Culturepulse issue 43 by david kalloo

February 2017

Issue 43

Guyana Speaks How to Get Over Carnival Blues 1

Contents Guyana Speaks: 1 p.4 How to Get Over Carnival Blues p.14 Healthy Local Food is Not Jail Food p.17 Who Owns Outer Space? p.20 Fake News p.24 What does your passport colour say about you? P.30

Production and concept: D.T. Kalloo

Culturepulse is designed and produced by Cashewmedia ltd and published online through www.issuu.com Copyright 2017 Views and comments expressed by contributors are not necessary those of Culturepulse or Cashewmedia Ltd but of the author/s.

For all enquiries, please contact: 07738864335 cashewmedialtd@gmail.com Culturepulse list of contributors’ to making the magazine a success. Natalie Alicia Dookie Lyndon Brathwaite, Ansel Wong, David Wears, Chris Boothman, Nasser Khan, Malaika Crichlow, Amos Armstrong, Soshina Stephen, David Rudder, Jimmy Kainja, Paul Ade, Akilah Holder-Stewart, Michael La Rose, Dr Michelle Yaa, Dr Juanita Cox-Westmaas, Dianne A Kalloo, Shabaka Thompson, Ron Ramdin, Rhianna Kalloo, Angelique, Dorothy Scott, Memory Pincheck, Erica Williams-Connell, Darren Lewis, Tessa Robinson, Cindy Mollineau, Omardath Maharaj, Selena Carty, Alison Bajaican, Mahalia Mayne and Afridiziak.

Often in life, we are held back from our aspirations because of stumbling blocks or, in some cases, inner vows because of disappointments or challenges we may deem insurmountable. I say this because upon some reflection, I realise that many of my own aspirations, for most of my life have so far eluded me. But on reflection too, I’ve come to see that many of these aspirations have indeed been realised; without me even noticing. What am I getting at? Basically, I am saying to those of you out there who are not feeling fulfilled or, that dream job remains yet a dream or getting that business plan of the ground seem to be weighted with lead, I urge you pursue those dreams. Take time to reflect and to re-evaluate yourself and your surroundings. Revisit those plans you once held dear to you and know that, they are your aspirations waiting for you to ignite life into them. Through reflection and self-evaluation, you may well discover, as I did that some of your goals may already been achieved and prepared you for new challenges ahead. Do not live life in the vortex of what could have been. Live for the expectations of what you can achieve. No matter what your predicament, there is hope…

David Kalloo Editor

Guyana Speaks

Guyana Speaks 1: Yesterday and Today; ole time story

By Eric Huntley

The following excerpt was kindly supplied by Dr Michelle Yaa Asantewa’s WayWiveWordz. On Sunday January 29th, The Classic Banqueting venue hosted the first of a series of ‘grounding’ called ‘Guyana Speaks.’ The series will take place on the last Sunday of every month and feature discussions on Society, Politics, Ecology, Arts, Knowledge and Science in the movement of the people of Guyana.

My brief today is to speak about what is known about the term ‘ole time story’. There is a ditty which goes like this: ‘Every time I remember ole time story, water comma meh eye.’

In this shout, I am sharing the enchanting memory lane – ole time story – reading presented by Eric Huntley. It is interspersed with photos courtesy Eddie Osei who so beautifully captured the spirit of the occasion at the first ‘Guyana Speaks.’ Thanks to Ra Hendricks, Tafawa Ntune, Juanita Cox-Westmaas and Rod Westmaas for sterling efforts organising.

Now, I imagine that listeners would expect some social commentary to be contained in the stories which would have been shared by many of the same generation. Many of the memories also border on one’s living experiences which may or may not have any social content. However, I look forward to the sharing of memories with those who may have had similar experiences while at the same time shedding some light on the morals and practices which have contributed towards making all of us who we are today.

Speakers along with Eric Huntley were Marc Mathews (sharing his biographic ‘yesterday’) and Freelance Journalist Carinya Sharples sharing her impressions of Guyana, especially as it relates to young people of today. We were also treated with inspired comments from the floor from Joyce Trotman, particularly on the question of being a commitment to teach Creole(Guyanese) in our schools, and in truth recognising our bi-lingual position (increasingly multi-lingual given our Portuguese and Spanish neighbours).

One of the features of growing up during the 1930s was that the decade was influenced by economic depression which made thousands of able-bodied men unemployed. At this time, breaking stones along the road -side with an old umbrella for shade from the elements may have been preferable to being unemployed.

Dr M. Yaa Asantewa

Later, the Second World War had a most profound effect on all aspects of our lives. It also improved the prospects of employment while at the same time the importation of many goods was interrupted. 4

The result was that we had to rely more on our own resources.

important tool which helped transform many a life.

Tradesmen and women made and repaired many of the necessities for our daily lives. Seamstresses, of whom my Aunt Syny was one, made dresses and hats. Tailors made suits; tinsmiths soldered not only the guttering of roofs but also cups and pots.

The list is endless: There is a sweet shop at Durban and Camp Street. On visits to the shop, we could see sweets being made. The boiled sugar resembled a bundle of chewing gum and the owner of the shop could be seen stretching and making the mixture malleable by placing it on a wooden peg while stretching and pulling. The shop specialised in a sweet called ‘Neva done’. It was a candy more than a sweet. There was no tradition of children receiving pocket money. Occasionally, family members would visit and give you a ‘freck’ or a ‘small piece’. We also earned ours through ‘graft’. The arrival of soldiers from the United States during the WW2 provided us with extra opportunities for pocket money. It was the practice of churches to raise funds by printing cards which allowed donors to punch a hole on the card and donate money for each hole made. Small boys exploited this by getting the donors to part with their money. Many, including the soldiers, could not be bothered to punch a hole on the card. In any case, the card was often out of date.

Joyce Trotman

We somehow managed to place a cent, instead of a penny given to us, in the collection plate at church. We did not set out deliberately to reduce the stipend of the minister but charity stays at home. We also collected bits and pieces of metal, empty bottles, the foil in cigarette packets which was made of aluminium – our contribution towards winning WW2 while at the same time earning pocket money. A newly

Bicycles were repaired and also rented, umbrellas were repaired, shoe makers both repaired and made footwear. Many baked their own bread, reared their own poultry and fishermen made their own boats. At this point, I need not only pay tribute to the skills of men and women who spent many hours sewing, but also to the Singer Sewing machine which perhaps is the single most 5

opened ice cream bar, ‘Brown Betty’ in Hinck Street, was a hangout for soldiers.

such as Kingston, Albouystown and Queenstown which were foreign and virtually unknown to many of us.

Occasionally the sight of a blimp on the horizon added rumours of the presence of German submarines in the Demerara River and assumed some reality for many of us, students at St Stephen’s School. Reports of the arrival of the U-Boat with soldiers distributing sweets to children soon brought out our parents and aunties to rescue us from these Germans who, it was said, were trying to poison us. A day or two absent from school soon resolved the rumour for what it was.

I attended Lodge Infant School under the headship of Mr Austin but it was the memory of Mrs Paris or ‘Sah Par’, immaculately dressed in suits, a Panama hat and, I think, a walking stick. He was to us pupils a ‘Red Man’. From early in our contact with ‘Sah Par’, it was useful to gauge his mood for the day by the suits he wore. Lodge School doubled as a church on Sundays and a school during the week. This meant that the grounds of the church/school was also the burial ground. Most of the graves or coffins were enclosed in a tomb, each of which had spiked railings. The graves must have been the resting place of well-to-do citizens including a Dutch planter or two.

My father, Frank, the breadwinner of the family like many of his countrymen, found himself without a job. What saved him and the family was his decision to study and obtain a certificate as a sanitary Inspector. This qualification proved to be the winning factor which gave him the odds over other applicants for the job of a Prison Warder. Maybe it is for this reason that the family placed much emphasis on education

However, we were not concerned with such historical details, nor indeed the likelihood of desecration of the graves of the dead, nor jumbies. Indeed, it became our playground. The souls of spirits of the dead had little or no impact on us. In fact, we enjoyed husking the coconuts which grew among the graves, using the spikes on the tomb to remove the husks.

My father, now a government employee, was able to obtain a mortgage and bought a half-finished house at the ‘QQ’ Bent Street, Worthmanville, or ‘Packoo Dam.’ This is the neighbourhood I spent most of my growing-up years. Bent Street during the nineteen thirties and early-forties consisted of householders similar to my parents: tradesmen, teachers and a few tenants living in rented accommodation. Looking back on those early days of living in Bent Street, what were the sounds, the scene. The smells which through times has remained with me.

Although our parents were Methodists, as youngsters we attended the local Salvation Army Church situated at Halley and Bent Street under the leadership of the Moonsammys. I took part in my first and only nativity play. This couple were the pioneers of the Salvation army in the country. I recall them being poor and with very few personal possessions. Unfortunately, as we got older we attended the Methodist Church. The Salvation Army not only brought music tom our lives but also provided the early start for many who learnt to play a musical

The most memorable was the Kiskadee bird chirping its early morning reminder that it was a new day. Sadly, on my visits as an adult they were very few around due to their habitat being taken over by houses. Even the carrion crow presence was scarce. There were certain districts in Georgetown, 6

instrument. One of the beneficiaries happened to be Keith Waithe, renowned flautist, who is present here today.

they did not come from Calcutta or Uttar Pradesh. One of the daily spectacles of the Bent Street years was the weekly trickle of Indian beggars who would leave their homes in Campbellville and the environs of Georgetown to beg for alms from house to house. My mother most of the neighbours always managed to find something to put into their bags or cups. Some rice, an eddoe, a plantain.

Not very far away from the Salvation Army were the Veerasammys. The family had a shop, horses and cows. The horses took part in the races at Durban Park, within walking distance from Bent Street. So, the street was a mixture of life in a town and country alongside each other. Lodge Village was indeed a village, with few houses, with opportunity for fishing and swimming in the backdam.

My father as a Prison Warder was responsible at times for supervising a gang to work in the Botanic Gardens or at Government House in Carmichael Street. My brother recalled that Governor Lethem’s wife once gave my father some of her letters to burn. If only he had had the foresight not to do so but to keep them? It was my job to leave Smith Church School, go home and collect the carrier, a most convenient three-tier container which kept the food warm. The trip to Government House at midday was a challenge, amply rewarded however with sharing the prisoners diet of dhal and rice before returning to school at Smith Church. I have loved dhal and rice ever since. As a pupil of Smith Memorial School, we went to the public library, but never to the library itself. Instead we would go to the museum on the first floor and listen to talks given by Mr Williams, or ‘Soda Duff’ behind his back. He opened our senses to the animals, fauna and life in the interior of our country. At the entrance of the library was a caricature figure of an Amerindian or ‘Buck’ as they were generally called. While above, we paid homage to their way life and culture.

Ra Hendricks

This may be a good point to share my experiences with members of the East Indian Community. The Veerasammy family was the exception to those with whom we had contact. The Veerasammys, like that of the Moonsammys, is indicative of the cross-section of Indians who were indentured. It was clear by their names that

The first time I saw a revolver was the one issued to my father after the prisoner named Coulttruss escaped and was found at the back of the Botanical Gardens. 7

Every street, I imagine, has its source of notoriety. To break the monotony of respectability. Ours was ‘YY’ yard. A den of iniquity as the pastor or magistrate would say. Fights, quarrels, beatings was the order of the day.

Much of our sex education came from the animal world of donkeys, cats and dogs all of which had no inhibitions. Many years later during the fifties in Howes Street where Jessica grew up, the screams of a young girl alerted the neighbours. Her parents had rubbed a hot pepper in her vagina so as to discourage her from engaging in sexual intercourse.

One day its reputation, or rather notoriety, was more deserved. One of the boys, on seeing his mum naked for the first time, ran out of the room and broadcasted to the yard and the street that he saw a tarantula between his mother’s legs.

The upper half of Bent street near the jail also had its moment when the entire street turned out to witness the consequences of a Bakoo escaped from its bottle and began throwing all the contents of the house through the window. We, as expected, kept our distance from such un-Christian goingson. We kept company with our next-door neighbours, the Osbourne’s. Mr. and Mrs. Osbourne lived comfortably. He had a radio. He worked at the club catering for the relaxation in the evenings of the commissioned officers in the army and police and the white expatriates in Kingston. Our relationship was however at a price. It was my job to make sure there was sufficient wallaba wood to fire their stove. Yes, they had an iron stove with facilities for baking.

Carinya Sarples 8

My brother Rudolph and I would polish their furniture every year a fortnight before Christmas. Cabinet makers learnt the skill of applying polish using cotton-wool lightly applied to the surface. It’s an art and skill which brings out the layered surface of the grains in the wood. Lower down the social ladder, we would use varnish applied with a brush! We were in this category.

varnished, new lino on the floor, the smell of ginger beer, ham with clove, garlic pork and pepper pot. We could do no wrong! No licks on that day, as mother Sally, Centipede or Santupee band, an Indian man walking on broken bottles, a walker on stilts that reached high enough to touch the windows in the gallery of our house. On Xmas Day, we would be given a tray of goodies, piece of cake, ginger beer, an ice apple, for each of the neighbours, particularly those with whom we may have had a quarrel. A Day of reconciliation, peace and good will.

Writing about Christmas and polished furniture is a good time to reminisce about the season of festivity. I do not recall ever seeing a tree or card. A couple of nights before Xmas, families would make their way to Croal Street. There would be stalls selling balloons, six-shooters or single – shot guns, dolls, drums, mittie and other refreshments would be on sale.

While we looked forward to Xmas, August holidays were fun in parts. Unfortunately, we did not have relatives who lived in the country with whom it was possible to spend some time. ‘Every time I remember ole time story, water comma meh eye.’

More often than not the toys would last a few days and we would have to fall back on the playthings made by ourselves. We made guns from wood, slingshots, spinning tops from orowo seeds and would re-use the cotton thread wooden section, attached a piece of rubber and obtain a crawling motion from it. We would get an old Ovaltine tin, put sulphur from matches or caps from six-shooters, spit in the tin, strike a match and keep our distance just before the cover of the tin would blast away. Terrorists of today cannot be compared with our ingenuity.

During the rainy season, when play in the open yard was to be avoided, Bottom House became our refuge where we could indulge in marble games such as jumming. Bicycles of our uncles or friends could be repaired of defective brakes, chains or punctured tyres. As children, we did not spend much time indoors. Four decades later, I learned that Bottom House of my childhood became a favourite space for political and cultural gatherings by the Working People’s Alliance activists. From one refuge to another.

The highlight of Xmas was the way our mother would transform the house during the night. We would be put to bed on Xmas Eve and it was as though fairies or elves secretly visited the home during the night. When we awoke the next morning, the place was transformed. Xmas morning and the windows of each house in the neighbourhood would be thrown open to the smells of delicious foods.

August could be a long month. The opportunity of getting into trouble not with my father or mother but with my big sister, Vera, the first born. She ran the house. Playing marbles was one thing but habit of using the buttons on one’s trousers, meant our trousers would not be able to ‘stay up’ if we lose the game. This really aggravated my sister. Several hours were spent unravelling the knots in the cotton fibre which filled the mattresses. The dust, none

No Father Xmas, no snow and no Xmas trees. New blinds, not curtains, furniture 9

fevers, malaria, colds, chigger, worms, nara and TB. Fevers and particularly malaria were so rampant that it led to the government introducing a countrywide programme of spraying the likely habitat of mosquitoes with DDT. While most of the above ailments could be traced to the source in medical terms, the issue of NARA remained perplexing. Many boys including myself were incapacitated with pain in the lower region of their abdomen. Visits to the doctor proved fruitless and it was left to local treatment, mostly East Indian, to cure the ailment. Once well, we could explore the backyards of the neighbours’ houses for fruits while keeping an eye out for marabuntas. As small boys, we were able to avoid walking along the road to keep out of sight of our parents and walk along the alleyway at the back of the houses. We could walk from our house all along to hardina street. This has long ceased to be the case. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to state that not only have the alleyways but also the canals, which provided drainage regulating water supply in and out, been destroyed. Very, very, very sad.

Marc Mathews

of us liked it. Worse of course was the practice of giving us a purgative to cleanse our system for the September school term. This consisted of nine days of Senna leaves or pods and castor oil an the tenth. At the end of that week we were lucky to still have anything in us to flush out. The scrubbing of our outward skins with carbolic soap and that of our insides with laxatives left us drained. Our sisters used clothes-pins to straighten their noses and ‘Palmers Skin Success’ to lighten their skins. Despite this undue attention to our abnormal areas, the times afflicted young and old alike with

My morning duties before leaving for school involved care of the fowls, making sure that the hens, which were about to lay, were securely kept in the pen so as to prevent them laying their eggs elsewhere. My mother would listen for them to ‘cackle’, a sign that they had just relieved themselves of an egg. The only way we knew how to tell the hen was ready to lay 10

her egg was to place our middle finger in the rectum or bottom of the hen to feel the egg in her bowels. We also had a goat that needed to be taken to near-by pasture for grazing. By midday the goat would have to be given water to relieve its thirst due to the heat of the sun.

and for failing to report plans of the slaves. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. When the news reached England, there was outrage among the abolitionists who organised petitions demanding his release. However, Rev. Smith was not to live to receive news of his reprieve. He died in prison on 8 February 1824, and was buried in an unknown grave during ‘fore day morning’.

I attended Smith Church School in Hadfield Street. The school shares its name with Dejon Smith, minister of the congregational Church, just opposite each other. The pastor arrived in the colony in 1817 and was warned by Governor Murray of Demerara that if he attempted to teach the slaves to read he would be expelled from the colony. Learning to read, even though the main source was that of the Bible, was regarded by the planters as subversive to their interests. We made the link quite early that education had a positive role to play in our struggle for freedom. Something the enslavers also understood.

His name is commemorated as demerara Martyr -the first to be recognised as such. His death, and the viciousness of the retribution meted out to those who fought, helped provide that extra spark to the campaign for the abolition of slavery in England. Needless to say, pupils at the Smith Church school were not taught any of this history. ‘Every time I remember ole time story, water comma meh eye.’

In 1823 reports reached the colony, overheard by Quamina, a house slave at Plantation Success on the East Coast of Demerara, that the governor had been sent instructions from England forbidding the flogging of women. The talk at the dinner table indicated that planters intended to disobey the orders. It did not take long for the news to travel from dinner table to those working in the field. Quamina, a deacon of the church, is reported to have sought the advice of his pastor, Rev Smith as to the veracity of the report from England.

My fondest memory of the church was the atmosphere at Easter time. It overflowed with palm leaves and sugar-cane, the bounty of the labour of the congregation and the nature, by the gifts of sapodillas, mangoes, oranges, ginnep, pineapples, sugar cane, golden apples, cherries, guavas, lovely plaited loaves of bread and a lot more. Visits to Bourda market on Saturdays was an adventure. My first stop was a stall which allowed one to read magazines, mainly comics, for a penny. By juggling the money I was given, I was able to find a penny or two for a mauby and a cake. On the list, would have been soup bones ad fish-head. I cannot remember ever buying stewing meat. I was sent to Water Street, nearest Tiger Bay, to buy Broken biscuits which was cheaper than the whole ones. Others were worse off, like buying two ounces of salt fish and asking for an onion to go with it.

The insurrection lasted for two days but not before nearly three hundred slaves were killed. Not satisfied with such a massacre, the courts sentenced another forty-five to death, whose bodies were put on public display to terrorise the living and as a deterrent. Rev. Smith was arrested and tried by court martial for ‘promoting rebellion, discontent and dissatisfaction’

The highlight of a Sunday morning was an omelette in which water was added so as to ‘stretch’ the meal and make it do for the whole family. The only time the children were given an egg was on their birthday. To this day, I don’t understand what my mother did with all the eggs. Sunday Breakfast, not the first meal of the day but none the less known as ‘breakfast’. Split peas soup of which the main ingredients was peas and bones, some of which would have small amounts of meat on them, these were served for the man of the house, the breadwinner! We, the children, got what I considered the best part, the bones with marrow.

stories of enslavement passed on through the generations. That is the case for many of us who are looking for heart-rendering memories of brutality. Is the reason for this void due to the tears that would be shed on remembrance? In its place, we have bequeathed what A.J. Seymour described as a body of ‘beliefs, notions, prejudices, rituals, superstitions and traditions that are part of the national lore.’ The stories of our antecedents were certainly missing. However, this void was filled with the way our parents lived their lives together with words of wisdom which from time to time left their lips. Long after leaving home our ears ring with it:

After consuming the contents of the soup, dumplings, eddoes and so on, we all sat on the back steps, yes, we lived in a cottage with a front and back step and spent as much time with bones as we did with the body of the soup. By the time, we were finished with the bones, they were as white as the clouds. I do not think the dog or two waiting patiently in the yard for the scraps made much of the remainder. By three o’ clock, just before we left for Sunday school, the mittie seller of Indian sweet meats would pass by and crown our Sunday breakfast with delicious delicacies. I have always associated mittie as of Indian origin, however I recently learnt that it was traditional in Ghana.

‘All play and no work mek Jack a dull boy.’ ‘The lives of great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upwards through the night.’ ‘Picknie ask ‘e mumma wah mek ‘e mouth so long, mama say boy your time will come.’ ‘Every moully biscuit, gat ‘e vung (smelly) cheese.’ ‘Wha sweeten goat ga hurt ‘e belly.’ ‘Black man a tief, he half a bit; bacra tef, he tief whole estate.’ Bequeathed to future generations, it has also left its mark in the realm of medicinal plants. Nearly a hundred have been listed which does not include those handed down by the Amerindians

We left Georgetown to live in New Amsterdam in 1943, leaving all my friends and starting all over again as a pupil at All Saints School.

What has come down to us in Guyana is a rich heritage of proverbs and folktales. Sixty decades after the end of enslavement, proverbs and folktales became the oral manifestation of preserving our African heritage. This was not, as we might have expected, on account of our torturous journey but instead jewels of inspiration. It is truly exceptional that, in 1902, half a century after abolition, we are indebted to the Rev. James Speirs who was able to

‘Every time I remember ole time story, water comma meh eye.’ What exactly is meant by these words? What was it in the hearts and minds of our ancestors which provided the fuel for such sentiments? One of the features of our rich oral tradition is that there is a void in the 12

collect and publish over a thousand proverbs.

No wonder John La Rose, the publisher and poet, described Guyana as that remarkable ‘country of mind’, paying tribute to the profound contribution Guyana has played in the creative sphere of our daily lives.

We also owe a debt of gratitude to Joyce Trotman who was responsible for rescuing the publication from obscurity and later to Bogle-L’Ouverture Press for a new edition. In the anthology of ‘Caribbean Folktales and Legends’, the editor Andrew Salkey, saw fit to include half of the contributors who were Guyanese.

Reproduced with the kind permission of Dr Michelle Yaa Asantewa Visit her blog at www.waywivewordz.com

How to Get over Carnival Blues just another chore; another thing for you to resent not being in Trinidad.

Trinidad Carnival is in full swing. All your friends have abandoned you and headed out to the sunny and vibrant side of the Atlantic leaving you to deal with the cold and Doris. Each day that passes over the past 2 weeks, your social media timeline is flooded with photos and videos of the fun, bacchanal and revelry your friends are having... and truth be told... it hurts. It hurts somewhere deep down in your stomach... your heart aches when you see a live stream and nostalgia set in. It reminds you of that sweet lime you had with your crew and the antics you got up too. But sadly, you're not there, in the sun, complaining about the heat, the times your friends made you miss your favourite act on stage because they were not ready on time or the millionth shower you had for the day to deal with the heat... so how do you cope?

2. Work! You work as much as you can. Pick up extra shifts, spend time being busy so that you're not glued to your phone crying your eyes out at yet another post your friends have tagged you in. I'm guilty of doing this! 3. Find a Soca party in your area and go to satisfy the cravings in your body that is begging to get on bad. 4. If you're daring enough, dress up in your last year's costumes, pump up the music and play mas in your living room like you're crossing the stage! You will feel better for it. 5. Find a holiday destination and relax during the Carnival weekend. If you are lucky enough to be in a location that has poor or no WiFi, better yet... it means you cannot see the merriment and you can almost forget that it's carnival in Trinidad! This by no means makes up for what you will be missing but at the very least, help the time go by. In the meantime, my social media timeline will be flooded with all the moments I experience at Trinidad Carnival this year and will enjoy the season to the fullest. To my fellow carnival people, I urge you to be safe, be aware of your surroundings and enjoy your carnival experience!

I've asked a few friends and serial carnival lovers. The truth is, if you're a Carnival person, then nothing takes away that pain of not being there. I've experienced it in the past and prefer not to have that kind of tabanca. But maybe we can try and find coping mechanisms to get through this tough period... that does not involve us thinking of negative reasons why we should not enjoy ourselves. So here goes.

Cindy Mollineau Beauty & Holistic Therapist Independent Distributor for Forever Living Products and Independent Presenter for Younique Products.

1. Distract yourself with another hobby you love. It must be something you love otherwise it's

14 Image courtesy Tribe Carnival 2017ÂŠ

The British Foundation for the University of the West Indies is pleased to announce a fundraising concert on 11 April 2017 In celebration of its strong ties with Commonwealth countries through shared common law tradition, Inner Temple joins BFUWI in celebrating over 50 years of Caribbean nationhood. This year Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago will celebrate 55 years of independence (last year Barbados and Guyana marked 50 years of sovereignty). To commemorate this landmark Professor Eudine Barriteau, Principal of Cave Hill Campus, University of the West Indies, Barbados will join us in a celebration of Caribbean food and culture. BFUWI will be joined by members of the Caribbean diplomatic corps as all Caribbean high commissioners are patrons of BFUWI. Gary Crosby OBE, musician in residence at the Southbank will perform together with well-known steel pan player, Kyron Akal, and a group of musicians to celebrate Caribbean Rhythms. Bringing a touch of the Caribbean to Central London, the evening will kick off with steel pan music by Kyron Akal and a glass of rum punch. Professor Barriteau will welcome guests and then hand over to Gary Crosby and his Quintet including vocalist, Cherise Coryna, and Peter Edwards, pianist. After the performance, there will be a Caribbean themed reception with bo wl food, rum punch, wine and other refreshments. Kyron Akal will perform during the reception. Sponsors for the event include Inner Temple and Professor Andrew Ramroop OBE CM (Trinidad and Tobago) the proprietor of Maurice Sedwell, renowned Savile Row tailors, who is one of BFUWI's patrons. Funds raised will go towards bursaries for students studying at UWI and to support the work of BFUWI in the UK with diaspora students. This event marks a continued collaboration between Inner Temple and BFUWI where I nner Temple has kindly hosted two all day legal workshops introducing nearly 300 students from the Caribbean diaspora and other disadvantaged groups to the study of law by allowing them to meet BAME lawyers predominantly from the Caribbean community in the heart of legal London. Inner Temple (www.innertemple.org.uk) is one of the four inns of court to which all barristers must belong and is the inn of one of BFUWI's trustees.

Programme 6.30 pm Arrival - Glass of wine or rum punch - steel pan music 7.00 pm Welcome by Patrick Maddams, Professor Eudine Barriteau 7.15 pm Gary Crosby Quintet 8.30 pm Reception (drinks and bowl food) - Steel pan music 10.00pm Guests leave 16 Early bird tickets cost ÂŁ40.00 and will be on sale until 31 March 2017. Thereafter tickets will cost ÂŁ50.00.

Healthy, Local Food is Not “Jail Food” After years of discussions and policy planning by health care professionals and technocrats, the announcement of a ban on the sale of sugar sweetened drinks at all Government and Government-assisted schools from April 2017 was made. These are very important conversations we must have, sooner rather than later, but all contributions designed to achieve the objective of this decision must not go unnoticed. It must also not suffer the same fate as the announcement of greater local content in the School Nutrition Programme which saw apples being distributed in the last school term.

considered as habit-forming goods, in line with a recommendation made globally by the World Health Organization (WHO) if improving the health of citizens is a priority. The WHO says “a tax has most impact on the young, those on low incomes and others who consume a lot of sugary drinks and will have the greatest positive effect on the health of those groups.”

Eat Local Day was designed by the farming community for T&T in a family-centered, learning environment.

Other fiscal measures that work include subsidising fresh fruit and vegetable prices by 10-30%.

Taxing food and other drinks that are high in saturated fats, trans fats, free sugars and salt “appears promising”, it adds, because there is evidence that higher prices reduce consumption.

It is my view that measures should be taken to develop policies in light of the increasing cost of public health care due to the higher incidences of noncommunicable diseases like obesity and diabetes but it must be parallel to the right public awareness, education,

Speaking at a general meeting of the National 4-H Leaders Council and 4-H Voluntary Leaders early in 2016 I suggested that these sugary drinks be taxed in a similar manner as alcohol and cigarettes since they can be 17

youths. Notwithstanding the challenges that continue to face local food production, farmers and fishers have supported the culture of agriculture, educational field trips, performing arts, mentorship, advocacy, and building camaraderie as well as taking leadership roles in the National Fruit Festival and our annual Eat Local Day. All of these, national and voluntary efforts, failed to receive the requisite participation and support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Ministry of Education - TT, Ministry of Health - Trinidad and Tobago and their affiliated Statefunded Agencies over the years.

engagement as well as affordable and suitable alternatives for consumption since lower income groups are exposed to the greatest food and nutrition insecurity in this country. This decision should therefore not be limited to the school-age population but a national focus. It underscores my call for a coherent national policy framework for sustainable agriculture and rural development.

For many years, much lip service has been paid to the importance of the agriculture and fisheries sector and its far-reaching links to sustainable livelihoods, health, diversified economy, rural development, environment, and overall food and nutrition security for our country.

This lack of vision sharing will hamper the proposed measures to be taken including the development and piloting of a healthy lifestyle education programme using innovative approaches to encourage children to eat healthier foods and to be more physically active. Our situation requires out-of-the-box thinking, awakening to the new urgency of reality and an understanding that it cannot be business as usual, especially if we seek to protect the vulnerable among us.

We continue to actively lobby for an avenue which gives a voice to the voiceless in any national development agenda â&#x20AC;&#x201C; our vulnerable, children and

1,032 students from across the country recently registered officially to be part of the 4-H Organization of Trinidad and Tobago.

An objective of the TPFAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Fruit Festival is to help consumers make informed choices about their food and nutrition intake.

According to UN Comtrade statistics, between 2011 and 2015, Trinidad and Tobago would have spent over an estimated TT$ 1 billion dollars to import food and necessities to feed babies born in that period. A dependence and training of tastes and preferences for foreign food and flavours from birth is inextricably linked to the present difficulty in weaning children, youths and the working class population off of the need to satisfy a westernized palette. The issue of a burgeoning food import and health care bill is therefore more chronic and requires a deeper approach than is currently used to support local. This consumption pattern can also be linked to an increasing rate of noncommunicable diseases among the school-age population.

form of punishment but must always be sensitive of our approach since the little mouths eating the food provided by their parents believe that it is the best because their bellies are full.

While we may understand his good intention in responding to some parents’ queries, Minister Deyalsingh’s continued comparison of healthier and probably local consumption to “jail food” instead of using the opportunity to share a deeper vision undermines the work done by stakeholders of the local food industry in exposing our appetite and using strategic measures to encourage greater local content into the national diet through creativity and food innovation. It also erodes the confidence The Office of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Dr Keith Rowley placed in local food with his discussions around breadfruit, cassava, and the changes to VAT among other options. We must never allow our children to believe that consuming healthier, local options is a

Certainly, national support for the “eat local” notion will overwhelm current production in all sub-sectors. We are confident that demand will create supply. Agriculture and fisheries, if understood and managed, can assist in supporting the future of Trinidad and Tobago through economic growth, environmental protection and poverty alleviation.

Sugary drinks and snacks continue to be sold at public hospitals without suitable and affordable alternatives. Local food production is therefore not without its own challenges but inclusive policy planning and participation in the process is essential to local brands, products, and grassroots initiatives which seek to break the cycle of poverty in rural and fishing communities and as well in seeking to educate on the importance of supporting the production, processing and consumption of healthy, local food and beverages.

Omardath Maharaj is an Agricultural Economist based in Trinidad and Tobago Please contact 683-1173 for any further information. Photos courtesy Omardath Maharaj

Who Owns Outer Space? including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind. Recently, commentators have arrived at a resolve that the Outer Space Treaty should be the foundation for International space law. Back in 1967 when the Treaty was drawn up no one envisaged that the possibility of exploiting space resources might be a reality and this posed cause for concern for those responsible for science and the environment.

Who owns outer space? Theoretically, no one owns outer space. Prior to man landing on the moon in 1969 when millions around the witnessed Neil Armstrong planting the US flag on the surface of the moon; the 1967 Outer Space Treaty existed. 129 countries committed to this treaty; including China, Russia, the US and the UK and is overseen by the United Nations Outer Space Affairs.

While there has never been any conflict with space territory Dr Jill Stuart, Editor of the journal Space Policy said; ‘There’s no official definition of outer space…I suspect we will settle for a physical demarcation at the Karman Line which is 100km up’ which could be a functional option.

With the advancement of Space explorations and Space enterprises, such as commercial space travel, questions have now been raised about re-evaluating the Outer Space Treaty.

Apart from the Outer Space Treaty, there are four other treaties governing space law. Among articles outlined include; Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction are not to be placed in orbit around the earth. As well as ‘anything that goes into space must be registered with its launching state and becomes a sovereign territory.’

While we don’t think of outer space as part of our immediate environment, it impacts a great deal on our daily lives. Mobile technology, weather monitoring and global mapping and the military all depend on space technology a lot more than we know. For almost 50 years, nations have embarked on space explorations in agreement and in accordance with the Outer Space Treaty. Recently questions of ‘where is outer space? ’have been raise, as outer space is not defined by a boundary but merely by a ‘function of a space object rather than where it is in space.’ Like an orbiting satellite for example. It is not in a fixed place in space yet it is the sovereign property of the country or organisation that launched it. Part of the United Nations treaty in Article 1 refers that: The exploration and use of outer space,

There are several international institutions involved with Outer Space Treaty including the United Nations, the US State Department, the Liability Convention, European Space Agency and NASA are some of the international institutions involved with the Outer Space Treaty. With commercial space travel set to become a reality within the next few years the direction of these discussions is worth monitoring. David Kalloo 20

ALTERNATIVE ARTS Events 2017 Alternative Arts presents a series of events in 2017 WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH in East London March 1-31 Celebrating women artists, activists, performers and writers with a diverse line-up of events and exhibitions in selected East End venues. Further info from info@alternativearts.co.uk INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S WEEK March 4-11 A wide-ranging Programme of Events in Tower Hamlets presented by women’s groups from all over the borough. Further info from: GREAT SPITALFIELDS PANCAKE RACE Shrove Tuesday 28 February Teams of 4 race up and down Dray Walk to raise funds for London’s Air Ambulance. Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, Spitalfields E1 6QL. 12.30pm Admission Free ALTERNATIVE FASHION WEEK ONLINE www.alternativefashionweek.co.uk Visit the website for all the latest new collections COVENT GARDEN MAY FAYRE & PUPPET FESTIVAL Sunday 14 May Celebrating the 354th anniversary of the first sighting of Mr Punch in England by Samuel Pepys in May 1662 with Punch and Judy Professors from all over the country and abroad in the garden of St Paul’s Church, Bedford Street WC2E 9ED 10.30am-5.30pm Adm Free PHOTOMONTH EAST LONDON International Photography Festival is taking a break this year and will be back in 2018 from 1 October - 30 November. Visit www.photomonth.org for more info. info@alternativearts.co.uk

Here Comes the Sun Nicole Dennis-Benn is the author of the highly acclaimed debut novel, HERE COMES THE SUN (Norton/Liveright, July 2016), a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and an Amazon and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2016. DennisBenn’s debut novel received a starred Kirkus Review and is deemed as an excellent summer read.

perhaps a chance to admit a shocking secret: her forbidden love for another woman. As they face the impending destruction of their community, each woman — fighting to balance the burdens she shoulders with the freedom she craves — must confront long-hidden scars. Here Comes the Sun offers a dramatic glimpse into a vibrant, passionate world most outsiders see simply as paradise. Nicole Dennis Bend, a Jamaican novelist. Dennis-Benn was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. “This lithe, artfully-plotted debut concerns itself with the lives of those for whom tourists can barely be bothered to remove their RayBans, and the issues it tackles — the oppressive dynamics of race, sexuality and class in post-colonial Jamaica — have little to do with the rum-and-reggae island of Sandals commercials.” – JENNIFER SENIOR, The New York Times

This book has been reviewed by the New York Times, NPR, BBC, BuzzFeed, Book Riot, Bookish, Miami Herald, Elle, O Magazine, Marie Claire, Entertainment Weekly, Flavorwire, After Ellen, BookPage, Cosmopolitan, Brooklyn Magazine, among others. New York Times Book reviewer, Jennifer Senior described HERE COMES THE SUN as a “lithe, artfully-plotted debut”. Dennis-Benn was a finalist for the 2016 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.

Another brilliant writer from the Caribbean. Source: http://mycaribbeanscoop.com/jamaic a/jamaican-novelist-woman-writing-history Article and photo courtesy CaribDirect.com.

Her work has appeared in The New York Times, ELLE Magazine, Electric Literature, Lenny Letter, Catapult, Red Rock Review, Kweli Literary Journal, Mosaic, Ebony, and the Feminist Wire. Dennis-Benn has an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and has been awarded fellowships from MacDowell Colony, Hedgebrook, Lambda, Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Hurston/Wright, and Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Her writing has been awarded a Richard and Julie Logsdon Fiction Prize; and two of her stories have been nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize in Fiction. Capturing the distinct rhythms of Jamaican life and dialect, Nicole Dennis-Benn pens a tender hymn to a world hidden among pristine beaches and the wide expanse of turquoise seas. At an opulent resort in Montego Bay, Margot hustles to send her younger sister, Thandi, to school. Taught as a girl to trade her sexuality for survival, Margot is ruthlessly determined to shield Thandi from the same fate. When plans for a new hotel threaten their village, Margot sees not only an opportunity for her own financial independence but also

Vanessa Knights Memorial Lecture Gina Athena Ulysse, Professor of Anthropology, Wesleyan University Withering Pasts Or a Rasanblaj of Peculiarities 17:00 Thursday 16th March 2017

Using chants, poetry, and photography to confront the past, which looms too largely in the present, Gina Athena Ulysse meditates on historical silences, rebellious rage, and the sacred to affirm ancestral and political imperatives necessary for Black selfdetermination and self-repossession. Following the lecture we invite you to join us for a drinks reception. All welcome, but please register 23 by emailingCLAC.Studies@ncl.ac.uk

Fake News is about Journalism, Not Social Media BBC recently had their Africa debate in Blantyre, Malawi. The debate was on whether “journalism in Africa is threatened by fake news”. The BBC said they had the debate in Malawi because Malawians are keen and royal listeners of BBC World Service. What came out clearly in the course of the debate was that Malawi was chosen because of events of September to October 2016 when Malawi social media was rife with rumours that the country’s President, Peter Mutharika had died in the USA where he was attending United Nations General Assembly.

Fake news is not new. Robert Darnton traces fake news – “dubious information”, as he calls it, to sixth Century AD. The difference today is that fake news has found new platform on social media where sharing of information is instant and has the magic of reaching across national boundaries. What is important is for news organisation to improve on fact-checking and educate people on how to identify false information. Throughout human history people have hard to learn to separate facts from fiction. Situation may be different in the post-truth world where most people are guided by emotions, not facts – making fake news more appealing that factual reporting. Today folks would rather hear what they want to hear true or false, than face inconvenient objective information.

The rumours of the president ill health and the supposed death, which was fuelled by lack of communication on whereabouts of the President weeks after the General assembly had finished, may have passed as news “news” on social media and some online “news” channels trying hard to be the first to break the news. Online it can be very difficult to distinguish genuine news sites from bogus ones.

Yet, for most African countries, which the debate concentrated on, the main culprits when it comes to fake news are state controlled media. If not peddling outright lies in favour of those in power, then it is the cardinal sin of omission. Theirs is not journalism that speaks truth to power, it is not journalism that is aimed at uncovering incompetence or corruption in the corridors of power. Omitting critical and information in journalism must be recognised as fake news.

When you consider the changing news environment and technologies that have enabled that change, you will appreciate that fake news is a challenge, not just for media institutions trying to do honest job of gathering and reporting factual news and information but also for the public looking for credible information from journalistic institutions. This makes the debate on fake news timely and relevant.

Fake news on official news organisations such as state or public broadcasters is more harmful than social media, more especially in places like Africa where majority of people across the continent still rely on broadcasting for news – not social media. Moreover, this study shows that majority of citizens in the post-authoritarian African states trust more in government-owned media institutions than any others.

Yet, like all cultural and communicative issues, it is important that the debate be define clearly: it is about the state of journalism. Social media may be part of the debate but fake news is about journalism, the profession, not social media – a platform. My worry is that most people are confusing social media. There are two related but critically different problems with this confusion.

… don’t let governments in In Africa, traditional media is a bigger problem than social media 24

As previously agued, oppressive governments across the continent that are uncomfortable that internet has provided an open forum for free expression would happily use the fake news argument to control social media. In 2016 there were 50 internet shutdowns across world, majority of these cases happened on African content. To avoid this, fake news must be defined for what it is, not tying it to specific platforms. Increasingly, governments are developing the trend of calling anything they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like fake news. This is a dangerous trend that me must avoid at all cost. The fears about fake news are real, we must find a way of preserving good ethical journalism that is a backbone of our society. Yet, we must avoid the lazy thinking of simply blaming social media, which could let in autocratic governments to control a tool that has provided so much free space for freedom expression and providing checks and balances to those in power.

Jimmy Kainja Academic, communications, media, journalism

The Centre for Culture and the Arts at Leeds Beckett University, in partnership with Leeds West Indian Carnival, host this international conference on Caribbean Carnival Cultures. The Conference is a celebration of Leeds West Indian Carnival’s 50th anniversary and the development of a Carnival Cultures research strand at the Centre for Culture and the Arts. It is extremely timely; despite the 50 years that British Caribbean communities have brought carnival, their major artistic creation, with its highly significant cultural history, into the public life of the UK, however there is little scholarship on this topic in cultural studies, in history, or in literary/drama studies. The conference is shaping up to be an excellent event with a global scope involving academics, costume designers, musicians, filmmakers and founding members of the Caribbean Carnival in Leeds, UK. Plans also include a Civic Reception and welcome by the Lord Mayor of Leeds and an evening of reggae and soca at the Leeds West Indian Centre. Contributions will take the form of papers, workshops and exhibitions. The conference will be dedicated to focusing on the following themes: The relationship between carnival and diasporic identities. The cultural history of Caribbean carnival in the UK. Carnival and the politics of emancipation and practices of resistance. Transcultural relationships between UK and global Caribbean carnivals. Carnival and the body. Carnival as a site for conviviality, pleasure and social cohesion. The commercialisation of carnival. We look forward to seeing you there. Dr Emily Zobel Marshall (Conference Coordinator) Professor Max Farrar (Conference Coordinator) Danielle Hall (Conference Administrator) Conference Partners Leeds West Indian Carnival Leeds City Council The Geraldine Connor Foundation Moving Worlds Keynote Speakers Arthur France MBE, Founder of Leeds West Indian Carnival Tony Hall, internationally renowned Trinidadian carnival playwright and director of Jouvay Institute and Lord Street Theatre Company. Professor Milla Riggio, world-leading researcher of Trinidad carnival from Trinity College, Connecticut. Michael la Rose, designer and leader of London’s People’s War Carnival Band and chair of the George Padmore Institute. Registration The following fees apply for the conference: Non-salaried Carnival Artist & Practitioners: £30 Postgraduate Students: £90 Salaried Carnival Artists & Practitioners: £100 Tenured Academics: £110 Location and Timings Please note the timings below are an approximate schedule, actual timings will be confirmed nearer the time of the conference:

Event Screening: 18 May 2017 Only a limited number of seats are available Conference Day 1: 19 May 2017 Sagar Wright Lecture Theatre, Rose Bowl, 8:30 - 18:00 Conference Day 2: 20 May 2017 Sagar Wright Lecture Theatre, 28 Rose Bowl, 8:30 - 18:00 Conference Day 3: 21 May 2017 Follow link below to book

https://onlinestore.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/myaccount/register

AFTER MAS is a new short film from London-based Trinidadian filmmaker Karen Martinez. It tell the story of a love that flourishes under the cover of darkness during the festival of Jâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ouvert on the streets of Port of Spain. Shot in Trinidad in February 2013 during Carnival, we experience the charge of this bacchanalian drama before following the characters return to their separate lives. In the cold light of day, can these young 29 lovers from very different backgrounds stay true to their desires?

Subscribe to Caribbeantales-tv and receive 1 month free streaming. Visit: www.caribbeantales-tv.com or email; info@caribbeantales-tv.com for more details

What does your passport colour say about you? Historically, red has been associated with communist countries such as China and Russia however, Cuba and Laos have opted for blue passports. Green passports are mostly associated with most Muslim countries. The colour green is common in this region as it symbolises the favourite colour of Prophet Muhammad as it represented paradise and immortality. The colour, though is not generally adopted by all Muslin countries as both Yemen and the Afghans have dark blue and sky blue passports.

By David Kalloo Have you ever turned up at the check-in counter at an airport and wondered why we all have different coloured passports? Green, burgundy, blue, red, and black passport pigmentation can pin point where in the world you come from.

As with the European Union, all fifteen countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have dark blue passports. Other countries on the American continent that favour blue passports are; Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, El Salvador, Venezuela and Canada along with the United States. The US however, have experimented with various colours over the decades, in the 1930s they used red and in the 1970s turned to green then blue before reverting to green in 1993. In 1994, the US changed the colour of its passport again to the current dark blue.

There are four standard colours used for passports, they are red, green, blue and black. Choosing a passport colour is based on membership of a region of the world as well as ‘political and cultural preferences of the country, it is the states themselves who choose the colour’ of the cover of their passport. According to Hrant Boghossian of Arton Capital, a consulting firm that funds the Passport index “there are actually a multitude of passport colours.” But how do countries go about varying their choice? European countries have opted for the red burgundy colour passport. The colour was validated by a resolution of 23 June 1981 with the ‘aim of introducing a common passport for European countries of the European Union’ according to the Official Journal of European Communities (OJEC). The only exception in that band is Croatia who has opted for navy blue passport. Since the European Union, countries in the Union are listed ‘European Union’ in their language in letters of gold heading. Turkey, who wanted to be part of the Union changed their passport from black to Bordeaux as part of its integration for when it joins the European Union.

Only a few countries have black passports and, they are considered rare. Countries such as Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Botswana, Burundi, Gabon, Angola and Malawi have chosen black as it refers to Africa as the black continent. However, one country that has chosen black for cultural reasons is New Zealand, relating to the famous All Blacks. The production of passports is a very controlled process, and there are only a few companies around the world who are authorised to produce passports according to Hrant Boghossian. 30

32 Congratulations to Naomie Melanie Harris, on receiving her OBE