There are a few things to do at the Carifesta Youth village at the National Park such as walking the rope bridge at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) aerial walkway if you dare.
It is difficult to remain calm when strapped into a safety harness some 25 feet above ground with only the sky and a few ropes before you.
“Take me down I can’t do this, please I can’t do this anymore”, a young woman shouted from above on Wednesday after bravely approaching the officer at the walkway and declaring that it looks pretty easy.
By the time the officer asked who else wanted to give it a try there were hardly any takers though a few young men stood a few inches away, chests in the air as if preparing to take the walk. Turns out they were not that serious.
Of the fun camps set up at the village, the GDF adventure camp is the most intimidating but it drew some of the largest crowds. It is probably everyone’s dream to feel like a soldier for a day even if half of the action is baby cakes compared to the real stuff.
Lt. L. Adams of the GDF told Stabroek News on Wednesday during a visit to the camp that the idea was to get children involved and to keep them entertained, but also to keep their safety in mind. He said that the army decided to get onboard with Carifesta because of its significance to the country, adding that they are happy to share in the festival.
If you are feeling adventurous a stop at the camp starts with the aerial walkway and a few balance beams placed across a drain then to the commando crawl rope. Many have slipped into the drains emerging unscathed but covered in moss.
There is also a crash course on how to set up `pancho’ shelters which includes a variety but everyone’s favourite- the lazy boy- a `pancho’ and two pieces of wood stuck in the ground. It ends with a canoe ride in the canal outside the National Park at Thomas Lands.
But as tempting and
exciting as the camp was there were so much more to take in and only a stone’s throw away was the book festival. Hansib, a United Kingdom publisher, is throwing a fabulous Carifesta book sale – any three titles from a varied selection for a mere $2800- some of which were launched at the book festival.
There are so many books to browse and decide on and this is in a single tent, the other tents are filled with books from across the region and further afield. There are country book exhibitions and local exhibitions. Some 16 new titles were launched at the book festival for Carifesta.
Petamber Persaud, Coordinator of the Carifesta book festival, beamed with excitement when recounting how great the festival has been. He said at least three new titles are being launched every other day and that some of the writers are on hand for signings immediately after the launch.
“Literature is alive here”, Persaud said flashing his signature smile and with a little shake of his hips he moved on rocking to infectious music that was blasting out of the tent compliments of a Barbadian drumming group.
On Wednesday four titles were launched; Fictions by Ruel Johnson, Between two worlds by Gaia Gofee and Judith Gofee, Selected Poems by Ian McDonald and Short and Sweet by Bobby Fernandes.
Condoms and HIV
An entire section of the National Park is the Ministry of Health’s and based on how one child described it; that is the ‘coolest spot in the park’. There are fun things to do all right but it is all ‘edutainment’. The Ministry has thrown itself into the festival in a huge way preaching abstinence and prevention to young children while educating them on the dangers of HIV/AIDS and they are distributing condoms.
“Why not preach abstinence and leave it at that”, a young man said as he exited the booth with several packs of condoms in his hands but a volunteer next to him quickly responded that youths are having sex at much younger ages so it is okay to ask them to wrap it up. The guy laughed and left.
Director of the National AIDS Programme, Dr. Shanti Singh, was visible in the booths interacting with youths and even getting her hands dirty with the spray paint and face paints.
There are many options at the ministry’s booths that allow children to spray paint messages of hope on jerseys and also wear tattoos of health symbols on their faces and hands. The children are also free to join the deejays in the booth and rap about HIV or sing whatever they like providing the lyrics are clean.
A little bit of dancing is also included and the messages are constantly being fed to the children, ‘Beware of HIV’, ‘Protect yourself’, ‘Abstain and wait’ among others. There is also a health maze that graphically captures the harm of an unhealthy diet while promoting healthier meals. Basically anything with the fast food brand is not healthy particularly those with trans fats.
There are other things to see at the Youth Village such as the Dance Alive group that puts on a performance every day when an edutainment programme gets underway at 6 pm, but the dancers are often on stage warming up earlier in the day.
