Feet in De Street –A New Initiative

CHARLESTOWN-NEVIS-Miss Shevanee Nisbett, Health Educator on Nevis, on Tuesday 25th August, revealed an exciting new initiative being proposed by the Health Promotion Unit on the island.
She announced that Friday 11th September will be officially dubbed as FEET IN DE STREET day. This is an idea born out of the fact that it has been noted that generally speaking, the people of Nevis and the wider CARIBBEAN are not as active as they ought to be and so on that day, the Health Promotion Unit in collaboration with the traffic Department will effectively block off the streets of Charlestown from TDC building and hardware in Pinney’s all the way to the Villa grounds. Consequently, everyone who has to work or conduct business in Charlestown on that day will be walking to their respective destinations as opposed to driving to the nearest parking spot and walking just a few steps into the respective buildings. This will serve to encourage those individuals who practice no type of physical exercise, to start by walking.
This exercise can be used to measure the level of fitness of individuals as well as highlight the importance of being active, if only for a few minutes every day.
For those individuals who are already active it will serve as an enhancer and it can be used as the exercise routine for the weekend or day. The ultimate goal is to force individuals who are not active to start walking on the day and continue on their own thereafter.
The day will serve as a precursor to Saturday 12th September which will be observed as Caribbean Wellness day which is a day established by CARPHA and celebrated throughout the entire Caribbean to bring awareness to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) – what they are, the risk factors associated with such and what persons within the nation can do to prevent or lower the number of cases of Non Communicable Diseases. The day is celebrated every year on the second Saturday in September. This year it will be celebrated on September 12th.
Additionally on the actual day itself, Saturday September 12th 2015, the Health Promotion unit will be hosting its annual Caribbean Wellness Day walk which will start at 6am from the Villa grounds through town and end back at the villa via the bypass road, Pump Road and the main road passing the Charlestown Cemetery.
Miss Nisbett is extending a warm invitation for the participation and support of members of the general public on this venture. She noted that the planned activities will be beneficial to all who participate as we continue along a path to being a healthy nation via a Healthy Lifestyle.