Kelicia, the fearless moko jumbie

WHEN she was seven, Kelicia Kent visited the Eddie Hart Savannah in Tacarigua and saw boys and girls in colourful clothes, towering on stilts and having fun.

Despite not knowing what they were, she told her mother Janielle Clarke she was interested in trying. Five years later, Kent is now one of the tallest moko jumbies at Jaiso Mokos.

Kent said she was not scared at all when she initially tried walking on stilts to try portraying one of Trinidad and Tobago's most popular traditional Carnival characters. In fact, she told Newsday Kids, laughing, that Clarke seemed to be the only one who was  afraid.

"I didn't even know what it (a moko jumbie) was when I saw them practising," she recalled.

"She (my mother) told me moko jumbies originated in Africa and were brought to TT, and that learning about it can teach me more about culture, so I got even more interested in it."

On its website, the National Carnival Commission (NCC) says the moko jumbie can be traced back to West Africa and was considered as a protector. Its height meant it could see evil before the ordinary man.

"The 'moko' is an Orisha (God) of retribution; the term 'jumbie' was added post-slavery," it added.

The first time Kent stood up after attaching her two-foot-tall stilts, she said she "kind of felt like a bird in the sky...

"Because I was free in the air and I didn't stumble. I sort of got the hang of it (quickly)."

The standard five Mt Lambert RC Primary School student said from that day at the grounds, she joined the group and remained there for about four years.

She then took a one-year break and recently resumed.

She praised her trainer, Malique Toppin, for always being "the easiest coach to work with."

"He doesn't push me too much. It's only if I want to do something that he will help me try to do it. He doesn't pressure me."

She now wears five-foot-tall stilts. The highest the group goes up to is 6.5 feet.

At a practice session at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain, the wholesomeness of their bond was also on full display. Toppin continually shared words of encouragement and her confidence grew with each word.

Kent had a bright smile on her face as she walked and danced about.

A proud Toppin told Newsday Kids that Kent is hard-working and "very much determined."

Kent said for her, the best part about being a moko jumbie is learning new tricks "and seeing how good I could get at them.

"When I just started, I could have done the stoop (down) because I was a little shorter then. I'd have to learn how to do it on the new height.

"I can also do the butterfly, a sort of criss-cross dance, and a forward-backward dance."

She said she had fallen a few times but the falls were "never anything serious" and part of the learning process. This never deterred her from continuing.

"Being a moko (jumbie) is exciting.

"Sometimes when I put on my stilts, there are children who look up to me, since I'm the tallest one in the group, and I like to teach children how to do tricks and stuff like that."

Apart from being creative while high up in the air, she enjoys drawing, dancing, singing and football.

She wants to be a nurse or a veterinarian when she gets older.