By:Curtis Morton
Charlestown –Nevis-The 27th annual summer Library program, hosted by the Charlestown Public Library, climaxed on a high note on Friday 12th August.
The two week program which was held under the theme: ‘Our country, our people, our future,’ with a sub-theme: ‘Mosquito borne illnesses: Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever,’ ended with a closing ceremony at the Charlestown Primary school.
Librarian, Miss Glenda Claxton chaired the proceedings and in her opening remarks noted that many people have died because of the Zika virus and expressed the hope that the disease will not further spread after the Olympic Games in Brazil.
“Bring back medals but no Zika,” she stated.
Her remarks were followed by the rendering of the Lord’s Prayer; the 23rd Psalm and the national anthem, by all present.
Arianna Powell, a participant gave her impressions of the two week program.
She indicated that during the two weeks, she and the other participants learnt how to recognize the Aedes aegypti mosquito; identify their sites and how to destroy them.
They also learnt about diseases caused by mosquitoes.
“We also made friends, played Basketball; went on field trips and did arts and craft,” she said.
Miss Anatasia Parris, the chief Librarian then gave an overview of the program.
She stated that the program commenced on Wednesday 3rd August.
The two main facilitators were Environmental Health Officer, Mr. Javia Ottley and Miss Shevanee Nisbett of the Health education Unit.
She asked the children and they were able to respond quite quickly that there were more than 500 species of mosquitoes in the world; 12 species on St.Kitts and 11 on Nevis.
They were also able to state the types of diseases caused by some of the species of the mosquito.
Miss Parris indicated that the participants were taken on a mosquito hunt and identified different types of mosquitoes.
They also went on a walk and were able to identify different breeding sites.
There was also a fun day at the Nevisian Heritage Village which was really exciting.
She stated that she sensed their enthusiasm as they got into a habit of caching mosquitoes and bringing them for the library staff to identify.
They also engaged in games such as Basketball; plumb in the middle; lime and spoon and tug of war.
The participants then joined in singing a song which they had learnt during the program entitled: ‘The mangy mosquito’. This was a certainly a big hit with those present, which included a number of parents.
The over sixty children then received their certificates from Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Wakely Daniel, who noted in some brief remarks after the presentation, that he was really impressed with the children and what they had learnt over the two week period.
After the presentation of certificates, all present were able to view the variety of craft items created by the children and were obviously impressed as they looked at the locally made mosquito catchers; swatters; vases and much more.