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Art lovers make kites for Covid-19 carers

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Support show: Jennifer Lang (Photograph supplied)

A group of art lovers want to use kites to send a special message of appreciation to people on the front line of the war against Covid-19.

Jennifer Lang, a teacher at the Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation and other staff at the Devonshire art school said they had set up #kitesforcarers to encourage the public to fly kites on Good Friday with words of encouragement on them or to post their creations on social media.

Ms Lang explained: “People have been working tirelessly and keeping the country moving and getting us everything we need to survive. I thought they needed some thanks and I thought making a kite would be a particularly Bermudian way of doing it.”

She said people could display the gratitude kites around their houses or in their windows and post photos of them on social media, using #kitesforcarers, so that the messages could boost the morale of essential workers.

Ms Lang normally flies kites with friends on Good Friday, but this year she decided against it because she did not want to cause problems over the lockdown if her kite landed in a neighbour’s yard or across power lines.

But she emphasised she would never tell other people not to fly their kites over the holiday. Ms Lang said: “It is such a part of our culture.”

Ms Lang added she had several friends and family members who worked in the medical profession.

She said: “I have great empathy and fear for them. My uncle is a nurse at the hospital.

“I also have friends who are doctors in Bermuda, and in the United Kingdom. I am concerned for their wellbeing. They will be affected if people are seriously unwell.”

Ms Lang added that her medical friends in Britain were rushed off their feet because of the severity of the crisis.

She said: “In Bermuda, I think we are managing quite well so far, because of the lower numbers. Doctors in Bermuda are being vigilant and I think Bermudians are being clever at staying at home.”

Ms Lang said the kite messages were the idea of Stephen Caton, the chief operating officer at professional services firm KPMG and a former Major in the Royal Bermuda Regiment.

She explained: “Stephen was doing art with his children. They were making kites and came up with the idea. He phoned me and said here’s something we could do. I phoned my Kaleidoscope family and they thought it was a great idea.”

Ms Lang said Kaleidoscope had received a high level of interest after it publicised the idea on its Facebook page.

She added: “A lot of people have reached out to say they want to take part. Some people have even said they want to make a display of the kites to put in the lobby of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.”

Ms Lang said people who wanted to take part in the #kitesforcarers campaign could make their kites any way they wanted.

She added that she had used bay grape leaves and palm fronds to make one kite and paper napkins to create another.

She said: “There is no end to the types of kites you can make and the nice thing about these kites is they don’t actually have to fly — they just have to look nice.

“I just want it to be an obvious thank you tribute kite for carers.”

A thank-you kite made by Jennifer Lang (Photograph supplied)