Sascha Wil­son

Se­nior Re­porter

sascha.wil­son@guardian.co.tt

Youths ra­di­at­ed pos­i­tiv­i­ty and pride as the com­mu­ni­ty of Pe­nal came alive for this year’s post-In­de­pen­dence and pre-Re­pub­lic Day pa­rade. The event was host­ed by the St Patrick Brigade, which has been in ex­is­tence for al­most three decades. Due to fi­nan­cial and oth­er chal­lenges, how­ev­er, this was the first time in sev­en or eight years that the com­mu­ni­ty pa­rade was held.

Lieu­tenant Dwayne Padil­la ex­plained, “Nor­mal­ly, we have this event every year, but due to fund­ing and oth­er things, we did not have it for the past few years. But, see­ing the way things are go­ing with­in the com­mu­ni­ty in Pe­nal and en­vi­rons, we said, ‘Come on, let’s do some­thing to try to build back the courage, the love, and the uni­ty of the peo­ple.’”

The pa­rade, which com­menced at the brigade’s base at Shi­va Boys’ Col­lege, al­so com­prised the Fyz­abad Cadet Corps Band, First Sea Scouts Pe­nal, Brown­ies and Girl Guides, and the La­choos Road Foot­ball Club. En­cour­ag­ing cor­po­rate T&T to in­vest in their or­gan­i­sa­tions, Padil­la said they were hop­ing to ex­pand their ac­tiv­i­ties and in­crease mem­ber­ship, which stands at 60 to 70 strong.

“We will like to let them know that we are young and able to do bet­ter. We need to find a way to bring back the youths. Help us, we will help you in mak­ing T&T a bet­ter place and mak­ing it bet­ter for the youths.” He al­so urged par­ents and guardians to en­rol their chil­dren.

“Due to the sta­tus of the coun­try as it is, some par­ents feel it hard that they don’t have funds to bring out their chil­dren. But we im­plore them, de­spite what, bring them out. They will be seen about. The or­gan­i­sa­tion was ba­si­cal­ly start­ed to help chil­dren who give trou­ble and the needy. That’s what we con­tin­ue to be. So, de­spite what, send your chil­dren; we will make them feel at home.”

Padil­la added that chil­dren could join from age sev­en, and even adults could par­tic­i­pate.

Pe­nal coun­cil­lor and vice chair­man of the Pe­nal/Debe Re­gion­al Cor­po­ra­tion, Shan­ti Boodram, laud­ed the or­gan­i­sa­tion for its con­tri­bu­tion to youth de­vel­op­ment and na­tion build­ing. As a Pe­nal res­i­dent, she felt proud.

“A re­al­ly good ef­fort they have put out through­out the years, and I com­mend all those who have con­tributed to make this event a suc­cess.”

From Shi­va Boys’ Col­lege, the pro­ces­sion marched through Clarke Road, Oliveire Dri­ve, La­choos Road, Pe­nal Rock Road, and SS Erin Road, and then back to the school, where a fam­i­ly and sports day was held.