Eight years ago SERVOL was visited by Jeff Lloyd, a deacon in the Catholic Church, Nassau , Bahamas , who had heard about SERVOL's adolescent programme and wanted to have a closer look at it.

He seemed to be impressed by what he saw and stayed on for three months to be trained as an instructor in the programme. At the end of the course, he had a long conversation with Sr. Ruth, Executive Director and myself and explained his interest in the programme.

It appeared that the Bahamas Islands were having a serious problem with the youth who came from depressed situations and who had focussed their attention on drugs and crime as ways to make quick money.

He wanted to set up a similar programme in his country and wanted us to train six soldiers as instructors of a live-in three- month programme for these young people.

We agreed and the soldiers duly came to Trinidad , were lodged in the SERVOL hostel and returned to their native country at the end of their training programme.

We were in touch with the programme over the years and knew that it was having some effect on the youth there but we were unaware of how much of an impact it was having on the Bahamian society and the government of that country.

We were intrigued to receive a letter from Jeff inviting Sr. Ruth and myself to be honoured guests at the first graduation class of the YEAST programme, so called because it was intended to be opened to all youth in need and become the catalyst for turning delinquent youth away from a life of drugs and crime.

This particular programme was being funded by the government of the Bahamas who wanted to use it as a pilot project and to continue using the programme as the foundation for its National Youth Programme.

We were warmly greeted by Jeff and the following day paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs who expressed his satisfaction with what YEAST had accomplished in a relatively short period of time. We also visited the YEAST office and met with staff there.

Jeff Lloyd, director of YEAST, IADB representative, Sr Ruth, Bishop Patrick Pinder, Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia Pratt, Fr Pantin, Mr N Boissiere after the ceremony.

The following day, we were flown to Andros Island, where a group of young males had undergone an intensive six-month course under the supervision of the soldiers whom SERVOL had trained.

We were very impressed by how these young people had been transformed from sullen, hope-drained youths to disciplined, motivated young adults ready to take their place in society.

It was deeply moving to listen to these transformed young adults give eloquent testimony of their love for their instructors who had become father figures for them as well as the loud exclamation of “ALLELUIA” and “PRAISE THE LORD” from the mothers who had all turned out to celebrate the resurrection of their children for they had almost abandoned all hope.

In an evaluation of the programme done by the IADB these young men were asked at the beginning of their programme where they saw themselves in five years; their answers – dead, in the gutter, on the streets, in jail, selling drugs.

At the end of their programme to the same question the answers were: starting my own business, getting a job, becoming a man, taking responsibility, contributing to my family.

So important did the government of the Bahamas view this ceremony that it was attended by the Acting Prime Minister (the Prime Minister being confined to his sick bed), the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, a number of Permanent Secretaries, the American Ambassador, representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank and other dignitaries.

This distinguished gathering applauded enthusiastically as the trainees put on a display of marching, which would have done credit to professional soldiers.

I was asked to address the gathering and I expressed my admiration for what had been accomplished and urged representatives of the government not to make the mistake of trying to take over the programme but to continue to support YEAST who had demonstrated their ability to operate a complex developmental project and to bring it to a successful outcome.

I am happy to say that all the government officials, including the Acting Prime Minister assured me privately that they had no intention of interfering in what was so obviously a successful project but would enthusiastically support it by all the means at their disposal. The government of the Bahamas was ready to expand and fund this project, which had worked so well and allow it to become part of their National Youth Programme.

Parents attending the graduation

Flying back to Nassau Island, Sr. Ruth and myself could not help but remark at the enthusiasm of the Bahamian government in recognizing the importance of working with NGOs to deal with their social problems as well as realizing that NGOs are ideally suited to reaching and helping people efficiently and effectively since they can adapt, innovate and adjust in a way that government agencies find impossible to do saddled and enveloped as they are by red tape and bureaucracy.

Caribbean governments are more and more recognizing the Servol programme as the answer to crime and violence in their countries. Last year the Ministry of Education in St. Lucia introduced a pilot programme using the Servol Adolescent Development Programme in secondary schools.

The programme is used as a model for projects in Grenada, Dominica, St. Lucia, Guyana, South Africa and the Republic of Ireland – all with success as they see it as part of the answer in turning young people away from a life of crime to become positive and responsible citizens.

NGOs in Trinidad and Tobago continue to struggle financially to keep programmes going and to provide adequate salaries for their personnel and proper facilities for their projects and the people they serve.

Their staff continues to labour and to serve way beyond the call of duty and are often paid salaries way below their market value. We continue to hope that the day will come when the government of Trinidad and Tobago will recognize the contributions of NGOs, will fund them adequately and collaborate with them in partnerships for the good of our people.

Sometimes we get the impression that government for some strange reason feels that it has to be the sole agent in the forward march of our beloved country and that NGOs are simply tolerated.

At a time when our country is going through a very depressing and difficult period in our history we need government and NGOs to work together as partners in helping to solve our many social problems and to help stem the avalanche of crime and violence, which threatens to overwhelm us.

Government cannot do it alone; NGOs are trying to do it alone. Other Caribbean governments are recognizing the value of using NGOs to move their country forward and are enthusiastically embracing our programmes.

However there is nothing new in this particular situation. Two thousands years ago, a man called Jesus Christ whom everyone acknowledges to be an important figure in world religions, summed it all up in one poignant sentence: “A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relatives and in his own house” (Mark 6:4)