Ongoing Initiatives

University and Community Partnerships

This trip helped students to develop leadership abilities in two ways. The students in this year's YPJ group gained leadership skills such as communication, time-management, and organization. Leadership skills were developed as the group came together to determine common goals, planned how to accomplish these goals and followed through with these plans. This was especially difficult as students balanced schoolwork and other commitments while planning and fund raising for the YPJ trip. Students learned how to write grant proposals, approach businesses for funding and communicate the importance of the trip to others. Leadership was also fostered during the trip as students were exposed to situations they had never before seen, students ran activities for Jamaican children and were encouraged to think about the world in new ways.

Secondly, leadership was developed in Sackville youth who were not directly part of the YPJ team. A pen pal program was set up between students at Salem Elementary School and Mel Nathan Preparatory School. Students were given a presentation on the typical lifestyle and schooling in their buddies’ country and were shown a picture of their buddy. Through this program, students are learning the value of experiencing other cultures by writing letters to each other.

As well, elementary school students who are not involved in the pen pal program will learn about school and life in Jamaica. Special focus will be put on showing the difficulties faced by Mel Nathan Preparatory School due to lack of funding. Children will then be given the opportunity to make a donation to Mel Nathan Preparatory School in the name of their teacher, in lieu of an end of the year present for their teacher. This will teach students the value of helping those who are less fortunate while providing support for Mel Nathan Basic School.

A similar partnership has been formed with the United Church Women’s Group whereby members of the Sackville United Church congregation were invited to attend a presentation done by Youth Partnership with Jamaica at a United Church Women’s Group meeting. The presentation focused on the education system in Jamaica and the visit to Mel Nathan Preparatory School. After discussing the financial needs of this inner-city, non-government funded school, the audience was given the opportunity to make a donation to support the school.

The group also plans to send packages to the orphanage and extended care facility we visited. These packages will include supplies which could not otherwise be afforded by the facilities. For example, toys and primary school pencils will be sent to the orphanage and clothing and photographs will be sent to the extended care facility.

The members of this year’s Youth Partnership with Jamaica group feel it is important to develop the infrastructure of Youth Partnership with Jamaica. Since there is no continuity of members across Youth Partnership with Jamaica groups, we believe it is important to provide a detailed summary to the following group so they have a strong foundation to work from. This will assist next year’s Youth Partnership with Jamaica group will be more efficient in forming group goals, fund raising, and planning the itinerary. As well this year’s YPJ group invested in a Youth Partnership with Jamaica banner to be displayed at future YPJ events and create awareness about Youth Partnership with Jamaica. It is hoped that future groups will make similar investments to enhance the capacity of the group.