CAFFE appeals to the youth
When teenAGE went to Campion College on Friday, March 4th there was laughter, pizza and an air of pride.
But there was cause for all the celebration.
Citizens’ Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) has, in the past, struggled to attract very many volunteers. This year one board member had the idea to pitch to students.
And so they did.
Previously a few students had been involved in some select ways but this year even more students were called on to work in more diverse areas.
While Campion College was not the only school to present volunteers, out of the handful of high schools involved, Campion was the most well represented.
Having had 62 persons stationed at polling stations (some as far away as Bull Bay) and 35 stationed in the Data Centre set up on campus, the school’s principal Mrs. Grace Baston couldn’t have been prouder.
Mrs. Baston supported the idea that students, especially those closer to 18 and above, should be aware and be afforded the avenue to take part in the electoral process. She admitted to teenAGE that all constituencies could have students observing the election.
In addressing the cohort of fourth, fifth and sixth formers Mrs. Baston was quick to thank the TEENs for their hard work and let them know their spirit of volunteerism was well appreciated.
“We’re celebrating you because you’re 18 and under and you say ‘it meant a lot to me’,” she said.
The issue of apparent apathy among youths toward the electoral process was not a topic off bounds, and so she continued, “We must never take this for granted, that we have the right to get up and go somewhere and cast our vote for whoever.” She was very adamant about the preservation of democracy.
Still there was an air of celebration and light-heartedness as the students posed for group pictures, sipped on sodas, traded stories and views on the experience and spoke with us.
When asked if they’d volunteer to help CAFFE again the response was a resounding yes.
Why?
One student said helping out “gave [him] faith in our system”.
Another said he felt that his country needed him and he decided to step up to the responsibility.
When the group of students were asked whether or not they would vote at a General Election, all hands were raised.
Students were either at the polling stations to watch and help supervise the process and subsequent ballot counting, or they were at the Data Centre answering calls and questions related to the electoral process and putting together reports based on the occurrences at the polling stations.
The common sentiment was that it was an experience they learned a lot from, and that it was fun.
“Hard work pays off” said one sixth former, jokingly, as she bit into a slice of pizza.
And for all the student volunteers, parents of volunteers and alumni and friends of Campion College that gave a hand in observing and helping to ensure free and fair elections, or to those that made themselves available to help those volunteers, that certainly rang true.