Ralph Cantave a former student of the St. Maarten Academy, and currently a student of the University of St. Martin (USM), has been selected to represent St. Maarten at an UNESCO Youth Heritage Workshop in Montego Bay, Jamaica from April 15-17, 2015.

Ms. Marcellia Henry, Secretary General of the Sint Maarten National Commission for UNESCO, indicated that after reviewing the applications for the Youth Heritage Workshop and conducting an interview, the selection committee, which comprised of Ms. Faye Arnell of the Youth Department, Mrs. Connie Gumbs-Francis from the Youth Council, and Ms. Marcellia Henry of the Sint Maarten National Commission for UNESCO, unanimously selected Ralph Cantave to represent St. Maarten at this Youth Heritage Workshop.

Ralph is a writer for the Teen Times newspaper for the past 3 years. He is currently studying General Liberal Arts at USM with the intention to major in Communications, History and minor in Political Science.  He is an avid reader, and enjoys working out and volunteering. He aspires to serve as a role model for youth, to be a journalists, an author, a professor and a politician.  He presently volunteers at the UJIMA Foundation, ACHA (The Africa Caribbean Heritage Alliance), and the Independence for St. Martin Foundation.

The objective of the Youth Heritage Workshop is to sensitize, inform and educate young people on the importance of preserving their Heritage including Tangible and Intangible. The workshop is being held against the need for more Caribbean countries to be sufficiently informed and prepared to submit more sites for possible nomination for World Heritage status. The youth heritage workshop will be addressed by experts in the various fields of Heritage including, underwater cultural heritage, world heritage and intangible and tangible cultural heritage. 

The participants will be exposed to the pertinent Conventions relating to Cultural Heritage, and will have the opportunity to visit heritage sites including those on the Tentative list of UNESCO in Jamaica.

Ms. Henry concluded that upon his return from this UNESCO Youth Heritage workshop, Ralph Cantave will share the information obtained from the workshop with the various youth organizations in the community.  As the intention is to educate more young people on the importance of preserving their Heritage including Tangible and Intangible.