Fifty young men from the Grants Pen community are aiming to make their community and country proud. They plan to do this with their newly acquired confidence and increased aptitude in English and math, among other proficiencies.

These young men, between the ages of 15 and 25 years, were trained for12 months in the Jamaica Education For All Grants Pen Project. The project included skills training and business development, personal development and community involvement and educational development.

At the graduation ceremony at the Terra Nova Hotel on Wednesday, the men were ecstatic and smiles were plastered on the faces of most of the youths there, who testified to the life changing experiences they underwent.

Betty-Ann Blaine, project officer of People's Action for Community Development (PACT), one of the organisations involved in the venture, said its success cannot be measured alone in tangible means, but also in intangible ways such as the positive outlook the men now have on life.

Mrs. Blaine also said that young men in society only need a chance to make something of themselves.

"The main finding (of the project) is that there is an untapped yet reachable population of young men who have dropped out of school or who have just completed their secondary education and who are willing to re-enter the mainstream society through education, skills training and employment," she said.

One of those young men is Andrew Edwards, who hails form Grants Pen and was the valedictorian at the ceremony.

"We accomplished dreams which we thought were unattainable. For me, I learnt a lot, we were motivated to create a bold vision of who we are and all that we can be," he said. "The programme stimulates us to think, communicate and to act like winners."

This is already evident in Andrew's life as he has started his journey towards becoming a lawyer after apprenticeship in a law firm.