00:00 The community-based refinement program for girls aims to develop and encompasses character
00:06 building, dining etiquette, social graces and personal image.
00:11 In delivering the feature address, Minister of Sport and Community Development, Sharmfa
00:15 Kajol Lewis, sought to make some things clear.
00:19 Traditionally, we tend to define communities by geographical location, villages and so
00:26 on, but within your school you have your own community.
00:31 And if we work with each person, each child, each family, each geographical area, each
00:37 institution in helping them to be empowered and prepare them for the world, then that
00:42 is what community development really is all about.
00:45 She said obtaining a degree is not the end all in the process.
00:50 Now the government has done its work to ensure that everybody has an education.
00:57 So now any and everybody has a degree now.
01:00 What sets you apart?
01:02 And it's little things about your confidence, how you carry yourself, how you dress, how
01:07 you deal with other people, how you manage yourself at a meeting, how you treat with
01:13 others that sets you apart from that person next to you.
01:17 Kajol Lewis pointed to employees being teachable and able to take directions.
01:22 I like to say to my team, it's not about who has a degree and who doesn't, but are you
01:29 trainable, are you friendly with people, are you treating my constituents with respect?
01:34 I care less about your master's degree if you don't know how to treat my constituents
01:39 with respect.
01:40 Can't work for me if you're not respecting my people.
01:44 Cultivating the right social etiquette remains paramount not only for girls but for everyone,
01:51 inclusive of boys, which the program intends to embrace as the school expands.
01:57 All persons in society should learn and adopt positive social etiquette and skills.
02:03 Contrary to popular misconceptions, etiquette is not for selective people.
02:09 Etiquette is for everyone.
02:12 These skills are essential in empowering all young persons to take them beyond the reach
02:18 of traditional and basic education.
02:21 Etiquette training may even be more necessary in communities where its residents have been
02:27 underserved and striving towards recovery.
02:30 All participants received certificates of participation following conclusion of the
02:35 Tobago session held at the Dwight Yorke Stadium.
02:39 Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
02:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:44 (upbeat music)
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