by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
The 30th Olympiad ends today (August 12). I am looking forward to attending the closing ceremony. Around 10,500 athletes will have competed from 204 countries. About 4,700 medals would have been won by those competing in the Olympics. The Olympic flag will be handed over byLondon’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, to Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The Paralympics will be held inLondon from August 29 to September 9 2012.
I recall the words of Archbishop Vincent Nichols at the thanksgiving Mass at Westminster Cathedral on July 28: “The Olympic Games hold up high ideals of fairness in competition, of friendship between adversaries, of individual achievement and national pride. But, in order to be effective, such ideals need to be put into practice.” It is hoped that the games would have gone some way to promote these values and that we will all seek to put them into practice.
Today the world observes International Youth Day (IYD). The theme chosen is: Building a Better world: Partnering with Youth. IYD is “a global call to action for young men and women, as well as other stakeholders around the world, to develop and engage in partnerships with and for youth towards building a better world.”
There are many talented youths in T&T. How are we partnering with our youth to build a better country/world? The Vision of T&T’s National Youth Policy (12-29 years old) states: “Empowered young people who are able to make informed choices so that they can lead meaningful enjoyable lives and contribute to the sustainable development ofTrinidad and Tobago”.
Somehow we seem to fall down on implementation. Sports/recreation facilities must be part of our strategy to promote integral human development.
In 2002 Blessed John Paul II stated that the Church “considers sports as an instrument of education when it fosters high human spiritual ideals; when it forms youth in an integral way in values such as loyalty, perseverance, friendship, solidarity and peace. Surmounting differences of cultures and ideologies, sports offers and ideal occasion for dialogue and understanding among peoples, for building the desired civilisation of love.” He also urged us to put these values into practice “based on the dignity of the human person.”
Thousands of our youths in T&T do not feel that they have a place at the table of life. Say a prayer for our youth at-risk; for our differently-abled youths whose needs are not being met adequately; for the 4,000 or so youths whom the Minister of Education said drop out of schools each year and for the many whom our education system continues to fail; for our youths who have been drawn into lives of crime and violence; for those who have died as a result of runaway crime in T&T; for youths who yearn for stable family life, for mentors and role models to assist them on their journey; for youths who feel the brunt of neglect, rape, incest, domestic violence, homelessness/poor housing, unemployment, lack of basic amenities etc.
The UN urges politicians, civil society, the private sector, academia and philanthropists to “effectively partner and collaborate with young people, especially in the areas of employment, entrepreneurship, political inclusion, citizenship and protection of rights, and education…”
We can and must do much more to create an enabling environment in which our youths can grow and flourish. What are we doing with the results of our 2011 Survey of Living Conditions and the 2012 TT Human Development Atlas which was developed by the Central Statistical Office and the UNDP and launched on July 9? The Atlas includes the First National Human Development Index, Inequality Adjusted National Human Development Index, The Gender Inequality and The Multi-dimensional Poverty Index.
The Ministry of Planning tells us that the Atlas will enable us “to identify the regions where poverty is highest or lowest, where crime is more of a problem, or is perceived to be a challenge”, thus permitting policymakers “to make more informed decisions about resource allocation to address national issues…to measure progress on an on-going basis so that necessary interventions can be made at the appropriate time and place in the most strategic way.”
Are Catholic schools and parishes doing enough to promote integral human development of our youths? Do we have effective Youth Development Programmes in our Archdiocese? Let us nurture our youths to embrace the fact that Jesus is the living bread of life. May the Holy Spirit guide our youths to live holy, productive lives.
