Leading Judges of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court have, on a number of occasions, highly commended the Anguilla Bar Association for being one of the best in the region, considering its exemplary level of functioning and the standing of its executive officers and members.

Of late the members of the Bar, comprising a number of young, energetic and motivated Attorneys, have not only been engaged in beefing up their professional appearances in Court, but also in matters related to promoting the legal interests of members of the public, many of whom are their clients.

One of the examples of their work is in the area of mediation – a matter which was constantly promoted by sitting Justices. Another example is the Pro Bona service in which the legal needs of persons are addressed without requirement for payment – especially in these difficult financial times. In fact, just Wednesday this week, the Bar Association, as part of its Inaugural Law Week, held an Access to Justice/Pro Bono Day, offering a 30-minute legal consultation to all persons who needed that free-of-charge assistance. Now that this has been done, the Attorneys can regard it as a launching pad for the further development of their altruistic work.

The Bar Association’s latest act of kindness is the launching on Tuesday this week of a six-month Mentorship Programme – for Fourth and Fifth Form students at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School – commencing in September. Anyone at the event could not but admire the passion and excitement of the Attorneys as their programme was announced. The many students in attendance were obviously amazed and delightedto see both Judge and Lawyers turn up at their school with a plan to enrich and develop their lives in a manner that could eventually result in great dividends for them in the future.

The general aims and objectives of the Anguilla Bar Association Mentorship Programme include the following: to enhance the total development of students; to expose students to those intangible factors they would not learn from a textbook, but which could prove vital to their individual growth and development; to provide students with the opportunity to observe corporate or professional mentors – their behaviours, protocol and practices, before entering the world of work; to expose students to a successful role model and assist them in learning the means and mechanisms by which a mentor achieved individual success; to allow students the opportunity to set and/or clarify their goals and career objectives; and to provide a more realistic view of the world of work in terms of financial expectations, the flexibility required and the interpersonal skills and competences necessary to succeed.

All of this is both praiseworthy and expressed in the mostsimple, yet touching and honest manner. It tells a story of how the Attorneys, both local and non-local, coming from diverse backgrounds and experiences, must have struggled hard toovercome their own set of challenges – and have now determined to enrich the lives of other young people aspiring to climb the slippery ladder of success, but desperately in need of mentoring assistance.

It is extremely difficult for young children to grow up in these terrible times and to be able to plot their course of life alone. It is therefore all the more commendable that the Attorneys, representing the Private Bar and the Public Bar, have embarked on a Mentorship Programme to give direction, hope and development to these students. One can only hope that the students would see how fortunate and loved they are; that they would take the golden opportunity to register for the programme and to benefit from it; that their parents, guardians and the community in general would join in supporting them and the Attorneys and the other Mentors; and that more sponsors would join Digicel in the noble effort of sponsorship. Anguilla as a growing island nation will reap the ultimate benefits in due season.

The only other thing left to say is kudos to the Anguilla Bar Association for a most needed and commendable Mentorship Programme for our island’s children and its future. It is certainly a very useful and timely contribution to nation-building in Anguilla.