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Sascha Wil­son

Youths ra­di­at­ed pos­i­tiv­i­ty and pride as the com­mu­ni­ty of Pe­nal came alive for this year’s post-In­de­pen­dence and pre-Re­pub­lic Day pa­rade. The event was host­ed by the St Patrick Brigade, which has been in ex­is­tence for al­most three decades. Due to fi­nan­cial and oth­er chal­lenges, how­ev­er, this was the first time in sev­en or eight years that the com­mu­ni­ty pa­rade was held.

Lieu­tenant Dwayne Padil­la ex­plained, “Nor­mal­ly, we have this event every year, but due to fund­ing and oth­er things, we did not have it for the past few years. But, see­ing the way things are go­ing with­in the com­mu­ni­ty in Pe­nal and en­vi­rons, we said, ‘Come on, let’s do some­thing to try to build back the courage, the love, and the uni­ty of the peo­ple.’”