Yahneake Sterling, Staff Reporter
Some of the nearly 500 boys drawn from over 30 schools in Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine and St. Thomas who attended the 5th Annual Special Boy's Conference, fool around with the church piano during the lunch break. The conference was held yesterday at the Eastwood Park Road New Testament Church of God in St. Andrew. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
'SUCCEEDING AGAINST the odds' was the message from keynote speaker, Reverend Peter Garth during the annual 'boys conference' hosted by the Errol Rattray Evangelistic Association (EREA), at the Eastwood Park New Testament Church of God yesterday.
The conference featured just under 500 boys from several high schools in the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Mary, St. Catherine and St. Thomas. Rev. Peter Garth, in addressing the young men said, "success is never ending, failure is never final."
He encouraged them to be themselves, as "imitation is limitation", and told them that they should come to self actualisation in order to be successful.
AFFIRM YOURSELF
For his part, Reverend Dr. Alvin Bailey, pastor at the Portmore Holiness Christian Church, told the young men about developing and maintaining a positive male image. "Come to grips with who you are, know the things that are characteristically you as a male person, be comfortable with your sexuality and affirm yourself as a man," he said.
Leon Hutchinson, a fourth former at Mona High School, said the conference was very informative and educational.
"It has motivated me more to become successful, and it has also taught me to have a positive mindset towards achieving my goals and that I can be 'something'," he said.
Carla Silvera Cox, guidance counsellor at the Clan Carthy High School in St. Andrew, said: "I believe that the conference is well timed, as the pressures of society is beating down on our boys and so it gives them the chance to interact with men who are making strides in life and who they can emulate."
She added that she had observed a change in attitude of the boys
who had previously attended the
conference.
The conference, in its fifth year, which started with students in Kingston and St. Andrew with the intention of changing the male image in Jamaica, has this year extended its wings to other parishes. According to Mr. Rattray, founder of the conference, the programme will be seeking to reach out to boys in other sections
of the island and will eventually
organise a girls conference.
