4-H National Achievement Day to Salute Youth Achievement

The 2007 staging of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs National Achievement Day promises to be bigger and grander than previous years, as the movement salutes youth achievement.
Slated for April 25-27 at the Denbigh showground in Clarendon, the three-day event, to be held under the theme: ‘Transforming Jamaica through Youth Development’, will turn the spotlight on young achievers, both inside and outside of the 4-H movement.
Chairman of the 4-H Clubs, Senator Norman Grant, speaking at the press launch of the event yesterday (April 11) in Kingston, said that this year’s event “will be a celebration of our young people’s success in the context of national development and simultaneously, the national drive to encourage young people to participate actively in the development of their own future”.
The move, he said, was an attempt to regain community support at the local level as well as “emphasize, highlight, and create a national dialogue about young people, who are high achievers, bastions of success, integrity, initiative, self-help and self-reliance”.
The organization, on the day, will salute clubbities from the 14 parishes as they display their skills and compete for honours in areas of agriculture, home economics, environment and leadership development. Some 40 awards are expected to be presented on the day.
In addition to the competitive events, the movement will honour Karen Tamasa, 2006 recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for entrepreneurship and St. James Fire district officer, Gary Snow. Both will be presented with the Jamaica 4-H Clubs Clover Award for self- help, self-reliance and initiative.
Miss Tamasa, who is a 4-H clubbite, will be recognized for her entrepreneurial skills in launching a successful chicken business and Mr. Snow for his initiative in repairing the St. James fire boat, which saved the fire service more than two million dollars.
Senator Grant lauded the youngsters, whom he noted “are the embodiment of the tenets of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs” and whose “self-help, self-reliance and initiative are valuable attributes that our young people need to survive the rigours of everyday life”.
The exposition-styled event will also promote healthy lifestyle and the campaign against child abuse, as part of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Children Development Agency. This will be done through a booth mounted by the lifestyle company, J-Style. According to Senator Grant, the expanded event “will allow the Jamaica 4-H Clubs to reposition itself as a strong national organization in support of the values of self-help, self-reliance, initiative and outreach, which will serve to strengthen the (country’s) social and commercial fabric”.
The three-day event is being staged at a cost of $6 million with support from government and private sponsors.