UWI St Augustine students from Jamaica all the way to Venezuela celebrated Universal Children’s Day by bringing games, music, writing and even outdoor activities to the St Augustine South Government Primary School. The seven students, members of the Student Guild’s International Affairs Committee (IAC), hosted a career day for all standard 4 and 5 students under the theme: “Every child has the right to dream.”
“There’s something special about creating an opportunity for children,” says Jody Robinson, public relations officer of the IAC, “and this opportunity was not in the form of money or scholarship, but exposing them to possibilities that may be beyond their geographical and financial circumstances. This also gave us the opportunity just to listen to a younger generation speak about their experiences and give a peep hole into their perspectives on life. That transfer and transaction between those gone before and those coming along – priceless!”
IAC members from Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela, took part in the initiative. They were joined as well by poet, musician and activist Muhammad Muwakil. The activities took place on November 20, the internationally recognised date for Universal Children’s Day.
Robinson says, “this initiative was geared towards exposing each child to different career and professional paths, making each child aware of the possible avenues to achieving their dreams, and exposing each child to wider perspectives by introducing them to different countries within and outside of the region.”
The initiative, she says, was a huge success. The primary school students were “excited and very participatory” and the school administration sent the IAC positive feedback on “the resonating impact on the students and teachers.” They even suggested the UWI Guild members return monthly for their reading club.
Representing and serving the international students at the St Augustine Campus, the IAC aims to encourage regional integration and assimilation to Trinidad and Tobago. In January 2020 they will take part in Caribbean Integration Week (CIW) on the campus.
