PHILIPSBURG:---On May 25th, 2018 Voice of The Youth St. Maarten will be celebrating their 5th Year Anniversary on the Captain Hodge Wharf. The foundation was founded on May 17th, 2013, by Mrs. Zulayka Peterson who came with the initiative to establish the project St. Maarten Youth Brigade, due to a lack of educational and social activities to stimulate effective communication among and with youngsters and a strong desire to instill positive self-images within our Youth. These were the key motivational factors to establish the Foundation.
The vision of the organization is to contribute to the empowerment and in creating awareness within the youth of St. Maarten, by providing education on their basic rights and a sense of duty in order to create respectful, responsible and reliable citizens that participate actively in the edification of our country.
It is our mission to assist in the development of youngsters in the social, economic, cultural and governmental areas by offering integral educational programs, that are meant to create and strengthen the awareness of these basic rights and sense of duty.
Therefore, our youngsters must live by the 7 Core Values of the St. Maarten Youth Brigade:
Good conduct, Responsibility, Team Spirit, Professionalism, Reliability, Commitment and Leadership skills.
Reflecting on the past 5 years, we must say that the road was not always smooth, as with any new organization we experience many growing pains. But our loyal and committed funding agencies, St. Maarten Development Fund and Dutch Collaborating Funds Caribbean showed us confidence and supported us in our project from day one. We are grateful and thankful to these agencies for placing their trust in us and believing in our program. We salute and thank everyone who has been part of this organization, our staff, coaches, mentors, parents, volunteers, our stakeholders and other NGO’s who continue to encourage our young members to strive for excellence.
Last but not least, we thank Bos di Hubentud our sister organization in Curacao, who has been our inspiration in this endeavor and with whom we have a very close working relationship.
