PRESIDENT Christine Kangaloo said the first ever President’s Pan Camp was the culmination of months of hard work by committed and gifted citizens who pulled together to make her vision a reality. She said the event gave her cause not just for tremendous happiness, but also for tremendous hope.
Speaking during the opening of the Pan Camp on July 15 at President’s House, St Ann’s, Kangaloo said, “That vision is the vision that I shared during my address on the occasion of my inauguration last year, of using the Office of the President to advocate for the adoption in our communities of youth programmes based on the panyard model – not just limited to specific periods in the year, but on a year-round basis.”
Kangaloo said on July 15, Trinidad and Tobago woke up to the news that there had been 15 murders over the weekend.
“In the teeth of such unspeakable atrocity, the panyard model affords us a different reflection of ourselves. It shows us one pathway out of the darkness. If there is a feeling of hopelessness in TT at this time, the panyard model offers us a path back to hope.
“The model provided by the steelband movement in its preparations for Panorama – the discipline and the structure that the panyard brings into the lives of young people each year in the lead up to Carnival; the exposure to the transformative and healing power of the music of the steelpan; the wisdom and the life lessons taught them by their role models; and the composure and self-control that mastery of the instrument require – all of these combine to provide us with one of the most powerful tools for societal change available anywhere in the world.
“I believe that the widespread adoption of the panyard model has the potential to be among the most powerful anti-crime measures our country will ever see.”
[caption id="attachment_1096444" align="alignnone" width="1024"] President Christine Kangaloo speaks at the launch of the first President’s Pan Camp at President’s House, St Ann’s on July 15. - Photo by Jeff K Mayers[/caption]
Kangaloo called on the public to incorporate the steelpan into their everyday lives. She said the fanfare played as she entered had been recorded entirely on pan and played for the first time on July 15.
The five-day pan camp will teach 22 students who have had no previous experience in playing pan. The campers were selected from the Cotton Tree Foundation, the Scout Association, the Girl Guides Association, and six police youth clubs.
The camp, which runs from July 15-19, will be divided into two daily sessions. During the morning session, the 22 campers, ages 12-21, will be taught how to play pan. In the afternoon session, they will be joined by 50 other young people and take part in sit-down seminar-type sessions where they will have discussions with leading pan professionals and cultural icons on a wide range of topical and pressing social, cultural and personal issues.
The campers said they were glad for the opportunity. Tsehaia Telesford said she was looking forward to making friends and learning
