Kingston Students Take in Outameni Experience

About 72 students from five schools in the Kingston 11 section of the Corporate Area, accompanied by their teachers, were treated to a day of fun and excitement in western Jamaica, Friday (December 4), courtesy of the National Child Month Committee.
The students, who were drawn from the Marie Atkins Basic, Penwood Basic, Holiness Basic, St Patrick’s Primary and the Balcomb Drive Primary and Junior High schools, made a trip to western Jamaica which culminated with a tour of the Outameni Experience, in Trelawny.
Vice Chairman of the National Child Month Committee (NCMC), Sandrea Long-White, told JIS News that the trip represents the annual Child’s Month treat, which the NCMC usually stages in November as one of its annual activities.
It forms part of the observance of Universal Children’s Day, which was celebrated on November 20. The day is designated by the United Nations (UN) as an occasion to encourage worldwide fraternity and understanding between children, and to promote the ideals and objectives of the charter, and the welfare of children around the world.

Students show off the latest in Jamaican dance moves at the Outameni Experience beach, while on a tour of the attraction on Friday (December 4). The students were part of a group of 72 students and their teachers from five schools in the Kingston 11 area, who were taken on a trip to western Jamaica by the National Child Month Committee.

“Now this year, in particular, we chose to focus on the Kingston 11 area, the Waterhouse, Olympic way area. One reason is that for our motto this year, we are focussing on the environment and the need to take care of the environment, and we realise that a lot of our children do not value this land that we have,” Mrs Long-White stated.
“As such, we thought of coming to Trelawny, to Outameni Experience, for them to get an idea of where we are coming from, the concept that we are one people, that we need to take care of our own, take care of our island,” she said.
She also explained that each year the less fortunate children of different communities are chosen for focus, and the Kingston 11 area was chosen this year.
Mrs. Long-White described the Outameni Experience as educational, fun and an opportunity for the children to learn and experience something new.
She went on to explain that the activities of the NCMC are sponsored by organisations in both the private and public sectors. She added that, over the years, several inner-city schools and children’s homes have been targeted, visited and given some amount of special treatment as part of the NCMC Child’s Month activities.
She emphasised that the committee also implements other projects which encourages the participation of children from across the island.
Grade one Teacher at St. Patrick’s Primary, Gillian Young, who accompanied her students on the trip, described the Outameni Experience tour as “a really lovely experience”.