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Alderman Irene Medina launched the Peace is power initiative in Arima. –
AHEAD of the International Day of Peace, also known as World Peace Day, the Arima Borough Council has unanimously approved a resolution to launch a peace awareness initiative called Peace is power.
A statement on September 3 from the Office of the Mayor said alderman Irene Medina introduced the initiative at the council’s monthly statutory meeting on August 29 at the Malabar Community Centre Phase IV in Arima.
The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the UN General Assembly and is celebrated on September 21. This year’s theme is Cultivating a Culture of Peace.
The statement recalled that in moving the motion in August, Medina quoted late former South African president Nelson Mandela, who said: “Peace is the greatest weapon for development that any person can have.”
Medina continued quoting Mandela, who said: “If people can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, because love comes naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
The statement said Arima is home to over 100,000 burgesses, and there had been reports in recent times of a significant increase in gang violence and criminal activities, which could affect healthy development and economic growth.
The statement said: “One of the recommendations of local government reform is that emphasis be placed on municipal policing, and the development for community capacity for peace, social cohesion and civil existence.”
The council also recognised the need to create a safe and secure atmosphere for burgesses to ensure they can operate and prosper without fear in their daily functions.
To coincide with the International Day of Peace, Medina on September 3 challenged students of the Arima Boys’ RC School to take part in a poster campaign to mark the occasion. It is open to students in standards three to five to express what peace means to them.
She said, “I believe is that peace is power, and we see this poster campaign as an artistic way for students to showcase what peace means to them.”
The school will receive $1,000 worth of school supplies and a trophy. She told Newsday that after meeting with the school’s principal, Navin Harry, on September 16, he said he preferred the supplies to be schoolbooks, to which she agreed.
She added, “This is not a competition but an awareness campaign. As such, I intend to have all the posters displayed at the Arima Public Library for viewing and enjoyment of the Arima public.”
The theme for this campaign is Peace is Power, and students must answer two questions: “How do you imagine a peaceful Arima?” and “When you think of peace, what do you see?”
They can get assistance from their teachers and/or parents but the idea of what peace means should come from them.
The poster should also have a paragraph explaining their concept of peace, along with the student’s name, age, and standard. The deadline is September 18.
Medina said Arima is or was home to many “great people” who have contributed to society. These include the late media personality Holly Betaudier, also called Holly B and the Arima Kid; the late calypsonian Aldwyn “Lord Kitchener” Roberts; singer Ian “Bunji Garlin” Alvarez; and the Santa Rosa First Peoples, to name a few.
Medina said neither Arima nor its burgesses should be defined by crime, considering the community’s rich cultural heritage.
