To commemorate the special occasion, the Department of Gender Affairs in St. Kitts held its annual International Men’s Day Award Ceremony under the theme “Positive Male Role Models”, at the Ocean Terrace Inn (OTI) yesterday, November 19.
Minister of Gender Affairs, the Honourable Eugene Hamilton stated that a positive male role model is someone who is genuine, confident, humble, successful, and a good listener.
“While everyone may not be seen as a positive role model, we all have the capacity to be one. Today, you will hear the good work that your father, husband, son, uncle nephew, brother, cousin, fiancé or neighbour has done to improve the lives of those around them” said Minister Hamilton adding that the event is designed for persons to learn from the positive role models.
He stated that too many young men in society are being marginalized and there is a misconception that they do not need as much empowerment as women do, which leaves them without proper guidance and increases the potential for them to engage in anti-social behaviour.
“We all need to encourage the men and boys in our lives to unlock their full potential. The more we encourage and emulate positive behaviours, the more we will see positive change in our society,” he said.
The men who were awarded for their positive impact on society were Williams V. Hodge for Education; Dr. Jerome Thomas for Agriculture; Augustus Shelford for Religion; Tyrone O’Loughlin for Youth Development and Sports; Royd Phipps for Creative and Performing Arts and Mitchel Slader for Media.
Special awards were given to Michael Weintraub for his humanitarian efforts and Livingston Huggins for his work with the National Men’s Council. Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris also presented a special award to Jefferson Fraites, owner of Fraites Supermarket in Molinuex for his charitable contributions in the community.
