BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, October 26, 2017 (PLP PR Media Inc.) — After the group’s near military-precision show on Independence Day Parade at Warner Park on Saturday October 7, club membership has swelled, and the lower age limit has been lowered further. Membership has swelled to over 130 and the newest member is three-years old.
The Mol-Phil Explorers Youth Club, which was formed on Saturday June 24 this year as a National Security initiative that is part of the National Crime Reduction and Prevention Strategy targeting young people, meets every Saturday afternoon on the Phillips’ Village hard court.
As the club plans ahead, it will be holding a bake sale on Saturday October 28 at Bourryeau Gate in Constituency Number Seven starting from 7:00 am, and all are invited to come and support the work of the brave members of the Mol-Phil Explorers Youth Club.
“The bake sale is to raise funds for the Christmas concert and their Christmas party along with whatever activities we have planned for the calendar of events,” said Inspector Rosemarie Isles-Joseph, the founder of the club. “The parents contributed to this bake sale.”
The Saturday after the Independence Day Parade, October 14, they were back at the hard court in Phillips’ while welcoming guests led by the Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and also Area Members Parliamentary Representative Dr the Hon Timothy Harris.
Joining the Prime Minister at the event were the National Security Advisor Major General Stewart Saunders, Assistant Commissioner of Police Andre Mitchell, Assistant Commissioner of Police Merclyn Hughes, Crime Reduction Specialist Dr Neals Chitan, and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security Mr Osmond Petty.
A nine-year-old student of the Joshua Obadiah Williams Primary School in Molineux, Master Devanje Stokes, quietly walked to Inspector Rosemarie Isles-Joseph and informed her that he wanted to join the club after his friends had told him how well they had performed at the Independence Day Parade.
He was immediately accepted, and the next thing he asked for was a club’s T-shirt. Luckily Inspector Isles-Joseph had one his size. It was given to him and he wore it over his shirt. He then announced that he had a poem he wanted to recite. The Inspector took a gamble and allowed the boy to recite the poem.
It turned out to be one of the best decisions she had taken since she volunteered to form the group. The boy’s poem was titled ‘Creative Industrious Youth’. At the end of the recital, all present led by Prime Minister Harris gave the boy a standing ovation.
“This is a young star in the making,” said Prime Minister Harris as he talked in praise of the then newest member of the Mol-Phil Explorers Youth Club, nine-year-old Master Devanje Stokes. “I want to encourage all the parents and guardians to give these young people and to give every young child in St. Kitts and Nevis a chance to reach their full potential.”
According to the founder of the club, on that particular Saturday, apart from Devanje Stokes, another nine children joined the club.
At the same meeting, the children rendered their theme song, Conquerors and Overcomers, for the first time. Enhancing the song was Mr Archie Williams, Director Chaplaincy Services St. Kitts and Nevis, who was playing a guitar. “I wrote it with the help of my husband, Mr Lucian Joseph” said Inspector Rosemarie Isles-Joseph. “We put the words together.”
Up to and including last Saturday October 21, more members joined the club and those interviewed said that it was either their friends or Inspector Rosemarie Isles-Joseph who encouraged them to join.
A mother of three, Mrs Nareema Rasheed, said: “One of my friends told me about the club, and my son told me that he has to join the club because ‘our teachers said that I have to go’. I contacted Rosemarie and I signed them up and we started from last week. My eldest son is eight, the other one is five and my daughter is three. Now she is the youngest member.”
Two new members who talked to this media were Master Keanu Phipps, from Molineux, who is a second former at the Cayon High School and 15-year old Miss Shantal Vriese from Molineux who is a fifth form student at the same school. Keanu was told about the club by a friend, while Shantal was approached and encouraged to join by Inspector Isles-Joseph.