Children attend Ministry of Culture Summer programme

As the summer holidays progesses, over 50 children in and around Kingstown are being provided with the opportunity to indulge in various activities including: Dance, Drama, Poetry, Drumming, Art and Craft and Music, courtesy the Ministry of Culture’s Summer Programme.{{more}}

The programme, which caters for children 7-14 years old, runs each day in three zones across the nation, namely: Leeward, Kingstown and Marriaqua.

A press release from the Ministry dated July 2, said the purpose of the programme is to expose children to life experiences.

The release added that arts help youth development by building self expression, self confidence, concentration, group cooperation skills and the enhancing and coordinating of physiology of the human musculature system.

SEARCHLIGHT visited the Dr. J.P. Eustace Memorial Secondary School where the Kingstown zone held their activities.

Supervisor of the programme and leader of the Urban League, Edinboro, Sean Frederick, said the programme is an effort between the league and the ministry to have the children participate in the summer initiative.

Frederick said since the programme got on the way in the Kingstown zone on August 3, there has been tremendous participation from the children.

“The children are coming out in their numbers each day and are having fun…,” Federick stated.

He added that most of the children tend to gravitate towards the arts segment, where their creative juices are in full flow.

“They really enjoy the arts where they can get to design something or make a necklace or bracelet,” said Frederick.

Aspects of Vincentian history are also included in the programme where the children learn about old folk dances, stories and culture.

The children enjoyed displaying their creations for the SEARCHLIGHT cameras.

Although they coloured outside the lines of their colouring books, the children showed their brilliant works of art as they smiled from ear to ear.

This week will see the children engaging in the Quadrille dance.

The programmes run from 9 o’clock to 12:30 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and conclude on August 13. (KW)