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News from Trinidad & Tobago as of
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IICA's forum for young leaders - an investment in young human capital
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| Published on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 | Email To Friend Print Version
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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- Lorraine Waldropt-Ferguson, an Assistant-Manager, who hails from the private sector in Trinidad and Jean-Robert Richard, a Food Technologist in the public sector in Tobago, provided a perfect mix as representatives of this country at the Forum for Young Leaders involved in the Sustainable Development of Agriculture in the Americas in the 21st Century, held earlier this month in San José, Costa Rica.
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| Young leaders |
The week-long forum is organized annually by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in an effort to promote the development of leaders with a global vision. In this the second staging of the forum, 70 young people from 34 countries across the hemisphere participated and received training in areas such as value-based leadership, teamwork, systemic thinking, conflict resolution, agro-energy, project design and preparation. They also had the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences and engage in rich interchange on visions for the future of agriculture and rural life in the context of the global environment.
Both Lorraine and Jean-Robert were particularly inspired by the overall experience, the activities and new contacts they met while in Costa Rica. Lorraine described the week as “unforgettably life-changing” adding that the forum was more than timely and that the lessons learned in Costa Rica will go far beyond the farm. The forum opened her eyes to many realities and she was brightened to return to Trinidad and continue to work harder for the sector in which she firmly believes.
Both young leaders expressed a sense of pride at having represented Trinidad and Tobago and indeed did the country proud. They have returned with a renewed sense of their own involvement in the development of the agriculture sector in Trinidad and Tobago and the belief that their efforts can make a difference in helping to propel the sector forward. They will subsequently play a role to encourage greater youth involvement in agriculture – and will share their experiences at a national level to achieve this.
This annual programme of the Institute continues to attract young people from across the hemisphere. Last year’s representatives from Trinidad and Tobago have continued to shine in their areas of work. Abidemi Smenkh-Ka-Ra, is currently fulfilling a one-year internship with the IICA Office in Panama, where she is working in the area of agribusiness development, an opportunity she gained through her participation in the forum in 2008. Richard Rampersaud continues to work with the Caribbean Regional Agricultural Policy Network (CaRAPN), at the IICA Office in Trinidad and Tobago. After attending the forum in Costa Rica in 2008, he was motivated to become bilingual and has since completed one year of Spanish language training.
Gregg C.E. Rawlins, IICA Representative in Trinidad and Tobago agrees that the forum is an excellent cooperation activity to enhance opportunities for our young people. Further, it is an investment for the agriculture sector of Trinidad and Tobago, as it seeks to awaken in these young minds a broad vision for the future of the agriculture sector, which they can share and implement with other young people. | | | | Reads : 707 | | | |
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