“Connecting Families...Uniting Community,” is the theme for the upcoming 2014 Petite Savanne Reunion which will host a number of activities throughout the year 2014 leading up to the main event scheduled for the last two weeks in December nearing the Christmas holidays.
Parliamentary Representative for the Petite Savanne Constituency, Hon. Dr. Kenneth Darroux in a brief interview with GIS news spoke about the planning aspect of the reunion from its conception.
“This is an idea that myself and a number of other community members had been toying with for the past two to three years and finally we’ve managed to get it off the ground. We’ve put together a committee with a dedicated team of community members who have been very dedicated to the cause.”
“We also have a number of our people who reside in the Diaspora and even in Dominica who have not been home in quite awhile and never having a reunion celebration before, we felt the time was right to organize such an event.”
Social Media was used as a marketing tool and the Petite Savanne MP said the response was tremendous.
A number of community leaders and members were also part of the decision making process for the reunion.
This year, the Reunion Committee will stage the Official Launching of the 2014 Reunion Affair on October 5th to coincide with the biennial Fete Ti Savanne.
Hon. Darroux says, “the Village Council organizes the fest every other year and in the absence of an official Fete Ti Savanne this year, the committee felt it best to stage the Official Launching on Saturday October 5th to create some sort of activity and entertainment for the Petite Savanne community.”
According to the Petite Savanne MP, plans are moving swiftly towards the official opening carded for next weekend.
“We have already invited the Dignitaries and hopefully the Prime Minister, if he is in state should be present. The Minister for Culture as well as the Minister for Community Development will also be in attendance.
He highlighted the people who were forthcoming with support namely the sponsors.
“A number of corporate citizens and the Government of Dominica have been on board in terms of sponsorship. The Dominica National Lottery continues to be of tremendous assistance towards such community events, the Government of Dominica, Petro Caribe and LIME among others.”
Claudius Lestrade, president of the reunion committee described the purpose for bringing the community and families together during 2014.
“The whole theme of our reunion is Connecting Families, Uniting Community because we’ve realised the need to reconnect families and the community in which we reside. The Reunion will be based mainly around this theme throughout the year 2014 and culminating with a monumental activity, something the community can identify as the footprint of what the Reunion has really brought to the community.”
One of the main objectives of the reunion, the Committee President says is to reach out to the youth of the community who have gone astray.
According to Lestrade, “Quite a scope of recreational, educational, sporting community outreach programmes has been targeted for the year of activities.”
Lestrade also believes this is a perfect opportunity for members in the Diaspora as well as local to contribute in some form of way to reunion activities or even toward community projects.
“We are looking forward to people in the Diaspora and those who reside in Dominica to come back to the community and leave a footprint, something where they can say they’ve contributed to the development of the community.”
This reunion year, Lestrade says, “Should not only be fun-filled, it should be a time where meaningful contributions can be made, whether it’s toward the health centre, a child’s education, assisting some unfortunate person or the building of a bus stop. He says, “This is what we really want to highlight.”
Through social media and an impending Ti-Savanne Reunion website, members in the Diaspora will be able to make financial contributions.
The Reunion Committee has also established contact people in various countries that members of the Diaspora can liaise with in this regard.
Lestrade is hoping that the reunion will be a success.
“I want to take the opportunity to echo the sentiment to everyone to try to make the effort to come because we are all from Petite Savanne and the theme is something we want to maintain throughout. We should view the Reunion as a stepping stone that goes way beyond 2014. After the Reunion, my hope is that people will return and the connections made will be maintained as long as we have the breath of life.”
A number of local acts will perform; an art gallery and clothing by a local seamstress will also be on display as part of activities for the launching of the 2014 Ti-Savanne Reunion.