Small
Islands Voice Youth Forum
by
Rosalia Smauela, Gemma Hogg, Kathleen Acena
Nukutere College
Small
Islands Voice is an inter-regional initiative established by
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO). Its purpose is to bring together islanders from the
Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Caribbean Regions in a forum where
they can discuss concerns which are common to one another and
at the same time gain a valuable social and cultural perspective
on each other too.
One
part of the SIV has been the setting up of a forum or discussion
site on the World Wide Web. Here on Rarotonga, Nukutere College
was selected as the participating school and Form 3L has been
actively contributing to this forum on the Internet.
Each
school had the task of writing on a specific theme while each
of the other schools responded to it with comments and insights
of their own. Form 3L were given the theme of 'Sport and Recreation'
and after each member of the class wrote down their thoughts
and ideas, Rosalia, Gemma and Kathleen collated it all and then
rewrote and edited it as the article
appears (username view and password only).
The
other schools in the forum are located in the Seychelles (Indian
Ocean), Bequia (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and St. Kitts
and Nevis in the Caribbean and on the island of Palau.
The
various other themes which have been tackled range from: 'Alcohol
and Drug Abuse Among the Youth of My Island'; 'The Future of
My Island'; 'Advantages and Disadvantages of Living on a Small
Island' and 'Life After School on My Island'.
This
has been a worthwhile project to be involved with and it will
be interesting to see how UNESCO develops it further in years
to come. Who knows - we may even see students visiting some
of these far flung schools in other countries in person and
not just communicating over the internet.
SOURCE:
Nukutere College Yearbook 2002.
