NIA-CHARLESTOWN, NEVIS (March 18^TH, 2011) — A large number of Nevisians, aged 14 to 26, assembled at the Nevis Cultural Centre on Feb. 26 for the launch of Nevis’ Rotaract Club.

The event, organised by the Rotary Club of Nevis, served as “a follow-up meeting” to the Oct. 29 to Nov. 1, 2010 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards [RYLA] Conference.

President of the Rotary Club of Nevis Mr. Charles Morton, at the launch meeting, said he hoped to “motivate and mobilise the young people of Nevis into forming the Rotaract Club.”

“Rotaract is the young Rotarian. The Rotary motto is service above self and we are here to try and help persons who are indigent people. We are helpful people in the community.

“We look for young people with leadership qualities: persons who can mold and provide guidance for other young people,” he explained.

President Morton said he was pleased with the work that his organisation had been doing on Nevis and thought the time had come for the youth population to become involved in the Rotary Club’s service-based activities.

President of the Rotaract Club of St. Kitts Ms. Nicole Liburd.

“Rotary in Nevis has been involved in the presentation of wheelchairs, presentation of baskets to persons within the community [and] we have also done the spelling-bee. Every year, we have a Christmas party for young people in the island of Nevis who are challenged as well as persons at the various schools.

The Rotaract Club of St. Kitts, headed by its president Ms. Nicole Liburd, journeyed to Nevis and formed part of the launch meeting.

Since its July 1986 inception, the Rotaract Club of St. Kitts “had been doing lots of projects.”

Such projects, President Liburd said, included serving breakfast on National Heroes Day to residents of the Cardin Home as well as placing garbage bins around St. Kitts.

“We are hoping to get the youths in Nevis energised to be a part of this wonderful organisation,” she said, adding that she was ready to “impart some of what she had for the youths of Nevis.”