A group of students brought smiles to the faces of 55 children ranging from ages two to 12-years-old after they spent their savings to organise a Christmas treat for them in Fyzabad yesterday.
Serreh Mohammed and her seven friends from Naparima Girls’ High School Lower Sixth Form also got former Arima mayor Ghassan Youseph to dress up as Santa Claus and distribute gifts to the boys and girls.
Held at the office of Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe, the children were treated to pizza, snacks, desserts and they also played fun games.
Mohammed said, “It was originally a smaller idea and it eventually grew into a big idea to include as many children as possible because we always wanted to give back and it was based on the whole basis of giving back and to bringing a smile on a child’s face for Christmas.”
They chose the Fyzabad community because San Fernando already has a lot of charitable foundations and charity events. “We wanted to target an area which was not necessarily focused on or may have been overlooked. We also wanted to come to a rural area to bring them some Christmas cheer.”
They went about selecting the children by contacting the principal of 11 schools in Fyzabad and asking for the names of five students who came from the neediest homes.
Praising the students on their initiative, Bodoe said his Christmas wish for the country is that it returns to the paradise that it was once. “I am very troubled by the fact that this time of cheer and goodwill people have to line up in the rain to go and change $100 and I have nothing against the demonetisation programme, but what I am saying is things should have been thought out more properly. I am very saddened to see the kind of inconvenience, especially the elderly people have to undergo to get their monies changed.”
Bodoe’s also wished that 2020 in T&T will see less crime and a better economy. “And the citizens will once more be able to enjoy the life that they deserve.”