T&T’s Nigel Lewis, who won the 1996 Road March, is a headline act for tomorrow’s benefit concert for three hospitals in Jamaica. Lewis, Minister Keesa Peart, Patricia Levy (Sister Patt), Renowned Gospel Singers, and Michael Richards will perform at the High Point High School, 3601 Powder Mill Road in Beltsville, Maryland. This eagerly awaited gospel concert will be an evening of praise, worship, and inspiring gospel music.

Organisers of the concert pledge that all the net proceeds of the concert will go directly to benefit three major hospitals in Jamaica. This is one of the organisation’s efforts to help to alleviate the suffering of many poor and needy residents of the island.

Lewis exploded onto the soca music scene with Movin’ to the Left in 1996 and had everyone moving to the left and moving to the right. Winning that year’s Road March title, he became a household name worldwide. His success blossomed and he was on the road to superstardom.

Lewis’ dynamic style was influenced by many great performers from his island home. At the height of his soca career in 2000, he made a change and rededicated his life to Jesus Christ. Nigel’s transformation of his prolific style of secular soca lyrics and pulsating soca rhythms to more religious messages and reverence to God has been awesome.

His development into a noteworthy singer/songwriter/musician is expressed in songs that address poverty, world peace, and voting rights. He composes exalting messages and words of thanks to God which inspire listeners of his music.

“My music is about the people, not me,” Lewis says. His up-tempo style is inspired by his relationship with God. His dynamic performance of Follow the Leader is emblematic of his spirit.

Nigel’s excellent performances with songs such as Godman Style, Walk Away, Second Chance, Follow the Leader, When Jesus Say Yes, The Greatest Day, Jesus, Crazy Praise, and Blessed Today continue to grow his fan base and obtain more accolades.

In 2011, Lewis received the International Reggae & World Music Award (IRAWMA) for Best Gospel Song. In 2014, he received regional recognition with ten Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Award nominations for his album, Unlock the Block, and took home the Marlin for Adapted Reggae Recording of the Year for his hit single God Over Everything.

Lewis now has seven Marlin Award nominations, including Album of the Year (N.O.W.—No Other Way), Producer of the Year, Reggae Recording of the Year (My God feat Papa San), Calypso Recording of the Year & Song of the Year for hit single, My God, featuring award-winning Bahamian choir ensemble Shaback.

Lewis says, “My goal is to light up the darkness. I do music because it’s the gift that was given to me by the Father. I use it to spread His message.”

Keesa Peart, a Jamaican native living in the Cayman Islands in 2004, won the Cayman Islands Gospel Festival competition for best song with her original composition, Come Let Me Show You. With that achievement, she decided to take her singing career to another level.

Her debut album in 2005, Touch Jesus, was tremendously successful and she released her second album, Your Life Is In God’s Hands, in 2008 with her hit single, Hold On.

Since the release of her albums, Peart has ministered throughout North America, Bahamas, Canada, Colombia, Aruba, Montserrat, and Jamaica where she presently resides.

Minister Keesa Peart has shared the stage with both local and international gospel singers.

In 2009, Peart decided to embrace full-time ministry and she and her husband returned to Jamaica where they felt God’s calling for ministry.

In 2012, she graduated from the Glad Tidings Institute having received her Master’s degree in evangelism.

During 2012, Peart released the international hit single I’ve got somebody with me, which earned an award for international song of the year 2014. She was awarded international female gospel artiste of the year for 2015.

In 2016, she released her third album entitled Without You Lord, which includes Di Devil Nah Get Mi Soul, I Know I’ll Make It and I’ve Got Somebody With Me.

To learn more about tomorrow’s benefit concert, call 301-440- 6132 or 240-505-7743.

Watching the Moon landing in 1969 on TV with her family in South Trinidad sparked Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University graduate student Karen Brun’s interest in the NASA space programme. A worldwide graduate student, she spent 45 days in an analog spaceship and completed a NASA internship.

Through a 32-year career in the US Air Force, where Brun specialised in aviation and air mobility operations serving as a C-5 Galaxy Flight Engineer, she never lost sight of her interest in space.

As Brun prepared for civilian life, she acquired FAA licenses and ratings including Instrument Rated Private Pilot; Remote Pilot; Aircraft Dispatcher; Airframe and Power Plant Mechanic; and Flight Engineer (Turbojet). She stayed committed to aviation safety and human factors by participating in flying simulations as part of an ongoing FAA-sponsored study researching possible causes of weather-related general aviation accidents.

The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide Campus student finished 45 days in a simulated space habitat this past fall as part of NASA’s Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) at Johnson Space Center in Houston. HERA is a unique three-story structure designed to serve as an analog for isolation, confinement, and remote conditions in extraterrestrial exploration scenarios.

Following HERA, she recently completed an internship this spring with NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Brun’s road to NASA has been paved with people she met along the way at Embry-Riddle and programmes that gave her the needed skills from coursework to assistance from Career Services and her graduate Worldwide Campus academic advisor.

In 2015, Brun, who has three associate degrees from the Community College of the Air Force and a Bachelor of Science in Applied Science and Technology from Thomas Edison State University, shared her future goals with Dr Brent Terwilliger, assistant professor of Aeronautics and programme chair for the Embry-Riddle Worldwide Campus’s new online Master of Science in Unmanned and Autonomous Systems Engineering degree programme.

His advice led her to enrol in the master’s Unmanned Systems programme with a specialisation in Space Systems.

During her time at Embry- Riddle, she has also participated in the Project PoSSUM Citizen- Scientist Astronaut Programme, an intense astronaut-like training programme where students receive instruction in how to use a spacesuit, high-altitude and hypoxia awareness and aerospace physiology.

While participating with Project PoSSUM, Brun learned about NASA’s HERA programme and was selected as a mission specialist for the HERA XV mission after a rigorous application process, including physical, psychological and technical skills testing.

“That is why Embry-Riddle is so important,” Brun, who was born and raised in Marabella, said.

“If I wasn’t associated with Embry-Riddle, I would not have been able to do all these things.”

HERA missions, which began in 2014, are one of several ground-based analogs used by NASA’s Human Research Programme (HRP) to study ways to help astronauts move from lower-Earth orbit to deep space exploration.

The programme works to improve astronauts’ ability to collect data, solve problems, respond to emergencies and remain healthy during and after extended space travel. With the goal of travelling to Mars and beyond, the programme is using ground research facilities, the International Space Station (ISS) and analog environments to develop these procedures and to further research areas that are unique to Mars.

The HERA XV mission, which ended in December, looked at behavioural health and performance assessments, communication and autonomy studies, human factors evaluations and medical capabilities assessments.

Brun and her three co-mission specialists lived in the small, cylindrical 636-square-feet habitat for 45 days. The total mission also included 14 days of pre- and seven days postconfinement.

Inside the habitat, she worked on projects to help with future missions to Mars, including testing various hardware prototypes and applications used on the ISS. Her team used various simulations in growing food and plants, and they ate similar packaged food that astronauts consume on the ISS, from scrambled eggs and pancakes, to steak and ribs.

Experiments with sleep and circadian rhythms (a 24- hour internal clock that cycles between sleep and being awake) tested their alertness. Virtual reality spacewalks (extravehicular activity) simulated travelling to an asteroid and collecting samples.

“This is why HERA is so important. A lot of what we did involved current technology and testing it in simulated conditions,” Brun said.

“My commitment is not only to the space programme, but to humanity and where we go as a species into deep space.”

Brun’s future plans include applying to the Human Factors doctoral programme at Embry- Riddle after finishing her master’s degree.

“Human Factors (the study of how people interact with technology, tools, environments and systems) is what will get us to Mars,” Brun said.

“Can we as humans sustain the seven and a half months, one-way trip to Mars? We have the technology, but can we get there? I want to be part of the NASA space programme working toward getting people ready to go into space.”

Roth Britton, Brun’s graduate academic advisor at Embry- Riddle’s Worldwide Campus Department of Online Education, said since his first “welcome” call to Brun, she has been motivated and excited for opportunities ahead.

“She has been looking for ways to grow and pursue the things she is passionate about every step along the way,” Britton said.

“I am very proud of her and expect big things as she moves forward on her journey.”

Anyone interested in finding out what it takes to participate in a HERA mission, can go to nasa.gov/analogs/hera/want-toparticipate for more information.

Deborah Circelli is a communications specialist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida Deborah.Circelli@erau.edu

DEBORAH A CIRCELLI
 

Windies had another good day of cricket yesterday as they bowled out Sri Lanka cheaply to enjoy a handsome lead going into the fourth day of the opening Test at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

After amassing a competitive 414/8 declared in their first innings, the Windies fast bowlers came to the park to hustle out Sri Lanka for 185 to secure a lead of 229 runs on first innings. The host did not enforced the follow-on and commenced their second innings and closed the day on 131/4, which swelled its lead to 360 runs with six wickets still standing.

The visitors’ fast bowlers bowled their hearts out in the afternoon and final sessions in a bid to bring their team back into the contest but as it stands now there are only two likely results, a Windies win or a drawn encounter.

Windies lost four wickets in their second innings, including the returning Devon Smith for 20, Kraigg Brathwaite for 16, Shai Hope one and Roston Chase 12.

Left-hander Keiran Powell has however played a brilliant hand in getting an unbeaten 64 at stumps with six fours and two sixes. He hardly put a foot wrong after coming in at the fall of Smith’s wicket. Smith was bowled off a no-ball and next ball he fell by the same route, playing on to the impressive Suranga Lakmal.

Sri Lanka resumed on the bedtime position of 31/3 and lost Roshen Silva 10 minutes into play. His dismissal could have been due to the statement made by the Windies bowlers on the second evening, as the righthander was very apprehensive and lost his leg stump to Kemar Roach with the score at 43 for four.

Skipper Chandimal who started the day on three was there and took charge of proceedings.

He took his time to move the score along and found the plucky Niroshan Dickwella a good ally. Chandimal timed the ball sweetly but at times flirted with danger and this led to his downfall after a partnership of 79. He favoured the cut shot against the pacy Caribbean men but failed to keep one down and was caught at backward point by Roston Chase for 44. He faced 121 deliveries and struck five fours.

Dickwella then left soon after run out for 31 after playing the  to mid-on and trotting down the pitch. Kraigg Brathwaite picked up and struck the stumps at the non-strikers end with the direct hit that found the wicketkeeper/batsman short. He faced 78 balls and struck three fours during his fighting knock. 

When Devendra Bishoo sent back the last of the recognised batsman in Dilruwan Perera for 20, the Windies were large and in charge in their own backyard.

Pacer Miguel Cummins than ran through the lower order to finish with three wickets for 39 runs.

SCOREBOARD

WINDIES VS SRI LANKA
Windies 1st inns 414/8 dec
Sri Lanka 1st inns
(overnight 31/3)
M Perera c Chase b Roach.................... 0
K Mendis c Holder b Gabriel................ 4
D Chandimal c Chase b Gabriel.........44
A Mathews c Chase b Holder.............11
R Silva b Roach........................................ 1
N Dickwella run out..............................31
D Perera c Hope b Bishoo...................20
R Herath c sub Hetmeyer...................... 5
S Lakmal c Bishoo b Cummins...........15
L Gamage not out................................... 0
L Kumara c Dowrich b Cummins......... 8
Extras 8b, 16lb, 6nb, 12w...................40
Total all out...............................185
Fall of wkts: 2, 16, 30, 43, 121, 140,
148, 156, 175, 185.
Bowling: K Roach 10-3-34-2, S Gabriel
13-0-48-2, M Cummins 12.4-4-39-3, J
Holder 7-1-15-1 D Bishoo 13-2-25-1.
Windies 2nd inns
K Brathwaite c Dickwella b Kumara.16
D Smith b Lakmal.................................20
K Powell not out....................................64
S Hope c Mendis b Kumara.................. 1
R Chase b Herath..................................12
S Dowrich not out.................................12
Extras 4b, 2lb, 1nb................................. 7
Total for 4 wkts..........................131
Fall of wkts: 36, 55, 75, 119.
Bowling: S Lakmal 8-1-25-1, L
Gamage 8-2-23-0, R Herath 11-1-21-1,
L Kumara 5-0-28-2, K Perera 8-0-27-0.

T&T captain, Ryan Stewart scored a match-high 16 points, but it was not enough as the three-time Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) champions went under to host Cuba 21-25, 13-25, 11-25 in the NORCECA Men’s Challengers Cup at the November 19 Pavilion in Pinar del Rio, Cuba on Thursday night.

With the win, the Cubans improved to a 2-0 record and ten points, five behind fellow unbeaten team Puerto Rico (3-0) while T&T dropped to a 1-2 record and five points in the five-team tournament which grants the champion the confederation’s lone ticket to the FIVB 2019 League of Nations qualifying World Final.

Coming off a straight-sets win over Costa Rica 24 hours earlier, T&T started strongly and were locked at 16-16 with the home side before the latter strengthened their attack to close out the set by winning nine of the next 14 points.

Over the next two sets, the Cubans, favourite to claim the championship were clearly superior in all aspects and did not give liberties to the T&T play which was hampered greatly when its only setter, Kameron Donald, picked up a left ankle injury, and was replaced by wing spiker Daynte Stewart, who made his senior team debut in the win over Costa Rica.

Overall, Cuba was much more clinical than T&T and held the advantage in all three key scoring aspects of the match, 37-27 on spikes, 8-1 on blocks and 4-2 on service aces, while committing fewer errors as well, 15 to 26.

For T&T, Stewart’s 16 points were highlighted by 14 kills and two aces, while the next best scorer Marlon Phillip with seven, and USA-based Mikheil Hoyte, four, all spikes.

Stewart is also the leading scoring in the competition with 36 points, seven ahead of Puerto Rico’s Eddie Rivera who played one matchless.

The Cubans, with an offence shared between regulars and substitutes, were led by Miguel David Gutierrez’s nine points, followed by Miguel Ángel López and Javier Concepción each with seven points as 11 of their players scored at least a point.

Osnie Hernandez and Adrian Goide also chipped in with five points each, and Marlon Herrera, four in the 72 minutes contest.

Reflecting on the match a realistic Morrison said, “It was a very good match, my team was excellent in the first set, we even made five attacks that separated us from the opponents, but we needed to be more consistent and compared to the rival there is no doubt that there is a big gap.

He added, “We have to work more at this level to continue improving, and I love playing against Cuba because of its level and because I feel it as a family.”

Stewart highlighted the performance of the hosts and said that “It was a good game and an excellent performance by our team, we have a lot of work to do, what we have to do is keep improving and keep pushing and pushing to try to win the match”.

In Thursday’s other match, Puerto Rico beat Costa Rica in straight sets 25-17, 25-12, 25-12 to maintain its spotless record after three days.

T&T, CAZOVA winners in 2010, 2014 and 2017, return home tomorrow and will continue preparations for the 23rd Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Barranquilla, Colombia (July 20 - August 3); the 13th Pan American Cup in Veracruz, Mexico (August 12-20); and the defense of their CAZOVA Men’s Championship in Suriname (August 4 – 11).

LONDON—Attacking West Indies opener Evin Lewis has climbed into the top five of the ICC Twenty20 batting rankings but champion off-spinner Sunil Narine has lost ground.

In the latest rankings released yesterday, the left-handed Lewis jumped one place to fifth, on 753 ratings points.

West Indies left-hander Evin Lewis.

Lewis has emerged as one of the Windies most dependable players in the shortest format, following his debut two years ago. In his last three T20 International innings, he has lashed a hundred and two half-centuries.

The 26-year-old is the only Caribbean player in the top 20, with veteran right-hander Marlon Samuels the next highest ranked batsman at 24th.

In the bowling rankings, leg-spinner Samuel Badree has remained steady at number four, despite taking two wickets in his last four T20 Internationals.

The 37-year-old, once the top-rated T20 bowler, now sits behind number one Rashid Khan of Afghanistan, with another leg-spinner Shadab Khan of Pakistan in second spot.

There was no such good fortune for Narine, however, who slipped four places to 18th in the rankings.

The 30-year-old is one of the world’s finest spinners in the shortest format but has not played for West Indies since the one-off T20 International against England last September.

He and Badree are the only two Windies players in the top 20, with captain Carlos Brathwaite the next best positioned at 26th.

(CMC)

Carifta champions Tyriq Horsford, Talena Murray and Veayon Joseph will aim to reign in the javelin throws in the National Junior Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo over the weekend.

The Zenith trio will be aiming to shine at the annual track and field meet hosted by the National Association for Athletic Administrations (NAAA) starting this morning from 10am and continues tomorrow from the same time.

Horsford won gold in the Boys Under-20 javelin at the Carifta Games held earlier this year in the Bahamas while club-mates Murray took the Girls U-20 javelin and Joseph the Boys U-17 title. Kymoi Noray also from Zenith finished third behind Murray, who also broke the national Girls’ U-20 javelin record in January with 50.60 metres.

Joseph will be looking to rebound as after his success at Carifta, he was beaten at the Secondary Schools Championships.

Carifta standouts Ianna Roach of Memphis Pioneers and Konnel Jacobs (Tobago Jaguars) will be looking to do the same in their respective shot put events. Roach bagged bronze in the Girls U-20 shot put at Carifta and took the Hampton Games title.while

Jacobs won silver in the Boys U-20 shot put at Carifta. He also won shot put and discus at Sunset Development Meet and the Secondary Schools Championships.

Competition over on the track will be just as intense with the likes of Timothy Frederick (Simplex), Rae-Ann Serville (Memphis Pioneers) and Cougar’ Shaniqua Bascombe (Cougars) each looking to stride their way to the top of the podium.

Frederick has been setting personal bests(pb) all season. At Hampton Games held over the weekend of May 26-27, he had a pb in 100m (10.40) and 200m (20.81) in winning sprint double. His times were faster than the men in the 100m (10.54) and 200m (21.13). Kion Benjamin of Memphis (10.49) and Ako Hislop of Kaizen Panthers (10.55), who will also compete this weekend, ran pbs to finish second and third behind Frederick at the Hampton Games. Benjamin also ran pb of 21.13 and Hislop (21.32 pb) in finishing second and fourth in the 200m.

At the Abilene Track Classic on May 12, Frederick had another pb in the 200m (20.98) in again winning the sprint double.

The Simplex sprinter won men’s 100m at Southern Games and was fourth in 200m at the Carifta Games in 21.20 and won silver the Boys U-20 4x100m. At the Secondary Schools meet (Aril 19 & 20) he ran a pb in he 100m of 10.55 and at the MAP Invitational (April 28), a pb in the 100m final with 10.57 and 10.58 in the heats.

Frederick is ranked at 33rd on the IAAF World lists in the Boys U-20 100m and Benjamin is at 78th. At 16 years, Frederick is also an U-18 competitor and is at seventh in the World U-18 rankings in the 100m. In the 200m he is joint second in the U-18 rankings and 18th in the U-20 listing.

Serville ran pbs in 400m (54.53) and 800m (2:19.38) in winning at the Hampton Games. She won the 400m at Sunset Development, MAP Invitational, Abilene Track Classic and Secondary Schools Championships and won the 100m hurdles at Hurdles and Field Events Festival on May 5. Serville was fifth in the 400m at the Carifta Games.

Bascombe ran 100m pb of 11.75 in winning the event at Hampton Games and won the 100m, 200m and 100m hurdles at Secondary Schools Championship. She sealed gold in the 100m (11.78) at Abilene Track Classic and topped n 200m at the Sunset Development Meet. Bascombe won silver in 200m at Carifta Games in a pb of 23.75 and was fourth in the 100m (11.77 pb).

Carifta boys U-17 400m champion Avindale Smith (Abilene Wildcats) was injured at Carifta and has not run since then while Concorde duo Akilah Lewis and Jenea Spinks will clash in the Girls U-20 100m. Lewis ran a pb of 11.51 to take bronze at the Carifta Games. Spinks clocked a pb of 11.69 to finish sixth behind Lewis. Spinks then ran a windy 11.50 to take the Secondary Schools title.

Other athletes to watch include Natasha Fox (Pt. Fortin New Jets), who is set to compete in the Girls U-15 200m, 400m and high jump at Secondary Schools. won the 400m at the Abilene Track Classic and at the Hampton Games. She was seventh in the Girls U-17 400m at the Carifta Games.

Jesaiah Greenidge (Concorde)-won the Boys U-15 100m/200m at Hampton Games and Abilene Invitational won the 100m at MAP Invitational; Octavia Cambridge (Cougars) won Girls U-15 800m/1,500m at Hampton Games, 800m at Abilene Track Classic.

Xea Bruce (Toco Titans) and Christie Marie Marahaj (Silver Bullets) will be Cambridge’s challengers in both the 800m and 1500m.

Former top-ranked men’s players and national champions Curtis Humphreys and Yuvraaj Dookram along with Kenneth Parmanand were all unbeaten in leading WASA ‘A’ past WASA ‘B’ in the A-1 Division of the East Zone Division Table Tennis Tournament at WASA Sports Club, St Joseph on Thursday night.

Humphreys had hard-fought wins over Ancil Russell 14-12, 12-10, 12-10 in his opening match and followed it up with victories over Franklin Seechan 11-9, 11-5, 11-7, and Michael Fong 11-7, 11-6, 11-3.

Dookram, who represented T&T at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast Australia along with France-based Dexter St Louis, and new number one ranked Aaron Wilson was taken to five sets by Fong before he prevailed 7-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4.

He then brushed aside Russell 11-4, 11-4, 11-6, and Seechan, 11-7, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6.

Parmanand was equally as impressive with wins over Seechan, 11-4, 11-6, 8-11, 16-14; Fong 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 7-11, 11-3, and Russell, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5.

The A-1 Division will resume on Monday, June 11 with Arima Hawks versus D’Abadie Youths while on Wednesday, June 13, WASA ‘B’ comes up against Arima Hawks; WASA ‘A’ tackles Arima Hawks on Thursday, June 14, and a day later (Friday, June 15), D’Abadie Youths entertains WASA ‘A’.

The A-2 Division is down to two final matches with Arima Table Tennis Club facing WASA ‘A” on Tuesday, June 12, followed by WASA ‘A’ and Arima Hawks ‘A’.

D’Abadie Youths currently leads the A-2 Division with seven points from three matches ahead of their final match last night against WASA ‘B’ last night.

Arima Table-Tennis Club also has seven points while WASA ‘A’ is next with six from a 2-0 record followed by Arima Hawks with a 1-2 record and five points, two ahead of WASA ‘B’.

The John O’Brien trained three-yearold Pauseforacoors made winning the feature event for Horses rated 90-70 over 1,100 metres on the main track look easy when she cruised home by one and three quarter lengths from Magical Victory and stablemate Desert Dancer.

The 3-5 on betting favourite which was ridden by the days leading rider Brian Boodramsing who rode four winners on the seven race card simply tracked the pace set by the pacemaker Trini Aviator before being unleashed with 300 metres to go.

Once Boodramsing gave the three-year-old filly by Creative Cause/Elusive Flower the office she simply sprinted past the tiring Trini Aviator but neither Magical Victory which was putting in good work at the end along with Desert Dancer had any chance of getting close to the very impressive winner.

Magical Victory was one and three quarter lengths back in second with Desert Dancer staying on for third.

Pauseforacoors registered the time of 1:05.28 for the trip.

Last weeks top jockey Brian Boodramsing, has signalled his intention to win the 2018 jockey’s championship with a beaver-trick of victories.

Boodramsing was aboard Je T’aime in the second, before guiding Santa Cruz Lady to her hattrick of victories in the third.

He then came back to land the feature with Pauseforacoors before romping home by 11 lengths in the final event on the Friday Evening Lime with Blind Date.

John O’Brien was the leading trainer saddling three winners on the Arima Race Club’s seven-race card.

Tobago’s economy has traditionally been tourism driven, so the nature of their businesses and livelihoods are in many ways different from Trinidad’s. There are also nuances in Tobago and challenges that the island’s small companies and businesses face which Trinidad’s businesses do not encounter.

For this reason, exporTT launched a training initiative for Tobago businesses in February to help them get ready for export markets, says Crisen Maharaj, the agency’s Manager, Capacity Building and Programme Financing.

The 11 Tobago businesses on the programme are Tobago’s Own Company Limited, Anthea Treasure Trove, Teabago Teas, Springtime Food Production, Tavaco, Just Bee You Beauty Products, Nu Impact Solutions Limited, Aunty Met’s Mixed Bay Leaf Powder, Osanie Designs, Chenseya’s Fishing and Nola.

Tobago’s manufacturing sector is made up of mainly agro-processors in the food and beverage sectors and the potential of the island’s branded products is being supported by exporTT with interventions aimed at exposing entrepreneurs to the intricacies involved in providing an internationally competitive product.

Deborah Hoyte, Business Advisor for Services, Direct Assistance Grant Scheme (DAGS) at exporTT, said the export competitiveness and development programmes for Tobago came out of the recognition that companies on the island require a different focus.

“Trinidad companies have been exposed to a number of interventions which have built their export capacity over the years. They have experienced missions abroad through exporTT and financial assistance,” she said.

Maharaj said Tobago companies produce in smaller capacities from facilities that are not yet fully developed, so business plans have been developed to meet their specific needs

“It is not part of our mandate but it is a necessary step before we create exporters. We sent out a questionnaire, we identified 13 suitable companies to work with as the first cohort of the programme,” he explained

These businesses are involved in diverse activities, including tea, beauty products, hand made paper products, bath and body, soaps, fish processing and household chemicals.

“All are new to exports. Some may have sent abroad but not consistently and not large large shipments. They cannot count as exports, more like suitcase trade or smaller. Not a consistent supply of export produce,” Maharaj said.

He said some of the challenges Tobago businesses face include getting their products on international markets because there is no port in Tobago .

“The only way they could export directly from Tobago would be via air courier. With the companies we have now we are talking about consolidating shipments to come to Trinidad like smaller batches for the companies already on the project. This is to have them work together as one consolidated unit like a co-operative.”

Hoyte pointed out that the problem is even more complicated as apart from getting goods out of Tobago, there are problems to get raw materials into the island.

“The cost of going through the national couriers is very prohibitive and makes Tobago’s businesses very uncompetitive when compared to similar products in the market. That is one of the reasons that hindered their export development,” she said.

Hoyte said almost all of the manufacturers in Tobago do it out of their homes and despite limitations there is great potential with their products for national and export markets.

The week before Carnival, the Ministry of Culture staged a craft market at the National Academy for Performing Arts (NAPA) in Port-of-Spain and five Tobago businesses took part. Hoyte said the exercise as a success.

Innovative products

Maharaj said exporTT is looking at businesses with high mark up, small quantity and niche products.

“What they have are specialty items that could go into specialty stores at a high mark up with a good story to go. That is the type of focus we want to take,” he said.

For example, he explained, Teabago produces herbal tea products and has an interesting story to go along with the product. Tovaco—the original aboriginal name for Tobago—makes wine from local fruits.

“That is what Tobago is producing. They have an amazing repertoire of ideas. They are totally innovative,” Hoyte said.

However, exporTT is not doing it alone. The agency is working with the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) is currently being worked out which will cover capacity building, resource training and export promotion.

Training in progress

Maharaj said that exporTT’s training programme with Tobago businesses is going well and so far they have helped the entrepreneurs to develop business plans.

“We do not want a classroom exercise, we want a working exercise that they can follow and use as a road map,” he said.

Future training sessions will deal with marketing and branding. Hoyte said there are plans to showcase the best companies at this year’s Trade and Investment Convention (TIC).

The current training cycle ends in January 2019 and will be followed by another where exporTT hopes to attract businesses from the services sector.

According to Hoyte, although the businesses on the programme are not ready to export as yet, their understanding of what is required is much more advanced.

Today the most remarkable young people are the social entrepreneurs, those who see a problem in society and roll up their sleeves to address it in new ways. Bill Drayton, chief executive of Ashoka, an organisation that supports social entrepreneurs, likes to say such people neither hand out fish nor teach people to fish; their aim is to revolutionise the fishing industry. If that sounds insanely ambitious, it is.”

Nicholas D Kristof,
The Age of Ambition,
The New York Times,
January 27, 2008.

Bill Drayton aptly shares with us who is a social entrepreneur.

They are those individuals who combine best practices in entrepreneurship with a sense of social mission.

They step into society to serve where the market system has failed to provide for the poor, investing in the development and provision of basic amenities such as healthcare or education. It’s good to be a social entrepreneur and in T&T we need MORE social entrepreneurs.

In my last article, I pointed out through the Social Progress Report why our country needs more social entrepreneurs.

Following from that article, someone asked me: what’s the toolkit for becoming a social entrepreneur?

As your social entrepreneur guru, drawing from my research over the years reviewing case stories from global and local social entrepreneurs, I found they all possessed 5Ps which I can consider as a road map to becoming a social entrepreneur.

1 Passion: Social entrepreneurs are both community conscious and business savvy. They are driven by these dual objectives: make a living and make a difference. So, you are bound to face challenges and constantly develop new ways to improve your enterprise. If you are not really into it, you are likely going to harm the people you are trying to save.

As James Stephenson from Entrepreneur.com said, “do what you enjoy!” This is what separates social entrepreneurs from the rest of the startup world.

2 Purpose: Adnan Mahmud, co-founder of Jolkona, a Seattle-based impact investment firm, helps social entrepreneurs in Indonesia and his native Bangladesh succeed. Mahmud left a secure career as a project manager at Microsoft and never looked back. He states: “A successful social entrepreneur is someone who has found the right balance: doing good while doing well.”

3 Plan: You can have passion and purpose but if you don’t have a plan, then you can be journeying along many roads not sure where you want to go, or when you have actually reached your passionate destination that fulfils your purpose. It’s more than having an idea. You need to have your business plan according to Devin Thorpe, author of Your Mark on the World.

4 Partner: The success of social enterprises depends more than most ventures on building community. David Lavinsky, in Forbes magazine April 2013 writes: “One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is trying to do everything alone.”

When a new business lacks resources or skills, building your network through strategic partnership helps “both of you achieve more success.” Conflict Women Ltd, Founder and CEO, Asiya Mohammed, indicated: “Partnerships are vital to the social enterprise success. Seek out partnerships with companies, government agencies, foundations and like-minded organisations. You cannot go it alone.”

5 Profit: You can have your passion, purpose, plan, partners but if your social venture is not producing revenues, you cannot nourish, sustain or scale up that good purpose of providing for the poor.

Founder Stephen Edwards, of Transformation through Theatre & Technology, utilises the power of theatre and technology to support the personal growth of youths as they transition from childhood to adulthood.

He indicated: “Finding seed and growth capital is one of the most challenging factors for any entrepreneur.

For social enterprises, the dual purpose makes it even tougher to find investors. Despite this, if you want to improve the lives of more children through theatre and technology you have to produce to be able to pay your bills and reinvest in nourishing the social venture.”

Despite these challenges, the rugged, innovative, and creatively resourceful world of social entrepreneurship is growing by leaps and bounds.

In T&T, we need to begin recognising social entrepreneurs and developing the ecosystem that will support them just as we do for their cousins, commercial entrepreneurs.

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

I am grateful that Trevor Sudama in the June 7 T&T Guardian took the time to reply to my contribution “Diversification and the politician”. However, I wish to make a few comments on his response.

First, he asked whether the method of CL Financial’s entrepreneurship and pattern of foreign portfolio acquisition is the model to be followed in diversifying our economy and earning foreign exchange. Sudama sees this as acceptable if there are no such opportunities in the local economy.

If there are then we should be using our energy sector earnings (as I claimed that CL was using) to invest in the local economy to produce goods and services for export or import substitution thus earning or conserving foreign exchange.

The fundamental requirement of a small open economy is to earn foreign exchange to provide the necessary imports that we are incapable of producing ourselves. There are many ways of doing this; one is by getting foreign investment in the energy sector to exploit the petroleum resource and we benefit from the rents and the little employment produced.

Another is from the on-shore sector exporting, which is marginal given the traditional buymarkup- sell risk averse attitude of the private sector, that depends on the foreign exchange earnings of the energy sector and yet another, investment in the world at large (which we are encouraging NGC to do) which is the method used historically by the metropole in the hinterland that created our regional economies; another is licensing abroad locally developed intellectual property in other product value chains. The mix of investment opportunities in our democracy depends on the players; the government, the private sector and the intellectual support available locally.

Sudama tells us that the greater part of the financial resources used to acquire interests in foreign countries came from local savings placed in Clico and not energy sector earnings per se. CL Financial could not invest saved TT$s to buy, say, a methanol plant in Oman. Hence its “saved” TT$s had to be changed locally into US$s which were predominantly earned by the energy sector.

Hence, as the theory tells us, economic development of our small open economy is driven, not by the TT$s printed by the Central Bank or those created by the local commercial banks, but by the foreign exchange that is saved (the difference between that earned and that spent on imports).

Sudama tells us that though insurance money is to be invested to earn income, it is not equity capital.

This is indeed the tradition and as a result we have thriving insurance companies with massive deposits, of no help in this recession and which provide no economic development.

What CL Financial attempted to do was to invest these low risk funds in higher risk enterprise with the systemic risk being managed by the diversity of the markets in which they were invested.

Still, CL and other major financial companies in the world were clobbered by the collapse, not of one or two markets, but the global economy. Other governments understood the value of their companies and bailed them out, ours did not.

Finally, CL Financial earned foreign exchange and paid its depositors in say, TT$s. This exchange left foreign exchange in the local economy as did paying its local taxes.

Discussing the allegations of criminal behaviour by CL Financial’s shareholders is above my pay grade.

MARY K KING
St Augustine
 

Wood joint venture Massy Wood is staffing up its local presence to meet increased customer demand for subsea oil and gas development solutions in T&T. The company recently appointed new subsea and export systems manager, Gail Henry, in the region to build additional capability and serve customers locally.

“Being a market leader with expertise around the globe and deep local roots, our company plans to be the premier independent solution provider for subsea and deepwater development in Trinidad and throughout the region,” said Bob MacDonald, CEO of Wood’s Specialist Technical Solutions business. “Massy Wood is also committed to developing local talent in the specialist subsea and export systems disciplines to serve the needs of this growing market.”

Wood clearly sees heightened interest by the global oil and gas industry in developing local offshore resources.

Gail Henry, subsea manager for Massy Wood, said: “Many major players view our country’s prospects as advantaged over other comparable plays.”

Henry cited three key reasons for optimism in the area.

First, T&T already has a significant and well-positioned infrastructure of offshore platforms and pipelines. These valuable facilities can accommodate additional development through step-out drilling and subsea tie-backs and tie-ins.

Second, the country has prospered from a long history of shallow water production success dating back to the early 1900s. This includes commercially viable performance from many gas assets lasting 20 years or more, making them especially attractive as a source of feed gas for Trinidad.

Third, with recent discoveries, T&T is now poised for development of some promising deepwater prospects. This natural progression to deep water could extend and solidify the country’s position as the leading producer in the Caribbean.

Henry moved to Trinidad in March to begin her role as subsea and export systems manager with Massy Wood. She has more than 25 years of experience delivering greenfield and brownfield subsea and topside projects, and strong local family ties.

“I’m so excited to be here to lead our excellent and rapidly growing Massy Wood team, especially given the favourable environment for offshore development,” she said.

“The momentum is almost palpable. You can feel the surge of support for future delivery of additional gas and oil production in a safe, efficient and environmentally responsible manner because people know it will benefit the people, the economy and the country of T&T.”

The struggle to maintain ones ideal weight is an ongoing challenge. How many of us can remember those teenage days when we ate literally anything without gaining an ounce.

The metabolism in those early days works at high speed. As time passes and this slows down, as we move into sedentary occupations and less active lifestyles, the pounds begin to sneak up in those unwanted areas—the tummy, the side obliques, and on the hips and bra line.

In a world obsessed with body image the psychological effects of excess weight can be overwhelming. Sadly it can lead to medical conditions such as anorexia nervosa which is an emotional disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat.

Bulimia is also an emotional disorder in which bouts of extreme overeating are followed by fasting or self induced vomiting and purging. Unfortunately these conditions are becoming more widespread, particularly among teenage girls who are subject to peer pressure and see body image as an important element of their acceptance.

Ideally our main focus should be on the health benefits of nutrition and exercise rather than on weight loss.

Here in T&T, our penchant for fast foods has made us a nation in which obesity has become more and more prevalent, including among children. Obesity has been linked to several serious medical conditions like heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoarthritis, breathing problems such as sleep apnea and asthma to name a few.

The Diabetes Association confirms that there are approximately 270,000 people with diabetes in T&T. Diabetes affects your body’s ability to produce or use insulin, a hormone that allows your body to turn glucose (sugar) into energy. Eye disease, cardiovascular and kidney problems, pregnancy complications, and nerve damage are just some of its effects.

So what can we do to trim those unwanted pounds? Begin with simple goals like brisk walking or swimming.

No matter how big or small your workout you will feel energized, strong, and confident afterwards. Remember ‘slow and steady wins the race.’ Focus as far as possible on eating fresh produce, whole grains, and lean protein, and make exercise a part of your lifestyle.

Mahatma Gandhi’s words hold true, “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” We can achieve nothing without our health and nothing is worth losing it.

Joyce Meyer puts it well when she says, “I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.”

Today we feature a powerful example of determination and commitment. I am indeed happy to be sharing the fitness story of Kalifa David-Lewis whose journey to weight loss and improved health is an example for us all. She is testament to the power of the human mind which makes us able to achieve anything we set our minds to. The benefits to be derived from a healthy lifestyle are worth the effort and discipline. Keep training!
 

KALIFA DAVID-LEWIS:

It is easy to start a diet, the hard part is making those healthy changes into a permanent part of your lifestyle.

At age 31 I found myself tired and unhealthy. Being 6’1” meant I carried my weight well and not look as large as many who were shorter, so I was quite comfortable in my own skin.

I have always considered myself an active person who would dabble in quick-fix diets from time to time, but even this became a challenge with my hectic school and work regime. A series of challenging life events led to my weight skyrocketing to an alarming 335 pounds.

I found myself blowing to walk up one flight of stairs with constant reminders from physicians that I was a prime candidate for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

Enough was enough and I finally made the decision to make the change where I incorporated exercise into my every day life and make healthier eating choices.

I was introduced to a weightloss programme that encourages healthier eating habits, this particularly appealed to me because I was never a fan of programmes that encouraged unnatural fixes to weight loss.

I began basically counting calories in everything that I ate and included a minimum of 45 minutes walking or running for a total of five days. At nights I would sit with my pen, paper, and calculator to ensure that my calorie count remained within the maximum amount of 1,200 calories per day.

This was extremely frustrating, my already hectic schedule had just increased, but like most things I see challenges as opportunities to be my best, so I soon mastered this process and it became a breeze. I started to see food in terms of calories and nutritional value, instead of just satisfaction and taste which usually leads to bad choices.

Mastering this process resulted in a weight loss of 45 pounds in eight weeks. This of itself was enough motivation for me to continue.

Weighing was an integral part for me, although frowned by most it helped keep me focused.

I have literally weighed every week on the same scale for three years. I never purchased a scale to keep at home since I fear becoming obsessed with the results. On those down days that resulted in poor eating and exercise the scale would always tell the truth, which allowed me to snap right back on track. To date, I have kept every single receipt that I pull out from time to time as evidence of my progress.

I realised that exercise that feels miserable is not sustainable so I had to find a workout I enjoyed in order to make physical fitness a lifelong habit.

I enrolled in a gym membership and after trying different classes and routines, I found a love for weight training and spin.

Finding this mix that I enjoyed has kept me consistent for years with a minimum of four training sessions a week.

But running really became my passion and I went from running only when being chased to completing several half marathons. I registered for most of the races which felt like I was in constant training but constantly motivated. I would get up on weekends at 4:30 am to facilitate longer runs, which I ran solo most times since it was difficult to find other people with similar zeal. It started out with completing these races as the main accomplishment but now I look forward to improving my times and testing my progress.

‘The hardest part is keeping motivated’ Sometimes the hardest part of the journey to any goal is keeping motivated.

After the first year, I had lost 120 lbs and to be honest, it seems like that was the easier part. 

After reaching a big goal, it’s easy to become relaxed and lose focus. Keeping up with a six-day exercise routine really became demanding, I had to forgo other activities and it felt like a life sentence.

Maintaining my ideal weight seems to be the real challenge, striking that right balance between diet and exercise. I am a sucker for snacks and I try to make better choices but not deprive myself.

My diet mostly consists of low carbs. I don’t count calories like I did in the past, since I am on a maintenance drive.

The struggle of keeping a healthy, balanced diet is real, I prepare most of my meals so I don’t get tempted. I eat very small portions several times during the day. There are times where I would actually stand and stare at the items in the snack lane in the grocery as if I was able to obtain some level of satisfaction.

I am constantly faced with the smart remarks of my friends that life is not meant to be like that, eat what you want. The times I do indulge, I know I have to work out twice as hard the next day and sometimes the thought of running that extra two miles for having a roti, for example, makes me say no.

An important aspect of maintenance for me is the motivating of my peers at my job. I try to create a culture of healthy eating and improved exercise habits, it makes the process easier since the chances of temptation is reduced. I even created little workout and diet challenges for my colleagues, which keeps me on track during the day. As for home, I control what I eat by keeping all junk food out.

My goals have become a moving target. As the weight continued to fall off I felt happy about the result and my motivation changed, I was now motivated by my appearance, the simple satisfaction of how my clothes fit, and more subtle changes to my physique.

In February of 2018, this soon changed, my brother died of a massive heart attack at the tender age of 40. I felt like I was next and no amount of physical exercise could save me. My pressure dropped and my pulse was extremely low. I sought the advice of a physician who later explained that a fit individual has a larger stroke volume, which meant a greater volume of oxygen is delivered to the body per heartbeat, hence the reason fit people have a lower resting rate. This was news to me and funny enough, I never really saw myself as being “a fit individual.”

My goals have now shifted a bit, my main goal is to be in the best physical, mental, and emotional shape of my life. I have increased and adjusted my exercise regime in the aim of achieving these targets.

I have discovered that the mind is a powerful tool. I can do anything I put my mind to.

To date, I have lost a total of 140 pounds but my journey still continues. Health and fitness is a dynamic process, never static. There will always be new mountains to climb, hurdles to overcome, challenges to set for myself, goals to achieve, and I look forward to them all because I know I will keep going.

Judy Alcantara

BA English Honours/Spanish CIAR Cert (Cooper's institute of Aerobic Research) Email: fitforlife@live.com Facebook: TheFitnessRevolutionTT 

Hers is the face you see and the voice you normally hear critiquing on politics and the economy.

But there is another side to Indera Sagewan-Alli—the ‘support-local’ activist, who’s speaking out candidly on the issue of growing, buying, and eating local, and its connection to sustainable diversification in T&T.

On her televised series, Diversification: Not Just Talk, which airs live every Wednesday on a Chaguanas-based television network, she gives an in-depth analysis on the topic and showcases entrepreneurs and businesses who have taken up the ‘total-local mantle,’ and are running with it.

Just type the hashtags #diversiftttnotjusttalk, #allahwebusiness,  #growcookeatlocal or #saveforex, in your Facebook, twitter, and instagram search bars and you will find videos, interviews and tips on kitchen gardening and buying local. Also found on Facebook are recipes and scrumptious total-local dishes by Sagewan-Alli and her mother, Chan, on their page, From Indera and Chan’s Kitchen.

She told the Sunday Guardian this initiative and several others are all flourishing and with a network of like-minded and newly converted people growing local at an accelerated pace, it is the hope through learning and sharing, mindsets will be changed and the population would begin to understand ‘people power.’

The economist, who has been blunt for years when it comes to economic diversification in T&T, reiterates there is life beyond oil and gas and she is frustrated with the redundancies of diversification becoming

vogue only when oil crashes and quickly returning invisible when gas flows again.

A passionate Sagewan-Alli argues, by the choices we make, by our silence when governments misuse our tax dollars, and by the acceptance of the neglect of agriculture, we are all guilty of failing the progress of sustainable diversification. “It is not big business using up scarce foreign exchange; rather it is about supporting businesses that maximise local content offering. The onus is on every individual when they choose foreign over quality local substitutes.”

She is adamant the “all-eggsin- one-basket” syndrome must end as T&T has to recognise the times are changing and it can no longer depend on one sector to drive the economy. Sagewan-Alli who underscores the plights of other support-local activists like agriculture economist Omardath Maharaj and Eat Local Challenge TT, said the policy makers were the biggest culprits as they continue to be backward in their thinking thus handicapping progress.

“Michael Porter, competitiveness guru, advises that economic clusters (groups of businesses producing basically the same or similar products) are a natural phenomenon, they exist because entrepreneurs know best where opportunities reside for investing, producing, selling, making money, and creating jobs,” she explains.

“The role of governments, universities, state enterprises, and institutions is to support the targeted growth and expansion of these clusters, which our policy makers don’t appear to understand.”

Sagewan-Alli said she spends a lot of time thinking about how economic diversification could generate sustainable high-paying jobs, revenues for the Government, and foreign exchange. While she admits there are no quick fixes, she believes there was too much stalling and ‘ole talk’ over the years keeping the topic of economic diversification in the future tense, when there is always ample opportunity for diversification to begin.

She speaks of the ‘bittersweet’ feeling she gets whenever she encounters ordinary people who understand the importance of sustainable diversification and are trying in their own way, building economic  clusterswith such passion and commitment despite the years of many road blocks, sometimes, even deliberately imposed on them.

“This is a national imperative and I am now convinced that unless we the people take responsibility for making it happen through the changing of mindsets, investment, and consumption patterns, we will never see economic diversification in T&T.”

Sagewan-Alli said diversification should also be the deliberate responsibility of businesses big and small, which made huge profits during the economic boom periods. She recommends it is time they move out of easy distribution and into real entrepreneurship, adding value to what T&T owns as nation building tools.

Through her activism, Sagewan-Alli said her end game was to create a people’s revolution of sorts that influences our actions and encourages consuming local as a first and best option.

“This is all ‘ah’ we business. There are so many untold success stories, we have plans to share these and to write the case studies that can replace the foreign cases used as teaching tools in our business schools,”

Sagewan-Alli says.

“We will call upon governments and other institutions to act and explain inaction, as there are things which they can only do to make diversification happen. We will do all of this transparently and under the glare of public scrutiny. Trinidad no longer has the luxury of time. We must diversify now!”

For more information on these initiatives, how to get involved or how you lend your support, send emails to: indera@inderasagewan.com.