BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - DROVES of youngsters from the five pilot schools of Project PURPLE streamed through the streets of Basseterre climaxing with a rallying march their ‘Passion for Peace Week’ celebrated from October 22-28.
The Passion for Peace Week was part of an ongoing programme in the School System which aims to prevent violence and promote peace. The five schools chosen for the pilot project are the Basseterre High, The Charles E. Mills Secondary, Cayon High, Charlestown Secondary and Verchilds High School.
According to Psychologist Dr. Tricia Esdaille, who is Coordinator of the Project, Project PURPLE arose out of the issue of bullying in schools; it embraces non-social behaviour associated with gang culture and other risk behaviour patterns found in schools and seeks to eliminate them.
The overall aim, however, is not only to stop such behaviour from occurring but also to create safety zones for children and thereby prevent violent behaviour from erupting.
The word P-U-R-P-L-E denotes what the Project’s goal really is designed to do:
P – PROMOTING
U – UNDERSTANDING
R – RESPECT and
P – PEACE in the
L – LEARNING
E – ENVIRONMENT
While the Passion for Peace Week March served to bolster public awareness of the Project, other activities planned were to include: Open Day on Tuesday October 24th, during which everyone was invited to visit schools in their community to observe projects which have been done by students - as a show of moral support;
Peace Day on Wednesday 25th;
Radio Panel Discussions on Thursday 26th – Youth take to the airwaves to discuss real issues that are affecting them in school;
Peace March and Rally on Friday 28th –
In the photos seen above, youngsters march in solidarity as they depict the issues with banners. They were due to converge at Warner Park for a non-threatening fun day and empowerment activity organised for their enjoyment and enlightenment.
In addition, special assemblies were planned to take place at schools and opportunities for students to express their ideas in relation to bringing about positive change.
Dr. Esdaille hoped that the public would feel moved to join in the march in solidarity and “rally in support of our children excelling in school and feeling comfortable in that environment and beyond”.
Project PURPLE is part of an over-arching programme the Ministry of Education is promoting to prevent and reduce the incidence of violence in schools.
Workshops in anger management for teachers; an increase in school guidance counsellors and the extension of the duties of Probation officers to make them Attendance Officers as well - all are spokes in the wheel that Government hopes will eventually drive the violence that is escalating at too rapid a pace, into submission and herald a new wave of peace and tolerance.
