Daniyelle Bennett is a girl with a bike and a vision. The 11-year-old triathlete is already blazing a trail as national activist in the fight against obesity. Young Bennett already has her eyes set on making a unique contribution to society. It was her vision that brought to life a new campaign aimed at raising awareness about how healthy lifestyle choices at a young age can prevent obesity. “I started to open my eyes and look around...I wanted to do something,” she told the Guardian yesterday.
For two years, she has been meeting and engaging other youngsters her age in open forums, to promote the importance of exercise and a balanced diet. So when she saw some statistics that made national headlines, listing T&T as having the third highest obesity rate in the world, she felt compelled to step up and fight the negative trend. Thus was born, “Ride to promote wellness.”
Twenty cyclists from her triathlon club Caribbean Cross Training, accompanied by a police escort and some supporters who trailed along in cars, made their way from St Mary’s Children’s Home in Tacarigua, to the market in Sande Grande yesterday morning. The trek was further intensified by heavy rains that greeted the cyclists promptly when they showed up to the meeting point at 6 am.
But Bennet was unphased, and she enthusiastically spoke to an audience of children from the St Mary’s Children’s Home about healthy eating and exercise. Throughout the three-hour ride, Bennett stopped to engage different audiences in the fight against obesity. She is currently in the sixth grade at the International School of Port of Spain.
Her mother described her as driven, citing her long lists of achievements from triathlons to getting a black belt in karate, to singing and writing short stories about Grand Riviere. When her daughter approached her with the idea for this event, her mother collaborated with the coaches from Caribbean Cross Training to bring this vision to life. The club will continue the campaign with a triathlon race on the December 15.