Guyanese youths for Hawaii congress
Two senior secondary school students have been selected to represent the country at the Millennium Young People's Congress (MYPC) to be held in Hawaii in the Pacific from October 25 to October 29 this year. The two students are Lennox Caleb of Queen's College and Frances Legall of President's College. They are both preparing for the Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) and the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level examinations. The two were selected from among 50 youths who took part in a youth consultation held at the Young Men's Christian Association, Thomas Lands on Sunday. The participants were drawn from senior secondary schools in the city, the University of Guyana and the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association Under-20 Club. MYPC local coordinator, Trevor Benn, told Stabroek News that there was a selection process in which ten participants, five males and five females were short-listed. The ten then made presentations after which a vote was cast for the two to attend the conference based on their presentations. Before they leave for Hawaii, Caleb and Legall will meet leading public personalities and visit places of interest. While in Hawaii, the young people will build a 'Peace Garden', produce a multi-cultural 'Musical Peace Child 2000', attend sessions on regional and global issues with adult mentors and produce a publication to be titled 'Rescued - 2000'. The publication will summarise the priorities of the young people the world over. The priorities will arise from discussions on the new 'Agenda 21' of the congress, which covers a wide cross section of issues including health, inequality, peace, unemployment, poverty, corruption and education. During the local one-day consultation the participants discussed what they saw as priorities for the nation's youths. High on their list of priorities were the need for free education in the country; the need for counselling, sex education and religious education to be integrated into the school's curriculum; care and preservation of the environment and the need for more emphasis to be placed on science and technology as well as travel and tourism. The participants also listened to a number of presentations on human rights and conflict resolutions; politics, economics and corruption; poverty, race, inequality and unemployment; education; travel and tourism; environment; science and technology; and health and population. Presenters were Julian Olivier of the US-based Peace Child International; UG Deputy Registrar, Vincent Alexander; private sector representative Dennis Wiggins; Ministry of Education Chief Planning Officer, Evelyn Hamilton; Executive Director of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Colette McDermott; Head of the Environmental Studies Unit of UG, Paulette Bynoe and Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of UG, Melvin Sankies. The activity was sponsored by the Commonwealth Youth Programme, Courts Furniture Store and Peace Child International. (Miranda La Rose) 
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