2006 Speeches

Advancing Self, Community and Nation

September 30, 2006

Dr. Roy L. Austin
United States Ambassador
Youths of Tobago

Good evening! I feel truly honored to be addressing this distinguished Tobagonian audience as part of the celebration of the 25^th birthday of one of Tobago’s unparalleled voluntary organizations, the Youths of Tobago (YOT).  Congratulations on attaining this milestone YOT. Congratulations as well on your many achievements: the Youth Speak Out programs, environmental clean up initiatives, and provision of assistance to the young, the elderly, and the misguided. I expect, however, that you will not rest on your laurels and that YOT will live on to celebrate many more birthdays.

As I considered what YOT does best, I decided to entitle my address  “Advancing Self, Community and Nation.” I do not know if members of YOT have thought of their work in these terms, but my interaction with some members convinces me that I cannot be too far off course to so regard your group’s involvements. Even were you to focus on only the first of these goals, self-betterment, you would be contributing to the other two; but I am aware that your members have promised “to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own…” I applaud this concern for others and realize that you have engaged in activities that fulfill this promise.

This evening, I shall intertwine my discussion of the seemingly selfish objective of advancing self with those of advancing community and nation. I concentrate especially on education but will also mention health, morality and employment as areas in which you may accomplish these goals. Later, I shall challenge you to examine your goals and efforts and ask whether you have achieved the best that you can. Do you remember that one of your promises is “to work only for the best?” This is a rather lofty but commendable ambition. But let me remind the audience that my challenge is not only to members of YOT; it is to every Tobagonian, especially since YOT may already be doing as much as we can expect of them. Please note, too, that two successful Tobagonians made valuable contributions to this speech. 

Self-betterment may be a purely selfish pursuit or it may provide one with the independence, skills and other resources to make a more valuable contribution to the welfare of others. For instance, when we become better educated, we can help someone with little or no education to write a letter to a government official explaining his/her need for government financial assistance. The educated person is also likely to be better read and, therefore, to obtain greater exposure to others’ solutions to social problems besetting his/her community. The better educated person will understand these solutions better than a less well educated person and have greater success with efforts to implement similar solutions. Furthermore, those interested in solutions to community problems are likely to have confidence in the recommendations of a person whose education is relevant to solving problems in a particular area, and will provide the opportunity for the educated person to help and even assist the educated where they can. If you are interested in helping others, help yourself first.

Youths today may need the assistance of organizations like YOT more than youths in the relatively distant past; yet, members of my youth generation lacked many opportunities that are present nowadays. When I was growing up in St.Vincent, very few young people expected their parents to be able to afford to pay the cost of sending them to secondary school. My parents struggled to pay my school fees every term; and I often lacked textbooks because my parents could not afford them. These conditions did not reduce my motivation to become well educated, but they limited the educational aspirations of many of my contemporaries. I do believe that good performances in primary and secondary school gave me such confidence that I never treated academic hurdles such as lacking a textbook as insurmountable.  

In Trinidad and Tobago today, the government provides free primary, secondary and tertiary education to all citizens. What a wonderful world for young citizens of this Republic! There are many Americans who would appreciate a free university education. But will young Trinbagonians take full advantage of these programs? Perhaps some have been reared in families that have not prepared them to make capital of this opportunity. And this is an example of the kind of situation where persons who already have an education can provide a community service, become a tutor for the less fortunate.

I deliberately chose tutoring as an example of an area in which you can make a difference. I have noticed that unlike what occurred in my youth, few students take secondary school entrance or CXC without undergoing extensive tutoring outside of their regular classes. Yet I suspect that many students with economically and educationally disadvantaged parents cannot pay for such tutoring; and these are the very students most likely to be performing poorly in school and to be in dire need of extra lessons. These students need your help.

Last week, I asked a Tobagonian who has made a success of his life to give me some thoughts on the subject that I am addressing this evening. His response agreed with my belief that just providing opportunities to attend school is only the beginning of increasing the national level of educational attainment. Here are some excerpts from his response:

“Generally, in my youth… parents recognized and instilled in the minds of their children from an early age that education was the route to achieving a decent standard of living (a birth right) and breaking the cycle of poverty. Hard work was embraced by everyone and there was respect for authority.

Ownership of land (no matter how small the parcel) was the goal of all young persons. Back-yard gardening was the norm. In fact Tobago was recognized as the bread-basket of Trinidad.

Tobagonians had a high per capita rate of achievement due to their philosophical underpinnings. As a matter of fact, several high-profile and influential positions in the public sector and elsewhere in Trinidad were held by Tobagonians.

About a generation ago or so, young Tobagonians, like their Trinidadian counterparts, adopted the posture of “easy living” and effortless income. This change is manifest in the beach person syndrome and development of the drug culture. The fascination with land ownership gave way to the obsession with land disposal and consumerism. Family values and the penchant for hard work evaporated.

To reverse this trend, the young people of Tobago need to be guided back to their original moorings… The culture of work for reward must be inculcated—the only place where reward precedes work is in the dictionary.” [end of response]

If you agree that your brother Tobagonian got a major part of the realty of youth in present-day Tobago right, you may also agree that those who are concerned about the welfare of Tobagonian youth have a mighty hard row to hoe; but an activity such as tutoring should be highly rewarding to the tutor. When you become a tutor for some of the young people in your society, you have the opportunity not just to build their academic skills but also to change their moral character and heighten their aspirations. And people with high aspirations are more likely to perform well in school, to avoid trouble with the law and to live a morally exemplary life. But you may ask still about the effect of these individual transformations on national development.

Well, consider the benefits of education to a nation as stated in the 16^th Article of the Inter-American Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS) adopted in 2001:  “Education is the key to strengthening democratic institutions, promoting the development of human potential, and alleviating poverty and fostering greater understanding among peoples.”

Of course, when we speak of helping people to obtain an education, our minds run to completing primary school, attempting to obtain some subjects at CXC, and perhaps obtaining at least a first degree. But there is a more basic level where we can help. On September 22^nd, a Newsday editorial indicated that there was evidence of an illiteracy rate of 20% in the primary schools of this country and a rate of about 20% to 25% in the adult population. At the White House Conference on Global Literacy held in New York two weeks ago, President Bush had this to say about the importance of reducing a high rate of illiteracy: “You can’t have prosperity unless people can read.”

Trinidad and Tobago’s Education Minister, the Honorable Hazel Manning, and the U.S. First Lady, Mrs. Laura Bush, also attended this Literacy Conference. I quote from Mrs. Bush’ speech: “…it’s important to remember that we’re all teachers. A person who never stood by a blackboard still teaches by example. By demonstrating our commitment to literacy, we can let millions know that reading and writing are important, and we can help build a healthier, more prosperous and more hopeful world.” So if you are not a teacher, you do not have an excuse to opt out of helping to reduce illiteracy in this nation.

Just in the event that you missed a part of the quote from Mrs. Bush, let me draw to your attention that she feels that literacy has health benefits. Indeed, I shall quote from an earlier part of her speech to show you how she arrived at this conclusion: “By investing in education, governments increase their citizens’ health literacy. People who can read can understand the label on a food container. They know how to follow instructions on the bottle of medicine. They’re also able to make informed decisions about their lives that will keep them and their families healthy.” She could have added that a physically healthy person is more likely than a physically unwell person to maintain a mental mindset that will aid academic performance.

Consider, too, that you may be able to motivate some people who lack a positive attitude toward education to adopt a better attitude by explaining to them the link between education and health. I am assuming, of course, that most people wish to live long and healthy lives; and although one may not need a college degree to understand instructions on a bottle of prescribed medicine, a little academic success does encourage an effort to make further academic progress.

I know that some people of relatively advanced age regard improved education as being beyond their reach. This is not so. Some of my best university students were the few who were more advanced in age. One who comes to mind is a retired physician well into his seventies. He may not have previously taken a course in race and ethnic relations, the subject of the course in which he was enrolled, but I quickly learned that his understanding of assignments far exceeded that of most of the students in their late teens and early twenties. Regardless of your age then, I challenge all of you to make the most of what is offered to you in Trinidad and Tobago’s educational system. A good education opens a multitude of doors and affords unparalleled personal benefit, both materially and psychologically.

By contrast, rejecting such opportunities reduces the likelihood of success. It seems that while some Trinbagonian students have been testing at globally competitive standards, as my Tobagonian respondent suggested, many others do only the bare minimum to “get by” in school. Perhaps they find that study interferes with the demands of liming. Or perhaps, lacking positive role models and continuous encouragement, they become resigned to mediocrity, feeling powerless to achieve more. Once they lose this hope, for that is what resignation is, they will rise only to the level of their self-imposed limitations. One needs simply to read the morning paper to find a multitude of stories describing such lost individuals, living on the streets and turning to crime.

Because of our perception that crime in Trinidad and Tobago today greatly exceeds crime in earlier years, the phenomenon of crime has received apparently unprecedented attention in this nation. YOT has shown an obvious interest in helping to keep Tobagonians safe from this scourge by sharing fellowship with teenagers at the Youth Training Center. We must recognize, however, that any educational efforts with youths perform the same function. Young people who expend time and effort on homework do not wish to lose that investment by jeopardizing the rewards that accompany having a good education. Additionally, resources expended on an early childhood education program may yield greater dividends than fellowship with teenagers at the Youth Training Center. A good preschool program may prevent kids from spending part of their adolescent years in a training school. I remind you of the adage “prevention is better than care.”

While this nation’s effort has been focused on crime, we sometimes seem to have forgotten another type of violation of norms. I think now of the area of morality. Perhaps we ignore morals because it is so difficult to obtain agreement on whether certain types of conduct are good or right. Perhaps, too, we judge the questionable area of immoral conduct as causing little or no harm to citizens. But a little thought may remind us that sexual promiscuity, for example, is one means of spreading the dreaded HIV virus and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).  Also of relevance is overindulgence in drinking alcohol, a behavior that has destroyed families and caused serious injury and death to drinkers and to others. Immorality then should not be ignored by groups that desire to advance self, community and nation.

Now how does employment become a concern of a voluntary organization? Most of us need money to live. If we do not work, we are likely to try to obtain money by devious or violent means. Both such means hurt others. Besides, most of us are not satisfied with barely earning a living. We like jobs with some status and large salaries. When we advance ourselves educationally, we increase our chances of obtaining satisfying jobs. When we assist others’ educational attainment, we help them to obtain similar jobs. As importantly, our community and our nation benefit from having a larger number of individuals capable of performing difficult and important tasks, and willing to do so. 

Your organization, the Youth of Tobago, illustrates the power of voluntary associations to influence individual lives and national courses of conduct. The vision and effort of the founder and other adult leaders of YOT is truly inspirational. I wish you ladies and gentlemen a happy birthday even as I wish your creation, YOT, a happy birthday; and I advise that your 25^th anniversary is perhaps an ideal time to engage in evaluating your guiding principles and your programs. How can this be best done?

There is a rather difficult but systematic procedure called Strategic Planning that may even involve updating of your mission statement. Either before this or after you may examine the environment in which your group operates and the strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats regarding the organization. Returning to the statements from my Tobagonian respondent whom I mentioned earlier, I would guess that there have been significant changes in the political, social, economic, and technical environment of Tobago since YOT started. Can you realistically expect to achieve the best while utilizing the means that you have always used? Of course, it is possible that you changed specific goals and means in response to the changing environment. Are you aware of these changes; and if not, would you accomplish more with such awareness?

Perhaps some recommendations from my second Tobagonian respondent will inform you of the importance of engaging in Strategic Planning. Please understand that I am assuming that careful analysis of your environment will show that he makes several valid points. More importantly, you will not know if he is correct without such an analysis.

This Tobagonian notes that the tourism sector is the largest employer in Tobago, and that there is a huge appetite for food in this sector that is not being satisfied locally. He notes, too, that there have been some successful projects in farming in Tobago from which hotels take all of the produce of young entrepreneurs. He mentions a demand for cassava flour, draperies for the hotels and a shortage of fish. He regards a sewing business and tilapia farming as projects that might be profitable. He also recognizes a shortage in Tobago of plumbers, electricians and air conditioning technicians as well as health care professionals.

Has YOT or any other voluntary organization dedicated itself to helping to meet the needs of your largest job producer, tourism, while helping you citizens to lead financially rewarding lives? Like my first respondent, this second one wants me to remind you that you can assist Tobagonians to be somebody, that you can provide hope; but never let it be forgotten that achievement takes work, focus and dedication. While I was completing this speech, I had a call from Harvey Boris, if he is not a Tobagonian, he has many blood relatives here, including one who is my cousin. He, also, asked me to transmit to you a message of hope and the importance of working hard if you are to realize your dreams.

In conclusion, on this happy occasion, I again wish you the best; and I look forward to hearing about the problems that your group continues to address. I expect only the best of you.

Now I leave you with the words of Margaret Meade: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Thank you for your kind invitation and for paying some attention to my words. May the Almighty bless us all!