jesse.ramdeo@cnc3.co.tt
A Trinidadian-born educator has copped a prestigious award from the Queen of the Netherlands for leading an initiative aimed at Caribbean youth resilience.
Back in June, members of her team at Expertise Centre Education Care out in Saba, a tiny Dutch island in the Lesser Antilles, landed in winners row for their project aimed at fostering an inclusive society.
During a zoom interview with Guardian Media yesterday, Rayann Ramdin-Joseph explained her journey in the competition.
She said, “We’ve received this award, it’s called an Appeltjes Van Oranje award, we received it from the Queen of the Netherlands, Queen Maxima. Each year there is a specific social theme, this year the theme was mental strength and this award was given to three different organisations out of nearly three hundred.”
The Appeltjes van Oranje is a yearly award recognizing and rewarding three initiatives that successfully connect different groups or that contribute to people being able to participate in society again.
Out of the competition came a burning desire to convert the winning piece into a workbook aimed at assisting children disadvantaged in more ways than one.
“The book deals with the basic skills of resilience that each child should be able to develop, such as identifying a support system, positive affirmations, self-care, mindfulness, identifying feelings and emotions as well as dealing with feelings and emotions just the ability to bounce back after something difficult has occurred in their life.”
Ramdin-Joseph explained that far too long mental health has been placed on the back burner, especially in Trinidad and Tobago, she added that mental conditions have also been eroded by the pandemic and was hopeful the workbook would be able to bridge gaps widened by COVID 19.
She said, “It is really for them to remember that connection they have with the outside world, with the country, with the Caribbean and also geared to be accessible wherever they are you always have access to a book, you may not have access to a computer but you can’t go wrong with a physical book.”
“Solid as a rock” is available on Amazon and places the spotlight on harnessing the strength of the Caribbean youth.