THE second day of the National Children’s Mashramani Competition concluded on Friday with stunning, creative performances from the country’s children.The calypso and dramatic poetry competitions which were held at the National Cultural

Centre saw children from the 10 administrative regions leaving lasting impressions. The dramatic poetry competition was highly competitive with several remarkable performances.

In the 14 – 17 years category there were a total of 9 entries from the 11 educational districts. These included moving performances by Region 10’s Tischika Bobb and Georgetown’s Aaliya Moore, with both pieces carrying comparable “victim of circumstances” themes.

Bobb played a victim of teenage pregnancy and her emotional poem spoke of being raped by a family member, after being orphaned at a young age. Her mother murdered by her own spouse, a tragedy she was left to carry all her life.

Giving the final performance of the day, a fervid Moore produced a fitting close for the day’s activities. Her piece “My Bed of Affliction” talked of a character who was constantly told he/ she was worth “nothing”, and carried these feelings throughout life. The character also looked for love in the wrong places and became the victim of abuse.

Meanwhile, Region Eight’s Elania Ramos from Mahdia Secondary School did well in her piece “Emotional Earth”, while Novar Secondary School’s Joel Griffith garnered more than just a few laughs in his satirical performance of a homeless mad man in “Insane Ranting”.

Region Three’s Selena Sheram, “Product of Society,” definitely deserves mentioning, as her piece was well done.

Region 10 won both the calypso and dramatic poetry

categories in the 11 – 13 years age group. New Silver City Secondary School’s Aketia Handy won the calypso with “Celebration in Unity” and Wismar Hill Primary’s Jadia Fiedtkou won the dramatic poetry with “Abuse”.