8 minute read
The NGC is Empowering Youth and Enabling Change
NGC is future-focused and forward-thinking
In the corporate world, succession planning is critical to long-term sustainability. To ensure business continuity if key positions are vacated, businesses must dedicate time and resources to prepare their employees for the higher-level responsibilities they could inherit.
A parallel can be drawn for society. The long-term sustainability of a nation is dependent on its own succession planning –its ability to prepare its young people for the responsibilities that will fall to them in future, through education, training and provision of adequate opportunities for holistic personal development.
As a future-focused and forward-thinking organisation, The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) has always paid close attention to youth empowerment in the elaboration and execution of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. Across all its areas of focus – sport, arts and culture, education, environmental preservation and community development – the company has made investments that directly target young people, and aim to build a generation of leaders, innovators and changemakers.
Hearteningly, NGC has seen the impact of its interventions in the many success stories that emerge from its partnerships. Here, we meet two young people turning the opportunities they were given into bright futures.
A young leader rises in La Brea
NGC has had a longstanding relationship with Trinidad and Tobago’s Police Youth Clubs (PYCs), particularly those operating in its fenceline communities. The La Brea PYC is one club with which NGC has worked closely over the years, and which has helped steer scores of vulnerable youths toward positive pursuits. Specifically, the club has furnished young people with opportunities to study, socialise and take part in extra-curricular activities within the community. NGC’s support has funded developmental work, capacity building and social activities for club members. NGC also partnered with the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP) to deliver vocational skills training for members.
Among the young residents who seized the opportunities offered by the PYC is Mr. Jillon Rasheba Lewis, who is the newly elected Councillor for the electoral district of Brighton/Vessigny in the Siparia Borough Corporation. At 26 years of age, Jillon is one of the youngest Councillors appointed to serve.
Jillon officially joined the La Brea PYC in 2019, when he was introduced to the Electrical Installation course facilitated by YTEPP. After successfully completing the course, he saw an opportunity for personal development. He became an official executive member of the club as the Youth President and opted to pursue other courses offered by NGC/YTEPP through the club. These included courses in barbering, phone repairs and use of the AutoCAD software.
Speaking about the impact of the club on his life and development, Jillon commented: “The leader of the Youth Club, Corporal Jasmine Vesprey-David, has been an impactful mentor in my life. Her way of leadership is excellent and unmatched. I also had the opportunity to work alongside wonderful people within the club and build great network systems. The interaction with the youths has been amazing, guiding them and looking out for them, has been instrumental in my development.”
Jillon also had an internal drive to succeed. From a young age, he grappled with a stutter when speaking. To overcome this challenge, he attended public speaking classes, got professional support and heeded advice from his mother. Today, he is able to deliver powerful speeches on various public platforms - a necessary skill for his current political career. His communicative ability also enables him to engage with and attend to the residents he currently serves.
Jillon today stands as an exemplar for La Brea and has great aspirations to change his community for the better. “My short-term goals are to be accessible to my burgess of Brighton/Vessigny and to represent them in the best and just manner. My aspiration is to uplift the communities within my electoral district and to create positive and cohesive togetherness towards the betterment of our community.”
Jillon laments that his community has lost faith over the years in its leaders and hopes that through his work and achievements as a Councillor for Brighton/Vessigny, that faith can be restored. “I want residents to be able to say with pride that great things can come from within the belly of this community and great things will continue to thrive here.”
As a young leader, Jillon sees a role for other young people to step up and contribute. He expressed the importance of youth development programmes – many of which are currently available to residents of La Brea – and of opportunities to gain the kind of work experience that will drive upward mobility. That said, he believes self-motivation and ambition are just as important.
“Personal development is my greatest advice to young people: set goals, write them down and allocate time to your goals. Be consistent and ask yourself - why not achieve all you can achieve, why not gain all you can gain, why not you and why not now?”
A sporting star on the horizon
A major ingredient in youth success is having persons to emulate, and few disciplines generate as many iconic role models as sport. This is just one of the reasons behind NGC’s keen interest in building the industry around sport, particularly in the area of track and field.
The company has witnessed the rise of many young superstars through its grassroots athletic programmes and its partnership with the National Association of Athletics Administrations of Trinidad and Tobago (NAAATT). The Youth Elite Programme (YEP) is one of the impactful initiatives being delivered under this partnership. Launched in 2017, this programme has sought to provide specialist coaching to a select cohort of athletes who have excelled at regional and international events and proven their ‘podium potential.’ The programme aims to help these athletes attain excellence in track and field while emphasising the significance of having an all-round academic and life skills foundation.
One of the talented YEP inductees who is building his brand and setting the bar for others to follow is 19-year-old highjumper Mr. Aaron Antoine. Aaron, who was also a member of the NGC-sponsored Couva Police Youth Club, began his track and field career at the tender age of eight, when a teacher suggested to his parents that he be enrolled in a running club. Aaron recounts that his parents took him to the stadium with the intention of speaking to a track coach, but without their knowledge, he approached a field coach instead. The rest is history.
“My first memorable athletic achievement was when I won the first gold medal for Trinidad at the Caribbean Union of Teachers Games in 2014. That gave me the impetus to train harder because it meant something to me when the results started showing.”
After that achievement, Aaron worked hard to refine his abilities. He went on to become the national junior and senior champion at the NGC/NAAA Championship Series, and a national junior record holder in the high jump at that event. In 2022, Aaron won gold in the Boys Under-20 High Jump at the Carifta Games.
Aaron credits the YEP with providing opportunities to advance his career, through better training equipment and nutritional guidance. The programme also gave him the exposure he needed to become more marketable as an athlete, and he was approached by several US-based schools interested in having him attend their institutions. After considering his options, he accepted the offer of Manhattan Kansas State, where he is currently enrolled.
Aaron’s ambitions as an athlete are not just personal – he has intentions of changing the narrative around field events. Citing the many track stars in the country’s history, he noted that while Keshorn Walcott shifted the focus toward field events to a degree, Trinidad and Tobago has not had major international success in high jump. He aspires to change this.
“Currently, I am training to be the best I can be to compete amongst the best in the world. Changing the narrative and the world view on Trinidad and Tobago is one of my goalsthough we may be small on the map we are blessed with a lot of talent, and I believe we have a generation that can initiate that positive change.”
Aaron thinks certain systemic changes can help as well. “I genuinely believe that there should be a better structure to sports in schools, a similar model to the inter-college football competition can be adopted for track and field as well as other sporting disciplines.”
In addition, he believes in building the value chain. “As in my case, I believe that identifying athletic talent from the primary school level and nurturing it with the right programmes will produce athletes that transition from juvenile to junior and then to senior athletes. If we allow sport to flourish even more, we will see a positive change in our youths and then the mission will become the movement.”
As a young role model, Aaron encourages other young people to find their passion and put in the work. He urges them not to get demotivated by the inevitable bumps along the road, and wisely adds: “Remember always to pray and keep humility always in sight.”
