Uplifting and inspiring

The girl’s bathroom at Combermere School has been given a major uplift by Krystal Harris, a Social Work student at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus and artist Shane Eastmond, the owner of 6PMSplash.

Speaking to the media, Harris said the project was inspired by an old scholar who told her the bathroom was the place where she grew up and found out information while she was a student at the oldest secondary school.

“For the girls, it is so much more than just coming in and taking care of their hygiene. It is a place where they are allowed to bond and build friendships and communicate and socialize and become better,” she said.

Harris said she was excited to start the project even though she had difficulties along the way. She persevered through them as she knew the project would benefit young ladies who attend the Waterford, St Michael institution.

“I was very excited to start this project and to execute it. [There were] a lot of ups and downs and at times I [didn’t] know if it [was] going to come to fruition. I am very proud of these girls, more so than me, as they worked really hard. I am happy that you could come and celebrate them in this,” she said.

Tiffany Gardiner, a student at Combermere School, took part in the upliftment of the bathroom. She said at first, she did not think she could do it as art was not a strong subject.

“When I first started to paint, I said that painting is not for me and if they wanted it to look good, it would take some time for me to finish it. I never had an artistic bone in my body, not even the simplest drawing. But after having the experience [of] painting an entire bathroom [with] Shane Eastmond, I can say I do like painting and drawing a bit better,” she said.

Deputy Chairman of Combermere School Board of Management Allyson Leacock said the renovation of the girl’s bathroom will also help empower the students as each wall is accented with inspirational messages.

“We know it is also an area for cooperation, consultation and counselling and all of those things.

This is a really beautiful space; ‘Let Your Light Shine’ is one of the beautiful things in here. We want you to see this as the beginning of bigger things to come. We hope that Krystal has inspired you to adopt the bathrooms on each floor and maintain them and keep their beauty so we can empower everyone who walks in here to learn and be a great Barbadian citizen,” she said.

The Principal of Combermere School Vincent Fergusson said the renovation was an example of the positive things the youth of Barbados are becoming involved in.

“I thought this idea would be good to enhance the image of the school. Students themselves can take a leaf from Krystal’s handbook and finish those classrooms with the same level of competence and expertise. This is a fantastic example of what young people can do in Barbados,” he said.

Krystal Harris and Shane Eastmond told the media that they plan on tackling one of the boys’ bathrooms at a later date. Harris also wished to thank Berger Paints for donating paint to the project.  (LG)