Fourteen boys, all between the ages of 13 and 17, have been equipped with barbering skills after recently completing a two-month “Protect Your Peace” training course.
A Department of Public Information (DPI) report stated that the youths who participated in the training had previously come into conflict with the law. (They were not named due to their ages.)
Co-founder of the initiative Yvonne Barrow was reported as saying that the training builds the self-esteem of the participants and called upon persons to invest in the at-risk youths and provide more opportunities for juveniles to reduce recidivism.
Additionally, Juvenile Corrections Teacher Robert Bourne echoed her sentiments, while noting that “if their future is safe and secure, then the future of the country is safe and secured. If the future of our young people remains bleak, the future of the country remains bleak, it is as simple and as important as that.”
The report said Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice William Boston commended the young men for participating in the training and urged them to use it as a stepping stone to a brighter future. “Success is not always measured by the obstacles but rather the obstacles you overcome in reaching to a height. You are on a path where you might have stumbled but life is not done; there is good for you and I want you to believe it and live it,” Boston was quoted as saying.
The youths received certificates and barbering tools upon completion of the programme. One of the newly-trained barbers said initially the training was challenging but he eventually overcame it. He said a key takeaway was the discipline and respect for others the programme instilled in him.
Another said he appreciated the time the facilitators invested in nurturing him and the other trainees.
All the trainees expressed the desire to learn more, the report added.
Apart from the barbering course, the youths participated in weekly discussions on anger management, toxic masculinity, the male reproductive system and violence. In the next month, they will be working along with the Guyana Football Federation. A coach is to provide training once a week to the participants.
