Above: the General Colin Powell Challenge Course

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A new facility named for and supported by former US Secretary of State Colin Powell seeks to help young people and adults in Jamaica build “resilience and leadership” skills.

The General Colin Powell Challenge Course, the first of its kind in Jamaica, opened on Monday in the Treasure Beach area of Jamaica. It takes participants through a series of physical and mental challenges, including a ropes course.

Powell, a four-star general who was the United States’ top diplomat from 2001 to 2005, was born in New York City to immigrants from Jamaica.

The facility targets young people considered “at risk” or facing other difficulties, but others who show “strong leadership potential” will also benefit from the project, the government said.

“Youth empowerment and partnership in these ways are important aspects of the National Crime Prevention and Community Safety Strategy,” said Jamaica’s Justice Minister, Mark Golding. “In fact, of the seven priority areas identified for the first three years of the strategy, youth intervention, was highlighted in terms of targeting social interventions for youth-at-risk, and developing the governance structures necessary to ensure a coordinated response.”

US Ambassador to Jamaica Pamela Bridgewater said the project “affirms what a community can do when it works together.”

The US Embassy is funding about $10,000 to the Treasure Beach Foundation for the project.

In a written message, Powell encouraged those using the course to “help build a better St Elizabeth parish, a better Jamaica and a better world.”

The course was built through a partnership between Powell himself, UNICEF, BREDS/The Treasure Beach Foundation, the Ohrstrom Foundation and the Jamaica Public Service Country.