OCHO RIOS, St Ann— There were no screams of joy, no shouts of delight, but it was obvious that 11-year-old Richard Small was happy. There was an air of quiet pride about him on Tuesday as he came face-to-face with the personification of the winning mascot he designed for the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) art competition in 2020. The mascot, ‘Mr Protector’, fittingly saw its islandwide tour launched from Richard’s school, Bamboo Primary in St Ann.

The novel coronavirus pandemic had stymied plans to have the mascot in schools before now, so it was the first time the youngster was seeing his design come alive. It was a morning filled with laughter and fun for students and staff as they interacted with Mr Protector.

“We are observing Child Month by bringing Mr Protector to the schools… We are starting with Bamboo Primary, which is Richard’s school, and we will ensure that every region sees our mascot and engages with him,” said CPFSA’s director of Children and Family Programme Warren Thompson.

“The mascot would be Jamaica’s first child protector and he was one with which children could identify because he was cuddly and friendly. This is why Richard’s mascot was chosen because he really won over the judges based on the specifications we had,” he added.

Mr Protector will go into schools across the country to promote and encourage children to report child abuse by calling 211, a 24-hour help hotline. Children can speak up if they, or anyone they know, are being abused.

Bamboo Primary Vice-Principal Trevor McKenzie was impressed with the effectiveness of the CPFSA’s message during Tuesday’s visit and took the opportunity to laud Richard for his success in the competition.

“I’m so happy that the CPFSA came in to share with us this morning; it was very educational for the students. We are feeling very elated about Richard’s success because it has added us more on the map and we are very proud of him. He has always been doing well in school… a very humble and disciplined child so it is well deserved. He has made our school proud,” McKenzie told the Jamaica Observer.

Richard’s love of the arts goes back to his early years. When he was just three years old, his mother Patrice Campbell Small realised that he had a knack for expressing himself through his drawings. His school books were plastered with his scribbles, so his mother began buying him drawing books. It was her way of encouraging his passion and it paid off. Richard won an art competition in infant school. Then in 2019, his mother — who is also a teacher at Bamboo Primary — heard about the CPFSA art competition. The agency invited children at the primary and junior high levels to design and name a child protection mascot.

“Another teacher here, Mrs Cunnigham, brought the entry form and she said, ‘Richard can draw, enter him into the competition’, and I allowed him. He was excited about it and he started but through the process he got a little tired. I remember when he was supposed to colour it he said he was not going to finish it. At that point I had to push him and his father also kept saying he was going to win, which also motivated him,” said Campbell Small.

But when they travelled to Kingston for the finals, she felt a niggling of doubt.

“When I got the call and went to Kingston I saw other beautiful entries which gave me a little doubt. But he won, which I’m very proud of, and here is Mr Protector today. I was so elated, I post it in the family group and told everybody about it because it was over 90 entries and he won,” Campbell Small told the Observer.

Though not the most talkative child during Tuesday’s event, Richard told the Observer that he was elated when he learnt that his entry of a bunny rabbit decked out in colours representing the Jamaica flag was deemed the best of 91 entries.

“I felt great… and I’m proud of myself… because I put in a lot of hard work mentally and tried to do my best,” he said.

Now he has his sights set on his next goal.

“I want to become an architect because I get to design,” said Richard.

His mother is convinced he will do it.

“I have no doubt about him being just that because he uses his tablet to build different designs through this game called Minecraft. When I look at the stuff that he is building it is amazing, just as the mascot he created,” she said.