President of CKDO hopes for youth band

by Chelsea Alexander Tue Jul 23, 2013

The Central Kingstown Development Organisation (CKDO) hopes that a youth band will be formed from the summer programme it is holding for 60 participants.{{more}}

President of the CKDO and coordinator of the summer programme, Leroy Rock, told the SEARCHLIGHT that the programme, being held for the third consecutive year, targets children who live within the Central Kingstown constituency.

“We have children here from [Redemption] Sharpes, Edinboro, Long Wall and Paul’s Avenue. The children need help, so we decided to choose those areas,” he said.

Rock said that the programme’s main focus is on music; however, sports, information technology and art will also be done during the two weeks.

The participants, ages 8 to 16, will learn how to play instruments like the steel pan and the saxophone, Rock said. Additionally, the children who show an interest and discipline in music will be selected to form a youth band later on this year.

“Those who would have learnt something last year or the year before, we try to put them back to play the same instrument. Those are the ones we hope to keep in the band,” he said.

“One of the good things is that children who were here for the last two years are back,” Rock noted.

Leroy Rock also revealed that having a music programme in the Easter is a possibility.

Dexter Bacchus of the Music Department in the Ministry of Education and musical coordinator of the summer programme also spoke to the SEARCHLIGHT.

“I enjoy teaching the children. It is always a joy to see young people doing something positive with their time. The children are disciplined; they don’t give problems and they are taking to the instruments. I can see a bright future for them and the Kingstown area which they are a part of,” Bacchus said.

Michael Quashie, a participant of the programme for the past three years, told the SEARCHLIGHT that he enjoys playing the saxophone and doing art.

“It teaches children a lot. Like in art, some children have the ambition of becoming an architect, because they show us the basic foundation,” he said.

The summer programme has received assistance from the Music Department of the Ministry of Education and the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Band. The two-week programme, which commenced on July 15, will come to an end on July 26. It is being held at the Kingstown Technical Institute at Wilson Hill.