Kilancholly, St Mary – Five weeks after the brutal murder of three siblings that shattered the peace and quiet of this little-known district, residents have moved to pick up the pieces and begin a healing process which, they hope, will be the beginning of a new phase of development for the community.

Yesterday, a Community Open Day was held in Kilancholly under the theme “From great pain to great joy”; the first step in the healing process. And despite intermittent drizzles, scores of persons turned out to offer support.

Media personality and Kilancholly resident Amina Blackwood-Meeks, who organised the day’s events, said it was merely a start.

“One of the things we have to do is to make sure our children can function in the 21st century,” she said. “Sometimes, children can’t go to school because they don’t have basic things like lunch money and bus fare and we are convinced in Kilancholly that must never be the case again, as we go forward.”

The highlight of the day was the presentation of three scholarships to three teenagers from the community. They are:

. Davian Wilks of Guys Hill High School, who received the Oliver Samuels scholarship;

. Sheren McLean of St Mary Vocational, who received the JMMB Scholarship; and

. Sharlene Grant of St Mary High, who picked up the Child Development Agency scholarship.

One condition of the scholarship is that they will, in turn, help younger students with their homework.

“They have to give something back,” Blackwood-Meeks said. “They will make sure younger children do their homework, so each will run the homework programme for one week each month. Any term they do not function they don’t get the money for that term, somebody else gets it. So they must work in the community and maintain good grades in school.”

Representatives of several state agencies including the Child Development Agency, National Health Fund, Jamaica Library Service, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Council of Voluntary Social Services, and the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission were on hand to witness the town’s new beginning.

Among the performers for the day were the Kingston Drummers, Carifolk Singers, and Tamara Moyston who gave Kilancholly its first puppet show. A special taping of the children’s television programme, Ring Ding with Auntie Marjorie and Amina was also done by the CPTC.

Amid the performances and the music, as some people huddled under tarpaulins to escape the rain, the food pots bubbled, adding a welcome aroma to the proceedings. The menu of dumplings, bananas and run dung, was served free of cost to all who wanted to sample Kilancholly cooking.

Senator Floyd Morrison, a son of St Mary, was on hand to show his support and pledged the continued support of the government to the family of the victims – 15 year-old Dwayne Davidson and his two sisters Sue-Ann Gordon, 13, and four-year-old Shadice Williams.

The rain might have kept some persons away but Blackwood-Meeks was pleased with the turnout and the overall support.

“I am so pleased; in a community of 200 they are almost all here,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Residents were fully behind the move to present a positive side of Kilancholly and showed their support for the open day in their applause and shouts of appreciation after each performance.

No one seemed to have any negative words to say; they just appeared glad that something good was happening for Kilancholly.