EASTERN CARIBBEAN

It was an active trading week on the ECSE as approximately 49,000 units crossed the floor of the exchange valued at EC $194,000. Nineteen thousand shares changed ownership on the secondary market while 30,000 units of fixed rate bonds also traded.  Of the six equity securities which traded, ECFH recorded the only price movement declining by 40 cents to close at EC $13.50. Bank of Nevis was the most popular traded stock accounting for almost 80 per cent of the week’s volume.

In RGSM news, the next Treasury bill auctions have been scheduled for the month of September 2010. The government of St Vincent & the Grenadines will be issuing an EC $20 million 90-day T-Bill at a maximum discount rate of 5.82 per cent on September 21.  And the government of St Lucia will also be coming to the market with an EC $16 million 6 per cent 91-day issue on September 22. Investors wishing to place a bid for these upcoming issues can do so through CMMB.

TRINIDAD

Over in Trinidad, the three major indices declined as three stocks advanced, three declined and 12 traded firm.  Approximately 4.6 million units crossed the floor of the exchange valued at almost TT $21.5 million.  Grace Kennedy, which led the decliners, emerged volume leader recording almost 74 per cent of trading activity.

JAMAICA

All the major indices also closed in negative territory on the JSE as over 16.2 million units valued at J $317 million changed ownership. Of the 35 stocks which traded, an advance decline ratio of nine to 21 was recorded while another five traded firm.  Jamaica Money market Brokers followed by Grace Kennedy were the most popular traded companies as they accounted for more than 50 per cent of the week’s market volume.

INTERNATIONAL

On the international front, market data indicate that the world’s largest economy may be faltering. US stocks fell for a third straight week, the unemployment rate rose to 9.6 per cent and home sales plunged raising concern that the economy may relapse into a recession for the remainder of 2010.  As a result, the Federal Reserve has pledged to safeguard the economic recovery by doing all that it can to ensure economic growth.  This has dampened investor demand for haven currencies. Also, the greenback depreciated for a second week against most of its traded counterparts.

All parents want the best experiences for their children. And it’s no different when it comes to their education. Parents want their young to develop a love of learning, enjoy scholastic years and get the most out of them.

Adequate preparation for them to enter school the first time can minimise any anxieties young children might have on that first day and help to create an interest in that mysterious place where the older children are always going. Getting them ready should begin months before that first day. It starts in the home and the parents are the first teachers.

Cicely King, a mother of two and a teacher for over 30 years, advises that parents indulge their tiny tots of pre-kindergarten age in lots of play, which will help to develop those skills they’ll need for the school setting.

“It’s not that you’re going to be sitting them down and telling to spell this. It has nothing to do with spelling or even sitting down and adding numbers,” the sixth grade teacher at Wesleyan Junior Academy said. “It has to do with play.”

She suggested building blocks as ideal toys to activate those motor skills and creativity. Sit children down with dozens of blocks and let them get to work constructing and taking structures apart. You’d be surprised at the creations they can come up with, she added.

“Even cutting up papers, they can use plastic scissors,” she said. “You can tell how a child is co-ordinated by how much they handle scissors. These are the little things that you can do for them.

“Teaching them left, right, pointing out things to them around the home – these are preparation for the formal learning.”

King also recommends that the tiny tots get their own notebook or colouring book and crayons to scribble away. Their writings might not make sense now, but it’s also developing their hand and eye co-ordination, which are very important when they get into school and have structured formal learning.

The teacher says that’s a great time to teach them colours and shapes; show them right and left.

According to King, who also taught Sunday School for 20 years, it’s important that toddlers are able to proceed to the next stage of development without force, accomplish new things at different stages. But nurturing them and creating an enabling environment for them to learn is the best way to speed things up.

“If they ask a lot of questions don’t shut them up. Guide them,” the teacher, who’s also a qualified nurse, advises. “If their behaviour is not appropriate, gently let them know that you do such and such at such and such a time.”

She also advises parents not to wait until the first day of school to start teaching their pre-kindergarteners organisational skills.

“This is very important, doing things in an organised manner, teaching them position, teaching them directions and how to manage their little resources,” she said.  “They have their toys and so on; when they play with them, they put them back in the right place.

Those are the things they must do to develop that learning ability when they get into school. They don’t have to go to school knowing how to spell their names. They will be taught at school.”

To feed their exploratory nature, it’s useful to get toddlers out and about, seeing new sights and socialising with their peers. Preschool, which is not far from the kindergarten setting, is the ideal setting for this. In fact, King says the pre-school experience will help to minimise anxiety the child might feel going into primary school.

“There are some children who have not gone to preschool, so that socialising aspect can be very traumatic for them,” she said. “Those children who have not been to preschool who have not been accustomed to socialising with other children their age can be a little more withdrawn. But those children who have been to preschool, you find that they will fit in much easier with the rest of the group because they have similar interests.”

I remember quite well a school day in my hometown in Southern Germany some 60 years ago: the teacher’s subject was “Protect your Environment;” the time was World War II; Germany and England were at each others’ throats, and this teacher chose as an example of protecting the environment the fact that English campers, after folding their tents, carefully brush up the grass which has been flattened by their tent.  For this teacher, that was an example of caring for one’s environment worthy of praise, be it from friend or foe.

I don’t know whether the English ever did, or still do brush up the grass at their campsites.  Such a tradition, however, would demonstrate quite well where protection of one’s environment starts.  The Englishman loves his evergreen lawn and so does the North American.  They are aware of it.  They care for it; they spend lots of money on it.  It’s an important part of their environment.

It’s a tough task to excite John Doe of Illinois about the fate of a rare owl in Oregon.  Likewise, it’s difficult to engage Joe Blow at St John’s to help save the racer snakes on Bird Island:  these creatures are just not part of their environment as John and Joe experience it.

As long as global environmental protection remains mostly an idea of a small elite of academics, nature lovers, and some enlightened politicians, progress will be difficult.  The definition given by the “Living Webster” for “environment” almost points the way:

Environment: “All the physical, social, and cultural factors and conditions in influencing the existence or development of an organism or assemblage of organisms; the act of surrounding; the state of being surrounded; that which surrounds; surroundings.”

There you have it: “surroundings.”  Can John and Joe be convinced that their daily immediate surroundings may have values beyond their usefulness for playing ball with the kids, parking a vehicle, or drying the laundry?  That they can be made and kept beautiful, something worthy of care and protection for future prosperity?

This awareness has been raised in a number of countries to such an extent that if Joe Blow wants to dump his motor oil, someone will tell him that “one” does not do that.  If John goes to dump his rubbish by the lagoon, he is told that “one” does not do that.  “One” – that is everybody in a community.  The grassroots.  Over generations, such awareness has been instilled by the schools, by clubs such as the EAG, by neighborhood associations, and only then, finally, by law and law enforcement.

Politicians listen to the communities, to the “grassroots.”  John and Joe vote.  Wherever the majority wants their environment to be protected, action will follow.  “Green” parties arise.  Environmental laws are not only written but also enforced, if need be through the courts.  It’s a never-ending battle, and only with grassroot’s awareness and support, protection of our environment will become daily routine in our lives.

On the beautiful island of Antigua, people (“grassroots”) are increasingly aware of their natural environment.  I give three examples: a) the courageous people of Old Road successfully fought off attempts to build too close to their beach; b) there are indeed tourists who pick up discarded rubbish along their hiking trails, as there are, I am sure, local Antiguans who do the same; c) a volunteer patrols two beaches on the west coast of Antigua from 7 pm to 3 am, and still manages to get to the Jumby Bay dock at 5:45 am to go to work. It is the tireless dedication of these individuals working together that make the environmental movement grow.

The Colonial era in Antigua was tough, rough and inhuman. The fight to attain a standard of living that would permit of a happy satisfied life during their life-span of hard, back-breaking work was indeed a hard struggle, both for the trade unionist and for the worker as an entity.

Many were the workers who toiled and toiled and toiled and were unable to arrive at a safe haven, where in old age, the pension received was tantamount to the receiving of the accolade, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” for the Poor House had more than its fair share of sugar workers who had fallen through the safety net of the family in the villages.

In the town, the in-thing was to work in one of the stores on Market Street or one of the major streets. At Christmas, a lovely card with a European scene depicting snow was deeply appreciated by the worker whose cherry tree had been adopted to use as a temperate climate conifer/Christmas tree, at whose base, the Magi knelt in picturesque homage to the new-born babe.

Such was the deep sense of appreciation of those people of yesteryear. The material things of life did not seem to matter until the advent of the trade union, where wages, hours of work and vacation were brought into the arena of negotiating for wages.

I remember a situation where George Walter, when attempting to unionise the store workers in St John’s completed negotiations with a certain merchant and the increase in wages for the workers plus their regular wage amounted to the grand total of EC $8 per week per worker. He told George, come back tomorrow morning and I will give you my answer after I have thought about it tonight.

I waited with bated breath, for I knew the man and expected a heavy dose of “ugly.” When George arrived the next morning he met the store totally fastened down and a notice pinned on the door. “Closed indefinitely. Going out of business”, or words to that effect. So George knocked on the door. The employer simply looked out of his upstairs window and declared that he was out of business and couldn’t afford to pay such a wicked extortion that was called wages.

Some time after, I came back to Antigua on holidays and went into The Nook. In my hand I had several magazines entitled Communism Today and several books, one of which was by Malinovsky entitled, Magic, Science and Religion.  When Josiah Joseph, proprietor of The Nook, saw the magazines Communism Today, he declared, “You see what our young people are exposed to today? Our university is breeding a bunch of Communists!”

I smiled and he declared, “Young man, this is no laughing matter!  Magic Science and Religion? What is the university coming to? It is this Godlessness and this Communism that is leading some of our decent, hard-working merchants to close down forever! I can see where the influence is coming from!”

I didn’t enlighten him that the publication Communism Today, published by the United States Information Agency, was given to me by the United States Ambassador to Jamaica, Mr Doherty or that Magic Science and Religion had been one of the required books for reading in Sociology. He had totally ignored the other book, My Mother who Fathered Me, by Edith Clark of Jamaica.

I have related this episode to draw attention to the mindset of some businessmen in Antigua for whom a demand of EC $8 per week was communistic. The question of how their workers would have existed after retirement, without a pension or on a pension based on EC $8 per week did not cross the businessmen’s minds.

Just imagine the thousands of people who have worked in establishments in St John’s, who have served up to 40 years and have been sent home without a thank-you note and without adequate compensation? In fact, at this moment today, the Old Age situation for many workers is bleak. How many establishments have made allowance for their workers to enjoy a pension?

I can speak with pride, for I was one of the main speakers in Parliament who rammed the Social Security Scheme down the throats of a negative, reluctant Labour Party. Some businesses simply accept that the payment of Social Security is mandated by law and that’s that. I believe that every establishment ought to have a contributory pension scheme of its own, outside of Social Security, where the business pays so much and the employer pays so much. It is tough to work for 30 or 40 years, enrich an employer and look forward only to a Social Security handout. Old age comes only once in a lifetime and at times, death cheats the enjoyment after a lifetime of blood, sweat and tears.

The days of poor relief with two shillings every fortnight appear to be in the past, but it is very present among the workers of the private sector who, after giving of their substance for over 40 years, walk away with their Social Security payments alone, leaving the private employer as the sole beneficiary of the substance of their youth and strength.

This is a matter of serious proportions. Neither local nor foreign investors must be allowed simply to walk away leaving their employees stranded without any rights to ownership in a fund from which they can truly claim participation and as their very own to help to cushion the ravages of old age.

Government should not be the only employer from which a worker can look forward to a pension plus the mandatory Social Security. We are living in the twenty-first century and it demands social legislation to protect the little man who expects his government to help to provide a cushion in those vulnerable years.

The alternative is a situation where government will be forced to shoulder other people’s responsibility and scratch the itch for Old Age without care is a total b**** !

A number of individuals who have benefited from training received during an effective proposal-writing workshop are now in position to make greater impact in their respective organisations.

According to a release, 20 persons representing a number of private sector support groups, statutory bodies and government ministries were able to enhance their skills during the two-day seminar at Heritage Hotel last week.

Facilitator Dr Beverly Morgan, who heads Competitiveness Company in Jamaica, guided participants through the proposal writing process and the approach to handling challenges in developing proposals. The training involved using best practice guidelines, frameworks, checklists and templates as reference material to help them become better writers and preparers of proposals.

The dismantling of preferential trade agreements with the European Union through the implementation of the CARIFORUM EU EPA and the ongoing Caricom Canada negotiations has presented the region with greater economic challenges. In recognition of this, grant funds have been made available in order to assist the region to adjust to these new economic realities, the communiqué added.

However, there are detailed administrative requirements involved in securing these funds, which can be quite daunting. Therefore, this workshop proved very timely as it sought to demystify and deconstruct the requirement demands in applying for these funds.

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Export Development Unit in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Commerce also facilitated the session, which was funded from the European Union’s 9th cycle of funding.

The winning Magic Mango (and now Mango Pineapple) recipes of the past few years will soon be compiled into a book. This book, explained Madeline McComas, who oversees the culinary competition which forms part of the Mango Fest activities, is being produced by the same people behind the popular Food and Drink Guide.

Janie Conley is one of those people. The F & DG’s design and art director said the book will be called Table Manners and will include the mango-pineapple recipes and much more.

“It’s a retrospective of the culinary industry from the last six years, so it’s a collection of recipes,” she said.

In addition to the Mango Fest recipes, she explained, it will include recipes submitted by bars and hotels on island – some published before in the guide, some new. And while there’ll be lots of photography, there’ll also be articles on the history of Christian Valley and the Mango Fest, Dame Gwendolyn Tonge – for whom the chef’s award is named, and short articles on local produce like the Antigua Black pineapple. They’ll be matching recipes with wines, reflecting, Conley said, the variety of wines available on island.

The 250-page book will include listings of bars, agro-processors, and more.

They’re doing it, she said, “mainly because Mango Fest has wanted a cookbook for a couple of years and we always wanted to produce a cookbook anyway, but, to have it just full of mango recipes is a bit restrictive.”

Table Manners, therefore, will give a more rounded picture of cuisine available in Antigua, not limited, of course, to Antiguan cuisine.

She anticipates it’ll be a hit with visitors and locals alike.

“I think they (ie the books) are going to get used a lot, I really do,” Conley said.

The winning chefs and bartenders recognised at the second day of the two-day fest last Sunday would likely agree. All seem keen to have the competition act as a gateway to bigger and better things, and winning chef, David Browne, for one indicates that there’s always a high level of interest in the recipes among the guests at Galley Bay where he works as the sous chef, some emailing for recipes they’ve sampled at the resort.

Kassim main.

Browne, who, for the competition, prepared a main course entitled AntiguaNice Chicken with Julie Mango and Cornmeal Stuffing served with Pineapple Plantain Creole and had Julie Mango Cheesecake with Cinnamon-Roasted Pineapple and Mango Chutney as his dessert, beat out Hermitage’s Kerry Simmonds and student chef Kassim Smith for the main prize.

He described inventiveness in the kitchen as part of his routine.

“I try to invent things and make the staff (understand) that if you try something new (it can only) get rejected or get a good response,” he said. Winning, he said, is a great motivator. He described the book as a good idea and just one way in which the winning concoctions and their creators could be utilised – another is to have the winners represent in regional culinary competitions. “We have cooking competitions here and we have winners with good dishes, with creative minds, and we can use that to even push Antigua,” Browne said.

Exhibiting that hunger for more, third placed and most innovative chef, Smith, a graduate of Antigua and Barbuda Hospitality Training Institute, is headed shortly for further studies in China. His appetiser was Country Style Tomato Bombe stuffed with Fresh Mango, Pineapple and Corn, served with Mango Vinaigrette and oven crisped parmesan bread; and his main course, Grilled Iguana Terrine with Spicy Mango and Pineapple Sauce, Spaghetti Squash and Green Onion Bulgur Pilaf.

Iguana? Clearly, the chefs who prevail in this competition, the ones who will be featured in Table Manners, think outside the box.

“I had to do something that was going to catch everybody’s eyes and the judge’s included … I didn’t want to do the norm,” Smith said of his approach to his first competition.

Behind the bar, Timmy Thomas of The Beach secured a second win in only his second year of competition with Love and Mango and Mangria. The latter, his favourite of the two, was made with Pinot Grigio, Courvoisier, light rum, Midori liqueur, mango, strawberries, passion fruit syrup, cranberry juice, and pineapple juice.

He beat out Jolly Beach’s Real Roberts, who won second place and most innovative, and third placed Onique Matthew of Bay House.

Talking to Thomas, it’s clear that a high level of passion drives what he does.

“I just love what I do,” he said. “I work at it. It’s hard work; (so) not only for the money but you’ve just got to love what you do.”

He described himself as a “mixologist” noting that, on the job, when someone comes to the bar, uncertain about what they want, he reads their mood and creates a drink specific to them.

Coming up with new recipes for the Mango-Pineapple competition was, therefore, just another day behind the bar for him. He, too, would like to see the competition open up more opportunities for bartenders and chefs alike; and he, too, dreams of someday doing his own book.

In the interim, mango and pineapple lovers can look forward to Table Manners which should be launched in December of this year. It is described by the production team as “a stunning and eye-catching masterpiece” which “should be used to publicise Antigua & Barbuda as a culinary capital of the Caribbean.”

The Mango-Pineapple competition, meanwhile, which dates back to 2006, is hopeful, going forward, of providing even more opportunities – primarily educational opportunities – for participants, McComas indicated.

The Wadadli Pen Open Mic, a cousin to the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize, continues on September 11 with a “Terror” theme.

But Best of Books staffer and Open Mic host, Glen Toussaint insists it’s just a coincidence. “The theme ‘Terror’ was decided upon before we actually realised that it was September 11th (so) it had nothing to do with the actual event,” he said.

The event in question is, of course, the bombing of the twin towers at the World Trade Centre in New York in 2001. Still, no harm no foul; the open mic themes have to date intersected naturally with real life from “the father I wish I had” right around Father’s Day to “show your colours” right around Carnival time. It gives the artistes an opportunity to interpret and react to the world around them, but, as is often the case with art, the poet’s don’t always make the most obvious choices, so who knows what will shake loose when the scribes gather on September 11 at 7:30 pm at Best of Books Royal Palm?

And they will gather; the numbers have been holding steady somewhere in the 20s, Toussaint related. In fact, the last gathering, the biggest to date, attracted in excess of 30 people.

“Word’s been getting out,” Toussaint said.

Of course, they’d like to see it grow, not just in terms of numbers but in terms of actual participation. “(We’re hoping) to get more of the awareness out there,” Toussaint said, “get more persons participating, especially persons who are willing to share their pieces.”

That’s been one feature of the monthly open mics to date, more spectators than participants. “The situation is that sometimes we would have not a whole lot of persons willing to share and few on topic.”

They hope to improve in this area going forward. And a couple of newer innovations have stirred participation; they are the impromptu spoken word and three-word challenge. Explaining the latter, he said, “a person comes up and the audience throws a word at them and they have to speak on that word for a full minute; they get three words, so it’s one after the other.” That has stirred some interesting thoughts and reactions, especially with the incentive, last time around, of a prize. “That aspect we keep on topic,” Toussaint said.

With respect to the developmental aspect of the programme, he said they’d still like to see more interaction between established and emerging writers, and more constructive feedback vis-à-vis the pieces presented.

“That was one of the things we wanted with the open mic … (but) not enough of it had occurred to begin with and it’s kind of faded.”

Still, they haven’t given up on the idea. “It’s supposed to be more than just a platform for showing your pieces but something that can help you to develop and get better … we need to keep on course with our initial plan,” Toussaint said.

It’s noteworthy, meanwhile, that thanks to Best of Books’ involvement with the Independence Literary Arts competition, there’ll be a natural relationship between that and the open mic as well; with the open mic even serving as the forum for the spoken word portion of the literary arts competition and the October open mic sharing the competition’s theme ‘wake them, let them rise and shine’.

But first up is “Terror” and Toussaint issues this gentle reminder: “we’re encouraging persons to come on time.”

The Herald from Emile Hill’s Angel Project

Emile Hill’s Angels may ruffle feathers. But the artist seems prepared for that as he nears the end of a project that has consumed the last several years of his life; a coffee table book, with his unique take on angels, planned for a December release.

“People view or have always thought of angels in one particular way, especially in the Caribbean,” Hill said. “In this project, what I’m trying to do is open up people’s eyes and my eyes as well.”

Take the Angel of Death, typically swathed in black and carrying a scythe, he’s literally thought of as the Grim Reaper of reluctant souls. Hill unclothes him to reveal a fit and imposing figure with a staff and what could be tribal markings, suggesting more of an African shepherd than a reaper hovering in dark corners.

“Death is a transition,” Hill said, “so … you see death not as the Grim Reaper, but as a guide from one place to another.” Put like that, death sounds almost pleasant; and certainly there’s something calm but purposeful in the face of the young man playing the role.

The Angels Project is a largely black and white collection because Hill thinks this would have the most impact. The angels are modelled by black people and not just because of convenience; he explained, “I think if I were God and I was to send somebody it would be somebody you can relate to.” And relatable they are, artfully posed, yes, but also leaking emotion – for instance, the fallen angel literally and painfully sweating out his heavenly essence.

Hill does a good job of capturing the desired emotion and posture from his actors, from the “bad ass” pose of the warrior Michael to the internal glow that shines through to the face of the model in Halo. It fits with his definition of art as “expression”.

A trained architect and working graphic artist, it is in the realm of photography that he has found his purest form of “expression”; a fact he doesn’t deny – “there’s obviously work and (then) there’s a passion.”

The Angels Project, actually sparked during his days at the Antigua State College, was a work-in-progess even as he worked on his architectural degree at the University of Technology in Jamaica.

Hill said, “I think what really sparked it was City of Angels.” Readers will remember this 1998 Meg Ryan, Nicholas Cage film as presenting a vision of angels moving among humans unseen. “There were these angels in all these very strange places,” Hill reflected, “It started me (wondering) what it is that angels do.”

He did extensive research, he said, into angel mythology in different religions, and this is all blended into the narrative of the book. Also there is his fascination with flight, and his child-like notion of angels as super heroes battling in unseen realms, flying, walking through walls.

The Michael image is perhaps the most striking visual example of this, as, working from a live model, Hill created a drawn version of the character such as one might find in a comic book – especially with the fighting stance and samurai sword.

In case you missed it, he’s enjoying blurring the lines between photography and graphic art; “I’m really playing a lot with it and having a good time,” he said. And if the graphic artist comes through, so, too, does the architect, especially with the use of space in the images. His aesthetic involves “giving something room to breathe and letting it say what it has to say.”

But photography is at the core. And at the heart of that is photographer and subject, and there’s been no shortage of volunteer models, though he admitted, “there are people who volunteer (who) you don’t want to shoot and people you have to coax.”

The first models were his fellow students, such as the one featured in the first image in the book, a sort of winged river goddess, and the six-winged seraph that shows up elsewhere. There are one or two images he’s yet to find the right models for, such as the cherubim.

But the artist is undoubtedly into the homestretch of this project.

Still, “I’ve had this obsession with angels for so long, when this is done, what am I going to do?” he wondered. “I’ve been thinking that I want to do something on dancers.”

He later added, however, “whatever I do I probably will always have that idea of freedom of movement and flight.” Meaning, the angels will be with him long after the book is sitting on coffee tables.

In the normal development of school children, there is one phase into which every pre-teen and teenager envisage making that quantum leap – becoming a member of an esteemed secondary school society.

It is also the dream of each and every family member to see the children “graduate” and take this all-important step along the road of their educational journey to the point that relatives become seriously involved in nurturing, supporting and encouraging the young ones to strive for excellence.

After years of grooming and preparation, the young, aspiring students are required to clear two main academic yardsticks used annually to determine a child’s readiness to attain the status of secondary school scholar: the Common Entrance and Junior Secondary Examinations.

From September 1, this year in keeping with true tradition, hundreds of students, having successfully negotiated the exams (1,362 Common Entrance and 200 Junior Secondary), eagerly anticipate taking that first big step through the gates and onto the compound of one of the country’s 19 secondary institutions.

The hordes of new students are ready and raring to fulfill the expectations of their new environment, but to what degree? Their academic achievements may guarantee successful negotiation of the range of subjects to which they are introduced. But how equipped are they to cope with other challenges weaved within the more sophisticated, social fabric of secondary school life that is quite different from the primary school community they just left?

How do students cope with the feelings of anxiety that are associated with the fact that they are being separated from their friends who are entering other schools or may not have passed their exams? Naturally, they will form new and lasting friendships, so parents and guardians need to help to soothe children’s fears, worries and nervousness they are experiencing at this stage.

The onus is also on parents and other family members to mentally prepare the child who is leaving primary or junior secondary at the top of their old school, for entrance into an institution where he or she is starting at the bottom rung — in first form, (third for the junior secondary grad).

The child must also be prepared to take on the added responsibilities and discipline to cope with a heavier workload as he will be carrying a lot more subjects than he did in primary school, and be guided into the habit of organising to balance homework and studies with chores.

Being mostly accustomed to a one-teacher-per-class system, the new secondary school student may also experience some difficulty adjusting to the method of teaching, namely a different teacher per subject, and the increased volume of research and individual work he or she has to produce to maintain passing grades.

Social worker Koren Norton said because of the levels on which children are developing, the transition period, though exciting for the new students, will affect them socially, physically, emotionally and mentally, among others.

“There are challenges that can be helped if the parents are very involved and if the teachers remain open-minded as to what these new children are coming in with,” she said.

Norton pointed out that social adjustment poses the biggest problem for the secondary school entrant, since they may be somewhat intimidated by the unfamiliarity of the new environment and strange faces.

Parents are therefore called upon to help their children enter school with a boost to their confidence. “We have to help our children to adjust by helping them to feel confident … Confidence doesn’t only come from teaching them ‘you’re smart, you’re beautiful, you’re good’, confidence also comes from helping them to be themselves and to feel comfortable.

“While we don’t want our kids to be materialistic, we have to also understand that a part of fitting in is feeling as though they’re a part of things.”

For example, it may simply be a situation where the lunch kit has to be retired and the sandwich wrapped and placed in the pocket of the schoolbag, or paying careful attention to buying more “in style” school shoes, the social worker said.

Children need learn to make decisions, and to be more assertive, Norton said, and they also need to have the assurance that they can come home and discuss school issues with parents. “There might be bullying in the school … we as parents have to teach and discuss these things so that when they go out there they understand that it’s a different level and they need to be prepared.”

Vaccination time was a dreaded time for some of us during our days in primary and secondary school. The tears would flow among some female students as the crisply dressed nurses walked through the door with their trays, decorated with needles and all the other paraphernalia, to administer what we thought was torture.

The smell of fear, mixed with the scent of the antiseptic, permeated the classroom where the injections were administered.

We did not mind the medication that was orally administered. It was the long needles and the pain that followed the prick that we feared most.

Some students became so tense that the medicine would flow down their arms, instead of into their veins, and they would have to be coaxed and coerced into returning to the nurse for another shot.

The next day, some students would be absent from school because they had fallen ill as a result of the vaccination.

We are certain that similar scenarios continue to play out in schools today whenever vaccination time rolls around.

Gretcene Quallis, a public health nurse of 26 years, in an interview with The Daily OBSERVER spoke about the importance of vaccines, the schedule and the types administered from birth to 15 years.

Despite criticisms from some parents against the practice, Quallis is all in favour of immunising children, emphasising that it takes only one infected child to start an epidemic.

“It only takes one child for an epidemic to begin. Let’s say a child comes from another country and has the infection, and these are through droplet infections, coughs and sneezes, the common cold … you could have an outbreak,” she said.

Nurse Quallis said vaccines are important; they set up antibodies that help to protect individuals against organisms; so when they’re exposed to these organisms the antibodies act as a defence mechanism and protect them against infection.

The health practitioner also explained that if the proper schedule is adhered to, the first vaccine would be administered when a baby is two months old, to be followed by a booster shot every two months until the child reaches six months.

At one year, the child gets the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) immunisation; then at 18 months the booster shots for those three vaccines are given within a two to six-month period.

By the time a child reaches age five, he or she should have received a second booster. However, Nurse Quallis noted that because children start school at an earlier age, three-plus or four-plus, they might have gotten their first booster much earlier.

She disclosed that the vaccine regimen could begin even earlier than two months. In the case of children who are born to mothers diagnosed with Hepatitis B, the vaccine could begin at birth.

Quallis said according to the educational laws, children should not be accepted in schools unless they are immunised, but because the law has not been stringently enforced, some children slip through the cracks.

While teachers in the public schools are doing a little better at monitoring students, she noted there is some tardiness in checking for health cards in the private schools.

She said the vaccine regimen includes the MMR hepatitis B, hemophilius, oral polio, diptheria, whooping cough and tetanus.

They should be administered on a schedule of two months, four months and then six months of age. However, if the child encounters any kind of illness during that time, administering of the vaccines may be delayed.

So if the schedule is followed, by age 15 children should be getting their third booster of diptheria-polio.

“So at 15, you get your DT which is the diptheria-tetanus, the same thing you would’ve gotten before and your polio and the second MMR, if you did not get it at five, because by five you should’ve gotten two MMRs. You would’ve gotten the first one at one year, then the second one at five,” she said.

Quallis is the public health nurse responsible for the northern area that includes Pigotts, Potters and Clare Hall.