How to have a safe Carnival

“If you go to a fete with thousands of people, expect to get shoved, bounced and mashed,” reminded Elizabeth Johnson-Daniel of the City Police Welfare and Public Relations Unit, Port-of-Spain Corporation, to those folks who are prepared to fight for the smallest infraction. She said fights lead to killings which lead to “regrets after the fact.” Johnson-Daniel and her colleague, health educator with the Public Health Department, David Williams, yesterday provided general information tips for the public to have a safe Carnival.

1. Know how you are getting home. Johnson-Daniel said youths will “arrange for tickets, how they will style their hair, what they are wearing but no where in the plan is how to get back home.”
2 Have a designated driver. This person should not be consuming alcohol. Johnson-Daniel said there should be a “back up plan” if the designated driver cannot fulfil their commitment. Another friend, a parent or sibling should be contacted. The driver should ensure their friend is safely inside their home.
3. Leave expensive jewelry at home. Carnival is rife with pick pocketing incidents. Johnson-Daniel said “looking bling bling is not worth losing your life over.” Important documents should also be left at home. She said pickpockets work in teams with one person bouncing the target from the front while their accomplice picks their pocket from behind. “Walk with sufficient cash and keep it in the front pocket.”
4. Stay with your group. Young women who venture out alone scantily clad are easy targets for being groped and attacked. While at the fete, do not leave your lime to go with another friend whom you haven’t seen in years. Make sure that you observe when drinks are purchased.
5. Know your limits. Youths feel they earn bragging rights by proving they can hold their alcohol and there is peer pressure to drink to excess. “People need to be mindful of limits — when they are drunk they feel strong like a lion to take on the world.”
6. Abstain from casual sexual activity (including oral sex, etc). Williams summed up the results of the impact of “carnal” behaviour. “It is the same message every year, but come Ash Wednesday the Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) clinics are filled, a few months later septic abortions are seen in the hospitals and in September there is a baby boom. That is the reality.” Contributing to the HIV scenario is the “sugar daddy syndrome” — old men with the money and young girls with the body. Williams said estimates indicate two percent of the population is HIV positive. He said youths are still confused about the difference between HIV and AIDS.

AIDS is associated with obvious signs such as rashes, sores and weight loss, but youths are ignorant that HIV — the virus which causes AIDS — can be present in healthy looking people. Sexual activity with prostitutes is putting your life at risk. Some of them use the same condom repeatedly. Improper use of condoms can also expose people to HIV and other STDs. While admitting that “knowledge does not necessarily change behaviour,” Williams admonished youths to be strong and view their body as a temple of God.