Gabriella Arjun of Queen’s College is this year’s ‘Top National Youth Environmental Speaker’ after she won Recover Guyana’s SHOUT Competition.
The four-phase competition, open to Secondary Schools across Guyana aimed at getting youths more involved in environmental protection and preservation. It concluded yesterday at the Ramada Georgetown Princess Hotel.
Recover Guyana, the environmental based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, supported by ExxonMobil Guyana, hosted the competition.
A release from Recover Guyana said that the first phase of the competition involved the submission of one-minute videos from Grades nine and ten students from Secondary Schools across Guyana detailing the sustainable changes they would make to their school’s environment if given one million dollars. A total of seventy-eight submissions were received from which thirty students were shortlisted after a rigorous scoring process.
Phase Two of the competition –delivering a prepared environmental speech, and Phase Three – a challenging yet engaging impromptu speech competition, were completed yesterday morning.
Following Phase Two and Three of the competition, the top three students were selected by a panel of ten judges, to compete in Phase Four, the decisive round where they were asked to answer one question: Can you describe a specific environmental problem within your school, explain what innovative solution you will propose and discuss the potential impact of your solution – to determine the national winner.
Scoring above the other candidates, Arjun of Queen’s College emerged winner of the competition. She received a trophy, a laptop, $100,000 and other prizes, while Queen’s College received free GTT fibre internet for one year and $500,000 to work on the proposed environmental project to address pollution in the school’s environment.
In accepting her award, she thanked those who supported her journey noting that she has learnt a lot along the way. “Even though we are the cause [of environmental degradation], we can be the solution,” she said.
Coming in second place was Samarah Nazamoodeen of President’s College who received a trophy, $50,000 and other prizes. This year’s third-place candidate is Tremain Clarke of Marian Academy who received a trophy, $25,000, a healthcare voucher, a tablet, and other prizes.
Others in the top ten were Jasmine Vyphuis of Friendship Secondary School, Eric Doodnauth of St Stanislaus College, Keshika Mahase of Vreed-en-Hoop Secondary, Rihanna Bishop of West Demerara Secondary, Isa Bremner of Qayyim Academy, Judeyah Slowe of New Central High School and Charesse Whyte of New Silvercity Secondary School. They all an award from ExxonMobil Guyana, a $35,000 dental voucher from Flawless Dental GY, a token from Ultra Care, a Hamper from Massy Store Guyana and a green token from Recover Guyana.
The prize for the Most Influential Speech was awarded to Vyphuis of Friendship Secondary School while Arjun of Queen’s College received the prize for Most Environmental Impactful Speech, Clarke of Marian Academy the Best Speaker Award and the Green Award presented by Recover Guyana to Zeekel Narine of Anna Regina Secondary School.
Plans are in the pipeline to have the third edition of the competition hosted in 2025.
“Engaging our youth in environmental protection is crucial for a sustainable future. Through initiatives like SHOUT Competition, we are empowering the next generation to think creatively and act boldly to safeguard our planet. The passion and innovation demonstrated by these young minds give me immense hope for the future of environmental advocacy in Guyana.” Founder and President of Recover, Dr. Dave Lalltoo said.
