Education minister promotes healthy living for children

Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said the pandemic emphasised the need for people to be healthy and urged parents to start with their children.

She was speaking at event hosted by the ministry and Unicef in commemoration of World Children's Day, at the Queen's Park Savannah, in Port of Spain on Saturday.

Hundreds of children, their parents and relatives attended the health and wellness fair in the carpark where several health conscious booths were set up.

Gadsby-Dolly in a brief address said, "What covid brought before was the fact that we need to concentrate on our health. What we saw and what we experienced has shown us that as we go forward our learnings must centre around the health of all us and it must start with our children."

Unicef's Eastern Caribbean social policy manager Celine Julia-Felix focused on the inclusion among children. "The same way that you want to have spaces to play within your community, there are other children that perhaps look different than you, move in a different way because they need to be assisted, come from a different country or speak a different language. They too want to play, so try so to include them."

One booth had a vaccination site and dental health advice and gave patrons the opportunity to get their influenza shot and learning to care for their teeth.

Arusha Davis said she was grateful for the vaccination booth because it meant she had one less thing to worry about.

She added, "In addition to that I liked the whole vibe of coming out after covid19. Just having somewhere to relax after a hard week at work. So far it's been really good despite the weather."

Her daughter Dania Song said she was enjoying the fair because she got to socialise more after isolation during the covid19 pandemic. Though her mother's favourite booth was the vaccination one, hers was the Creamery booth where she had sugar-free vanilla ice cream.

Another child at the fair, Bryant Hypolite, six, said he liked the walkabout at the Savannah and was happy to get his influenza shot because "it didn't hurt at all."

Patrons were also allowed to try their hand at archery with Marc Ainsley John who is the national scout commissioner of the Scout Association of TT. John said archery is just one of the many programmes the association offers and he wanted to educate young people on embracing the outdoors and to learn and develop new skills. Some of these skills are camping, cooking and hiking.

"We also teach environmental awareness because the outdoors is our home, we want to make sure that young people learn to take care of the environment."

The Girl Guides Association of TT was also there trying to get girls and young women to make use of its services and teachings. One of their young leaders, Abia Smith said since age five, she's been in the association and she learned to be more confident and grasped management skills.

Commissioner of the association Helena Stoute-Joseph said, "People tend to think, 'Oh, they like to cook and sew,' but we do all of that plus everything that is modern."