Six year-old ‘Tony’ is too young to understand exactly what is happening in his community, but it doesn’t take away the fear he feels when darkness falls.

He isn’t quite sure why his school – Berry Hill All-Age and Infant in Gobay, St Catherine has been closed for three weeks. However, he whispers that “it have someting to do with death.”

For three weeks he had remained at home after the school was forced to close due to the escalating violence which has claimed the lives of at least five persons and has caused more than half the residents to flee their homes.

Like most of the other children in the community he now spends his days fetching water from the nearby river, tying out the goats and weeding grass instead of being in school.

Last Wednesday, the children returned to the school grounds for their annual school fair, but it was obvious that it was nothing like the years before.

Tony, who is in grade six, made it clear that he had no intention of staying at the fair when it got dark because “me no want dead”.

The response was to a remark made by this reporter that the fair might begin later in the day since at one o’clock it had not yet got underway.

“Me won’t come if is night because me no want dead,” said the boy.

Only the younger children would talk with the news team as the others, taking their cue from adults, had nothing to say and walked away quickly.

Asked what caused school to be closed, one little girl in grade five said “death cause school to be closed.” Asked to explain further, she said, “me fraid.”

The little girl, however, told the Sunday Observer that she missed being in school for the past three weeks as she missed her teacher, her friends and the school work. She said although she gets a little time to read she spends the earlier part of the day helping her mother to tidy their house.

A grade three student who was seen re-enacting a violent scene of how a man kicked and boxed a woman, said he spends his days tying out the goat, raking up the yard, carrying water, washing the dishes and feeding the fowls.

“Me know why school closed,” he volunteered. “Is because ah the whole heap a people weh dem kill,” he said, adding that he was very afraid for himself and his grandmother with whom he lives.

They said they were happy to be at the fair but they wanted to “hurry up and go home before night come”.

Further down the road, the Sunday Observer team met a child running along the road to his yard. He peered cautiously into the news car as if uncertain whether he was dealing with friend or foe.

The boy, who we will refer to as ‘Tom’, said he doesn’t know his age. However, he knows he is in grade four.

Like his other schoolmates he has spent the last week doing all sorts of chores, some for free and others for compensation. “Me draw up grass and get money,” he said, as he peered from behind a utility post.

Asked why his school was closed, he said it was “because dem kill some people.”

“Me fraid,” he added. “When me hear say somebody dead me just a tremble.”

Tom didn’t seem to mind being out of school as he could not think of anything he missed not doing for the three weeks.

“Me a hurry up and go home now,” he said as he ran off up the hill through the bushes.

Principal of Berry Hill All-Age, Francis Williams, said all efforts will be made to compensate for the three weeks the students have been at home. He, however, expressed concern about the fact that 19 of the 110 students who have fled the community with their parents were being prepared to sit the GSAT examination. “Now they are all over the place,” he said.

“We hope to re-open in the New Year, but in the meantime the curriculum that the students are using is user friendly and they should be able to do some work at home,” he said.

Cognizant of the fact that many of the children have been struggling to deal with the violence affecting the community, Williams said the school decided to foot the total cost of this year’s fair.

“Even though they have not been to school in a while we wanted them to be able to come today and enjoy themselves and take their minds off what is happening.

There was, however, no music, no sounds of children playing as the tension was still evident in the area. The children gathered in a classroom to sing Christmas carols half-heartedly. Written on the blackboard in chalk is a list of all the numbers for the police, Crime Stop and Operation Kingfish.

“Me mother haffi ask the police to come stay down dere so at nights so nothing no happen to we,” one little boy said.