The threat of thun­der-show­ers proved to be no bar for stu­dents and teach­ers of Matelot Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege as they marched through the tiny fish­ing vil­lage on the north-east­ern coast to raise aware­ness against the dread­ed can­cer dis­ease.

Ac­com­pa­nied by bon­go drum­mers, rid­ing in the open tray of a pick-up, the stu­dents chant­ed a song of hope call­ing on vil­lagers to get test­ed.

Even the vil­lage dogs joined the march.

The event was geared to­wards rais­ing aware­ness of all types of can­cer but name­ly breast can­cer.

Vil­lagers were urged to get test­ed since ear­ly de­tec­tion was the best pro­tec­tion.

Can­cer has claimed the lives of sev­er­al vil­lagers in the past and many women have been di­ag­nosed with breast and ovar­i­an can­cer, ac­cord­ing to one vil­lager.

Along the two-and-a-half-mile jour­ney from the Matelot Health Cen­tre to the St He­le­na Com­mu­ni­ty Cen­tre the chil­dren, many of whom wore white or pink t-shirts chant­ed, “hope, be­lieve, be strong, find a cure and join the fight.”

Prompt­ed by their teach­ers they sang in uni­son:

“Every­where we go,

The peo­ple want to know,

Who we are,

So we tell them,

We are the fight­ers,

The Matelot fight­ers,

The Grand Riv­iere fight­ers.”

Vice-prin­ci­pal of the Matelot Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege An­der­son Zoe told Guardian Me­dia that the ini­tia­tive was aimed at bridg­ing the gap with the com­mu­ni­ty. He said there was to­tal sup­port from par­ents, stu­dents and teach­ers.

Stu­dents from the Matelot Pri­ma­ry, pre-school and Grand Riv­iere An­gli­can al­so par­tic­i­pat­ed.

The event end­ed with a sem­i­nar host­ed by the East­ern Re­gion­al Health Au­thor­i­ty at the com­mu­ni­ty cen­tre, where free pap smears and prostate ex­ams were al­so con­duct­ed.