CARICOM Secretariat to empower Guyana’s youth with animation skills

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)     A group of young people in Guyana will get an opportunity to learn valuable animation skills through a project coordinated by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat.
The project, which is being implemented in collaboration with Animae Caribe and the Guyana Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, is designed around the use of animation as a tool to address youth crime and violence, and safeguard cultural heritage.     
A workshop, targeting youth with computer skills and who have an interest in the arts, will provide the participants with basic knowledge to create animated short films. It will run from July 28-31 at the Guyana International Conference Centre.

This is the fourth workshop in an initiative supported by the USAID funded CARICOM Programme for Crime and Violence Prevention project. Two one-day workshops were held in Suriname during CARIFESTA XI in August 2013 with approximately fifty young people benefiting from the training. The third one-day workshop involving twenty young inmates, was held at the Youth Training Centre (YTC) in Trinidad and Tobago in October 2013 prior to the Animae Caribe Animation and Digital Media Festival. 
This time in Guyana, the participants are benefiting from more extensive training. It is anticipated that through the process of learning about animation, the participants will empower themselves and others with knowledge in communication, team work and conflict resolution, folklore figures in the Caribbean oral tradition, script writing, and short animation film production.

The animation workshops form part of “Animating the Caribbean” – A CARICOM  and Animae Caribe regional initiative.  Over several years, the CARICOM Secretariat and Animae Caribe have collaborated on raising awareness about animation and digital media in the Region and promoting the use of animation in learning environments, public education and safeguarding cultural heritage.
Human capital development is one of the Top Priority areas for focussed attention under the recently approved Strategic Plan for the Caribbean Community. The Plan is aimed at improving the quality of life for citizens of the region through concrete action on matters of direct relevance and benefit to all.