Yesterday, I attended an awards ceremony for an essay competition for the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s Vision 2030 National Development Plan. This initiative aims to make Jamaica “the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business” by the year 2030. Its goal is also to attain developed country status by this time. I had been involved in the communications strategy for this essay competition last fall, helping to come up with ways to spread the message to Jamaica’s youth. Essays were submitted prior to Christmas, they were judged by strict criteria and the winners were announced yesterday.

Backing up a bit, Vision 2030 has been around for a few years and was launched under a previous administration (a different party as well). It is still a relatively unknown concept and it is still at a nebulous stage, at least for the general public. That’s what this contest was, in part, meant to achieve- a greater awareness.

By all accounts, the entries (about 140 of them) were high quality. The contest was open to children aged 10-19 and they were required to write a short essay based on several themes. These included how to incorporate Vision 2030 into their own goals. A few excerpts were displayed, including a winning entry by a 10-year-old girl named Kadejah, and a 16-year-old girl. I was mesmerized by their writing skills. Jamaicans are amazing story-tellers, both in print and in person. They have a way of weaving vivid imagery into a story without getting overly flowery or losing the reader. It is a style I admire a lot.

In any case, the awards ceremony kicked off with the national anthem, of course, and then the MC, Miss Kamesha (2012 Miss Festival Queen Jamaica) took the stage. We heard from the head of the PIOJ and Education Minister Ronald Thwaites. But of course, everyone went bananas for the Vauxhall High School Choir. Then, the award winners were presented with their prizes- either an iPad or a Kindle Fire.

Next up is a contest for best song and best jingle. That should be fun.