Caroline Briggs Verzier
I met Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh when I was 14.
In 1978, I qualified to participate in the Edmonton Commonwealth Games in Canada, with the Gambian Athletic team as the youngest sprinter. Prince Philip had apparently directly gifted the tracksuits provided to us from Great Britain and was very pleased to come and speak to us about our stay. I was so grateful, touched by his kindness– as without him the Gambia would not have had national tracksuits to wear during the march as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.
A few months later, that same year, when I returned to the UK to continue my studies, I enrolled in the Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE) Bronze Award scheme. An experience I absolutely cherished. I was greatly touched and influenced by the kind, gentle and inspiring words of Prince Philip.
These words meant a lot to me and indeed encouraged me to keep up my passion and duty to serving others, rendering services to communities. These values were already strongly established in my own family long before, where my grandmother, a Christian by religion, used to feed the young Islamic orphan scholars every Friday at lunchtime, placing unity and serving the community as some of her main priorities.
The legacy of community service values dear to my family and my adoption of the values of the DofE award scheme have remained a constant up until today, exemplified through founding The English Club 17 years ago - a non-profit association teaching English to Swiss children in French-speaking Switzerland – by making our classes affordable and giving families opportunities to start learning English as early as possible. I also decided to give something back to The Gambia as well, by founding The Bansang Swiss Project 3 years ago - empowering the youths of the Bansang region through education.
I thank you immensely for being such an inspiration, for the tracksuits, and mostly for the legacy of the DofE Award scheme to continue empowering youths.
In 1978, I qualified to participate in the Edmonton Commonwealth Games in Canada, with the Gambian Athletic team as the youngest sprinter. Prince Philip had apparently directly gifted the tracksuits provided to us from Great Britain and was very pleased to come and speak to us about our stay. I was so grateful, touched by his kindness– as without him the Gambia would not have had national tracksuits to wear during the march as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.
A few months later, that same year, when I returned to the UK to continue my studies, I enrolled in the Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE) Bronze Award scheme. An experience I absolutely cherished. I was greatly touched and influenced by the kind, gentle and inspiring words of Prince Philip.
These words meant a lot to me and indeed encouraged me to keep up my passion and duty to serving others, rendering services to communities. These values were already strongly established in my own family long before, where my grandmother, a Christian by religion, used to feed the young Islamic orphan scholars every Friday at lunchtime, placing unity and serving the community as some of her main priorities.
The legacy of community service values dear to my family and my adoption of the values of the DofE award scheme have remained a constant up until today, exemplified through founding The English Club 17 years ago - a non-profit association teaching English to Swiss children in French-speaking Switzerland – by making our classes affordable and giving families opportunities to start learning English as early as possible. I also decided to give something back to The Gambia as well, by founding The Bansang Swiss Project 3 years ago - empowering the youths of the Bansang region through education.
I thank you immensely for being such an inspiration, for the tracksuits, and mostly for the legacy of the DofE Award scheme to continue empowering youths.
