Local entrepreneur MILLICENT BARTY is the winner of the 2018 Queen’s Young Leaders Award. Last Wednesday, she was invited to deliver a speech when the British High Commissioner hosted the Queen’s baton at his residence.
I AM privileged to be given this great opportunity to be a recipient of the Queens Young Leaders Award.
What an incredible honour it is to also have the opportunity to carry the Queen’s Baton in its final leg here in the Solomon Islands.
Thank you, your Excellency.
The Queen’s Baton is significant in relaying her majesty’s message.
The message that the Commonwealth Games are coming! The Baton culminates history – or shall I say, HERSTORY – of being the leader of the Commonwealth.
I would like to take this opportunity to relay my message to you, especially to the young students we have with us tonight.
Each and everyone of us here tonight, we each carry our own baton.
We are in this boundless relay race called life.
The batons we carry possess our message that we would like to see, transcend through for generations.
When I was told of tonight’s programme, not only was I honoured but it made me reflect on the significance of my own race.
The ideas my Baton carries and what it may represent.
For some of us, our vision may not be clear yet.
Our batons are merely pursuits of beliefs and ideas. But to realise that we are in a boundless relay race, I believe, is a fundamental starting point.
If life is a boundless relay race.
Each one of us is the athlete of our own life.
As athletes there is a responsibility to ourselves and our generation to prepare, strengthen and nurture our potential.
We do this by focus and training.
Training to improve our abilities.
Broaden our minds and fostering great ideals with our peers and communities that is positive, progressive and inspiring.
THIS, is how we win!
The Queen’s Young Leaders Award is a milestone in my personal race and a continuation of my training in cultivating my ideas towards my vision.
The responsibility with my Baton lies a simple idea.
An idea to find an effective communication platform.
One that uses our culture and traditional ways of sharing information and knowledge;
Only 17% of adults in our nation are literate – this leaves more than 80% semi or illiterate.
I use Kastom Stories to tackle this issue.
To ensure that our people, especially those in rural communities (the 85%) are given information in ways that they understand and appreciate.
To be better aware of the decisions that they make and how it will impact their future – on issues such as women in political leadership and participation, democratic voting rights and Landowner awareness campaigns.
This award is a great opportunity for me to do what I am passionate about.
We all have great opportunities and we will come across hurdles, we will be tired and weary… we will even feel like giving up; but the greatest irony in life’s race is that, we are not competing against each other but against time..and ourselves.
In our hopes, dreams and the message we leave behind, there is no finish line.
No matter the hurdles we face.
No matter how hard we fall.
We must get back up and keep progressing.
And getting back up cannot be achieved without the help of others.
I would personally like to thank:
– The Queens Young Leaders programme for this prestigious award and recognition;
– My friend, mentor and referee Jay Bartlett and the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce team and CEO;
– My Grandparents Geoffrey and Linda Kuper who also had an opportunity to meet the queen. And my Nanny Gwenda Barty who unfortunately recently passed away;
– To my family and friends whom are here tonight, thank you for always encouraging and supporting me through this journey;
– The British High Commission for the great event and opportunity;
– But most importantly, I want to acknowledge my fellow country men and women, sisters and brothers, in this amazing place we call home; Solomon Islands. I want to thank SI for its rich and fascinating history and kastoms that allow me to pursue being an agent for change.
The message I carry is:
Each generation is responsible for receiving and passing the baton of Leadership for our young people to harness, train and run their own race, at their own pace towards greatness.
To the Youth of our nation: THIS IS OUR TIME.
The baton of Leadership has been passed on to us.
We must work together to hold it up high!
We must be proud of our country and we must show the world!
