The Youth and Social Development Initiative is a project founded in November 2020 in light of the academic and social challenges faced by children due to the restrictions of the pandemic. The project offers children assistance in challenging academic areas in the community of Blairmont, West Berbice. The sessions and activities provided by this project equip children with the knowledge and skills they’ll need to develop into well-rounded youths through extracurricular activities such as yoga, arts and craft, sports (cricket and volleyball)—just to name a few. In a matter of months, the project gained momentum and expanded from just a few participants to a total of fifteen children and five youth volunteers. Aside from moulding children, the project is also committed to working with youths in offering them the skills set and knowledge to become self-sufficient.

Most recently, three young women established their very own small business, Handmade Arts. They sell handmade accessories made from yarn and they were able to capitalise on the knitting and crocheting skills that they would’ve gained from the sewing classes offered in this project. The project gained the support of the local authorities and private sponsors both locally and overseas, as they would’ve seen the positive impact of this project on the youths of Blairmont. It has also gained recognition from various Government ministries such as the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports and would’ve been moving assiduously towards accessing the resources offered to ensure that the children and youths can benefit.

Currently, a major challenge is mobilising resources amidst a pandemic to accommodate the increasing number of children joining the programme. That’s one of the major limitations at this point in addition to the restrictions that the COVID-19 pandemic poses on the number of persons allowed in one gathering. While the youth and social development initiative is temporarily on hold due to the covid-19 virus, work is still being done to ensure its sustainability. A youth group was recently established by the youth volunteers of this project. This will aid in managing this project and future projects. Like most projects, this Youth and Social Development Initiative thrives on collaboration. As such, the project managers have been working on collaborating with a number of organisations to offer a variety of learning experiences for the youths. They recently collaborated with a member of STEM Guyana, Bradley Downer. He introduced the children to robotics through interactive sessions.

Seeta Dalloo is the founder and project coordinator of the Youth and Social Development Initiative. When the Pepperpot Magazine asked her what impact she hopes to make in her community with this project, Seeta said, “This project was about offering what I felt was missing from the lives of these children. I grew up being taught the value of a sound education, but I was also privileged to have been exposed to a number of extracurricular activities which contributed to my confidence building, my leadership qualities and my creativity”. She further went on to say, “My Ultimate goal is to create a program or project that will offer avenues for children and youths to develop the social skills and the confidence they need to be future leaders, entrepreneurs and project managers. Additionally, as a social worker and a child’s rights advocate, my objective is to bring awareness to the social issues we are faced with in society and coping mechanisms one can implement. I believe that we can effect positive change by empowering the young generation.”