Teachers and Principals alike have called for the continuation of Ai Bonjay the Idakeda Primary School storytelling initiative after a successful completion of the first term of this new programme

Dara E Healy Founder of the Idakeda Group and Managing Director of Obelisk Communications was recently featured in a new regional business publication called The Caribbean Entrepreneur

Eintou Springer received her latest regional accolade this past week when the prestigious Cuban Institute of Arts and Culture Casa de Las Americas acknowledged her contribution to the literary arts in the field of Poetry and honoured her for her commitment to developing and promulgating the artform

Enjoy some behind the scenes photos from our recent ad production

Ajani and Shomari Healy of Chibale the drumming group comprising the children of Idakeda had the rare privilege of training this past week with Capoeira Master Emerson from in Brazil

Idakeda will use the opportunity to showcase its work at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference CHOGM in Port of Spain this month Our products will be displayed as part of the Trinidad Tobago Entertainment Company Limited TTENT booth in the CHOGM Village which will be located next to the Hyatt Regency Hotel

The expressions on the faces of the children are evidence enough storytelling as a vehicle for transformation amongst children up to the age of twelve is an effective and powerful tool for teachers and parents alikeIdakeda recently began a storytelling programme in schools as a counter to the culture of violence confrontation and preference for alien cultures currently prevalent in our school environment The initiative based on the original stories of Eintou Pearl Springer is designed to achieve very specific grounding for children aged 711years old in the culture and history of Trinidad and Tobago

Using the Poetry to send a message to the youths and help as a coping mechanism was just one of the benefits noted by participants of a recent Poetry in the Classroom workshop for teachers The workshop part of a series of activities jointly held by Idakeda and the National Aids Coordinating Committee NACC was entitled Poetry the Arts and Social Issues Relevance and Implementation The session was conceptualised and facilitated by former Poet Laureate of Port of Spain Eintou Pearl Springer with support by Communications Consultant Dara E Healy

The audience comprising First Peoples from all over the world members of the Diplomatic Corps and local cultural and literary royalty sat spellbound as the play chronicling the last days of Nepoio warrior Hyarima unfolded