BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE weekend began with the Child Month March - one of the most anticipated events of the Child Month celebration - and it provided a necessary and welcomed reminder of how bright the future of the Federation seems.
Head of the Early Childhood Development Unit Jacqueline Morris told SKNVibes she estimated that more than 2000 children from most of the 75 early childhood centres across the island had participated in the march, and about an equal amount of parents and guardians.
With three drum corps and two gospel-playing Hi-Fi systems at various sections of the parade, the children – accompanied by their teachers and parents – braved the sweltering heat and marched from Greenlands through Basseterre and culminated at the Independence Square.
The theme selected for this year’s celebration - “Serving children with love and dignity” - was at the forefront of the march, which was divided into zones; East, West and the Basseterre Zones.
While most of the children were adorned in their child month shirts, the creativity with which they were displayed in terms of the way they were styled, altered and paired was intriguing.
As is usually the case, when the parade was passing, hundreds of individuals either lined the streets or peered through the windows of the offices to view the nation’s future leaders. And among the 200-plus children were the Federation’s future Prime Minister, future magistrates, future police officers, future restaurateurs and future entrepreneurs.
Morris said the participation was “great as usual” and described the parade as awesome.
“…The centres went all out making the children very colourful in their costumes and I was really impressed. This year we marched in zones and that made it even more impactful, because they put out the extra effort to look really fabulous and it paid off.
“They participated well and I think they were all excited about it. It was something that they always look forward to, the centres, the children, the parents and the public at large. In fact, when I looked at the gathering during the march, I wondered if it was not going to end because of how long the line was.”
Morris said that judging from what she saw in years past and this year, “Certainly, there is a bright future for the early childhood sector and for the children themselves, as a result of their participation in earlychildhood services.”
