Year of the Child

Domnitjen Magazine - July 14, 2010

By Mara Etienne-Manley

Imagine you are a ten year old girl who is constantly abused by a family member. You are afraid to tell someone because you do not want to face the consequences; moreover, the people you think you can trust may not even believe you. Even worse, you may be blamed for the actions of your abuser. You have nobody to turn to, no place to hide and you continue to live in fear.

This is a daily reality for millions of children all over the world, and this small island, Dominica is no exception. Violence against children continues to plague our society as young boys and girls are victims of neglect, physical abuse, sexual assaults and torture. Oftentimes these children call for help, but their voices are not heard.

In an effort to raise public awareness about the plight of children, five creative thinkers- Anna Raffoul, Marie-Claire Giraud, Nelly Stharre, Cornell Phillip and Emile Raffoul have formed the ‘Year of the Child 2010’ organization with the aim of providing support to children in Dominica who suffer from deprivation, neglect and exploitation.

Dedicating the year 2010 as the ‘The Year of the Child’, the organization states in a release: “Our mission is twofold: First, to heighten public awareness of children's issues and the solutions to their problems. Second, to help raise funds for community and national based projects aimed at improving children’s state of being.”

The first fund-raising event was a reggae concert held at Krazy Kokonuts in January, with a star-studded line-up which included Tony Rebel, Queen Ifrica and Duane Stephenson from Jamaica as well as Dominica’s queen of reggae Nelly Stharre, Marie-Claire, Aima Moses and Dr Silk among others.

The show’s headliner Tony Rebel describes his reaction to the invitation to be part of ‘The Year of the Child’ benefit concert.

“When I was asked to do this show, my first reaction was ‘yes’, because this is our forte, that’s what we do in Jamaica. [In fact] one of our songs is called Be Careful What You Teach The Little Children. We have been [working] with children organisations for years, so once the organisers spoke to me about it, there was no way I could say no.”

Rebel goes on to explain why it is important to connect with children at an early age.

 “For too long, our leaders have been putting a whole lot of effort on just a band aid on a big sore instead of making that major surgery. And that major surgery is getting into the minds of people, and so it’s important that people with that instrument of influence find ways to get into those impressionable minds. If you get to inject certain values into a child at a young age, then it stays with them forever. So if a country or a community does not invest in the young ones, then that’s certainly a recipe for failure.”

The reggae concert was indeed one of the most successful charitable events ever held in Dominica, raising ECD$20,000 for Camp Rescue, an organization that provides help and support to children in need.

Reggae sensation Queen Ifrica was one of the main attractions of the show. She performed a number of songs from her latest album, including her controversial hit Daddy Don’t Touch Me There an anthem song for girls all over the world. Queen shares her inspiration for the song that gave her international recognition.

“Incest has always been a taboo subject, even as a child growing up in Jamaica. However, working along with Tony Rebel on his community projects and being around troubled kids, I was able to get a first hand view of what incest really looks like. When you look at nine year olds [girls] walking around with bellies that their daddies gave them, it’s like you hug them and they cry when they tell you their stories.”

Queen, a mum of two, says she then created a place for the young girls to feel vindicated.

“And that’s why I did it in the way I did, I started out by saying ‘Daddy Don’t Touch Her There’, but it wasn’t coming across the way I wanted. It was taking away from what I really wanted to say, so when I said Daddy Don’t Touch Me There, then it made all the sense in the world to me.”

The second Year of the Child concert got the attention of international sponsor BET Centric as well as regional support from LIAT and LIME. Grammy award winning Trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and Jazz Saxophonist Arturo Tapin headlined the Jazz charity concert at the State House grounds on March 27th.

The show brought together an amazing line-up of local talent with proceeds going to the National HIV/AIDS programme, as well as Fouche La Vie a charity organization working with orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV and AIDS in Dominica.

The YOTC2010 committee continues to set a bench mark organizing events geared at enhancing the lives of children in Dominica. Supporters can look forward to more stellar performances in the upcoming months, as the organization fulfills its mission to “Rebuilding our nation one child at a time”.