Sherwin Bart is slowly coming to terms with the fact that he is an advocate - a title that he never associated with his work with youth, with the elderly, with the LGBTQ community and with his church community in Georgetown, Guyana. By his own admission, he says he didn’t realize that what he has been doing all his young life is, in fact, advocacy. “Just like I want people to accept me for who I am…I want the same for everyone else,” said Sherwin, a former President of the Georgetown Anglican Youth Association. Growing up, he became aware that people around him were stigmatizing certain groups of people based on their differences; on reflection he realized that he was unconsciously making efforts to distance himself from stereotyping groups of people, and was instead always trying to build bridges of understanding between people with differing views.
Currently the Secretary of the Lodge Community Enhancement Committee (CEC), Sherwin describes his introduction to the group as a result of ‘badgering’ by a brotherly friend who encouraged him to join the CEC in Lodge.
Lodge is one of CFYR’s focus communities in Georgetown, Guyana, where Sherwin also attended a number of workshops put on by CFYR. His involvement in the CEC - as well as a local Community Policing Group (CPG) - reflect his concern that Guyanese men are “…in trouble” and he feels he can play a role in helping to build a more wholesome community, and contribute to a safer, more secure environment overall. Under the stewardship of the Executive, the CEC has spearheaded the clean-up of alleyways and the installation of some 30 street lights within the neighborhood to improve safety within the community of Lodge.
In December 2019, the Lodge CEC hosted a Men's Forum in collaboration with a local private sector company and with support from USAID through the CFYR Program. The aim of the Forum was to create a safe space for men to talk about issues affecting them directly, an area of long-standing concern for Sherwin, who feels that “…men have no form of support from society and are always being shunned for either doing too little or too much!”
Sherwin is currently one of 29 participants from the Eastern and Southern Caribbean actively engaging in an Online Advocacy Course (OAC) being implemented by USAID through CFYR; the OAC Webinar Series is guiding young people through the steps involved in designing and implementing advocacy programs to address issues that leave their communities vulnerable to crime and violence. As a result of participating in the course, Sherwin – whose group dubbed themselves the Peace Influencers - intends to use the knowledge gained to help men - in his community and beyond - to understand that all men struggle one way or another, and they need to help build each other. He believes that when men understand their role in the family, they can contribute to creating safer and better neighborhoods, communities, towns, regions and a better country, leading to a large decrease in violence overall.
Moving forward, Sherwin has plans to create a series of podcasts to hold unscripted discussions with men in what he calls “Guy Moments” where they can speak from the heart, discuss topics that affect them and find solutions that will encourage active, effective communication to help build and strengthen families, communities and their wider society.
“I didn’t realize that what I was doing was advocacy…I thought it was just me being nice to people. Here I am now learning that it actually has a name, and I can see where I’m having an impact. These were lessons I learned from my parents and my grandparents – be nice to people.”
Contact: Janey Fugate, JaneyF@CreativeDC.com