From October 10th until October 17th St. Eustatius will have as its theme the Week of Parenting. With the slogan, "the soul of the nation is defined by the treatment of its children", activities will be organized about the subject of parenting and growing up. The Centre for Youth and Family, the Expertise Centre, Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland (RCN), Mega D Foundation, the Library and the Buzzy Bees Day Care Centre have come together to organize and execute the Week of Parenting.
The objective of the Week of Parenting is to stimulate everyday encounters between parents and to in this manner stimulate the discussion about parenting. On St. Eustatius, the participating organizations are of the view that Week of Parenting is about the coming together and exchange between parents, co-educators, children and youth. A positive approach is the first order of importance.
In order to make the week a success various organizations have managed to join forces. The activities are very diverse. During the Week of Parenting various topics such as behaviour at school, sexual behavior and dating, friends and peer relations, language and swearing will be highlighted on the radio from Monday October 10th until Friday, October 15th. During the Week of Parenting a number of activities are also planned. On Monday October 10th an activity named "reading together" is scheduled at the Library for parents and children from 14.00 PM until 16.00 PM.
Parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts and everyone who has something to do with parenting are invited to come together with the child(ren) to the library to read. The workers of the library will supply good books and will give parents and children advice to show how nice reading together is. Mega D Foundation is organizing an open house on Wednesday October 12th from 15.00 – 16.00 hours. Through an interactive presentation Mega D will show how his foundation was established and what it stands for. The children who participate daily in the activities of the Mega D Foundation will also be there to give a presentation of their experiences. This activity is suitable for parents, grandparents and everyone involved parenting.
The main event is on Thursday October 13th. It starts around 17.00 hours. All parents and children will gather at the Centre for Youth and Family. The parents can then collect the letters written beforehand by their children at school. After this, the march will take place through the town leading to terminal playground. On the terminal playground there will be several stands of organizations involved with parenting. After an hour it will slowly become dark and families can take a seat under the tent to watch a family movie together.