Tendai Franklyn-Brown, Staff Reporter

Nikolaus Price (left) of Sagicor Life Jamaica chats with Adam Levy, one of the youth leaders from the Jamaica Youth Coalition, at the Insurance Association of Jamaica social outreach programme opening ceremony held yesterday at the Jamaica National Children's Home in Hope Gardens, St Andrew. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

SIX YOUTHS from the Jamaica Youth Coalition have embarked on a mission to mentor 60 residents from the Jamaica National Children's Home in Kingston and St Andrew, with assistance from the Insurance Association of Jamaica (IAJ).

Fifteen-year-old youth leader Adam Levy, who moves around by wheelchair, told The Gleaner yesterday that he believed his disability would allow him to develop a rapport with the children.

"Because I am in the wheelchair, I know what most of the children in children's homes go through, so I believe that I can help children to come out of a children's home and become regular people like myself," he said.

Making a difference

Youth advocacy plays a critical role in facilitating the development of children, according to Private Sector Collaborative Manager Brigette MacDonald-Levy, who coordinated the life and leadership skills training programme.

"Young people interact with each other in a way that adults can't," she said. "We thought it would make a difference to those receiving mentorship, so they could talk honestly and openly without fear of adult attitudes and values having an impact on them."

Elements of the programme include teaching the children, whose ages range from 12-18, qualities of leadership and group dynamics.

After this, the participants are twinned with a mentor from the IAJ to cement the skills learned, skills which one of the children in the home stressed he was eager to discover.

"I want to learn many things, how to control anger and speak to adults," he said.

Andrew Levy, chairman of the IAJ, said the collaborative initiative with the College of Insurance and Professional Studies is an exercise of corporate, social responsibility, which he stressed was a commitment that should not be taken lightly.

tendai.franklyn-brown@gleanerjm.com