ON Thursday March 22nd 2018 Club Gar’s Walk 4 a Cause in collaboration with the Division of Gender Relations held a domestic violence sensitization workshop for primary and secondary school students under the theme “We say no to domestic violence”.
The event was held at the Folk Research Centre, Mount Plaisance.
Attendees hailed from Ave Maria Girls Primary, St. Aloysius RC Boys, Tapion School, St. Mary’s College and Bonneterre Preparatory School.
Students were instructed on the definition of abuse, types of abuse, how to develope safety skills for making interventions, and accessing emergency telephone numbers to call for help.
Participants also engaged in a range of interactive activities geared towards sensitizing their young minds to the scourge of domestic violence and encouraging the sharing of information among their peers in an effort to arrest this societal problem in its early stages.
At the workshop’s conclusion, Darnell Pierre, the reigning Calypso Monarch of the St. Aloysius RC Boys School, treated fellow participants to a powerful rendition entitled “domestic violence” written by his teacher Ms. FranceneBharry.
The workshop’s facilitators were Mrs. ClearsaPoleon-Bourne of the Division of Gender Relations a professional working with victims and survivors of domestic violence for 14 years and Mr. Ted Sandiford, Visual Arts teacher at the St. Mary’s College.
Mr. Sandiford’s presentation shared how art could be used as a powerful tool to breaking the silence of domestic violence.
As a follow-on project of the workshop participating schools were charged with painting an art mural depicting their zero tolerance stance of domestic violence on the outer wall of the Ave Maria Girl Primary School.
Club Gar has partnered with the Division of Gender Relations to embark on a year-long educational campaign on domestic violence sensitization to address this pervasive issue in St. Lucia.