The National Youth Council last Thursday held an orientation ceremony for volunteers of the holiday jobs, at the conference hall of the Independence Stadium in Bakau.
The orientation was meant to help young people learn some lessons outside formal school system, by getting them to serve in holiday jobs project for certain period of time during the summer holidays.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of Youth and Sport, Mr. Sheriff Gomez described the holiday jobs as very significant in youth development. He stated that most of the young people residing in the Greater Banjul Area have never been to the provinces, and as such the creation of these camping activities will help them a great deal.
The concept of the holiday jobs, he added, is to help young people to have ideas and learn more about the careers they want to do in the future. He noted that after the holiday jobs, when they return back to their respective schools, it would be an added advantage to them, as they will get some experience. He commended the RVTH and Afrimed for responding to their call and urged other institutions to come out and support this noble cause. He expressed hope that at the end of the day, young people would take something back to their classrooms.
For his part, the Executive Secretary of the National Youth Council (NYC), Mr. Marcel Mendy said that during the summer holidays young people have less work to do, and thus the holiday jobs will help them, especially the young people in Grade11.
According to him, the common goal of the orientation is to empower young people. He stated that letters have been written to institutions, but only Afrimed Gambia Limited and the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVTH) responded.
He expressed hope that by the end of the holiday, young people would have learnt something useful to them and should always be disciplined and live up to expectations.
Also speaking at the ceremony, the Director of Afrimed Gambia Limited, Dr. Omar Jagne described the initiative as very noble.
He stated that "we live in a very competitive world where young people should always be hard working, disciplined, and above all must possess the quality of honesty."
He urged young people to be very much prepared for the challenges in the future and must be focused, if they want to succeed, and then noted that Afrimed Gambia Limited is always open to help.
