By L.K. Hewlett
St. Kitts Reporter
The International Council for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance (ICHPER.SD) held its inaugural Caribbean Conference at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel last Friday.
Governor General Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, Acting Prime Minister Honourable Sam Condor, Nevis Island Administration Premier Hensley Daniel, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sport Lloyd Lazar, executive members of SKANASPER, ICHPER.SD President Dr. Dong Ja Yang and its regional Secretary General Mark Mungal were just some of the dignitaries on hand at the conference.
Visiting and local sporting officials, dance instructors and other delegates involved in youth development joined the dignitaries at the event that highlighted the advancements made in those areas. The conference establishes the Caribbean as the eighth geographical region of ICHPEWR.SD.
Minister of State with responsibility for Tourism, Sport and Culture addressed the audience, whom he said were there because of their commitment and dedication to health, fitness and the general well being of their respective communities.
“I am proud to be in the same room with so many outstanding and hard working servants of youth and community development. Whether you are a paid pubic servant, volunteer or you are from some non-governmental organisation, all of you are here because of your commitment and dedication to the health, fitness and general well being of the communities and societies where you live and work. I hope this conference will act as a large factor in re-invigorating your enthusiasm and strengthening your commitment where that is possible,” he said.
Skerritt paid a special ‘thank you’ to more than fifty local delegates present along with the regional and international visitors, on behalf of his ministry and the entire government. He commended their hard work, most of which was directed at young people.
“You have worked tirelessly over the past few months to bring this conference to fruition. Some of our visitors have been busy at work right here in our community since their arrival, helping our young people to learn self-esteem, decision-making, goal setting, teamwork, self-management and sexual responsibility. These are extremely vital ingredients of any youth and community development programme, especially in the context of challenges that our young people all over the region face today. It seems that this often too chaotic world in which we live now provides the kind of challenges to survive that many of our young people are not prepared to manage. Teaching key performance skills and life principles to young people through sport, physical education and dance is definitely a positive and effective strategy and one that I personally embrace,” Skerritt said.
He noted that the conference’s theme ‘Creating Together a new Vision for ICHPER.SD Caribbean’ was a clear indication of the organisation’s aspirations. He said that togetherness was a powerful concept often articulated but not often understood or achieved.
“Let us make sure that this inaugural conference is remembered for its genuine togetherness and that it sets high standards of usefulness and effectiveness for similar conferences to follow. You can be assured that the best practices of the healthy lifestyle project will be continually and increasingly employed in all future activities in this ministry,” he concluded.
Minister Skerritt, along with the Deputy Prime Minister received medals of honour from Dr. Yang, whilst certificates were given to representatives from SKANASPER, CARICOM Sports Desk, and OCASPE.
A team of the foreign delegates conducted a healthy lifestyle workshop last Wednesday that focussed on self-esteem, decision-making, goal setting and teamwork. The Caribbean Healthy lifestyle Project (C-HLP) was held at the Warner Park over a three-day period and was attended by approximately thirty young persons. The C-HLP joined forces with the Kicking AIDS Out (KAO) initiative to address the area of sexual responsibility. KAO promotes the use of sports and physical activity to build awareness about HIV/AIDS and uses educational games and activities to encourage peer discussions on issues affecting the lives and communities of young people.
