Junior Calypso Monarch Shallaika Hazell takes the spotlight as she performs alongside her idol, soca sensation Destra Garcia, during the X-Change concert at Mobs 2 in Chaguaramas on Saturday.
Photos: David Wears

BY MICHAEL MONDEZIE

The region's youths are under attack and not enough is being done to ensure their protection, says Unicef regional director Nils Arne Kastberg.

“The media has showcased the young people of the Caribbean as a violent bunch, when in reality just five to ten per cent of the youth are involved in crime and violence,” Kastberg said at the Unicef X-Change concert on Saturday at Mobs 2, Chaguaramas.

He said the wrong image of the youth was being projected to the older people in the region, and this accounted for their neglect.

“The region’s youth need protection from HIV/Aids, from crime and hate, but they are not getting the protection they deserve from the leaders and people of the region.”

He said the X-Change programme which started in T&T two weeks ago, would now spread to the wider region and North and South America.

“It was not cheap to bring these groups together this past week, but we felt the youth needed the opportunity to not only redeem themselves for all the negative media, but show their positive attributes and problem-solving abilities.

“They overcame cultural, ethnic and language differences and have fallen in love with each other.”

Hundreds of youngsters from various parts of T&T joined their peers from around the region on Saturday for a celebratory cultural exchange at Mobs 2. The showcase of talent from around the Caribbean and parts of South America brought the curtain down on the week-long Unicef X-Change Workshop.

Local entertainment companies Island People and Xtatik pooled resources in a collaborative effort with Unicef to bring together youth leaders from T&T, Jamaica, Barbados, Haiti, Grenada, Guyana, Belize and Brazil.

The young leaders exchanged ideas on several problems that have been plaguing youth around the globe.

Feature act Machel Montano and Xtatik unified the region's youth with an inspirational two-hour set after lively openings by local acts KeReRe, Junior Calypso Monarch Shallaika Hazell and her sister Sheynnene, Sheldon Blackman and his newly-formed band Musical Warriors, Hands of Rhythm and Levi Myaz.

After individual calypso performances, the Hazell sisters teamed up to sing Maximus Dan’s 2005 hit Zion.

Montano varied his repertoire, opting to open his set with the inspirational tracks No War, You, Not Giving Up and Be Yourself.

He then went into party mode, upping the tempo to sing his three “insane” anthems, Mad Man, Craziness and Get Mad Now.

Soca sensation Destra Garcia then joined Montano on stage to sing their 2003 hit collaboration Carnival.

Garcia then held centre stage to sing her 2004 hit Bonnie and Clyde and invited young Shallaika on stage to sing along with her.

Shallaika looked right at home on the “big soca stage” perhaps providing a glimpse of what is to come.

Montano ended the night’s entertainment by calling all the X-Changers to the stage for an emotional farewell performance.