Fifteen male Parkinson Secondary School students celebrated International Men’s Day, in a relaxed fun session, during which facilitator Neil Waithe sowed tiny seeds of encouragement and advice, aimed at assisting the boys to grow into fulfilling their potential as men.

The facilitator encouraged the boys to speak about their feelings and to give their opinions on issues affecting them and society.

Valuable lessons were learnt through fun exercises, as well as by casual conversation between Waithe and the students. So too were the lessons about the importance of considering the implications of their actions especially when following others, expressing themselves, respecting differences and listening to each other.

Waithe gave them an example when he told them a story about a boy whose mother warned him not to stone a monkey but as soon as she turned her back, he did so, was bitten by the monkey and had to be taken to the hospital. The students then re-enacted the story using props and commenting on the plot.

The fun exercises were punctuated with serious moments when they spoke about dealing with sadness. They also looked at actions they took which could help or heal others as well as discussed when last they helped someone and their reaction to someone hurting with emotional pain.

He said his goal was to help each of them achieve a positive shift in their perspective, but he knew that involved them taking small steps at a time.

 Afterwards, Nathan Taylor, who is a prefect and form captain, described the programme as an eye-opener. He said he liked how Waithe dealt with the societal issues.

“It was fun and we got a chance to say how we felt. Many boys gave their opinions; sometimes we feel our opinions will be overlooked or pushed away but the session gave us the opportunity to express ourselves.

After this, the boys re-grouped to share some of what they had learnt and Managing Director of the GEL Group, Mr Anthony Ali spoke to the boys about the importance of having a positive role model in their lives.  He also went into detail about the unusual manner in which he got his mentor who is now one of his best friends.  He also shared details of   his upbringing and encouraged them that even if they had to start at the bottom, they could work their way up to the top with hard work and diligence.  The students also got the opportunity to ask questions.

To wrap up the day, the students were shown a video of the GEL Group which helped them to broaden their knowledge of the company even more.