Business View Caribbean Dec. 2018 / Jan. 2019

14 15 nirahWiggins,Mikaella Hills, and Lystia Mulzac –designed the massive “tree of life” in a cen- tral common area with its branches stretching throughout the corridors. Fraser said working on the project required skilful planning and attention to logistics, teamwork, co-ordination and tenacity. “It was just so hectic.” Teammember Erica M. B.Ashton works closely with the NGO’s founder Nadella Oya.“This has been a massive undertaking,”Ashton said.“The symposium brought in delegates from right up the Eastern Caribbean, including theTurks and Caicos Islands,and the BritishVirgin Islands.We’re talking about young peoplewhomight not know anything about media,or communications,or ac- tivism,and training them in five days.It was a real challenge.We’re so proud of what they’ve done,and happytheygot theexperiential learning.Nowtheycan gobacktotheir countriesandusewhat they’ve learned tohelpotheryoungpeople like themselves.” It was the first project of this scale for createfu- turegood.“This happenedwith the direct support of UNICEF and theMinistryof Sport andYouthAffairs, andwe’re grateful theyentrusted us with the respon- sibility to bring it together,”Ashton said. Oya is awhirlwind of energy.As aTVand video producer,she impressed on the delegates the power of communication.At the countrypresentations on November 22,each of the countriesmade affecting presentations on education issues,including on teen alcohol and drug abuse,teen parents, inadequate classrooms, and teaching for multiple intelligenc- es. Delegates fromMaria-and Irma-devastated is- OPENING LINES lands,where schools were flattened, talked about their infrastructure needs. In the audience that day,ministers and technocrats from their islands listened and took notes; these presentations were designed to influence policy. “Createfuturegood is an NGO that has always had big ambition and we have always been comfortable with a steep learning curve,” said Oya. “This is howwe’ve managed to get our material on TV and online, so that children in Dubai and Taiwan can look at a video we made, that a teen- ager wrote, using just hands and some sheets of paper, to teach child rights.This symposiumwas ground-breaking for these young people and who knows what they’re going to be able to accom- plish when they get back to their countries? Of course,we are glad we had the chance to work with UNICEF and the Ministry, and we want to keep going further with this work so the children and young people can create future good across the region with what they learned with the help of createfuturegood.” Asma Muhammad, 16, from Brades,Montserrat, was one of the delegates.The Fifth Form student plans to go back to her school to meet with the principal and the student leadership team, of which she is a member.Montserrat Deputy Pre- mier and Minister of Education, Delmaude Ryan, saw the presentations and took part in a roundta- ble afterwards.“I like howwe are able to persuade our government to take action on the issues,” Muhammad said.