{"id":2168,"date":"2019-09-23T19:16:30","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T23:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/?p=2168"},"modified":"2019-09-24T00:22:44","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T04:22:44","slug":"we-gatherin-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/we-gatherin-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"We Gatherin’ 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There has been lots of talk about \u201cGatherin 2020\u201d and \u201cWe Gatherin\u201d but what exactly is it that we are referring to? 
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We Gatherin\u2019 Barbados 2020  is a year long celebration which will take place next year 2020. It will focus on \u2018Barbadian excellence and a recommitment to this country\u2019s successful future and core values that have defined us as a people. A major part of this effort is Barbadians living abroad and Barbadians at heart returning home, reconnecting with family and friends and investing in the rebuilding of Barbados, throughout the year 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The celebrations will be structured events on a national scale and will be, for the most part, coordinated by the Barbados Government. Community groups, churches, educational institutions, entrepreneurs, and regional and international persons with Barbadian connections, among others, are encouraged to participate, give their input and produce events as well.
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The initiative is scheduled to begin in the north of the island and mouth southwards, featuring a different parish each month, highlighting its icons and social life, food and much more. The parish celebrations will culminate in November, with St. Michael being the feature. We Gatherin\u2019 2020 will then climax in December with a Christmas extravaganza for all Barbadians \u2013 at home and abroad.

The schedule of parishes is as follows: <\/strong>
January \u2013 St. Lucy
February \u2013 St. Peter
March \u2013 St. Thomas
April \u2013 St. Joseph
May \u2013 St. John
June \u2013 St. George
July \u2013 St. Philip
August \u2013 St. Andrew
September \u2013 St. James
October \u2013 Christ Church
November \u2013 St. Michael
November 30 \u2013 December 31 \u2013 Nationwide <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Gatherin\u2019 Barbados 2020 is the brainchild of Prime Minister Mia Mottley and the current Barbados government and it seeks to have Barbadians across the world return home for 2020. This invitation is open to Barbadians by birth, by descent, by marriage or by choice. But is it more than just a homecoming.
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During the launch held in February 2019, Prime Minister Mottley stated that the aim of The Gathering is to aid in the rebuilding of the nation. \u201cComing together in 2020 isn\u2019t about a single moment in time, but it is about a process.  It is about the building of a nation from St Lucy to St Philip, from the west coast to the east coast\u201d under the theme Purposeful Pursuit of Barbadian Excellence.
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She highlighted that Barbadians have done great things over decades and their stories have gone untold. We Gatherin\u2019 2020 is more than physically being in one space, it is about \u201ctelling our story, sharing our passions, coming home for that inspiration\u201d It is about \u201cmaking that difference to your old primary school or making that difference to the church that helped nurture you in your parish.  2020 is about families recognizing that time on this earth is way too short and we need to get together a little more.\u201d
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A Few Great Bajans<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alan Emtage<\/strong> – credited with creating the world’s first Internet search engine in 1989.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rihanna<\/a><\/strong> – singer, actress, designer, businesswoman and philanthropist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irving Burgie<\/a><\/strong> – Barbadian by descent, he wrote the words to the National Anthem and is acknowledged as one of the greatest composers of Caribbean music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir. Garfield Sobers<\/a><\/strong> – widely regarded as the greatest all-round cricketer of all-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kamau Brathwaite<\/strong> – poet and academic, he is one of the major voices in Caribbean literature and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Lamming<\/strong> – critically acclaimed novelist and essayist, and an important figure in Caribbean literature<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obadele Thompson<\/strong> – won Barbados\u2019 first Olympic medal placing third in the 100 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We Gatherin\u2019 Barbados 2020 is a year long celebration which will take place in 2020. It will focus on \u2018Barbadian excellence and a recommitment to this country\u2019s successful future and core values that have defined us as a people. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2170,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,8,361,444,3],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbados.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}