom, on the major themes.  These talks will then be offered to the TV and radio stations across Guyana to ensure as many persons as possible are engaged in the process. A series of 10 weekly articles will also be offered to the major newspapers featuring the talk of that week.

Anyone who would like to be involved in this exciting programme should email Dr Brian O’Toole; otoole.nations@gmail.com

Thanks for reading everyone. Please continue sending the topics which you would like to be discussed to caitlinvieira@gmail.com
Also, if you would like personal counselling sessions, please call or message +592 623-0433
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