User:TEversley/Young Leaders of Buxton Initiative

http://www.stabroeknews.com,http://www.guyanachronicle.com, http://www.keiturenews.com The community of "Buxton" is located on the East Coast of Demerara, approximately 12 miles outside of "Georgetown Guyana" in "South America". The community is a hub of positive energy and activity ranging from sinning, traditional "African drumming", Drama clubs, "majorettes" and many other cultural presentations. Many of these activities are orchestrated by the youth groups in Buxton: the Toucan 2 club and the Young leaders of Buxton (YLB) youth group. These groups seek to engage the less fortunate and the at-risk youth in the village with the aim of empowering them in some capacity, so as to give them the opportunity to be involved in the positive movement forward, for themselves and the village as a whole. The youth of Buxton are a proud, industrious and talented community of Young people with multifarious talents and unlimited potential. Owing to that, the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) established a leadership program in the community in November of 2008. The program was also duplicated in the communities of Agricola, on the East Bank of Demerara and Albouystown in Georgetown Guyana, respectively. Out of this initiative the YLB was created; The Young leaders of Buxton (YLB) were a group of young people trained by ACDA under the umbrella of improving access to opportunities for At-Risk youth in Afro-descendant Communities. The one year program trained the youth in the areas of "Agriculture" Healthy Lifestyles, "Leadership", and "Entrepreneurship". These youth were trained then tasked with building the capacity and transforming the behavior of other at-risk youth in the community. The youth were engaged in classes about three times a week and given a small incentive to attend the program. The group had to establish a photo essay or a Big Brother, Big Sister program to enable students to understand their community and become better community leaders. The positive transformative nature of the initiative has created a pool of young resource persons in the community that can be utilized for meaningful social change in Buxton. The possibilities of what can be achieved with these youth are endless if they are to be engaged in a complimentary manner that accommodates their different needs and abilities. The youth of Buxton inspires hope and optimism, through their willingness, pride and drive to succeed on a personal level and in developing their community in its entirety.