Youths Walk for Peace

YOUTHS of the Laventille Road Police Youth Club, accompanied by youths of the Santa Cruz Police Youth Club and the Morvant Fire Service Youth Club took to the streets yesterday to spread a message of peace and encourage young people to join their clubs.

They began gathering from as early as 8 am, and walked the length of Laventille Road, accompanied by a rhythm section and a drum team.

Delviccihio Perkins, a Laventille Road resident who has been in the club for about seven years, told reporters since he joined he has gained a higher level of respect for the people around him and has changed from an “average youth” to a well rounded member of the community.

“The most valuable lesson I have learnt is that respect and manners can carry you places that money cannot. So far that has proved to be true,” Perkins said. “When I started off I used to give plenty trouble and as the years passed coming to the youth club changed me a lot. From being an average person to being captain of the pan band and I would just like to say to all the youths that are not in a youth club and seeing that there is a youth club in your area, they should join, because if it could change me it could change a lot of youths.”

Leader of the Laventille Road Police Youth Club, Curtis Paul, encouraged parents to join the club as well, as it was not limited to youth participation.

Leader of the Laventille Road Police Youth Club, Curtis Paul, encouraged parents to join the club as well, as it was not limited to youth participation.

“You can come to the youth club on Saddle and Laventille road and get a form to join,” Paul said “We really want to implore the parents in the country and especially on Laventille Road to get involved. The youth club is just walking distance from your homes. We venture into academia. We have pan theory and practical Self defence and other programs geared to development of youths.”

Paul added that the youth club was established to encourage youths who wanted a positive direction in their lives. He said Laventille Road, while not known for violence, was a place with a lot of social ills, and the youth club has brought about a “decrease in negativity and an increase in positivity”.

“You have a lot of children who have joined the youth club as teenagers and some are now in University others are in the advance stages in other educational activities. Then we have the youth club steel orchestra that has ventured into a lot of national events and played for the prime minister president and foreign dignitaries. So the youth club is a plus,” Paul said.