Reporter
matthew.chin@guardian.co.tt
Pupils from four primary schools joined President Christine Kangaloo at President’s House on Thursday to read and discuss the themes of environmental conservation.
In collaboration with the Bocas Lit Fest, pupils from Maracas RC Primary School, Kanhai Presbyterian Primary School, Milton Presbyterian Primary School and Cedros AC Primary School were invited by Kangaloo for the event.
This was the third iteration of the Storytime series implemented by the Bocas Lit Fest in collaboration with President’s House for 2023.
Many of the pupils volunteered to come to the front of the room and read excerpts from Sad Coconut Trees which, according to the Children’s Programme manager of the Bocas Lit Fest, Melvina Hazard, had been written by other pupils as part of the organisation’s children’s outreach programme in rural areas.
Kangaloo chose the book prior to the event, with pupils having already read it in advance.
“We really tried to reach out to remote schools that wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to come to the President’s House,” Hazard said.
Hazard was also impressed by how relaxed the pupils were and their eagerness to volunteer and answer questions about the story put forward by the President.
“I think Her Excellency did a really good job with making the children feel relaxed. You can see that she genuinely likes children and likes reading,” she said.
“This is the President’s initiative and we collaborated with them. I think the engagement is important because it helps to have the children be inspired to know that through the love of reading, regardless of age, or levels of power, that you must love reading.”
When Kangaloo asked the pupils what they learnt from the story, the common denominator was the need to value Trinidad’s coconut trees and defend the earth’s natural environment.
Also in attendance was local children’s author, Aarti Gosine, who echoed the President’s sentiments by reading an excerpt from her own children’s book titled The Land Below.
“No matter who we are, what we look like, where we come from, we must continue to protect our planet. The Earth is our home and we need to protect it,” Gosine said.
Kangaloo thanked the Bocas Lit Fest for their involvement in the literacy initiative and called on pupils to protect the nature of T&T and to further develop a discipline for reading.
“We must try to conserve and save all of our natural resources. We came together to show what reading can do for this. You are all very young, I am far from being young, but I continue to read. Even today I learn things from reading. I also enjoy the fact that most of you volunteered to read, because reading gives you the confidence to start expressing what you think. I hope you all continue to read and take the time to understand what it is that you read,” Kangaloo said.
