BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IT was truly a night of talent and inspiration as six students representing various schools in both St. Kitts and Nevis came together to display their poetic skills at the 2012 Project POERTY Competition which was held at Ma Pau on Saturday 3rd Dec. 2011.
After two rounds of expressing creativity and originality, Jonelle Irish of the Immaculate Conception Catholic School emerged the winner amassing a total of 415 points, and winning US$500.
In the first round, in which the students were asked to do a piece on carnival, culture and history, Irish gave a dramatic rendition called “A missing cultural identity”.
She spoke about us as Kittitians and Nevisians and how we flee to “foreign” in search of a better life, not realising that our “paradise is hidden here in plain sight” noting that “we deem ourselves not fit for what is ours”.
She left one question on the minds of the audience – “Are we alien to our own traditions?”
In the second round which was based on topics of the students’ own choice, Irish rendered “It is time”.
She captured everyone’s attention with this intense piece about realising the beauty in our hearts and believing in ourselves.
She asked the audience to open their eyes, minds and hearts to the many wonders around us, understanding that everything will not be perfect, and that we should let go of past hurts and pain as it serves us nothing.
Coming in second place was Yasmin Browne of the Basseterre High School. She delivered a very dramatic piece in round one named ‘Independent’.
She journeyed us back in time to the days of slavery, walking us through the treatment our ancestors received and how they overcame this, showing us how the outcome has paved the way to where we are now.
In round two, she gave a heart wrenching piece – ‘Unpretty’, about a young girl with very low self esteem. She never saw herself as pretty and was always teased by others for not being attractive.
This girl would put a lot of make-up on her face and starve herself to be what she and others considered beautiful, not knowing that her beauty rests inside of her.
She eventually puts a gun to her head and shoots herself dead before she can understand what true beauty is.
Third place was given to Nekhaila Tyson of the Charlestown Secondary School. In round one, she rendered ‘Our Nevisian Culture’.
The title said it all as it went into detail about the Nevisian culture in terms of food, dance music, language, and folklore, noting how history has impacted our lives, paving the way to a rich and vibrant future. She asked us to embrace ourselves for what we are “for a people without knowledge of their history is like a tree without roots”.
Her round two piece,’ A Gang-Banger’s story’, brought the audience near to tears as she told a tale of a dying gang member reminiscing on the life he lived and how he regrets it now that it is too late for his life to be spared.
Asking himself why he did not listen to the warnings of his parents, pastor, and principal; telling the story of how he killed a pregnant cashier as she was begging for her life; kidnapped a bank manager for a ransom; he pleads with others not to live the type of life he did “for here I am, bullets in my back, slowly dying."
The other three competitors were Melia Jones of the Gingerland Secondary School, Tiffany Davis Hodge of the Verchilds High School, and the lone male, Magnes Blake of the Washington Archibald High School.
The night also saw performances by some of the regulars at the monthly Island Xpressions Poetry night, as well as short performances by the contestants who will be performing in the upcoming Talented Teen Pageant.
Also performing was second place winner of last year’s competition who, when she completed her pieces, had persons in the audience saying that the person who won must have done an extremely good job to place ahead of her.
Project POETRY (Putting Our Energy Towards Refocusing Youths) is an annual competition put on as part of the carnival celebrations by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with Island Xpressions.
