Photo: Northern Caribbean University students representing their respective clubs at Ole Time Sinting on Heroes Day.

Photo Credit: Contributed

By: Brittania Witter

With the COVID-19 pandemic still active, the Business and Secretarial Students Organization (BASSO) had to make changes to their annual Heroes Day celebration, resulting in a collaboration with other clubs from Northern Caribbean University (NCU) coming together to partake in an event called “Ole Time Sinting.”

This cultural event took place on October 19, 2021 where they had entertainment inclusive of poems, songs and dramatizations from the dorm students.

President of BASSO, Denielle Smith, said she saw it fitting to have a collaboration with other clubs for an event like this. 

“Basically I was wondering what event we could have where we could collaborate with other clubs- something that’s relevant, and I thought and prayed about it. This would be the first time our Heroes Day celebration is virtual, so I thought it would be good to collaborate with the other clubs,” she said. 

Smith added that they shared food and fun. Their club’s theme was dance and music, and she said they all had a good time together.

President of the Philmelodia club, Savannah Matthews, also believes that the event was extraordinary and came at a time when students needed it most. 

“We focused on the different aspects of the Jamaican culture. It was to just have fun and create an exciting space for everybody to learn about the Jamaican culture. The Philmelodia club was in charge of hair and attire and we set up a booth to showcase different Jamaican hairstyles and attire,” she said. 

Matthews said they had a lot of selections, and her club did a breadfruit dub poem. 

The Philmelodia president said the initiative helped them to partner with their brother and sister clubs which will strengthen their relationship as they are all one school and one movement. 

The Rotaract Club was also one of the clubs that participated in the day’s activities. Vice President, Jhunelle Wright,  said this was a fundraising event which included food items for sale and a concert. 

“[Ole Time Sinting] was a fundraising event. We had drops, gizzada, potato pudding, coconut water and veggie soup on sale. We had a lunch hour concert where we had items from the different clubs,” she said. 

She added that they went live on the Instagram pages for the respective clubs, and the hosts, Nickallaye Gunn and Truston Grizzle, did a wonderful job. 

President of the Excelsior club, Ackeem Millen, shared similar sentiments as the other club leaders. 

“The event was very successful. We achieved everything we wanted to and yeah I think this event is something we will continue to do. In terms of the theme, the Excelsior club got Tourism and Sports for which we displayed images of sports stars and different tourism attractions,” he said. 

Kedice Reid, a student from the Jamaica Hall dormitory, said she enjoyed herself and learned a lot about her culture. 

“I enjoyed the cultural experience. Even though I am a born Jamaican, I was still able to learn some new Jamaican proverbs and songs … I definitely think we need more events like this, especially ones with authentic Jamaican foods,” she said. 

Ole Time Sinting definitely had good food, good music and smiling faces, and the club leaders hope to have this memorable event again next year.