Innovation and attention to detail won 12-year-old Hemant Munilall his own cell phone when he entered a kite competition put on by the Goodwill Foundation.
Munilall, a West Demerara resident, said that after he entered the competition signing up under the “unusual kite” category, the first thing he did was to check the meaning of unusual in his dictionary.
The Zeeburg Secondary School student then collected pointers, thread, kite paper and ‘gamma cherry’ and proceeded to build a bird kite, having first drawn it out on paper.
The kite took him weeks to build but eventually it paid off and he won the first prize of a cell phone.
“I don’t have to use my sister’s cell phone anymore,” Munilall said.
Asked if he planned to fly the kite yesterday, he was a bit unsure as he said it was the first thing he had every created and he did not want to destroy it. However, the budding artist said he was sure that if he did put his kite to the test, it would fly.
The Goodwill Foundation is a community based organisation in the village of Goed Fortuin that provides services to people and children on the West Bank and West Coast Demerara.
Members said they wanted to rekindle the joy in children of creating their own kites, hoping it would see them develop an appreciation for local kites, while at the same time engaging them in a meaningful activity.
The categories were big, unusual, neat and small kites and children were encouraged to use only materials from their community.
The cell phone was donated by Rondel Barker, while the other prizes awarded were a CD player and a school hamper donated by friends of the foundation. Each child who produced a kite was awarded with reading material.
