When 16 year old Sonia Walker was selected as a participant in the first leg of the two-legged Commonwealth Interchange of the President's Award - Trinidad and Tobago and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award - Scotland, to visit Scotland with the local group from July 08 to 29, 2000, it was the leader of the Cascade community's social outreach programme, Marilyn Lobo-Chan, who made sure that the funds would be available for Sonia to go to Glasgow.
"This was one time that it can truly be said that it takes a village to raise a child" says Lobo-Chan, fondly called The Peach of the Valley by all those she has helped through the years.
The President's Award - Trinidad and Tobago, of which President Arthur N.R. Robinson is patron, is a non profit, voluntary organisation dedicated to the training of young persons between the ages of 14 to 25 in the four areas of skill, physical recreation, service and expedition. Training is at three levels, and on successful completion of each level, participants are presented with bronze, silver and gold awards. The local award scheme is affiliated to the Duke of Edinburgh's Award International Association and the Caribbean Award Scheme Council (CASC).
Sonia, a student of Bishop Anstey High School, and her mother Daisy were in a quandary when the letter of selection arrived in April. How was the money for the airfare to be raised? "They came to see if I could help to make the trip possible for Sonia" says Lobo-Chan. So the first thing Lobo-Chan did was to get the villagers together "and in about 24 hours a parlour was built for Daisy to sell her delicious saltfish accras and other items. That helped to outfit Sonia, she needed $850 for the uniform alone."
Then came the lists to collect nearly eight thousand dollars needed for airfare from Port of Spain to London to Glasgow and return. "National Flour Mills gave me half of the Piarco/London airfare. Kapok Hotel, Cushionflor Limited, Chan and Owen Equipment gave the bulk of the rest and we also got donations from residents in the area, for which we are very appreciative."
Sonia, who lives at Danglade Terrace in Cascade, is still a year away from completion of the final level of the President's Gold Awards competition. She has already successfully completed the level for bronze in the areas of skill, physical recreation, service and expedition. Her skill is French: "I am a member of the Alliance Francaise." For community service, Sonia and her group of ten to twelve who meet at Bishop Anstey High School every Tuesday, built a library at the Chinapoo Primary School, Morvant. Allister Williams puts them through their paces with physical exercises for the recreation section. And the expedition for the bronze leg was a hike from Curepe to Lopinot, Paria Bay and Blanchisseuse. "We had to be trained in first aid, campfire, cooking, choosing a campsite, setting up tents, and start and out fires safely" says Sonia.
The exchange trip to Scotland where Sonia and 15 Trinidadian participants carried out the arduous task of a four day hike in the Scottish mountains, was the silver level in the area of expedition. "It was nothing like our mountains, no trees like here, just steep mountains. We stayed at the Douglaswood Scout Centre where an entrant in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme working for her community service gold, took care of us. They will come here next year June for the gold qualifying expedition."
Sonia continues to work for her silver in the skill of French, physical training for recreation and would like to complete her silver community service "in something to do with children" as she manages her time between studying for next year's CXC exams and completion of what has to be done to take her to the gold awards level next June. Sonia's interest in the President's Awards Scheme came through her principal Valerie Taylor, who recently resigned to manage the construction of the east campuses of Bishop Anstey High School and Trinity College. "I think Miss Taylor was one of the first women to make it to gold, so that when she reactivated interest in the Awards scheme in the school, I joined this programme which basically encourages youths to enhance certain skills."