Christmas came early for students of Westbury Primary and Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary yesterday morning, when they received gifts of basketballs, footballs, volleyballs and pencil cases compliments The People’s Republic of China in a ceremony at Westbury School.

The gifts, courtesy of the Government of China, were handed down to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, who then made the presentations to the two schools.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, Patrick Todd, thanked China for their generosity in supplying the schools with the much needed gear, while also acknowledging that both Barbados and China shared a good relationship.

“I am of the belief that it all starts with a good foundation, and I would like to formally thank the Government and people of China for donating this gear to the students of our schools here in Barbados. These footballs, volley balls and basketballs and other equipment are very welcomed.

Both China and Barbados are developing countries and we have to exist in this very competitive global environment…”, he added.

“And so, as developing countries, Barbados and China can cooperate among ourselves so that we can work together to ensure that we can pool our resources and thereby, would be in a position to excel in whatever areas of industry, sport or national development that we specialize in”, he continued.

China’s Ambassador to Barbados, Qiang Wei who was also on hand to make the presentation urged the students to set goals, have dreams and strive for the best in whatever they did.

“At the end of the day, the most valuable and important thing for young people to do remains invariably the same, which is to pursue excellence at school and beyond so as to live up to your parent’s sacrifices and also to better yourself and your own country.”

(Source: The Barbados Advocate)