Barbadians in the diaspora are encouraged to Come ’Long Home for the food, the rich cultural heritage, liming with friends and family, and rekindling the community spirit across Barbados as Government prepares to host We Gatherin’ 2025.

Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds, will lead the coordination and oversight of the activities; Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Ian Gooding-Edghill, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight, will provide overall strategic direction for the celebrations. A secretariat has been created and is being led by Senator John King.

Billed as an event to inspire national pride in all Barbadians and to stimulate economic growth by way of investments and other inputs, the year-long celebrations offer Barbadians an opportunity to get involved in investment opportunities and to highlight the icons, heritage, social activities, and cuisine synonymous with each parish.

It is expected that We Gatherin’ would promote philanthropy and fuel environmental sustainability as Government seeks to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Goals 2030 agenda.

The event is being seen as extra special as the island will celebrate its fourth year as a Parliamentary Republic and commemorate the 400th anniversary of the British landing in 1625. Barbados will also host CARIFESTA later in the year.

Activities will begin in St. Lucy under the broad theme of ‘Faith’ and attendees are encouraged to wear jade to all celebrations. The activities will then move to St. Peter in February with ‘Heritage’ as the theme and lime green as the preferred colour.

During March, events in St. Thomas will centre around the theme ‘Nature’ and cardinal will be the chosen colour. For St. Joseph, the theme for April is ‘Adventure’, and the colour of choice is sky blue.

In May, ‘Community’ will be the centre of attention for residents living in St John when the celebrations roll into the parish under a blaze of yellow.   It will be the turn of St. George in June when the activities will be held under the theme ‘The Land’ and red will be the colour of choice for patrons.

Barbados’ rich story of sugar will come into sharp focus in July, as residents of St. Philip pay homage to its history bedecked in purple as the colour chosen for that month.

St. Andrew, St. James, Christ Church, and St. Michael will hold their celebrations during August, September, October, and November, respectively. They will be held under the themes ‘The Arts’, ‘Cricket’, ‘The Sea’, ‘Food and Feting’. The parish colours are forest green, electric blue, orange, and white, respectively.

We Gatherin’ 2025 will culminate in nationwide celebrations from November 30 to December 31, utilising all parish colours.             

Government launched the first We Gatherin’ celebrations on January 1, 2020, which ended prematurely in March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Media professionals and others who interact with persons with disabilities (PWDs) are being called upon to ensure what they report or communicate about this group remains appropriate.

The appeal came yesterday, as Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, addressed the opening of a one-day Disability Sensitisation Workshop, at Radisson Aquatica Resort, Aquatic Gap, St. Michael. It targeted a wide cross section of stakeholders including media representatives.

Minister Humphrey explained the importance of the workshop against the backdrop on the policy of Improving The Lives of Persons With Disabilities, debated recently in Parliament. He stated: “I think that for the work that is occurring now for people with disabilities, we have some good things to report. And, I think what we are trying to achieve is that when we report on those good things, that inadvertently or unintentionally, we do not spoil it by the way we convey our understanding of what it is that we would have done or what would have been achieved during the course of the day.”

Stressing that the narrative and the way in which information is conveyed on PWDs was becoming challenging, he said the sensitisation workshop was designed to help everyone “to achieve the kind of communication that is respectable”.

Mr. Humphrey added: “And, I do not think it is a case where the persons with disabilities are trying to command respect, but I do think we are trying to temper the unintentional disrespect that has been conveyed from time to time in the way these issues are reported. And because this is such good work and because these are such dangerous times, I think no one wants to ruin what I think is intentionally set out to be a good thing…

“We are asking the media…we need you to be the benevolent kind and to be able to interpret and to project and to report on these things in a way that allows persons with disabilities to be respected in the way that they ought to be respected.”

The Elder Affairs Minister reminded those gathered that the policy had been debated recently in Parliament and he expressed the hope that the Bill would also be laid in Parliament and debated either later this year or early next year. 

Describing the Bill as an “omnibus piece of legislation”, he noted it would look at a variety of areas including transportation, housing and health, and all ministries of Government were being tasked within it to undertake “very specific things” related to their work.

Mr. Humphrey noted that he had emphasised in Parliament that the major challenge those with disabilities faced related to the fact “that the society has not prepared itself”. 

Elaborating on this, he stressed: “It has nothing to do with the disability; it’s that the streets are inaccessible, the schools are in some ways inaccessible or unnecessarily difficult. Those are the things that I think we are called upon to address. So, this is the continuation of that conversation.”                                   

As he thanked all entities for their work with the disabled community, he said: “During the course of the month we will be meeting with the private sector association, because we have laid out in the legislation what we think is fair in relation to quotas that we think are necessary to ensure that persons with disabilities can work. 

“The truth is that in Barbados, as is the case across the world, the average unemployment percentage is about 90 per cent, and that is just ridiculous. Therefore, we have to be able to correct that…if it does not happen voluntarily, then the legislation would allow us to do so through other means.” (PR/GIS)

The Association for Barbados-China Friendship (ABCF) celebrated its fifth anniversary with a special reception that brought together key stakeholders from both nations to reflect on the growing bilateral partnership. The prestigious gathering attracted top media executives from Advo Magazine, The Nation newspaper, Government Information Service (GIS), Dr. Delisle Worrell, President of the ABCF, representatives from Chinese companies in Barbados, and the Vice President of Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology.

The event featured five (5) significant speeches highlighting the deepening bilateral relations between Barbados and China, showcasing achievements across diplomatic, medical, and infrastructure development sectors.

In his address, Chargé d’Affaires, Counselor Huang Xinhua noted that 2024 marks the 47th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations. The relationship has flourished under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, with ABCF playing a crucial role since its 2019 establishment in fostering people-to-people connections.

Mr. Tyson. Henry, Chief Information Officer at GIS, spoke passionately on behalf of the media, highlighting the benefits of the China Barbados friendship, and how it continues to give much-needed, technical training and support to journalist and people of Barbados. Mr. Henry went on to highlight that if we have ever needed friendship before given the state of the world, we need it now. Dr. Delisle Worrell, President of the ABCF, spoke of the group, its formation, successes, and continued efforts as the group and friendship continues to grow.

The Chinese medical team lead of the 7th medical delegation to Barbados, Dr Ao Meng, revealed that seven medical teams comprising 61 personnel have served in Barbados, providing consultations to more than 43,200 patients. These teams have conducted 1,520 surgeries and participated in 1,044 critical care interventions. They have also introduced 177 new medical techniques across various specialties, including nuclear medicine, orthopedics, vascular surgery, and anesthesiology, while training 4,061 local healthcare professionals.

Mr. Wu Weizhong, Manager of the Construction Technology Team for the cChina aid Hope Agricultural Training Institute Project

Barbados President Sandra Mason’s letter of appreciation was shared during the event, acknowledging the medical team’s high level of professionalism and dedication to their work. The medical cooperation has significantly enhanced healthcare delivery in Barbados, with Chinese medical professionals serving as both healthcare providers and trainers for local medical staff.