EXACTLY a year after the police and military incursion into Tivoli Gardens, the YUTE programme has continued to offer its service to the youths of the community.

“I vow no one or nothing will stop me from achieving my aspirations.”

This is the pledge of the participants of the YUTE programme and an indicator of the many obstacles that these young residents have to face. Corporate Jamaica has responded to the challenges faced by inner-city youths and has designed a project that encourages entrepreneurship and employment among the youths: hence the acronym Youth Upliftment Through Employment.

Although it was a day of sad remembrance with an obvious atmosphere of gloom, the Tivoli Gardens Level three YUTE team welcomed the media visit into one of their weekly sessions.

Itana Henry was the motivational speaker for the group and in his presentation reminded the members of empowerment of self through life skills, literacy and numeracy. These are just some of the few areas that the programme focuses on.

For the Tivoli participants, many programmes have existed claiming to cause a lasting change but YUTE seems to be the most promising one of all. This, according to Maureen Webber, who is the head of the project, is primarily because the programme is designed to target small groups with the aim of getting the best results.

“The difference with our programme is that we limit the number of communities that we operate in so that each member of a group can really focus on their goals and, while other projects focus on either vocational training only or job placement only, our programme does both to ensure that the participants are really prepared to uplift themselves,” she said.

Arneco Blake, one of the Tivoli Gardens participants, is very appreciative of the training aspect of the project.

“The YUTE programme is good because we learn how to operate in the workplace. We learn how to speak, what to wear and other things,” Blake said.

While Andre Rowe, another participant told TEENage that he really appreciates the literacy training.

“At this level we learn what we missed in high school; because some of us did not get to finish so they continue what we left off.”

Rowe also added that because they have to go to the classes three times a day plus having work experience for two days, there is less time for youths to waste idling.

Both the Tivoli Gardens and the Trench Town groups pointed out that the participating youths recognise the value of being a part of something that keeps them occupied and out of trouble.

Chrisanne Clarke, who lives in the community and started out as a regular member of the class is now one of the trainers. She expressed her satisfaction with seeing the impact that the programme has had on the community.

“The participants are really motivated. I have noticed changes in their attitudes and there is also a chance for them to become re-socialised through the teachings of the life skills and I thank YUTE for introducing these activities to our community.”

The YUTE programme exists in eight troubled inner-city communities in Kingston with approximately 1,295 participants. YUTE aims to improve the employability of the youths at different levels; from basic literacy and numeracy to résumé writing all the way up to training participants on how to manage their own businesses, which includes learning how to read financial statements.

— Yunique Francis