A mentorship group for high school boys has for the first time been able to offer financial support to enable one of its former members to pursue further education.
Deshane Vousden, who left Boyz2Men nearly three years ago, is using the funds to take an evening course in business administration at the University College of the Cayman Islands.
“We are feeling really, really happy, ecstatic about it,” Christopher Murray, who founded the organisation in 2009, told the Compass, “We’re sensing a feeling of pride.”
The sponsorship “suggests longevity”, Murray said, and that the group is following through with assistance as the formerly at-risk boys become men.
Vousden, who has already set up his own small construction company, said he hopes to become an entrepreneur once he completes the two-year associate degree.
The 19-year-old told the Compass that Boyz2Men helped to motivate him and provided the tools he needed “to get myself together as a young man…and progress in life”.
He gives back to the programme by talking about his past to new members in government high schools.
“We have seen some real good positive changes with him,” Murray said. “He has been striving to do what is right.”
The group’s founder would like to be able to offer more sponsorships to former members in the future.
“Being able to do this, it’s so meaningful,” he said. “We have not just tried to hold their hands in high school, but we’re trying to find a way for them to go to a whole new frontier.
“To be able to assist them, to be able to become a ladder along that pathway, I feel like purpose has been accomplished.”
A second landmark
Boyz2Men, which was established to provide strong male role models to boys who do not have a father figure in their lives, has gone from strength to strength.
The group celebrated a second landmark in April with the launch of its first branch in Cayman Brac, enrolling 29 boys in the programme.
“We offer a sense of positive mentorship and exposing the boys to some real positive experiences,” Murray said, describing fishing trips, talks from big businesses and more.
“They’ll also get the opportunity to be trained in social etiquette and how to treat the opposite sex.”
Deputy Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, MP David Wight, District Commissioner Mark Tibbetts, church pastors and community members attended the launch ceremony.
“Our intention is to help these young men to continue to see the various positive options in life, rather than going along a path that will lead them to prison or to their graves,” he said.
Anyone who would like to support the group with time, resources or funding can contact Christopher Murray on 329-0021.
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