Francis Rivas who passed away at age 82 on August 5 at the Mt Hope Medical Sciences Complex after ailing with prostate cancer will be cremated today following a funeral service at Belgrove’s Funeral Home in Trinity at noon.

A shuttle service will be provided between Chacon Street and Independence Square from 10 am and will leave an hour later for all who wishes to attend the service.

The pint-size Rivas, once known for his prowess in minor league football with Sporting Club and Woodbrook Dodgers in the North Zone of the T&T Football League in his heydays, to his venture into sports administration.

He ran the Francis Rivas Football League which included an under-15 competition, as well as an open tournament, both of which started in 1968 and 1969 respectively.

Rivas also held the Men’s Cricket League in 1975 which influenced a number of the country’s legends today, such as batting genius Brian Lara. His league which went on for 20 years, was a stepping stone for many others.

Rivas also started the first Francis Rivas Schoolgirls’ Cricket League/Tournament as well as the Women Cricket League, both in 1978.

For his hard-work, Rivas was given the National Medal of Merit (Silver)in 2000. He continued his leagues at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, up until the time of his passing.

Sporting events are vulnerable to a number of threats ranging from fan violence, natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Given that terrorist attacks are unpredictable, security managers must plan, respond and deal effectively with the possible consequences of any attacks. A notable terrorists attack at a major sporting event was the 1972 Munich Olympics.

According to the FBI, terrorism is “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” Hall et al (2008) state that terrorists may use conventional or highly destructive means. Conventional means include knives, guns, and bombs and weapons of mass destruction including chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosives.

Several indicators of potential terrorist activity that sport event managers should be aware of are:

• Surveillance: It is important to take note of anyone recording activities, taking notes, or using video/camera/observation devices.

• Elicitation: involves individuals attempting to gain information about certain operations. For example, terrorists may acquire knowledge about a stadium structure and the location of security personnel during game time.

• Test of security: usually conducted to measure reaction times to breaches of security and to test physical security barriers for weaknesses. For example, individuals trying to access unauthorised areas of your facility.

• Suspicious people: this may be someone on your staff that does not fit in because of their unusual behaviour, language usage, or unusual questions they are asking.

• Trail run: before the final attack, terrorist normally conduct a “dry run” to address any unanticipated problems. This may include recording emergency response times.

Homeland Security (US) have highlighted the following best practices for all sporting venues:

• Conducting security assessments

• Increasing perimeter security

• Enhancing detection monitoring
capabilities

• Establishing access control

• Reinforcing employee procedures to ensure knowledge of emergency protocol (DHS.gov, 2004).

At the end of the day “sport venue managers must be familiar with terrorist activity indicators, common sport venue vulnerabilities, and possible protective security measure improvements.” (Hall et al. 2008).

I don’t feel it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning. —Michel Foucault

On Friday night, TKR fans sat and watched their team decimated by Andre Russell, as he scored the fast ever CPL century to give the Tallawahs a great comeback win and twenty-four hours later, on Saturday night Carlos Brathwaite hammered them into submission, as they fell to the St Kitts/Nevis Patriots at the Queen’s Park Oval.

Today, they leave for St Lucia where they seek to regain lost ground after an opening win followed by two successive defeats.

They will come up against the St. Lucia Stars, whom they outplayed in their opening match, looking to get a win on the road.

Normally teams look for three wins out of five on home turf, which means the TKR will have to get two wins in as many matches in early September when they come home for their last preliminary round matches.

On Saturday, they held control of the Patriots innings for a while until Brathwaite let loose to take his team to an eventual 203 for seven off their allotted 20 overs. The Windies T20 captain struck TKR skipper Dwayne Bravo for three successive sixes en route to 41 runs of just 15 balls.

Everyone remembered him after struck four successive sixes for the Windies to win the last World T20. In all, he hit the TKR bowlers for five sixes and a four.

When TKR went in to bat they lost wickets regularly and they thwarted their progression.

In the end, the host had to settle for 161 for the loss of eight wickets—losing by 42 runs.

Their situation could have been even worse but for a rapid unbeaten 43 from Kevon Cooper at the end. Coming in with the required rate soaring at the conclusion of even over, the right-hander needed just 22 balls for his runs which came with the help of four sixes and two fours.

Darren Bravo also showed form in counting 41 off 38 balls with four and two sixes but it was not enough.

Earlier, the Patriots recovered from two wickets down after the first over bowled by the impressive Muhammad Ali Khan.

The right arm pacer bowling at good speed sent back Evin Lewis and Tom Cooper to set the Patriots back. However, Gayle struck 35 from 30 balls to control the recovery, while Devon Thomas played beautifully in taking the game away from the home franchise. Thomas made 58 from 34 balls hitting nine fours and one six but it was the effort of Brathwaite and to a lesser extent Ben Cutting that took the Patriots to their unassailable score. Cutting carved 25 runs off 18 balls to add the mayhem towards the end.

Khan yet again was the most impressive TKR bowler finishing with 3/23 from his four-over quota.

SCOREBOARD

TKR vs Patriots
Patriots innings
E Lewis c Narine b Ali Khan 0
C Gayle c Ali Khan b Cooper 35
T Cooper c DJ Bravo b Ali Khan 1
D Thomas b Narine 58
A Devcich lbw Bravo 15
Mahmudullah b Narine 16
B Cutting not out 25
C Brathwaite c Narine b Ali Khan 41
J Louis not out 0
Extras 12
Total for 7 wkts 203
Fall of wkts: 1, 3, 69, 108, 120, 141, 201.
Bowling
M Ali Khan 4-0-23-3,
S Gabriel 2-0-29-0,
S Narine 4-0-24-2,
K Cooper 4-0-47-1,
D Bravo 3-0-52-1,
F Ahmed 3-0-27-0.
TKR innings
S Narine c Devcich b Cottrell 4
C Lynn b Lamichhanie 6
C Munro c Lewis b Brathwaite 35
B McCullum c Louis b Cutting 0
DM Bravo c Cutting b Louis 41
D Ramdin c Gayle b Louis 6
DJ Bravo c Louis b Cutting 10
K Cooper not out 42
M Ali Khan c Devcich b Brathwaite 2
F Ahmed not out 5
Extras 10
Total for 8 wkts 161
Fall of wkts: 5,. 32, 34, 56, 71, 95, 115, 125.
Bowling
S Cottrell 4-0-34-1,
C Brathwaite 4-1-19-2,
C Lamichhane 3-1-17-1,
B Cutting 4-0-43-2,
Mahmudullah 1-0-5-0,
J Louis 4-0-42-2.
Result: Patriots won by 41 runs.
Man of the match: Devon Thomas.

Stand-up comedy is a growing field in T&T, being built by comics one performance at a time. One such comedian is Rhea-Simone Auguste, also known as Simmy de Trini, whose shows have been growing in popularity while providing a platform for other comedians.

Auguste said she began watching stand-up comedy as a teenager and used humour to help her make friends in school. “I was very socially awkward,” said Auguste, “but I realised it was easier to get someone to talk to me if I could make them smile or laugh. I didn’t pursue it when I was younger because we didn’t have anything here to encourage stand-up.”

She said comedy became her saving grace when she began going through the roughest period of her life. She revealed: “In one fell swoop, my mom died, I lost my job and I lost my home. I turned to comedy for self-preservation and it helped me retain my optimism and positive outlook. With support from friends and the Woman’s Forum on Facebook, I started doing my own shows and from there I got booked to host weddings, MC shows and do corporate comedy shows.”

Auguste has forged a career out of the field, having at least one show a month. She initially performed at Randy Glasgow’s Alternative Comedy Festival and realised that she needed a platform in order to improve her material.

“There were no open mics dedicated to unfiltered stand-up comedy at the time” said Auguste.

“We have a lot of mixed mics but sometimes content can be lost on a crowd that is uncomfortable with certain topics or includes minors. So, I invested the money I earned from ACF in a challenge called Haul Yuh Mic where comedians can test material at the open mic or challenge each other, with the audience selecting the winner of a cash prize. From there, I conceptualised Kix-See to showcase longer comedy sets, introduce improvisation, videos and other comedic elements to continue nudging the visibility and viability of comedy in T&T. I also started doing clean comedy sets for corporate events, including a Mother’s Day special for Central Bank and an upcoming storytelling/comedy set for a children’s camp at Pt Lisas Nitrogen.”

Auguste said even though the field is currently a male-dominated one, she has received nothing but support from her fellow male stand-up comedians, including people like Keevo, Kwame Weekes, Kevin Soyer, Jr Lee, Carlon George, Errol Fabien, Randy Glasgow, Carl Jacobs and other experienced professionals. She said she thought women would naturally start doing stand-up once they saw it as a viable means of earning income and more opportunities surface.

“It’s not a stable industry yet,” said Auguste.

“Personally, I would love to see more women trying it as I know a few women who are hilarious and could probably be successful if they tried it. For young comedians wanting to try stand-up, I’d say stop procrastinating and just try it. If you bomb or ‘buss’, that’s part of the process. Keep at it, keep showing up and trying your material. If you’re funny, people will let you know when you’re hitting the spot.”

Auguste said the main difficulty she faces is getting people to see the value in supporting local comedic talent year-round. She said people find it easier to spend recreational cash on forms of entertainment which they are sure to enjoy, rather than “coming out and risk hearing people telling stale jokes or “’bussin’” for two hours. That’s why I’m committed to ensuring the shows surface monthly and the support base keeps growing as people enjoy them and come back bringing friends to join the experience. I think time and persistence is going to be critical for my shows to gain momentum, and maybe some extra corporate support.”

The next episode of Kix-See debuts at Woodford Cafe, in Price Plaza, Chaguanas, on Thursday, featuring comedian Carlon George. Auguste said: “Carlon won a Haul Yuh Mic Challenge and has been developing material at open mics. Kix-See is meant to be a clean comedy experience and his brand is family friendly. It’s my first time producing shows outside of my own showcases for other comedians to gain more momentum so I am excited to see this platform materialise.”

Tickets for Kix-See cost $100 and showtime is at 8 pm. For more information, find Simmy De Trini on Facebook.

A whole wide world of learning is being opened up to dozens of students from Mayaro and environs attending the Black Deer Vacation Camp sponsored by energy company bpTT.

The words of eight-year-old, Kaylan Kate Brereton, who attends the Mayaro-Guayaguayare Community School, conveyed the campers’ excitement, “I love this vacation camp so much because we do a lot of fun activities every day. I get to play and learn with my friends and I also made lots of new friends. There were some topics that I had problems with and the tutors are really helping me to understand better. My parents are also glad because this is a safe and fun environment and I get picked up and dropped home and we even get a delicious lunch every day.”

Now in its eighth year, the six-week camp is hosted at the Guayaguayare RC Primary School which has many of the necessary amenities including a playing field and even SMART boards that were installed by bpTT. Ten experienced and qualified tutors engage with and impart knowledge to more than 100 campers between the ages of four and 13.

Underscoring bpTT’s support for the initiative, Ronda Francis, corporate responsibility manager, said: “This camp is unique in that it utilises highly interactive teaching techniques to reinforce fundamental learning skills such as literacy, numeracy and critical thinking. The real difference, however, is the fact that a nurturing and fun environment is created where the children feel comfortable to move at their own pace.

“They have excellent and dedicated tutors and the kids assist each other to succeed. From the feedback we have received year after year, the Black Deer campers go back to school in September much more capable and confident of attaining their full potential.”

The benefits of the annual Black Deer camp are so enduring that some people, originally from Mayaro who have moved to other parts of Trinidad, and even further afield like the United States, plan their vacations around the camp so their children can attend.

For Jaliyah Glodon, an eight-year-old resident of Chicago, the Black Deer vacation camp experience is unbelievable.

She said: “I am learning so much every single day and when I go back to school, I am going to share what I learnt with my friends in America. My family is originally from New Lands Village in Guayaguayare and my parents heard so many great things about this camp that they made sure we came for vacation while the camp is going on. I made a lot of friends and the tutors are so friendly and they really help us to learn by having fun. I’m so thankful that I got to attend this camp and I wish that every child in the world could come here.”

The camp utilises a mix of conventional and non-traditional techniques to reinforce the various skills students demonstrate at different education levels.

Academic learning is delivered through elements of arts and craft, music, dance, gardening and instructional field trips. Campers also engage in interactive exercises to strengthen them in areas such as phonics, vocabulary, sentence structure, reading and writing.

On hand to teach the students the unique art of balloon twisting was Mayaro Government Primary School teacher and guest tutor, Keith Richardson, and he said: “As an educator with over 35 years’ experience, I can say with confidence that this camp brings great benefit to the students. Education transcends books and learning by rote, and these kids are shown that creativity, individuality and freedom of expression are also great learning and developmental tools.

“Over the years, the children come back and tell us that the creative aspects of this camp are what make the biggest impact on their attitudes to learning.”

With the camp closing off on Friday, the campers have a packed last week including educational field trips to the Mayaro Fire Station, Devil’s Woodyard in Hindustan and the Pitch Lake in La Brea.

President and founder of the Black Deer Foundation, Arvolon Wilson-Smith, praised bpTT for its overwhelming support of the camp and said: “When our campers go back to school, we always get positive feedback from their teachers and parents. We offer the students the freedom to explore and engage in activities that encourage them to absorb things at a comfortable pace.

“We are really grateful for this investment in our children being made by bpTT because the rewards are very tangible and long-lasting and benefit the entire community.”

The Ministry of Works and Transport is advising commuters and motorists to delay their journey in and out of Port-of-Spain by two hours due to the flooding experienced as a result of heavy rainfall over the past few hours.
Several other areas have across the county have been affected by flash flooding as tributaries began overflowing after a sustained torrential downpour which began shortly after noon.
 

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, in his usual no holds barred style, ruffled quite a few feathers at the PNM’s Sport and Family Day with his declaration of his right to prevent “imps” from getting into the party’s executive. It, certainly sets an interesting tone for the PNM’s internal elections on September 30.

Without calling names, Dr Rowley stirred up even further controversy by outlining the activities of two particular “imps”, although he was careful not to call names.

All this came in a wide ranging speech in which he announced his intention to put his name forward to continue leading the PNM and his plan to field a slate in the upcoming polls.

There were also verbal slings and arrows from the PNM leader to which, unexpectedly, there have been many angry reactions but most were aimed at groups and individuals outside the party. The way the Prime Minister lashed out at some long standing party members has raised quite a few eyebrows.

On one hand, this could be a sign that democracy is alive and well within the ruling party. On the other hand, however, it also signals the factions that have existed since the tenure of the late Patrick Manning are still alive inside the PNM.

Accept the invitation

Douglas Gordon, a Trinidad-born businessman based in Jamaica, has invited members of the Government to attend an international cannabis conference next month. They should take him up on this offer and grasp this opportunity to find out about the latest developments with the business of marijuana.

As much as it is a stretch for many people to look beyond marijuana as an illicit drug, it would be foolhardy to ignore rapidly evolving advances being made in terms of medicinal marijuana and its application as the most effective treatment for a range of chronic and life threatening ailments.

Since talks are already scheduled with the Caribbean Collective for Justice, participating in this conference might just provide another level of networking and information gathering to inform the decisions to be made about decriminalisation and legalisation.

And the winners are…

Hats off to T&T’s star athletes who are putting in winning performances at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Championships in Toronto.

Sprinter Kyle Greaux has struck gold in the men’s 200m, Cleopatra Borel landed silver in the shot put and the men’s 4x100 sprint team of Nathan Farinha, Johnathan Farinha, Jalen Purcell and Greaux won bronze. Congratulations to all.

I’ve been talking to an acquaintance I met through these columns, someone a bit older than myself (I do that a lot these days) about the benefits of healthy living.

We both agreed that exercise may be the best protection that we have against aging and premature death. As he said, “three or four days a week of some hill work, from the flat up the hill with a moderate incline, about a total of one hour, is better than anything else.” It is also less stress. A day or so to rest afterwards and repeat.

Cutting out the heavy carbs and sugars and eating a moderate 1500 calories each day with huge veggies also helps.

Exercise and diet. Well there’s nothing very original about that, is there? Could there be other factors? Has anyone looked at this scientifically? Turns out that someone has, and just in April published their findings.

The people at the Harvard School of Public Health looked at data from 78,865 women who they had followed up for 34 years, and 27 years of data from 44,354 men who had been participating in two long-term projects. Imagine following up over 100,000 people for 30 years! A monster of a study.

They examined how five simple lifestyle factors impacted on the health of these women and men: regular exercise, defined as at least 30 minutes or more per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity; a healthy diet; not smoking; normal body weight and very importantly for us, moderate alcohol intake, defined as up to five ounces (a glass) of wine or beer per day for women, or up to two glasses for men.

The results were both expected and unexpected. Simply put, maintaining these five healthy habits during adulthood would add more than ten years to a person’s life. Well they did expect an increase in life span but so much?

It’s also interesting, because most of the increase in human life span has been due to the massive improvements in children’s health that took place in the last 50 years. Now it appears there is something that adults can do to help themselves.

Interestingly, these same five habits help prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s.

For study participants who didn’t adopt any of the five lowrisk lifestyle factors, life expectancy at age 50 was 29 years more for women and 25 years for men. For those who adopted all five low-risk factors, life expectancy at age 50 was projected to be 43 years more for women and 37 years for men. Women who maintained all five healthy habits gained, on average, 14 years of life, and men who did so, gained 12 years.

My uncle Carl and I used to joke that every Sunday we spent at Maracas surfing (this was in the days before the Ministry of Tourism decided that concrete at a beach was more important than coconut trees and destroyed the beach), was worth an extra five minutes of life so perhaps there was some truth in that. Problem would have been the alcohol. Two glasses of wine is not much but then again that’s drinking every day.

The decrease in mortality and therefore longevity was mainly due to the effect on heart disease and cancer. Women and men who maintained the healthiest lifestyles were 82 per cent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 65 per cent less likely to die from cancer. Furthermore there was a dose-response relationship between each individual healthy lifestyle behaviour and a reduced risk of early death, ie, the more you practiced each lifestyle, the longer you lived. The combination of all five healthy behaviours was linked with the most additional years of life.

The study raises a couple of concerns. It does not assess quality of life. Why live longer if you live miserably? Two, most of the people studied were white professionals, nurses, businessmen and the like. Is it applicable for us?

In a letter to his father, a 19-year-old “Vido” Naipaul, as a lowly student at Oxford University, (in)famously wrote: “I want to come top of my group. I have to show these people that I can beat them at their own language.”

It’s a familiar quote; the ambition he articulated carried with it an undeniable arrogance, a trait that would come to define the man and his reputation throughout his literary career. There’s another quote about Sir Vidia from the Jamaican reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson contained in The World Is What It Is: The Authorised Biography of VS Naipaul by Patrick French, who describes him as “…a living example of how art transcends the artist ‘cos he talks a load of s*** but still writes excellent books.”

VS Naipaul passed away last Saturday at the age of 85, less than a week before his birthday. He leaves behind a body of work that is regarded the world over as masterful, both in its narrative style as well as in its insight on the post-colonial struggle for identity. But apart from being a creative genius, he was—to appropriate the title of one of his books—an enigma. Those who knew him, be it on a social or professional level, commented that it was difficult to discern where the artist ended and the man began…and vice versa. In the sporadic interviews he gave, there was a caustic undertone that permeated his carefully chosen and enunciated words. Perhaps it was how Naipaul hardly seemed to care if he offended anyone or how he refused to play the archetypical role as the proud, patriotic son of the soil.

Regarding his relationship with Trinidad, the land of his birth, it was clear that he not only physically left here all those decades ago, but, in emigrating, underwent a mental and emotional separation as well. On learning that he was selected to be a Nobel Laureate, he put out a statement that nonchalantly praised “…both England, my home, and India, the home of my ancestors.” Hard luck there Trinidad. The country probably responded with a unanimous and synchronised sucking of teeth.

Displeasures aside, the enigma of (his) departure remains, with some Trinbagonians continuing to ponder whether his contempt was real or that he was simply misunderstood. In an interview with UWI vice chancellor Bhoe Tewarie, during a somewhat hostile visit in 2007, Naipaul bemoaned that “…there hasn’t been any recognition or awareness” of him. Is he right? He did receive the Trinity Cross in 1989. But maybe what he was referring to a genuine appreciation for him beyond the whimsical ownership we adopt when one of our own excels on an international scale.

However, it was that ambition to excel in writing that took Naipaul to England. When speaking at the 1990 Wriston Lecture for the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, he stated that “ …as someone with a writing vocation there was nowhere else for me to go…and [England] also gave the means to fulfil that prompting.” The irony is that his much-lauded works are not about his adopted home, but are inspired by the one he left behind. Miguel Street, The Mystic Masseur, Guerrillas, and A House for Mr Biswas—these critically acclaimed are about his life in and the history of Trinidad. It would be irreverent to make any pronouncements on Naipaul’s psychology. But maybe, just maybe, is writings, satirical as they are, were a form of catharsis. Always feeling like an outsider, it was his way of coming to terms with the experiences of growing up in an overbearing family, of living on a complicated island, and the feelings of alienation when he first moved abroad. His writings were a journey of self-discovery, and he decided to take us along for the trip.

At his speech at the 2001 Nobel Awards Banquet, a weathered but still vibrant VS Naipaul spoke of his watch, informing the audience that the strap had broken while traveling to Stockholm. Until that night he could find “…no words to make the bad symbolism good.” He said that time for him has to stop. And indeed it did last Saturday. The opportunity for a reconciliation between him and the land of his birth never materialised. If we are to honour him, we have to remember that behind the genius was a man—a man who said questionable things but was nonetheless a maestro of the written word. He may not have overtly accepted who he was, but we can accept who he became—Sir Vidia Naipaul, Trinidadian-born British writer and novelist, Nobel Laureate.

Ryan Hadeed

On Sunday, August 5, Trinidadian-born Liseli Fitzpatrick crossed the stage as the first PhD in the Department of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University (OSU), Columbus, Ohio, an institution that was founded in 1870 with a student population of at least 60,000 students at any given time. It is a mantle that she carries in her heart in honour of her ancestors and all those who came before her.

Fitzpatrick specialises in African cosmology and the Diaspora, namely, the West African Yorùbá sacred science of Ifá and its Afro-Atlantic off-shoots in Brazil, Trinidad, Haiti, Cuba and the US. Her doctoral and life work explores African philosophy, spiritual thought, aesthetics, and sexuality and gender.

Speaking to Guardian Media from the US, Fitzpatrick said: “I am impassioned about cultivating consciousness in the liberation and empowerment of the psyches and souls of not just Africans, but the world at large. I hold the view the African spirit, thought, and cultural expressions are everywhere throughout society—made manifest and expressed in our spiritual practices, customs, food, dance, music, language, and, most importantly, our Carnival. However, our rich African history and signal contributions are not authentically reflected in our curriculum and institutions—the lingering vestiges of colonialism.”

Fitzpatrick continued: “African civilisations and cosmology predate the period of European enlightenment and the brutal enslavement of Africans. The field of African-American and African Studies, initially referred to as Black Studies, was birthed out of the radical womb of the civil rights era in protest of the atrocities and injustices that Africans faced such as mis-treatment, mis-education, and inhumanities under slavery and colonialism.

“Black Studies was and still is the intellectual arm of the Black Power social movement in (re)asserting African identity and heritage. It is an expansive and interdisciplinary study that foregrounds and integrates disciplines such as economics, philosophy, law, psychology, sexuality and gender, religion, political science, arts and culture, linguistics and medicine through African perspective lens.

“African philosophical thought and cosmos have been subverted by the western world view that is central to problems of Africans in the Diaspora. African culture has been greatly distorted, stigmatised and misrepresented, which has done a grave disservice and injustice to our people, and is directly responsible for the morass that plagues our society.”

Paying tribute to parents and mentors

Fitzpatrick’s accomplishment is an absolute tribute and salute to her mother Annette Fitzpatrick and late father Leslie A Fitzpatrick Sr who have prepared and facilitated the way through their tremendous and ultimate sacrifice, devotion, intellect, wisdom, spiritual prowess and anointing, their illustrious examples and above all their undying love. She thanked her mother for their infinite un-severed umbilical cord, where her eternal maternal labour in love is unending; and, for her siblings— Leslie AFitzpatrick Jr and Dr Leslie-Anne Fitzpatrick-Bennett—who have both led and pillared the way with their brilliance and boundless devotion.

Fitzpatrick lauds scholars and activists such as CLR James, Dr Eric Williams, Audre Lorde, Franz Fanon, WEB DuBois, Selwyn Cudjoe, Elma Francois, Kwame Ture, Claudia Jones, Walter Rodney, Iya Melvina Rodney, Iyalode Sangowunmi (Janice McLeod), Baba Erin Folami (Esmond King), Maureen Warner-Lewis, M Jacqui Alexander and Carole Boyce Davies among others for their leadership. She also pays homage to her “egbe” and borderless village that comprise her grandmother Thelma Austin-Hayes, fore-parents, aunts, uncles, relatives and all those, who shared her meandering journeys through hills and valleys well-paved though interspersed with potholes and speed bumps, and crossroads of decision and resilience—her Esu.

Motivated cultural allrounder

Fitzpatrick’s Zambian name, Liseli, which means “divine and guiding light,” as carefully chosen by her mother, she asserts is her greatest title and precedes all others, even eclipsing the more recent Dr, as it amplifies her true persona and penchant to empower.

Her story is, therefore, one of unwavering passion and love. She attended Sacred Heart Girls’ RC School and her mother’s alma mater, St Francois Girls’ College. Fitzpatrick was always committed to charting her own course in the fulfillment of her name.

During her ten years at OSU, she obtained the BA in Psychology (pre-law) with a double minor in visual communications and African American and African Studies (AAAS). Subsequently, Fitzpatrick earned her MA in AAAS.

In 2014, Fitzpatrick was elected by OSU to participate in the first Pre-Doctoral Humanities Without Walls (HWW) workshop, in Chicago, IL.

In 2017/2018, she was awarded a visiting lecturer position at James Madison University (JMU) in their first Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) Programme, where she lectured in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, also, a first for the department.

For seven consecutive years, during her tenure at OSU, Fitzpatrick has also taught over 1,000 students in the early African Civilisations courses in both the pre-colonial and post-colonial eras, respectively, where her classes have always been oversubscribed.

As a cultural enthusiast, Fitzpatrick spent most of her time engaging in the arts and cultural activities, and has been a recipient of several awards.

“I was a mere tot when I took the stage as a member of the Lilliput Children’s Theatre, founded by Noble Douglas and guided by Wendell Manwarren and Roger Roberts of Rapso group 3Canal,” revealed a deservedly proud Fitzpatrick.

“I naturally gravitated to The Trinidad Theatre Workshop (TTW), led by the prolific thespians Helen Camps and Albert Laveau; and, later graduated as a senior actress to their Theatre-in-Education (TIE) programme in leading roles, such as the protagonist Juliet in the famed Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet that went to secondary schools throughout the country.”

Fitzpatrick utilises all her talents and platforms to ignite consciousness. In her A’Level years at SFGC, Fitzpatrick led the school’s morning assemblies in motivational talks, and was its annual yearbook editor-in chief. She then founded her Natural Ink Clothing company, which emerged out of her passion to ignite and conjure cultural consciousness and evoke patriotism.

Among her most sought-after design, is the TTT Tee-shirt, created in honour of her late father, who hosted Face of the Nation and Issues and Ideas interviews at the television station, as the then chief government broadcaster and director of information, and also to awaken a spirit of yesteryear and patriotism.

The sum total of homegrown talent

“I have never left home, in essence, as during the course of my rigorous doctoral study and teaching obligations, I conceptualised a powder-themed J’Ouvert band that paid homage to the cultural giants, ancestors, and her father with its inaugural presentation ‘Powder to the People: Peace, Love& Powder’ as a means of bridging the generations in preserving tradition and honouring the plurality and rich diversity of T&T’s cosmopolitan rainbow country.

“I annually volunteer my service on the liaison team for the Emancipation Support Committee (ESC), under the leadership and unrelenting and tireless work of Khafra and Asha Kambon, although this year was missed due to my graduation.”

Fitzpatrick unceasingly broadens and offers her shoulders for others to stand and not just lean.

She wants people to walk in the face of her light and not in her shadows. She regards herself as the sum total and reflection of everyone she encounters and is spiritually-grounded and free-spirited, as seen in her artwork, which is done in spare time; and, also, heard in a reflective piece she wrote titled Be Silent being regularly aired on the i95.5 FM John Benoit Sunday Family Show. Again, it was a piece penned while still a Sixth Form student, and awarded her a scholarship to attend the first motivational Iyanla Vanzant Conference held, in Trinidad.

Fitzpatrick is eternally thankful to her country and the diaspora that she continues to serve. In the spirit of gratitude, she also gave thanks to her dissertation committee, the Department of AAAS; and, her students both inside and outside of the classroom, at OSU, and JMU. Above all, Fitzpatrick gave thanks o Olodumare, and the pantheon of Orisa, saints, spirit guides, and all those, who have been accompanying her along her spiritual and spirited journey, as she humbly bears the torch in spreading love and bringing about true emancipatory change in the celebration of our diversity yet oneness.

Reporting by Peter Ray Blood — peter.blood@guardian.co.tt

Spoken Word poet and artist Arielle John will be performing in her first solo show, Bout Blue, on Thursday, at the Little Carib Theatre, Woodbrook. The performance is part of a new initiative called the Atlantic Future Series, which will showcase indie artists every few months.

The title of the show was inspired by John’s obsession with the colour blue, which interweaves itself into her life in various ways.

“My family jokingly calls me by the name of an ancestor of mine who wore a single blue dress all the time,” said John, “known for her very eccentric ways. I eventually found that the colour itself blended more deeply into a certain energetic quality that I came to resonate with; people with ‘blue personalities’ are said to value peace, serenity and harmony in the world before other things.

“Furthermore, the colour blue began attaching itself to a host of meanings, symbols and figures in my personal journey, and when something floods your awareness in such an overwhelming way, it is difficult to not write around it.”

John said she jumped at the chance to be the first to perform in the series, which is a collaboration between the Little Carib Theatre and the 2 Cents Movement, of which she is a long-time member.

Writing poetry since childhood and introduced to Spoken Word in 2005, John said: “That changed everything for me. I fell in love with this wonderfully dynamic way of storytelling and soon was able to recognise the importance of my own voice as a young person with an opinion.

“Spoken Word has groomed me into the person I am, giving me a sense of purpose and responsibility to the people around me, whether in my immediate community or beyond.

“The artists are often the ones who are early to recognise the range of possibilities that exist in a thing. We think and dream widely. Growing in this craft has meant surrendering to that work of magic, where we create what did not exist before. We announce things into being, and I mean that literally.”

In addition to being a Spoken Word poet, John teaches poetry and performance, does cultural research around Carnival studies, and is an amateur film-maker.

“One of the fun things about contemporary artistry is that you have to be multi-disciplined to survive in these ‘mixed-media’ times,” said the multi dimensional artist.

“I also get massively inspired by artist collaborations across disciplines, and all of my work lends itself to either self-care or social justice themes. In the future I’d like to continue developing more spoken word theatre here in T&T and help facilitate similar opportunities for younger people, for my students.

“I do work as a teaching artist with The 2 Cents Movement and Girl Be Heard T&T, so walking through this process equips me to pass on this know-how.

“Additionally, I would like to explore this work along with other poems that didn’t make it to the final script as a collection for future publication.”

The poet said she has taken a back-seat with her poetry for the last three years, and the show is a great way of re-introducing her poetry into the space. She added: “I simply relish work where I feel challenged to do new things and push new boundaries for myself where the idea is ‘here is a stage...now fill it with things that matter to you’.”

“Bout Blue is a collection of the times I have tried to put language to my blue-ing experiences, whether through the logic of a washerwoman, a contemporary contemplation on motherhood, an elegy for the Blue Devil mas in the year 2075, or how deities contend with all that humans dare to do to this home planet of ours.

“Some of the themes I’ll address in the show are healing, self-love, self-determination, motherhood, the evolution of Carnival and survival, among others.”

Tickets for Bout Blue: A Solo Performance by Arielle John cost $100. Tickets are available at the Little Carib Box Office, the 2 Cents Movement office at 14 Alcazar Street, Port-of-Spain, and by contacting 734-2560.

Zante Carnival & Theatre Arts Camp 2018, run by the Indigenous Creative Arts Network (ICAN), promises a fun enjoyable experience while providing an opportunity for vulnerable youth to experience the Arts. The camp runs until August 24 at 63 Carlos Street, Woodbrook.

Camp director Dara Healey said the camp is open to young people between the ages of six and 12, who are interested in the arts. She said there are scholarships available to vulnerable young people, meaning “those who love the arts and want to explore more about traditional Carnival characters and that kind of thing but whose parents or guardians may not be able to afford to send them to a camp like ours.”

Healey said some of the activities being taught at the camp are wire-bending, mask-making, papier-mache, drumming, dancing and the creation of traditional Carnival characters.

“We have people who are experts in their field who will be facilitating the sessions. So I think the camp is really going to be a very exciting one and this year we are also going to be doing as our final showcase — a story written by Eintou Pearl Springer — who will be doing storytelling as well. The story is a Carnival story, and so all of the activities we’re doing in the camp will be tailored towards putting on the final showcase which is that story and the reason is because it allows for traditional Carnival characters, for music, for dancing and it also teaches important lessons as well, so we’re quite looking forward to that.”

Healey said last year the camp was open to older children but this posed a challenge in terms of competing schedules.

She said they are working on involving the parents and guardians more this year.

“We were predominantly open to vulnerable children and, of course, that brought with it its own challenges in terms of sometimes because of the areas they came from or because of their own circumstances they were not able to make it. So we’re trying to fine tune the selection so we are a bit more particular in that parents and guardians must be part of the process. So we are asking parents and guardians to register their children and to speak with us in terms of any questions they may have with regard to the programme.”

A major change for the NGO is a change of venue. It is now located at 63 Carlos Street, Woodbrook, where ICAN has partnered with artist Fitzroy Hoyte for the use of his studio.

Healey said the camp is also a fund-raiser for our NGO; we’re trying to do different and interesting activities to be as self-sufficient as possible so all the funds raised in the camp will go towards running the camp itself or go toward some aspect of the programming of ICAN or its operations.

“The experience will be an enjoyable one, paired with a social purpose of giving vulnerable children an opportunity to be part of something like this.”

The camp costs $375. For more information, find ZANTÉ Carnival & Theatre Arts Camp and Indigenous Creative Arts Network, ICAN on Facebook, email icancreativearts@gmail.com and call 753-0798.

Rock-a-Bye Babies, Caribbean Queens and Ritzy Renditions, custom handmade dolls and their clothing lines, were recently launched at Upmarket, Woodbrook Youth Facility, Port-of-Spain by Yoko Fung and Christine Phillip.

Rock-a-Bye Babies is a collection of handmade crocheted doll wear by Fung, while Caribbean Queens is a collection of customised Carnival-themed designer dolls by Phillip. The two artists also showcased their Ritzy Renditions collection, comprising evening wear fashions for Barbie dolls.

After teaching at a mental institution for almost five years, a fellow psychologist suggested to Fung that she should use her crocheting talent to help alleviate stress, the inspiration for Rock-a-Bye Babies was realised. Fung initially practised on baby doll models, sent to her by her granddaughter and cousins from New York but only decided to make it a business when she starting stepping out in public, wearing custom-matching outfits like her baby dolls and people wanted to place orders.

In addition to the crocheted baby doll clothing line, Fung has produced an assortment of crochet items such as cell phone, cigarette lighter and pen cases, bags, shawls, plant pot covers as well as a wide array of other craft items.

Phillip’s Carnival Queens and Ritzy Renditions hobby- turned-business, first started ten years ago when walking through the streets of Port-of-Spain on a Carnival Tuesday and a visiting friend picked up an arm band with beads and feathers as a souvenir.

Phillip, wanting to surprise the friend, customised a doll as a Carnival memento as it was the friend’s first time visiting during Carnival. Since then, Phillip has also incorporated evening wear for Barbie fashion dolls into her collection.

Now retired, Phillip stated she is now fully utilising her degree in fashion design earned in 1993 from FIT, New York.

Both Fung and Phillip eventually decided to officially launch their designer doll collections at Upmarket as it is an economical and practical way to launch a business.

Mofr info 

Christine and Yoko can be contacted respectively on facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/Tinastylett and Yoko,
https://www.facebook.com/yoko.fung.967 or at their email addresses:
yokofung55@gmail.com or tinaph47@hotmail.com

The T&T Government is set to ban the manufacture of styrofoam products by next year and one of the alternatives being suggested to replace styrofoam is bioplastics.
But like a perfect storm, bioplastics are only going to compound T&T’s waste, flooding, and littering problems, not solve them. This is the view of Barry Fakoory, a plastics manufacturer for the packaging industry (who does not sell styrofoam).  
The alternatives to styrofoam (EPS or expanded polystyrene) are not as environmentally friendly or biodegradable as many people think, Fakoory contended.
Minister of Planning and Development Camille Robinson-Regis made the announcement in July that styrofoam containers will be illegal in T&T from 2019. She said Government had approved the ban due to environmental concerns. 
Fakoory said if T&T went full tilt into the alternative packaging, the country will end up in several years with more issues than it currently has.
Robinson-Regis said local styrofoam manufacturers had been given sufficient time to make the adjustments and switch to more environmentally friendly products. She said a team had been set up to work with the producers of styrofoam to ensure that their products become environmentally friendly and that they do not go out of business.
Fakoory, meanwhile, said the people advising the ministers were not properly informing or giving them genuine information and facts, that people were promoting their own agendas, not what was better for the country. He said what was needed was to have people with proper knowledge of the industry advising the government ministers.  Some people were seeking to promote their own products, he added.

No economically feasible 
and safe alternative 
Fakoory said there was no economically feasible and safe alternative to styrofoam and that the alternatives being promoted may not be any better.
He said PLA (polyactic acid) plastic containers which some companies are promoting as biodegradable took over 100 plus years to break down in the ocean just like regular plastics and also contaminated recycling processes.
Some packaging contain additives, glues, binders, and inks which cause leaching into food. He said while they may pass certain health and safety standards, receive FDA approval, some items may take 30 to 40 years on the market and after more research and tests were done, health risks may be uncovered.
He said what major organisations internationally were doing was limiting the amount of plastics they were bringing into their systems.
Fakoory said the solution was reuse and recycle—companies such as Coca Cola were projecting that around 2025 to 2030 all their bottles will be made out of recycled plastics and not bioplastics.
When asked about a certain biodegradable product which is being promoted in T&T’s market, he provided documentation from an international body, Vincotte, a Belgian accredited inspection and certification organisation, that showed the product should in no way be promoted as biodegradable.
Fakoory said the population was being “greenwashed” into believing that bioplastics, plant-based, compostable packaging decompose much faster than they do, cause less pollution to the environment and are environmentally friendly.
In reality, bioplastics led to deforestation, the loss of wildlife and habitats, greenhouse gases, land/sea/air and water pollution, contamination with regular plastic for recycling, is directly linked to genetically modified organisms (GMO), and do not break down in landfills or our oceans.

Styrofoam alternatives not 
so eco-friendly and green
Speaking to the Sunday Guardian on Friday, Fakoory asked, “How can you promote sustainability and saving the planet on one hand while wiping out whole forests, using toxic chemicals and causing global warming to make these products?
“They claim these products are carbon neutral, but research done by several major organisations have shown that most of these so-called biodegradable and “green” products can only be broken down in industrial composting facilities and there are none in the Caribbean or Central America. In fact in the last 20 years there has been 30 purchases between these regions and only one is still operational at a major financial burden in Brazil.
“We talk about sustainability, but these products are the furthest thing from that, they’ve been causing large scale deforestation across the world.”
Studies done by the European Union and the German Environment Ministry in a joint position paper called “Bioplastics in a Circular Economy” put out by the European Environmental Bureau, Friends of the Earth Europe, Surfrider Foundation Europe, ECOS and Zero Waste Europe showed that in 2019 it was expected that about 3.6 million acres of land will be deforested to make these products which is approximately three times the land mass of T&T and equates to approximately 120,000,000 vehicles worth of global warming emissions.
Bioplastics equate right now to one per cent of global plastic use and may double or triple within the next year. With that small increase in bioplastics production resulting in such a large volume of deforestation, it will not be sustainable over a longer period of time.
Fakoory said bagasse was one of the alternatives to styrofoam being promoted as this great ecological wonder product, but half of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia was being bleached right now because of the pollutants, chemicals, fertilizers and run off from sugarcane farming that was killing and destroying the reef.
Fakoory asked what will happen when the demand for this product increases?
The 2015 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report entitled “Biodegradable Plastics and Marine Litter: Misconceptions, Concerns and Impacts on Marine Environments” showed that labelling a product as “biodegradable” will result in a greater inclination to litter on the part of the public.
The report also said the conditions will not be suitable for them to break down in landfills or oceans, if they eventually do, they will release harmful CO2 and methane into the atmosphere.
Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis promised to comment on the matter yesterday.

Heavy overnight rains have caused the Gran Couva Main Road to cave preventing delivery trucks from entering several communities.

Chairman of the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation Henry Awong says vehicles heavier than three tonnes are now banned from entering the area. Teams from the Ministry of Works are on the site assessing the damages.

"The road has caved in so badly that the WASA line is exposed so if heavy vehicles continue to traverse there, the main water line will break," Awong said. He noted that flooded communities in Mamoral and

Caparo are continuing cleanup exercises but even as this was continuing, rains continued well after midday on Tuesday.

"We were fortunate that the tides were low and the water was able to run off in some areas on Monday but we are now bracing for more floods," Awong said.

Councillor for Caparo / Mamoral John Lezama said at Sharp Street and Carr Street in Caparo residents were marooned in their homes following floods on Monday.

Others who were stranded in the floods were unable to get back into their houses until 2 am on Tuesday.

Reports coming into the Guardian also revealed that heavy rains had caused damages to some homes in Caparo.

​​​​​​​There were also reports of flooding at Union Hall, San Fernando, Tarouba, and Golconda. More information will be revealed as the story develops.

Recently, many people have been sending me an illustration that I am guessing they believe to be in support of my recent #proudlysubmissive article and social media postings. The illustration is that of a large umbrella that has the father over the mother and the mother over the children. It further denotes that the father is the protector and the provider and that the mother is the teacher and nurturer and, of course, our poor children are merely to obey the parents.

This illustration felt wrong to me.

It left me with the barefoot, mute and pregnant feeling that I blamed in my last article as the whole reason we have dirtied the concept of submission.

It even dirties the concept of children submitting to leadership.

So, of course, I took to The Word to confirm, to discover the truth.

My word count is limited so I will not detail every scripture quoted (which may be a good thing, it’s always a great idea to do your own studies and not blindly follow others).

Here are my findings: ° Ephesians 6:4 ESV – Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

° Colossians 3:21 ESV – Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Right off the bat, we see that children are not just meant to be obedient full stop, just like wives aren’t meant to just be submissive full stop.

Too often, we see scripture partially.

For years we saw the submission of wives only and did not see the responsibility of husbands and we see the obedience of children only and not the responsibility of fathers.

In both letters, the Apostle Paul sets the responsibility of parenting with the father and in Colossians he even warns of the consequences of poor fatherhood.

I went deeper into the word father, which means I sought out the original text.

The original word used, πατήρ, means nourisher, protector and upholder. It is the same word used when referring to the Heavenly Father, so of course it appears more than 400 times in the Bible and is further described as the person who imparts life and is COMMITTED to it.

What I found even more fascinating is the fact that the Bible quotes fathers more when referring to the instilling of discipline, than mothers, it is either specific to fathers or neutral in its language.

My word count is quickly coming to an end, so here are some scriptures you can check out in your free time: Hebrews 12, Matthew 7, Proverbs 22, 29 and 1, Psalm 78, Deuteronomy 6 and Titus 2.

Once again, we have relied on the human examples of the past to form our biblical ideologies, rather than humbling ourselves before the word to hear the truth. The demise we are seeing in our society today can only be fixed if fathers take up their rightful places in the home and more so if society allows them to.

We can no longer see them as merely financial child support. They must be allowed to have input. In fact, they must be allowed to set the tone for parenting in the home. That means the way we parent our sons must change. Our young men must be made aware of the enormous responsibility that awaits them. “Boys will be boys” must become a statement of the past and our boys must be held to a much higher standard from the very get go.

Let’s correct the ills of our ancestors and let’s put our families back in its correct order. Only then can we regain any hope of a better society.

Marsha L Walker

The news of the death of VS Naipaul jolts global attention upon this Nobel Prize laureate, in terms of his life and legacy. In this vein, the BBC World Network showcased an interview with Newsday’s editor-in-chief Judy Raymond, an apparent source of authority on Naipaul’s relationship with his native land. The interview simplified the perspective that Naipaul endured a love-hate relationship with T&T.

After all, in spite of Naipaul’s communication with his Trinidad relatives and visits to Trinidad, his disparaging remarks about Trinidadian society being backward and insular, have evoked ire from many locals. Indeed, his self-professed labelling as a British author, added lustre to his iconic Trini status as a “neemakharam”—ungrateful prodigal son.

Nevertheless, it may be best for Trinidadians to judge this Nobel laureate on the merit of his books. After all, the global fame that he attracted was borne out of his excellence in propagating both fiction and travel writing, set in the West Indies, the Indian sub-continent, and Africa. In a recent visit to India, as a guest at a literary festival, a frail Naipaul mentioned to the interviewer that he has no great message worthy of saving the world, but ideas worth pondering in his many books. The heritage of Naipaul is therefore best understood by unravelling the richness of his literature.

Firstly, his initial works were fictional accounts of Trinidad that celebrated the tumultuous, colonial challenges of island life. Books like Miguel Street, Mystic Masseur, and Suffrage of Elvira depict a post-War Trinidad in which its communities and people faced a struggle to achieve independence, against the background of Western assimilation. Naipaul’s attention to highlight characters and protagonists drawn from different classes and races, compels his readers to confront notions of identity within a plural society.

Secondly, Naipaul employed satire and variations of Trinidad English—Creole to add authenticity, colour, and validity to local culture. His deft integration of local Creole alongside a more standard version of English, set in a third person narrative, assisted in inspiring many local writers to use somewhat similar strategies. Although other local writers like Samuel Selvon and even CLR James wrote fiction in the colonial period, Naipaul’s characters have forged an endearing appeal, akin to the protagonists formed by Elizabethan writer Charles Dickens.

This may be because his cherished “characters” are not just relatable but can be arguably identified within our local society. For example, Miguel Street’s male characters like masochistic community leader “Hat”, the sneaky playboy “Bogart’ or even the homeless and utterly bored “Man Man” all live amongst us. Upon reading The Mystic Masseur, the reader is subtly drawn into an ill-advised admiration of diabolical ambition, exemplified in “Pundit Ganesh”. Undeniably, just like Ganesh, there are many crooked “mimic men” operating as pundits, priests, and politicians, who live amongst us.

‘A global commentator’

Thirdly, Naipaul’s seminal work, a House for Mr Biswas is important because of its critical portrait of the Indo-Trinidadian diaspora. It adequately hints at the double-standards of the Tulsi clan—a merchant family initially brought to the Caribbean during the Indian Indentureship. While superficially clinging to the dogma of Hindu traditions, the family gradually conforms to West Indian norms as a pragmatic surge to upward social mobility. Although sections of the semi-autobiographical novel are humorous, the book is largely written in solemn pathos, to render prominence to the tormented figure of “Mr Biswas”, who marries into the Tulsi family. This protagonist yearns freedom from controlling relatives. He desires independence and peace, best represented in home ownership. The constant uphill battles Mr Biswas face to gain respect and recognition from his family and community can be paralleled to many of the young men in local society, who resent being marginalised and dictated to by politicians, relatives, and media representations. T&T’s current generation of Mr Biswas remain rebellious and openly defiant towards paternal school policies and oftentimes times indifferent to awkward parenting.

Fourthly, the legacy of Naipaul’s work involves admitting that he was a global commentator. It is therefore important to concede that his influences certainly transcended Trinidad. As an Oxford graduate who travelled the world, he was an intense student of history, who generated a well-informed discourse on foreign cultures through travel-writing. His provocative views on India’s social and economic development were captured in a trilogy of books spanning three decades.

Also, his pedantic attempt to assess the Muslim world was revealed in Beyond Belief. He also dabbled in questions about corrupt governance in post-colonial African states in classic works like In a Free State and a Bend in the River.

To properly evaluate the merit of VS Naipaul, Trinidadians must shed their ethnocentric bias. He should not be compartmentalised as a pin-up paragon of “Trinidad Art”, to be conveniently used as a reference point to glorify the greatness of post-colonial Trinidad. Additionally, the Indian diaspora in the West Indies and abroad must contextualise that Naipaul never professed to be a shining pillar of the Indian community. Naipaul simply remained true to his craft, and pursued no other profession but that of a Writer. I propose that we consider him as a citizen of the world, who used his gift of writing to evoke a plethora of emotions and thoughts. Do not look at his persona to derive comfort. Instead, we may find solace in the way he elicited the spirit of humanity, one page at a time.

Chandradath Madho

Tableland

T&T men’s volleyballers picked up bronze last night at the 17th edition of the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Men’s Championship in Suriname.

The national team met Barbados in the third-placed match and won 3-1 at the Ismay Van Wilgen Sporthal, Paramaribo. This after the Bahamas eliminated two-time reigning champions, T&T, 26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-12 in their final round-robin match yesterday morning, a virtual semifinal for both teams.

Meaning that a new champion was to be crowned last night in the final when Bahamas, the 2012 champion was to come up against Suriname for the title.

T&T, winner of three of the last four editions of the tournament, seemed poised to make its fifth consecutive final when it went up two sets to one. But they began the fourth set with a series of unforced errors and although the Bahamas reciprocated late in the set, their lead was too significant (19-11) and they managed to do enough to force the decider.

The Bahamas only trailed once (6-5) in the fifth and eventually crossed the finish line in 113 minutes.

Playing by far his best indoor match, T&T’s leading beach volleyballer Daneil Williams was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points, three more than Bahamas captain Princ’tanique Wilson.

Wilson stated that the victory was payback for what transpired eight years ago when T&T beat them in the semifinals and went on to capture its first title.

“We are tired,” admitted Wilson.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” said the Bahamian when asked if they will be able to recover in time for the final.

Suriname reached the title match with a straight-set victory over Barbados last night and playing in front their home fans is another advantage that they have in their quest to strike gold for the first time.

However, the scenario had been the same when the met in the round-robin stage and Suriname had barely got home in the longest match of the tournament (two and half hours) on Sunday night.

Both Suriname and Bahamas were triumphant in three of their four matches in the first stage, but Suriname won ten of their 14 sets to finish on top, while the Bahamas won 11 sets and lost six.

Sean Morrison, who was attempting to win his second straight title as coach of T&T after playing on their triumphant 2012 and 2014 teams, stated that his team made too many mistakes, especially “spiking errors in the fifth set”.

“But hats off to Bahamas, they were more consistent than us.”

Nothing less than gold would have satisfied him but captain Ryan Stewart pointed out: “We still have a medal to play for.”

And it is more than a bronze-medal match as ten-time champions Barbados stunned T&T in five sets Sunday night in the round-robin stage.

When asked if his team will be ready for the final, veteran Bahamas coach Lloyd Davis said: “We are Bahamas, we never say dead, not die.”

Suriname rolls into CAZOVA final

On the verge of having to play another set, Suriname reeled off the last four points to defeat Barbados 25-23, 25-21, 25-23 and advance to the final on Monday night

Gino Naarden and Zefano Breinburg led the way for the hosts with 13 points, two more than their most prolific scorer Keven Sporklede. But the leading scorer in the 90-minute affair was Barbadian Kyle Browne – who had scored a tournament-high 33 the night before against T&T – with 14.

Barbados was inconvenienced by the loss of their setter to injury in their epic five-set upset of T&T the night before and Suriname coach Sergio Valdes acknowledged that their task would have been tougher had Alain London been able to play.

In Monday night’s first match, Bahamas, after suffering their only defeat in the longest match of the tournament last night against their hosts, defeated Haiti 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23.

A single strike by Sean Bonval in the 74th minute earned seasoned campaigners San Juan Jabloteh its first win in the T&T Pro League yesterday, a 1-0 victory over defending champions North East Stars at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, Arima.

The Jabloteh men dominated the affair in both halves and had it not been for the heroics of goalkeeper Glenroy Samuels, the scoreline would have been much wider.

Jabloteh coach Keith Jeffreys said his team played well but they are set to strengthen their attack after recruiting midfielder Elton John from T&T Super League outfit Queen’s Park Cricket Club recently.

Jeffreys is also staying mum on a few other expected signings. He told Guardian Media Sports his players are aiming at qualifying for the CONCACAF Caribbean Champions League where there is a monetary gain to be had.

“We didn’t play as well as we expected at the First Citizens Cup so we are trying to lift our performance for the League which will hopefully get us into the CONCACAF, Caribbean Champions League. At this point we are just happy to move to four points after two matches,” Jeffreys said.

North East, on the other hand, has enjoyed a much-improved performance from the opening Charity Shield and First Citizens Cup competitions.

Like, their counterparts, the Sangre Grande/Arima-based team has its eyes set on a number of new recruits in the coming weeks, such as midfielder Sean De Silva and another player who plays professionally in the United States.

In another game last night, Point Fortin Civic was scheduled to host Morvant Caledonia United in another game at Mahaica Oval.