Service before self, understanding and appreciating one’s country, community oriented action – these were just a few of the benefits participants in the President’s Youth Award: Republic of Guyana (PYARG) could have claimed on Saturday evening.In an award presentation ceremony held at the National Cultural Centre, several hundred young people were awarded for their participation in the initiative. The PYARG is a spin-off of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award introduced in Britain in 1956.It later became known as the International Award for Young People and was adopted and launched locally on October 3, 1998.In the years since, the programme has played a role in the lives of more than 10,Cheap Jerseys From China,000 young people. Each year, hundreds of youths between the ages of 14 and 25 sign up to be a part of the social initiative.The outstanding bronze awardees with President Bharrat Jagdeo,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds and Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport,Cheap China Jerseys Authentic, Dr. Frank Anthony. Also in the photo are two AND1 players visiting Guyana who handed out some of the awards.The participants enter at the Bronze level and as they successfully complete each level they move up to the next. The three levels are Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each level requires youths to participate in several community-development oriented activities as well as complete an ‘expedition’. The programme seeks to teach participants, necessary life skills as well as foster social responsibility.Minister of Culture,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, Youth and Sports,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, Dr. Frank Anthony, called the initiative a model youth programme here in Guyana. He said that the participants train for a better understanding and appreciation of their country.The youths are exposed to activities that foster skills in leadership and community development. In recent years, their energies have also been directed towards addressing numerous social issues such as the spread of STDs such as HIV/AIDS and domestic violence.He spoke of their peer education programmes which utilize ‘Edu-tainment’ to reach out to other young people. Dr. Anthony also spoke of the environmental programmes fostered by the PYARG such as caring for the leatherback turtle population and coastal protection programmes. The participants also work with the National Trust to help in the efforts to protect world heritage sites.Some of the other activities in which participants were engaged during their time with the programme ranged from welding, catering and drama to learning first aid and sign language. Their volunteers’ efforts take them to orphanages, hospitals and homes for the elderly and disabled where they can see firsthand the challenges faced by others and allow them to better appreciate what they have.President Jagdeo,China Jerseys, patron of the programme, addressed the awardees as well. He encouraged them to develop a sense of love for and pride in their country, saying that it will only make progress that much easier. He also asked the young people to make the effort to transcend the old barriers of race and religion that have long held back progress in Guyana.He urged the participants to be more involved in the world around them, to develop a broader outlook and be more cognizant of changes on a global scale and the role that Guyana will play in these scenarios.The President also asked that outside of the awareness of the issues both local and global, the awardees needed to be prepared to do their part in whatever way they could to be agents of change. He urged that upon their return to their communities they take up positions of leadership and work against the ingrained habits of society that hinder progress and create a breeding ground for social ills.He issued a particularly strong call to the awardees to play a part in the fight against domestic violence especially against children.The President said that unless it was stopped the children who were daily losing their innocence through these acts will never be able to play their parts in taking over the country in the future.