Dillon to attend Commonwealth forum

Hello Everyone, 

My name is Dillon Ollivierre. Most recently I’ve been selected as a delegate to attend the Commonwealth Youth Forum in London this year 2018. The Commonwealth Youth Forum takes place in London, England from April 16 - 18 .

The Commonwealth Youth Forum provides an opportunity for the young people of the Commonwealth to build cross-cultural connections and networks, debate the challenges facing its young people, and agree youth-led initiatives to influence decision makers and ensure young people have a voice in its future.

The 2018 Youth Forum’s theme of “Powering Our Common Future” reflects the CHOGM theme of “Towards a Common Future” and illustrates the powerful potential of young people across the Commonwealth in devising solutions to complex global challenges as well as their ability to bring forward meaningful recommendations to the Heads of Government meeting.

The Forum will include opportunities for plenary discussions and action planning breakout sessions, focussed around CHOGM's four themes: prosperity, security, sustainability and fairness.

Being chosen to attend this auspicious event and represent the youth of my country is a unique honor. I am excited by the opportunity to be an ambassador for St. Vincent and the Grenadines and represent the limitless possibilities of harnessing the talents and skills of our young people towards the development of our country. I am therefore soliciting your financial support to ensure that my attendance and the attendance of the voice of our Vincentian youth are possible.

Upon my return from this youth forum It is my intention to begin plans for a school tour, to share my story and the stories of many other youth leaders who persist to be the change needed, to educate our youth about the commonwealth and what it is and their role in the development of our community, country and the Commonwealth.

A bit about the work I've done. 

Guided by my upbringing and my understanding of life and love and my desire to be the Change I wants to see in the world, I used poetry as a starting point to become apart of the National dialogue on issues such as crime ,violence,  suicide and climate change. Because of my perseverance in contributing to the national awareness on crime and violence, this earned me commendations by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves and the then, Opposition senator Anesia Baptiste, during a budget presentation in the house of parliament .In 2014, I became St. Vincent & The Grenadine’s young national poet of the year for my poem ‘suicidal’ which portrays a person on the brink of taking their own life.

I  did not want to only speak out against troubling acts of the world and so I took the initiative to take a stand to portray action and so I took part in a march against crime and violence dubbed Leave Out Violence in S . V. G in April of 2012. Participating in this March and Rally was just the beginning of opportunities I used to show my passion and love for condemnig  distasteful acts.

In December 2013, a flood affected St. Vincent; homes were destroyed and families lost loved ones and their belongings. I  became part of a group that organized a successful drive for food, clothing and water for these affected people. Early January, I was then invited to help organize a concert to raise funds to benefit students affected by the flood. The group stuck together and Rise Up Bequia Inc was formed; a social activist Not-for-profit organization-which focuses on building and strengthening core ideas and practices of sustainable community development, education and agency outreach.Since then, the group has partnered with the Kerosene Lamp Foundation and the Epatoma Foundation to paint, clean and do landscaping work at the Bequia library, organize annual talent exposition and annual school’s supplies drive among other things.I've  since visited schools on Bequia sharing motivational poetry on the importance of education, having a positive attitude , setting goals and being committed.

In 2015 I attended a resilient livelihood program which focused on empowering young people and strengthening resilience for climate change and risk reduction. Following the program I took part in a coastal mitigation project which sparked great interest and concern for the environment. I wrote and produced a spoken word video called ‘I will be the Change’ which cemented his desire to contribute to climate action which is the 13th sustainable development goal. In 2015 I  was given an opportunity to teach at the Bequia Seventh Day Adventist Primary School and has since used the classroom and school as a platform to engage and motivate students there . Between 2016 to now, I have become one of Her Majesty's Queen's Young Leader , One Young World Ambassador, Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society , all because of the work mentioned above. I am  also a member of Caribbean Youth Environment Network and have attended their biennial Congress in St.Kitts, I also  attended Unesco ESD training program in Belize and most recently the World Youth Congress in Belize.

In 2018 I  was awarded  the Small Acts of Kindness- Kindness Award . I also organized an International Women's Day program at the Bequia S.D.A Primary school and awarded the female teachers their certifcates for their contribution to adventist education on the Island of Bequia . I  however didn't stop there as I  launched a collaborative video addressing domestic violence called 'The Truth Is' on the said day.