Teens Encouraged To Practice Their Craft

Caption:Seated from left to right: Republic Bank, Social Investment Assistant, Rehanna Ramroop; Workshop Coordinator, Dr. Dani Lyndersay; Workshop Facilitators, Professor Funso Aiyejina and Dr. Merle Hodge; Republic Bank’s General Manger – Information Technology Managmenet Division, Aldrin Ramgoolam; Jamie Bagoo, Representative Ministry of Arts and Culturalism, Division of Culture. Standing are the Workshop participants.

Port of Spain, Trinidad: August 27, 2015: The Dev Cropper Teens’ Creative Writing Workshop ended in fun and excitement, last Saturday, August 22, at the Toco Foundation Centre.

Republic Bank partnered with The Cropper Foundation to host a residential creative writing workshop for teenagers. The Workshop was conducted in a retreat-style, allowing 15 specially chosen participants to spend eight days together at the Toco Foundation Centre. The teenagers attended daily sessions aimed at developing their personal writing skills, as well as increasing their knowledge on publishing.

Republic Bank’s, General Manager, Information Technology Management Division, Aldrin Ramgoolam, said, “Empowerment through literacy doesn’t only mean raising the overall literacy levels within our country. More importantly, it means working with the national community to help produce the next generation of writers; the next class of Lovelaces, Naipauls, Selvons, Mootoos, and of course, Hodges.” Ramgoolam encouraged participants to pay it forward, by passing on the knowledge they gained during the Workshop to others they meet in their life’s journey.

At the closing ceremony, the participants shared their written pieces with all in attendance. Republic Bank, through its Power to Make a Difference programme, continues to make a positive difference in influencing the shape and scope of literary achievement and recognition in Trinidad and Tobago.