MenTouring
The YMCA Youth Outreach Services (YOS) is dedicated to developing caring, responsible individuals.  YOS has three arms of youth service; MenTouring, HIV and AIDS Awareness and Youth Leadership Development.  We are focused on mentoring young boys in a non violence approach to dealing with gender issues. Our service titled MenTouring provides alternatives through lectures, activities, Yoga, swimming and personal testimonials of successful males who have survived the odds in society. The MenTouring programme delivers service to Kids In Need of Direction (KIND) and St Michaels Boys’ Home, Credo and other Secondary schools in the environs.

A strong component of MenTouring is creative expression. In order to afford this opportunity, the YMCA has integrated art classes within the sessions. The integration of Art was made possible by American Women’s Group.

On February 4th- 6th, the YMCA Training of Trainers residential retreat at the Cascadia Hotel. Twenty (20) individuals participated in the training exercise to become YMCA MenTouring Facilitators. The training was conducted and spear headed by Mr. Selvyn Lewis of The Barcam. The weekend was a complete success! The YMCA's training of trainers was sponsored by JB Fernandes Memorial Trust.

The newest strand of MenTouring is the Shoot2Live a project. The project seeks to address the important and socially pertinent issue of male led gender based violence amongst young men in contemporary Port of Spain through the use of photographyTraining of Trainers

Shoot To Live
Shoot To Live is a positive twist on the term ’shoot to kill’, an all too prevalent term in a society permeated by violence. The Shoot To Live project aims to document aspects of the young men’s lives through ‘gender lens’. The project’s pilot began with a group of twenty young men who have had access to 35mm cameras and ‘point and shoot’ digital cameras. They are currently shooting photos of various scenes in their daily lives, and have narrated the photos using language and perceptions developed from the MenTouring sessions.

The first phase is themed ‘SMILE’ and produced a 2010 calendar. The second phase aims to exhibit the photography of the boys in a public art show. The final stage will see the boys producing a full colour coffee table magazine.

Shoot To Live serves to offer the boys a unique opportunity to create works of art that not only reflect their creative qualities and thereby build self-esteem, but works of art that are underpinned by sensitivity to gender and its affects on society.Shoot To Live restarts…

On March 12^th, 2011, the YMCA Trinidad and Tobago began the next cycle of their Shoot To Live project. Shoot To Live is a component of the YMCA’s MenTouring Programme, which address male marginalization and criminality within contemporary Trinidad and Tobago. Shoot To Live is a positive twist on the term Shoot To Kill, an all too prevalent term in a society permeated by violence. The project uses an added component of basic photography to offer it’s participants an additional avenue for self expression. Armed with DSLR cameras the young men use the shutter of the camera to shoot various scenes within their daily lives and of cultural spots throughout Trinidad.

Funded by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), fifteen (15) young men between the ages of 12-17yr from St. Michael’s School for Boys, CREDO Foundation and Rainbow Rescue are participating in the YMCA’s Shoot To Live project 2011. The project comprises Life skills sessions (on self esteem, team building, reason and emotions, conflict resolution and aggression), basic photography and basic video exposure.

The projects receive Financial and Technical Support from JB Fernandes Memorial Trust 1UNFPA, UNDP Ministry of Culture, Gender and Community Development, Ministry of Social Development, The Royal bank of Canada (R B C)

• SMILE Calendar
• Shoot 2Live postcard
• Gender Lens 2011

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Or Call: (868) 627-7835

Community Outreach

The YMCA provides HIV/AIDS prevention education, policy building initiatives and an avenue for advocacy to a diverse audience through our Community Outreach projects. Thousands of youth interface with our educators through educational and condom distributions. Our campaigns focus on promoting the correct and effective use of condoms amongst sexually active young people between the ages 14-21.

Recently, we successfully coordinated a regional effort in Haiti and Dominican Republic, to educate youth on prevention of HIV/AIDS through the project Sex Is Ovah. Funding for this project was made possible through Y Care International and Latin America and Caribbean Alliance of YMCAs. (LACA)
In the past we have provided base research for Child Labour Laws and supported campaigns for the eradication of inequity within society. Our work in these areas is ongoing, since we are a recognised voice in deliberations pertaining issues of this nature.
As part of our direct interaction strategy we maintain alliances with 3Canal and IslandPeople Events to increase distribution of HIV/AIDS prevention material during the Carnival season.
We have successfully partnered with ILO, UNCIEF, UNFPA, Condom Crew, Population Services International (PSI), Red Cross and Family Planning.

Bake 4 Life

The HIV/AIDS Bake 4 Life initiative was launched at the HYATT hotel on January 21st. The collaborative initiative between YMCA and S Concepts was a huge success. The feedback from the media was overwhelming. The chocolate based,chocolate chip flavored cupcake with a cream cheese filling topped with a raspberry HIV/AIDS ribbon, is available at Linda's bakery at a cost of $6.00 per cup cake. Part proceeds go toward a resource fund for the Cyril Ross Foundation.