School's breakfast programme gets passing grade

Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer

RIVERSDALE, St Catherine:

NINE-YEAR-OLD Ajahna Coleman looks forward to going to school every morning. But, as the grade-four Berwick Primary School student told The Gleaner, it's not just to do mathematics and language arts.

"I don't want to go to school just to do my schoolwork, I always want to make sure that I don't miss the breakfast," the eloquent, gold medallist in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) 2011 speech competition said while smiling.

Novia Wright of grade three is just as excited about having the first meal of the day with her friends. The variety of food, ranging from fried and boiled dumplings, bananas, liver, callaloo, cabbage, chicken, frankfurters and porridge, is reason enough for her to attend school, even when there is inclement weather.

"Sometimes when the rain is falling, I don't feel to go to school, but when I remember that I'm getting breakfast, I have to go," she said, with an emerging laugh.

Ajahna and Novia are two of the 70 students benefiting from the school's breakfast programme. But, it was a donation from an overseas-based organisation that has been helping to make the initiative, possible.

"The breakfast programme started about four years ago. However, we were strapped for cash and so it died down, so we heard about the Nurses' Association of Jamaica, NAJ UK and we asked them for assistance and in 2009, NAJ gave us £500 to boost the programme," Sonia Bird, principal, explained to The Gleaner.

Of course, parents volunteer to help Valrie Brown, the school's cook, to prepare and serve breakfast, Mondays to Thursdays. Besides, the programme is not only used to motivate students to attend school, but also to be punctual.

"School starts at eight and they should be here before 7:30 to have their breakfast, so that they can get into devotion. We have seen where punctuality has improved," said Bird.

Vital meal

For parents like Andrea McDermot and Marline Samuels, the programme has been helping to cushion their inability to provide a vital meal for their children.

"At times, I find it difficult to find breakfast for my son, the school giving him breakfast really helps to take off some of the burden," McDermot said.

Samuels, mother of four, said, "Sometimes, it's really, really hard to find money to provide all of them, so for me knowing that Novia can get breakfast at school really lessen the stress."

So, even as the programme scales down, as the school term draws to a close, Bird is grateful to the NAJ UK, which has pledged its continued support.

President Paulette Lewis, who hails from Hector's River in Portland, left the island in 1975. She told The Gleaner that the general objective of the organisation founded in 1978, is to support health initiatives, social care and education in Jamaica. With regard to education, she emphasised the value placed on helping children to develop and fulfil their full potential.

"We have some of our brightest children in the poorest communities and our focus is to support them. NAJ UK believes in developing our young Jamaicans by supporting educational development in schools. Children cannot function without nutritious food to help them to focus and learn and we are happy to help Berwick Primary," explained Lewis, a director of nursing and midwifery.

Over the last 30 years, NAJ UK, with branches in Birmingham and London, has made significant contribution to several organisations and institutions in Jamaica.

Among them are St Christopher School for the Deaf in Brown's Town, St Ann, Seaside Infant School in Portland and St Andrew Care Centre.

rural@gleanerjm.com