(Editor’s note: The Young Leaders group at Lynn Jeffers School on Nevis is competing with schools across the region to meet the requirements of this year’s project, “Bridging The Gap.” Last year, the school finished in second place in this contest, which is sponsored by RBTT Bank. Students involved in this project are conducting interviews to discuss issues that have an impact on a wide variety of people. The Observer is publishing excerpts from their work today and in the coming weeks. The Observer is not requiring the use of last names in this instance.)
Young people today want all the modern toys and gadgets yet we live in a community that earns most of its income from tourism. A good part of the tourist product lies in the charm of the many historical sites in Nevis.
How can we bridge the gap between what the younger generation wants and the need for historical conservation, not only as a viable tourism product, but for our own edification?
Lyn Jeffers Young Leaders took to the streets to pose this question to the community and here are some of the responses.
A.J. – male, 15: I am not really interested in the history stuff – it’s not my thing.
L.P. – female, 23: I think we have some pretty interesting places for visitors to see but a lot of Nevis people don’t know much about them. More people need to go the museums and learn a little something about their own home.
G.H. – male, 53: The Historical and Conservation Society and the museums do a good job but I think they would have a better effect on the students if they tried to bring some programmes into the schools. They could tie something in with history classes.
J. M. – male, 7: My dad takes me on hikes and sometimes we go to the ruins but I don’t know the names.
M.S. – female, 12: We learn about some of the local stuff in school but it’s kind of boring. It’s fun to go to the old ruins and look around. I try to imagine what it was like in the old days.
Y.J. – female, 47: Nevis people should learn more about their own history and value the historical sites. Young people don’t know how things used to be and they should learn that too , though many don’t believe you when you tell them about how hard things could be back in the day. They need to know their history – even the bad things because they saying goes that if you don’t know your history you are bound to repeat it and we can’t have that! Young people need to wake up – the schools should do more about that and churches, maybe youth groups
