Kadija Dyer is a familiar face at the Maraval office of the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago (ESCTT), where she wears many headwraps.
She is the finance officer, team leader for public relations and communication, and is in charge of the youth education and development programme – the latter she considers one of her “babies.”
“I love working with young people. A lot of times they are misunderstood, but what I love about them is that they are very innovative. We just have to find ways to reach them.”
She told WMN part of her role in the youth education and development programme is to find ways to get young people interested and involved in the programmes offered by the committee, and to disseminate information, especially of a historical nature.
She said she was instrumental in the development of the National African History Quiz competition, now an annual event hosted by the committee. One of its objectives is to help the students, teachers and parents involved to learn about, understand, and appreciate the country’s African heritage.
The ESCTT also hosts an annual spoken word competition which encourages its young participants to use the spoken word as a tool for social and cultural development, and to help students develop their oratory and dramatic skills.
“Through these programmes I have children who participated running up to me now and telling me how much they enjoy the competitions, students who did not like history before going on to do it. Some even volunteer and want to be a part of the (Emancipation) village."
[caption id="attachment_967512" align="alignnone" width="733"] - JEFF K MAYERS[/caption]
Dyer said she started working on the structure of the quiz competition when she was a student and working part-time at the ESCTT.
“I didn’t have as much time then, because I was focusing on my studies. But I did the research, and when I got a full-time job here, I decided it was time to do it.
"Incidentally, it was the same year the UN declared the year of 2011 as the International Year for People of African Descent.”
Dyer, from Morvant, has an associate degree in tourism and hospitality management from the now defunct TT Hospitality and Tourism Institute, and a bachelor’s in tourism management from UWI, St Augustine. Both times she did her internship with the ESCTT – an organistion formed in 1992 as an umbrella body to strengthen Emancipation celebrations in TT.
“Working with the committee means a lot. It keeps me grounded and humble. As a young African woman, I know who I am, and my time here has allowed me to learn more about, appreciate and accept my culture,” the 35-year-old told WMN.
She said even while she was a student at Success Laventille Composite (now Success Laventille Secondary), she had been encouraged to get involved with the committee by poet, playwright, librarian and cultural activist Eintou Pearl Springer.
“People say a lot of things, but I am very proud to have been a student at Success Laventille...Back then I was the captain of the under-
