Following the celebration of the inaugural centenarians day in Dominica, vice president and the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Dominica Council of Ageing (DCOA)l Leroy ‘Wadix’ Charles said that the council is already putting plans in place for next year’s celebrations.
On September 23, 2021, the nation joined the DCOA in celebrating and honouring the 23 gems on the island whose ages range from 107 to 100 years old.
The event formed part of the month of the elderly observed under the theme “Older Persons – Embracing the Digital Age”.
Rating the day as “an extreme success” Charles stated to Dominica News Online (DNO) “We are excited over the centenarian day and the response from the media. From inception, the radio stations, the online media houses have really been bringing information to the fore, and we’re happy that they took up the idea and ran with it.”
Though COVID-19 placed a hindrance on several of the activities which the council intended on hosting, Charles made known that the event will be observed annually by the DCOA and hopefully next year, they will be able to put many of their plans into action.
Some of those include field visits to present an assortment of gifts to the gems, live face to face interviews with local, regional and international media houses as well as a grand activity where all of the centenarians can gather and be honoured.
Charles has also disclosed to DNO that funds raised from a recent radiothon have been put aside to donate to the centenarians.
“We are proud as a people that there is something good about Dominica, the living here, the fresh air, the vegetation, the food, something about us that makes us unique around the Caribbean and globally. We are truly blessed that we can have the most living centurions per capita and that’s cause for celebration,” he exclaimed.
As further informed, two seniors are expected to hit the milestone of 100 before the end of the year, which will hopefully increase Dominica’s centenarian count to 25.
The elderly and the children in Dominica are the two most vulnerable groups of people. As for the elderly folks, we should not bring attention to their plight only once per year but everyday of the calendar year.
Too many times, too many of our elderly parents are tossed aside or completely abandoned like a derelict vehicle at the side of the road or on a grassy, bushy unused plot of land. We have to care and cherish them just as they did for us when we were innocent, helpless babies.