The St Mary’s College Past Students’ Union will host the 19th edition of its popular fund-raising event, Dining With The Saints, on Saturday, June 23 at the college compound, in Port-of-Spain, (entrance on Pembroke Street). This annual affair is widely regarded as the best of its type, and one for which patrons are assured of getting value for their money.

As in the past, patrons can select main items from approximately 100 chefs, comprising mainly alumni of the college with support from some parents and well-wishers. Traditionally, the chefs serve up a wide range of exquisite cuisine and this year promises to be no different.

Among the dishes usually served by the guys are various types of fish, shrimp, pork, beef, chicken, lamb, goat, and duck, with the feature being a pig roasted on the spot. Together with these dishes, there are healthy servings of ‘side-dishes’ prepared in a variety of ways, for example, potatoes, rice, pasta, vegetables, peas and salads. (One does not have to partake of every side-dish, but you may if you so desire).

Well-known politicians, past and present, from both sides of the political divide (and in-between) have always supported their alma mater by bringing a dish and they usually seek bragging rights based.

It is expected that among those to be seen in their CIC apron and chef’s hat are Messrs Colm Imbert, Terrance Deyalsingh, Stuart Young, David Lee, Gerry Hadeed, Larry Howai, Mariano Browne and Larry Howai.

Dining With The Saints is one event where the politicos set aside whatever differences they may have, real or perceived, and enjoy friendly picong among themselves as they go about raising much-needed funds for their College.

One past student who will not be able to do his part this year is Maxie Cuffie who is recuperating after recent surgery but CIC parent, Faris Al Rawi, will again join his colleagues

There will also be a number of past students from other professions who will be displaying their culinary skills at the event. Expect to see attorneys George Busby of the DPP’s office and Gregory Delzin; from the business community, Ian Chinapoo, Richard Young, DOMA’s Gregory Aboud and the three Hadad brothers, (Robert, John and Joe), famous for their delectable Arabic dishes.

The banking fraternity will be represented by Nigel Baptiste, Derwin Howell and Damian Cooper, all of Republic Bank. Other CIC alumni who will be cooking up a storm are Kairon Serrette, Brent and Stewart Sankar, Leslie Clarke, Kabron Henry, Dominique Chatoor and Andre ‘D’Fearless One’ Baptiste. No doubt, saintly dishes will come from Holy Ghost priests, Frs Rex De Four and Ron Mendes.

Past students from other secondary schools usually support one another’s fund-raising events so that over the years, past students from Holy Name and St Joseph’s Convents, Fatima and QRC usually make their presence felt as they recount their glory days in academia and sport.

Entertainment this year will be provided by Raymond Ramnarine of Dil-e-Nadan show-casing the versatility for which he is now well known as he delivers a repertoire of R&B, pop and soca, plus the renowned Hadco Phase II steel orchestra led by Len “Boogsie” Sharpe. A new aggregation known as ‘RESONATE’ and comprising ace pannists Dane Gulston and Johann Chuckaree, together with this year’s joint Chutney Soca Monarch Neval Chatelal, will also deliver a varied repertoire.

The musical menu is such that it will entice patrons to dance and true to form, the Organising Committee has again arranged a space in front of the open-air stage for the dancing audience. DJ Charlo will provide DJ music
Secured parking will be available at Atlantic LNG carpark at the top of Pembroke Street and TSTT carpark at the corner of New and St Vincent Streets, with a free shuttle service to and from the venue.

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Tickets cost $375 and are available at the office of the Past Students’ Union at St Mary’s College (624-8468) and from all members of the Management Committee.

Tickets can also be had in South Trinidad from Felix Montenegro (684-5839) and Lighthouse (653-3177); Gregg Mannette (678-7555) East; Louis Ramdhanie (371-9193) Central; and Enrico Rajah of Trini Revellers’ Mas Camp (745-4391) North.

It promises to be the perfect family outing for everyone, including children five years and over. Come Arrival Day on Wednesday, Island Hikers is making a visit to the Mermaid Pools, located in Matura. In terms of difficulty, this hike is rated 3 (fair) and 35 minutes one-way. Assembly is at 7 am, at the corner of O’Meara Road and Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Arima; next to the doubles vendors. The expedition departs for Matura by 8 am.

The district of Matura, enriched with an abundance of rivers, and natural resources, is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts. Its seven miles of coastline is a favourite seascape to observe the nesting of the leatherback turtles.

The name Matura originated from Amerindian and Spanish dialect and referred to as a region of dense unbroken forest. The river, which is timeless and patient, remains uncontaminated from human interference as it meanders through the vast landscape of uninhabited and continuous woodland. To experience its natural treasures, one has to explore the river. A favourite fun spot for a river adventure is the Mermaid Basins where there are fascinating pools to swim as well as relax in the beautiful ambiance of the wilderness. Further, upstream another remarkable destination is the Manulot Falls, which originates from a tributary cascading into the primary source.

Along the bank, the tall and majestic mora trees add splendor to the already picturesque landscape. The sun shining on the crystal clear waters reflect vibrant colors of emerald green. It remains a mystery how the name Mermaid came about maybe it is the serenity of the landscape and the irresistible temptation to sit on the rocks and sway one’s feet in the soothing waters of the river.

The expedition to the Mermaid Pool starts at Thomas Trace, situated just before the Matura Outreach Centre. The trek down to the river will take 35 minutes and to access the basins there are two shallow areas to cross. During the dry season, the landscape is prone to bush-fires and to preserve the environment, the Forestry Division replanted the forest with pine trees (pinus caribae). These trees not only beautify the landscape but also protect the watershed in the prevention of soil erosion. There is a fire observation tower built at a strategic location to oversee its miles of territory.

Over the years, the popularity of the Mermaid Pools has increased, and it is the responsibility of citizens to carry out their litter and not light fires for cooking in sensitive areas.

For this outing, vehicles will be watched by residents and a donation collected. Registration will be on the morning of the hike, and hikers are recommended to walk with a change of clothing and footwear. Life jackets provided but if you have one bring it along.

MORE INFO

For more info call hike leaders: Marcia (490 242); Jamal (761- 1889); and, Mario (749-2956), or www.islandhikers.com

Funeral service for the late ANN RAMCHARAN of 23 Para-keet Avenue, River Estate, Diego Martin died on 19th May, 2018. She was the mother of Rosanne and Ann-Marie. Grandmother of Tishanna and Akshanna. Sister of John, Ruth, Edward, Jenny, Kirt and Andrew. 

WONG SANG, JOYCELYN ( nee Pantin) departed this life on Monday 21st May, 2018 age 86. Daughter of the late Sydney and Clarice Pantin. Widow of the late Nelson Wong Sang. Mother of Anthony, Jeffrey, Lisa Wong Sang, Donna Ghent (deceased) and “adopted son” 

Murdered school footballer Noah Simmons made a difference in his crime-riddled community before his life was snuffed out and in remembrance of him, the Marabella Family Crisis Centre has named their football field in his honour, calling it Noah’s Ark.

During a charity football match between youths of Shiva Boys College and Marabella Family Crisis Centre, held in honour of Simmons at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium yesterday, MP for Pointea- Pierre Dr David Lee presented a cheque to Bossiere to assist in setting up the Ark.

Lee said the Ark will offer a chance to youths to improve their lives even though their community was infiltrated by criminals.

Chief Executive of the centre Terrence Bossiere said the Ark will be a haven for the youths of the Marabella Trainline who wanted to be freed of poverty and criminal elements. He said five youths currently sleep in the Centre even though it does not have proper windows or a back door.

“Football is the love for the youths. We have a ground where we need to do some work because there are stray dogs around and we always have to be cleaning up. We will fence it around. There is a homework centre there as well and we have OJT’s coming and helping the Trainline children with their homework. There are youths who face challenges and need security and safety.

We provide it. The Trainline children get school assistance from OJT students on Mondays and Wednesdays and we have seen the benefits because our children are now passing for good schools,” Bossiere said.

Saying Noah was his mentor, Bossiere said the Ark will be open to the people of the Trainline and sports will be used as a deterrent to crime.

Noah was shot dead at a cousin’s home at Marabella on May 8, the day he turned 16, by a man who warned him to stop speaking to a girl in the community. He was a star footballer at Shiva Boys College and was instrumental in the success of the school when it took home the championship title for the Under-14 team in 2016.

Paralympics gold medallist and two-time javelin and shot put record holder Akeem Stewart dominated the field in the men’s shot put event to win gold on the opening day of the Hampton International Games, yesterday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo.

The Falcon athlete’s best toss measured 18.49 metres to take the top spot on the podium with Rebirth’s Hezekiel Romeo in second place with 17.54m and Kesean Phillips of Kaizen Panthers with 15.69m.

Stewart will be seeking his second gold when he competes in the discus throw this morning against a familiar foe in Phillips.

Over on the track, Simplex sprinters Jalen Purcell and Kumaria Durant, the men’s and women 100m champions, will be looking to complete the sprint double when they face the starter in their respective 200m races.

Purcell raced to gold in the dash early yesterday in heat four of four, winning in 10.54 seconds in the timed finals ahead of second-placed Jerod Elcock (Abilene Wildcats) in 10.55 and Elijah John (Concorde) in third with 10.63.

Durant sped to gold in 11.71 with her clubmate Shikyla Walcott taking silver while the bronze medallist was Shun-Shauna Mason of Abilene in 11.89.

The Men’s 400m event had spectators at the edge of their seats with a close battle between Tacuma Sterling of Alpha Athletic Club and Kaizen Panthers’ Darren Alfred but it was the former clocking 47.46 to take first place. Alfred crossed second in 47.81, while Khaliyq Abdullah of Simplex was third in 48.40.

In the women’s version of the race, it was a two-athlete affair and Memphis Pioneers’ Tyla Scott was victorious in 57.31 with Alena Clarke of Point Fortin New Jets (PFNJ) second in 1:00.12.

Back on the field in the women’s javelin event, Antonia Sealy (Unattached) sent the spear 38.85m in her first attempt to seal the gold medal. Gwendolyn Smith of Palo Seco had her best effort in her final throw which measured 36.90m to cop silver. Rowland Kirton-Browne of Barbados bagged the bronze medal with 35.40m.

Shaunna Downey of the University of the West Indies (UWI) emerged the winner in the women’s discus with 40.68, beating Kianne Blackman (Memphis Pioneers) into second with 39.00 while Joy Squires of Barbados was third with a 37.53-throw.

Zenith’s Savion Joseph was third in the men’s long jump with 6.57m. Winning was Antonio Weekes of Barbados in 7.02m and second, Suriname’s Navaro Aboikoni (6.89m).

Selected results

100m
Boys U-20: 1 Timothy Fredericks (Simplex) 10.40; 2 Kion Benjamin (Memphis) 10.49; 3 Ako Hislop (Kaizen) 10.55
Girls U-17: 1 Akilah Lewis (Concorde) 11.78; 2 Naomi Campbell (PFNJ) 12.08; 3 Deleth Charles (Memphis) 12.13
Boys U-17: 1 Kester Richards (Unattached) 10.92; 2 Willon Agard (PFNJ) 11.20; 3 Justin Sandy (Abilene) 11.26
Girls U-17: 1 Shaniqua Bascombe (Cougars) 11.75; 2 Soniya Jones (Antigua/Barbuda) 12.01;3 Leah Bertrand (Simplex) 12.13
Boys U-15: Jesiah Greenidge (Concorde) 11.49, 2 Naeem Nelson (Simplex) 11.70; 3 Keston Chase (Cougars) 11.78
Girls U-15: 1 Karessa Kirton (Cougars) 12.57 (12.561); 2 Jaycelle Bailey (PFNJ) 12.57 (12.570); 3 Kady Ann Pierre (Cougars) 12.74
Boys U-13: 1 Jabari Branche (Abilene) 12.64; 2 Hakeem Chinapoo (Simplex) 13.23; 3 Tahir Chance (Morvant Jets) 13.31
GirlsU-13: 1 Janika Jordan (Cougars) 12.82; 2 Sierra Joseph (Simplex) 13.02; 3 Sahara Oliver (Striders) 13.43
Boys U-11: 1 Makaelan Woods (Cougars) 13.69; 2 Jaleel Eugene (Memphis) 13.69; 3 Savian Adams (Cougars) 13.75
Girls U-11: 1 Jenna Marie Thomas (IG Fastlane) 13.97; 2 Jenique Mc Laren (Toco Tafac) 14.15; 3 Shania Thomas (Cougars) 14.41
Boys U-9: 1 Sean Hart (Cougars) 15.49; 2 Zayne Martin (Memphis) 15.70; 3 Malik Charles (PFNJ) 15.76
Girls U-9: 1 J’Nae Bertete (Cougars) 15.75; 2 Annya Jordan (Mason Hall) 16.24; 3 Safiya Bristol (PFNJ) 16.38
Men Masters: 1 Norton St Louis (D Force) 11.35; 2 Garvin Farmer (T&T Masters) 11.62; 3 Philbert Ryce (D Force) 11.76
400m
Boys U-20: 1 Onal Mitchell (PFNJ) 47.95; 2 Jabari Fox (PFNJ) 48.67; 3 Jaden St Louis (Cougars) 48.99
Girls U-20: 1 Jodiah Mc Sween (UTT) 58.16; 2 Kadesha Melville (Abilene) 58.31; 3 Dianne Hamilton (Palo Seco) 59.63
Boys U-17: 1 Malachi Heywood (PFNJ) 50.60; 2 Kengel Christopher (Tigers) 51.77; 3 Jordan Pope (Concorde) 51.99
Girls U-17: 1 Rae-Anne Serville (Memphis) 54.53; 2 Nicola Pesnell (Memphis) 59.08; 3 Malika Coutain (PFNJ) 59.77
Boys U-15: 1 Michael Jack (Cougars) 51.86; 2 Cyril Sumner (Memphis) 53.20; 3 Joshua Bux (Burnley) 53.30
Girls U-15: 1 Natasha Fox (PFNJ) 57.45; 2 Xea Bruce (Toco Titans) 59.48; 3 Kadija Pickering (Abilene) 1:00.08
Boys U-13: 1 Jumario Russell (Memphis) 59.94; 2 Kyle Williams (Burnley) 1:00.81; 3 Hakeem Chinapoo (Simplex) 1:00.91
Girls U-13: 1 Kayleigh Forde (Cougars) 1:03.22; 2 Kelescia Downes (Barbados)1:03.35; 3 Gianna Paul (DPAC) 1:04.42

Caribbean Airlines (CAL) has launched “Caribbean Upgrade, a new service where economy class ticket holders can bid for available Business Class seats on all eligible routes.

Chief executive officer, Garvin Medera said: “We are delighted to introduce the Caribbean Upgrade bidding option to our customers. Caribbean Airlines is committed to giving even more travellers the opportunity to experience the warmth of the islands, in the comfort of business class at a price they choose.

He continued: “Caribbean Upgrade, is managed by Plusgrade and went live on May 22. It’s a simple and easy-to-use service.”

All eligible customers will receive a Caribbean Upgrade e-mail seven days prior to departure, inviting them to bid for available business class seats. All passengers who bid will be advised 24 to 28 hours before their scheduled departure whether the bid was successful.

The customer’s credit card on file will be charged with the corresponding amount.

Upgraded individuals will also receive an updated e-ticket. If the bid is not accepted, the passengers will fly in economy class as planned and will not incur any additional costs.

Customers taking advantage of Caribbean Upgrade will enjoy the benefits of CAL’s business class travel which include: priority check in, three complimentary checked bags with priority baggage handling, access to business class lounges, priority pre-boarding, additional leg room, personalised in-flight service, in-flight meals, fine wines and a selection of premium beverages.

Five undergraduate students of The University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine are in China for Telecom Seeds for the Future 2018, a two-week work-study programme sponsored by the Chinese information and communication technology (ICT) giant Huawei.

The programme helps in bridging the gap between classroom learning and real-world work experience in the ICT and telecommunications field.

On May 19, Qarun Bissondial, Nicholas Mitchell, David Orr, Rachel Peters and Tristan Sankar from The UWI St Augustine’s Departments of Computer Science and Information Technology and Electrical and Computer Engineering together with colleagues from the University of T&T (UTT) met with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and his delegation at Huawei headquarters in Shenzhen.

At the opening ceremony for the programme, Dr Rowley delivered a brief address to the students acknowledging the importance of ICT to the future of T&T and encouraging them to make good use of the opportunity provided by Huawei.

The students then delivered two delightful performances—a traditional Chinese song they learned while in Beijing and a rendition of the Mighty Sniper’s Portrait of Trinidad, with one of their cohort accompanying on steelpan.

The performances delighted the audience, particularly the Dr Rowley who sang along to the calypso and gave the students a rousing round of applause at the end.

It took just a week for entrepreneurs Ryan and Sarah Rajpaulsingh and their business partner Ryan Olton to gain social media traction for their online real estate business, My Bunch of Keys Realty Limited. That is how quickly they were able to connect with customers on their aggregator website which lists properties for sale.

The innovative trio, who also have brick and mortar presence—their office is located on Long Circular Road, St James—have managed to distinguish themselves in a highly competitive market, with an interactive website that features virtual tours of listed properties, with walk-through videos, photographs and key information, including financial institutions that provide mortgages.

They are not directly involved in the buying or selling properties but instead connect real estate agents with prospective customers.

As a one-stop shop for buying a home, the online platform, while not the first of its kind in T&T, is the fastest and most reliable fully optimised mobile solution in the sector.

The business is the brainchild of Sarah Rajpaulsingh who came up with the idea while browsing through local real estate listings online. She found that the available online resources did not provide the experience she was expecting, or provide the up to date information she was looking for, so she decided to so something about it.

“As a young couple we were renting and I would browse the websites available at the time. I would find myself getting frustrated at how long the property would take to show up or be listed. Sometimes the property would be expired because it was listed since 2009,” she recalled.

Rajpaulsingh encouraged her husband to create a real estate online resource featuring properties for sale in a user-friendly format. He, in turn, linked up with his friend, Olton,who had skills in web developing, having worked on websites and online platforms for the local entertainment industry.

Although none of them had any experience in real estate, they combined their training in online marketing and their strengths in finance, planning and social media and set about developing the business.

The trio chose a name for their business that reflects a cozy and welcoming atmosphere which is also linked to some of the platform’s capabilities.

For example, there is a wish list option, My Bunch, which allows prospective home buyers to bookmark properties they like so they can return to them later.
Social media success

Within a week of the website’s launch earlier this month it had drawn more than 2,500 visitors. To build on this successful online debut, there are plans to attract more interest via traditional radio and print advertisements.

“Before online came along everyone went to the classifieds to look at properties. What you are getting in the classifieds is a description, a one-liner, black and white,” Ryan Rajpaulsingh noted.

The company’s success in reaching their target audience is due largely to the experience Olton and Rajpaulsingh gained while managing Facebook pages for big names in entertainment and the corporate sector.

“Right now, we have a Facebook page aligned with the website. We’ve gotten 500-plus fans and that’s just in one week. We have a few ads running on Facebook and Instagram as well,” Rajpaulsingh said.

This advertising blitz, paired with an online giveaway, has so far attracted 27,000 people, he said, and has proven to be more effective than traditional forms of print advertising which are seen in the morning, but forgotten by the end of the day.

He pointed out: “Social media is a platform where people can pick up the phone continuously and when the advertisement is in their face all the time, it resonates with them even more. It is therefore more applicable than a radio advertisement.”

The platform, which features profiles of realtors, earns revenue through the annual membership fees paid by the agents for unlimited listings per month, social media postings, technical support and membership add-ons. No fee is charged to the buyer that locates a property on the site.

“This is not something that we decided on yesterday and then tomorrow it is launched,” said Olton, explaining that the platform was custom-built from scratch, with features included based on feedback from the public, real-estate agents and financial intuitions. It took two years to build and involved some sleepless nights along the way, he said.

The trio said the knowledge they have gained in the sector has connected them with a close-knit community of very knowledgeable and experienced professionals.

In addition to visiting their site and taking advantage of the resources available there, they advise prospective home buyers to hire a reputable real estate agent or agency to benefit from their experience and knowledge.

Bunch of Keys Realty Ltd can be reached at (868) 35-BUNCH.
Accounts: (868) 312-KEYS
Tech Support: (868) 329-KEYS.
Email: info@mybunchofkeys.com

The time is certainly right in T&T for us to be MORE social. According to the Social Progress Index Report 2017, social progress is defined as the capacity of a society to meet the basic human needs of its citizens, establish the building blocks that allow citizens and communities to enhance and sustain the quality of their lives and create the conditions for all individuals to reach their full potential.

The Social Progress Index measures 50 indicators of social and environmental outcomes to create a clearer picture of what life is really like for everyday people. The index divides the indicators across three broad dimensions of social progress: Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing and Opportunity.

Elements of the Social Progress Index are marked with a blue dot where the country performs comparatively well, a red dot where it performs relatively poorly, a yellow dot where its performance is average for its peer group and a grey dot when there isn’t sufficient data to make a judgment.

According to this report, under the Basic Human Needs dimension, T&T had red dots in the sub-sections of Nutrition and Basic Medical Care, Undernourishment, Water and Sanitation, Shelter and Personal Safety. Under the dimension of Foundations of Wellbeing, the red dots appeared in the sub-sections of Health and Wellness and Environmental Quality. Opportunity dimension had the red dot associated with sub-sections of Personal Rights, Personal Freedom and Choice and Access to Advanced Education. What were the positives? The yellow dot appeared in the dimension of Opportunity associated with the sub-section of Tolerance and Inclusion.

This report presents a gloomy picture of life in T&T. However, the data is positive in that it indicates the time is right for us to be MORE social. There is a cry at this time for MORE entrepreneurial approaches to social problems. The time is NOW for us to be MORE social as social entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs are needed to develop new models for our country if we are to improve the quality of lives for our citizens.

We have always had social entrepreneurs in T&T. However, the new name is important in that it implies a blurring of sector boundaries. In addition to innovative not-for-profit ventures, social entrepreneurship can include social purpose business ventures, and hybrid organisations mixing not-for-profit and for-profit elements, such as homeless shelters that start businesses to train and employ their residents. The new language helps to broaden the playing field. Social entrepreneurs look for the most effective methods of serving their social missions.

If we look closer within our country, I am sure we can recognise our social entrepreneurs. For instance, there is The Butterfly Project founded by the visionary leader Asiya Mohammed. I had the opportunity to interview her (one of many social entrepreneurs in our country) in 2015 on her work to help improve the lives of domestic violence and sexually abused victims. Her project was born from her travels in Africa and seeing the potential of women employment through teaching them a skill. She has always been fascinated by jewelry and art, whether collecting street art in South Africa, purchasing paintings of Arabic calligraphy in Egypt, or buying wooden jewelry in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2014, she founded the Butterfly Project, which sells jewelry and art, all designed and hand-crafted by survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Each piece is sold with the survivor’s anonymous story and a portion of proceeds is used to provide her with a monthly income and free retraining. Through a battery of volunteer lawyers, the project also offers legal aid advise to women who are victims of domestic and sexual violence.

Three jewelry lines have been launched thus far from the work of the women. Asiya has found ways to commercialise the jewelry and art. Whether or not the jewelry or art is sold, she absorbs the risk of the project by paying cash to the women. She has been invited to export the model to Africa and other countries.

Do we have more social entrepreneurs tacking different social problems facing our country? I am sure we do. However, it is my view that we need MORE social entrepreneurs if we are to provide a better quality of live for this present generation and for our future generation.

Let us be MORE social – it’s definitely good!

Nirmala Maharaj is a doctoral candidate at the UWI-Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business. Her research is in social entrepreneurship. Contact her at 689-6539 or e-mail socialprogressinst@gmail.com

Help us understand how to pass on our cultural identity and heritage and save our children and next generations.

This was the unanimous plea at LiTTribute to Toronto to heritage educator and author Dr Kris Rampersad during her interface with a cross-section of Canadian educators, media, cultural and religious developers, all of whom were concerned about the eruption of violence and extremism in schools and identified problems with intercultural understanding and making meaningful impact on youths while lamenting disconnections within families and between schools, churches and community organisations.

Father Terry Gallagher, one of the few remaining priests of the Toronto Scarboro Missions, which is celebrating its centenary, commended Dr Rampersad for her publication LiTTscapes—Landscapes of Fiction, acknowledging its attempt to capture, document and excite the imagination of the young and old and bridge the gaps between cultural and ethnic communities.

He blessed Dr Rampersad’s work and encouraged her in her efforts and vision for a more holistic approach to the culture of the Americas.

“For me, the publication of LiTTscapes was not an end but a beginning,” Dr Rampersad explained after being welcomed by ten-year-old Milan Maharaj who has shown a keen interest in the book to the gathering at LiTTribute to Toronto at Windies Restaurant. She said her unorthodox approaches to education through methods for lifelong learning that include such cultural exchanges were meant to encourage institutions as schools, churches, museums, restaurants and other community and family institutions as well as those in charge of making policy to rethink their approaches to passing on knowledge and information and to engage the next generations on ways that will stimulate their creative energies.

Dr Rampersad revealed the intention of preparing and presenting the book which captures multiculturalism through hundreds of colour photographs and descriptions the literary and cultural traditions and lifestyles heritage as portrayed through more than 100 works of fiction by literary laureates as Derek Walcott and Sir Vidia Naipaul as well as many lesser known and several writers of Caribbean heritage from Canada, the UK, and the Americas.

Rampersad spoke of her vision to engage youths into more constructive and mindful community-inspired actions away from lives of crime and delinquency as recent school shootings through not just the book, but also its related activities as these LiTTributes and LiTTours all of which have been received with tremendous enthusiasm not only in Trinidad and Tobago and its first launch but also in presentations across the Caribbean, the Americas, UK, and Europe.

Dr Rampersad explained that the book is not just an academic publication and while it is attractive to educators and policy makers, it has also drawn considerable interests and excitement of children as young as three year old as well as the elderly in its attempt to bridge the generation gap and encourage dialogue across age, culture, ethnic or national or other barriers. Chair of the interface, managing editor of the Independent Newspaper, Raynier Maharaj, pointed out the struggle to draw the next generations into appreciation and understanding of theirs and other cultures, noting that it is even difficult to stimulate the next generation to be interested in food heritage as that represented in restaurants as Windies which hosted the event. He stated that LiTTscapes, LiTTributes and LiTTours were unorthodox ways of stimulating those, as his son, who were born in Canada or elsewhere, to be more curious about their own as well as the cultural habits and traditions of other cultures.

Youth educator and musician Shelli Karamath related how she has been struggling with identity as a Trinidad-born Canadian who felt alienated and like an outsider to both societies and how she could use the book as a tool with her students to bridge understanding. Echoing similar statements, educators, culture, community and religious workers in the audience identified problems of passing on understanding of traditions of music, dance, food and other elements as represented in LiTTscapes to their children and encouraged Dr Rampersad by committing themselves to formalise these efforts.

Copies of LiTTscapes and bookings of LiTTours and LiTTributes through the Americas are available by request through Facebook LiTTscapes or lolleaves@gmail.com

Twenty local and foreign singers will participate in the Kishore Kumar Singing Competition, carded for tomorrow, Tuesday, at the NCIC Nagar, Chaguanas. Staged by the National Council of Indian Culture (NCIC), $150,000 in prize money is up for grabs in the contest.

NCIC PRO Surujdeo Mangaroo said the organisation ran a similar competition 25 years ago that was won by popular local Indian artiste Anil Bheem. He said there had been many calls to the NCIC for the competition to be reactivated.

“We have been bombarded with calls from near and far for a clean family type competition so we wanted to give this to patrons,” said Mangaroo. He added that the show will be held in an alcohol-free atmosphere, and patrons would be hearing the talents of 15 local singers, and five from abroad.

Local artiste includes Anil Bheem, Roshan Sankar, Neeshad Sultan, Satrohan Maharaj, Boya Shahfayat Mohammed, Leon Madho, Rehanna Gopaul, Sondar Sooknarine, Varma Maharaj, Badri Nath, Lalchan Rama,Nadia Madhoo, Rajesh Dallah,Anand Adheen and Prakash Ramcharan.

Mangaroo said Kishore Kumar was a well-loved playback singer in T&T whose career spanned several decades and peaked in the 1960s to his death in 1987. He said Kumar visited T&T several times in the 1970s and served as inspiration for many local singers who have tried to emulate the extremely talented and loved artiste, and perform his songs on many local and regional stages.

More info 

Kishore Kumar’s most popular songs are:

Roop Tera Mastana
Dil Aisa Kisi Ne Mera
Khaike Paan Banaras Wala
Hazaar Raahen Mudke Dekheen
Pag Ghungroo Baandh
Agar Tum Na Hote
Manzilein Apni Jagah Hain
Saagar Kinaare
Zindagi Ek Safar
Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai
Chingari Koi Bhadke
Mere Dil Mein
Gaadi Bula Rahi Hai
O Saathi Rei
Om Shanti Om

Foreign singers

They include:
Jimmy Subhidass (Fiji)
Joe Seenath (US)
Rishikumar Baitali (Suriname)
Randy Bhagwandin (Canada)
Mala Harripersad (Guyana)

Continuing the trend of promoting and supporting local art and culture, Uncorked Wines and Spirits Limited along with assistance and curation by The Fashion Arch presents, artist Sarah Burrows with the Children of the Sun. This is a solo exhibition of mixed media and is made up of a combination of acrylics, inks and colour pencils.

Burrows is a self-taught mixed media artist, specialising in colour pencils and more recently acrylics. Sarah began her artistic journey at a very young age, however when she was 15 years old she entered and won her first art competition. As a young adult, she continued to enter and win several art competitions; the most significant was the On the wall, Off the wall, Queen’s Park Oval wall art competition.

As a result, Sarah’s work was featured for almost two years on the Oval’s wall. Since then she has participated in several group exhibitions both locally and regionally.

Sarah has participated in several group exhibitions with the Art Society. She has also been involved in smaller group exhibitions (3-5 persons) such as: Eden (2013), Colourscape (2013), Let there be Life (2014) and Emerge (2015). She hosted two solo exhibitions: War & Peace (2012) and New Hope (2017). Sarah has also hosted art classes with her favourite medium, colour pencils. She has even volunteered along with other artist to create murals for Mamatoto Birthing resource centre and most recently the New Fire Festival in March 2018.

Burrows participates in seasonal local art and craft shows and her work is currently displayed in the Hotel Normandie and Art on Purpose Dance Studio. She has also been featured in several online publications.

Following in the footsteps on her last exhibition New Hope, Children of the Sun explores the idea of looking outward, to find a solution to an inward problem, in other words, putting life in perspective.

Currently there is a feeling of uncertainty in Trinidad and the world in general, what this exhibition seeks to remind us is that we are all part of a much greater plan or rather Universe. Our problems, as big as the may seem, are temporary and we can get through them if we work together, take care of ourselves and the environment.

The exhibition is a reminder that we are all Children of the Sun.

Children of the Sun opens on Friday, at 6 pm – 9 pm and runs until June 15, during the hours of 10 am – 6 pm from Monday to Friday, and 10 am – 4 pm on Saturdays.

For more information please email ain@thefashionarch.com

T&T women’s footballers advanced to the final Concacaf play-off series of the Concacaf Caribbean Women’s World Cup Qualifiers after they defeated Grenada in their final Group C encounter at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva last night.

The results ensured that T&T progresses ahead of St Kitts/Nevis on a superior goal difference. Striker Aaliyah Prince led the way for the host with a hat-trick.

Needing to win by six clear goals after St Kitts/Nevis hammered the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) 7-0 in the first match of a double-header, T&T wasted little time from kick-off when midfielder Kedie Johnson, who came in as a replacement for Summer Arjoon, caught goalkeeper Connie John napping with a blistering drive from the left that flew past her in the tenth minute to put her team 1-0 up.

The goal literally opened up the floodgates, diminishing any chance St Kitts/Nevis had. Grenada’s shaky defence accounted for the second goal, failing to clear Tasha St Louis’ left side cross from a free kick, and defender Jenelle Cunningham fired home the loose ball four minutes later.

Mariah Shade, St Louis, Aaliyah Prince and Jinelle Cato later found the net to give T&T a 6-0 half-time lead, which was sufficient for the home team to top the group with a half still to play.

T&T could have afforded to take their feet off the pedal thereafter, but instead, midfielder Janine Francois continued the rout by converting Shade’s right side cross in the 50th. Later, Cato added her second on the night in the 52nd and Shade and Francois also doubled up with items in the 80th and 82nd.

With Grenada attempting to regroup, forward Prince completed her hat-trick, two of them from through balls, to fire past John in the 88th and 90th, respectively, for a 12-0 advantage.

Captain St Louis completed the rout in the 92nd minute when she steered in Prince centre from the right for a 13-0 victory.

FINAL GROUP C STANDING

Team P W D L F A GD Pt
1. T&T 4 3 1 0 27 1 26 10
2. St Kitts/Nevis 4 3 1 0 20 2 18 10
3. Dominica 4 1 1 2 5 6 -1 4
4. USVI 4 1 1 2 3 20 -24 3
5. Grenada 4 0 1 3 1 14 -26 0

WALTER ALIBEY

He has met with top cricket players and spent time with top cricket officials all over the world but Mahammad Qureshi is not interested in fame and glory but in the development of individuals. As a result, he has decided to throw his hat in the ring to vie for the position of Club Director at USA Cricket.

He decided long ago that the way to achieve his wish of helping young people develop is to use sport and in particular, cricket, as a tool. He has done this successfully and during his very popular US Open T20 tournament he hardly ever stays in the VIP box, but instead he ventures around the ground, speaking to cricketers and playing impromptu games with young fans.

He told Guardian Media Sports: “Development of people is always something I am interested in since a young age. I have been involved in community life for many years and realised that in order to make a meaningful impact on the lives of people, I need to tackle it through sport. I formed the Cricket Council USA (CCUSA) and was able through that to meet a lot of people from all around America to find out what I could have done in order to assist them to develop into cricketers and in some cases a life away from bad company.”

Qureshi is now going up for the post of Club Director in the USA Cricket elections that is scheduled to start on May 29. Many clubs from around the country, starting in South Florida and as far away as Chicago has benefited financially and otherwise from Qureshi, as all he wanted was for players to go into the park and play the game.

In the last Maq USA Nationals T10, he allowed all the teams to play in the tournament without charging them an entrance fee. Even more than that, he helped with accommodation as he wanted to get the players playing cricket, he wanted no excuse.

Qureshi has really shown where his heart is when it comes to cricket development in the USA.

Yugoslav-born coach Zoran Vranes has bought into the new business plan of T&T Pro League champions North East Stars, which involves the development and foreign transfers of players, by committing his services to the Pro League champions on an initial one-year agreement, pending a work permit.

And one month back on the Caribbean-island he considers his second home. The former T&T national team coach is calling on all stakeholders to do their part towards improving the quality of football in the country.

“Football in T&T is down very much,” said the 67-year-old Serbian, who coached the T&T Under-20 men’s World Cup. It was better in the past and I am not fully aware what the problems are now. It’s time all [stakeholders] must step up to do something more serious about the quality of the football. I can make my contribution but it is not up to the coaches only. Together we can all improve the opportunity for the players, the local teams and the national teams.”

Michael Awai, new Director of Football at North East Stars, said the club which is now run by the majority shareholder, Ryan Nunes, has adopted the business strategy to develop players with the intention of transfers across Europe, Asia and Central America.

“Others should want to follow our business model,” said Awai.

“We will have academies from the 4-5 age group and upwards at various locations. Our business model is not to win the Pro League. We prefer to prepare players to send them abroad and make money from that. We have budgeted it will cost TT$1.5 million to TT$2m to run a club competitively, so it’s better to invest in more players from a development perspective.”

W Connection, the most successful club in the Pro League era, can argue that success on and off the field can be achieved simultaneously with their trophy cabinet stacked to capacity and having the most transfers to foreign clubs in the league’s history.

On why he opted to join North East Stars, Vranes, a former Joe Public coach said, “I am satisfied with the plan of North East Stars. This season we are focused on developing young players, not to win the competition this year and maybe not next year, after that, yes, but more than that to make business in Europe and Asia.

“It should not only be the plan of my club. We all need to get football back where it used to be especially with the younger players. They must also want to work harder to improve their fitness and technical ability.”

Vranes had three stints with the T&T senior team, twice as a head coach and once as an assistant coach, and also coached the Soca Warriors at Under-20 and Under-23 levels.

He enjoyed title success with Central FC, leading the “Couva Sharks” to the First Citizens Cup and the Akeem Adams and Rawle Fletcher trophies in the 2014/15 season.

However, he was surprisingly replaced with Englishman Terry Fenwick with just three league games left that term and the team at the top of the Pro League standings. Fenwick celebrated the title success and later the 2015 Caribbean Club Championship.

Vranes returned to Yugoslavia for his third managerial stint with hometown club Rudar Pljevlja, until now.

Goalkeepers Glenroy Samuel and Javon Sample, who played under Vranes at national youth level and Central respectively, will represent Stars along with veteran playmaker Hayden Tinto, Adrian Noel, Sean Bateau and Bret D’Abreau, who will hit his fortieth birthday on June 6.

North East Stars will face W Connection on June 1 in the 2018 Pro League curtain-raising Charity Shield from 7 pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium.

North East Stars 2018 squad: Glenroy Samuel, Javon Sample, Jabari Brice, Sean Bateau, Garyk Jaggan, Darren Jaggan, Bret D’Abreau, Josiah Daniel, Kyle Bartholomew, Hayden Tinto, Jabari Brathwaite, Adrian Noel, Darren Wilson, Tyrell Jobe, Jamiel Williams, Shawn Roberts, Daniel Lacroix, Warren Chase, Jeankeon Alexander, Brian Williams, Shaqkeem Joseph and Gabriel Nanton.

Technical staff: Zoran Vranes (coach), Gilbert Bateau (assistant coach/trainer), Nigel Neverson (goalkeeper coach), Michael ‘Coxy’ Williams (equipment manager).