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​https://www.guardian.co.tt/article/tobago-heritage-queens-6.2.1386438.4287a79ff5​

For T&T’s 45th Republic Day which will be celebrated on Friday, the T&T Association of Ottawa (TTAO), Canada, hosted a free virtual cultural event last Saturday at 7.30 pm. Cocktails preceded the celebrations at 7 pm and an after-party closed off the occasion.
Master of ceremony for the virtual event was actor, playwright and theatre director Rhoma Spencer who opened the formal segment with an Ottawa land acknowledgement: “Ottawa is built on the un-ceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation whose ancestors have lived on the land for millennia.”
The Canadian and T&T national anthems followed.
Guests were treated to a wide array of cultural performances starting with the Dynamic Damaru Tassa Crew. The national instrument was well represented by Pan Fantasy with renditions of Dancing Queen and Dingolay, and bp Renegades Steel Orchestra performing Jahaji Bhai.
Afro-Caribbean and Indian dances were performed by members of Cultural Arts Studio with Belé and Devil Dance, and a Footsteps Dance School classical by Bollywood dancer Baby KV.
Calypso and opera came from six-time Canada Calypso Monarch Macomere Fifi who did a tribute to the Calypso King of the World, the Mighty Sparrow, followed by Lord Baker’s God Bless Our Nation and Ulyn Small.
The virtual gathering also heard greetings from TTAO president Ingrid John-Baptiste, who also read a message fromT&T’s High Commissioner to Canada Dennis Moses. Making toasts to T&T were Mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson and Member of Parliament for Neapan, Ottawa, Chandrakanth “Chandra” Arya. Dr Alfredo Walker gave the keynote address.
The high point of the annual event is the award. This year’s awardees are from the University of Ottawa and will receive CDA$1,000.
TTAO vice president Dianna Pierre presented Jason Leach, part-time professor at the university, with the CLR. James Award. Zuwena Walters, who is studying speech science language pathology, got the Naz Award, while The Friends of Serviam’s Patricia Sylvester presented Alayna Horsham with the Serviam Award. Horsham is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Biochemical Sciences.
The selection committee for the scholarships comprised Andrew Williams, Rose LeBlanc, Hazel Pompey and Joe Cabrera.
Door prizes of T&T mugs, a bottle of rum punch, gift certificates and dinner for four courtesy Bacchanal went to Brenda Walters, Eddy Alleyne, Errol, Hedda Simms, Joy Grainger, Pearline Williams, Simone Waithe and Myra Flash respectively.
Rosanna Lashley delivered the vote of thanks. House and after-party music was supplied by TTAO’s resident DJ David Supersound.
Part proceeds from the event will go towards the 2022 scholarship awards and the Haiti Relief Effort.
John-Baptiste says TTAO has been working with the mantra, Love from the Inside Out…Spirit, Mind and Body. She expressed her gratitude to TTAO teams, volunteers and supporters, as well as sponsors Ottawa’s Bacchanal, The Cultural Arts Studio, Aylmer Electronics, Carib Brewery and Angostura Limited.
The group can be reached at TTAO.ca, its Facebook page or by telephone at 613-834-1718.
Persons who want to support the group’s efforts can send cheques to PO Box 8401, Station T, Ottawa, K1G, 3H8 addressed to Trinidad and Tobago Association of Ottawa, or e-transfer for donations 2022: [email protected].
Source: Trinidad&Tobago Guardian, Sept 20, 2021

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​Warao teacher and fisherman Palacio Quinones, 34, sits next to Yakerin Mende Mendoza, and her one-year-old son Noe at a house in south Trinidad. - Photos by Lincoln Holder

In 2019, when a boatload of indigenous Venezuelans – Warao people – left for Trinidad, the trip became a matter of life or death.
They would have preferred to stay in their forested home community of Mariusa, away from the hustle and bustle of "civilisation." But the ongoing crisis in Venezuela has reached indigenous communities in the jungles, threatening their existence and forcing them to leave.
A Warao group spoke to Sunday Newsday, saying their people are on the brink of extinction.
The Warao were one of Venezuela's largest indigenous groups. They are found mainly in Delta Amacuro state, one of the closest points to Trinidad.
The group shared perspectives on their traditional way of life and their struggles to adapt to life in Trinidad.
The Warao, also referred to as boat or canoe people, have been chiefly self-sustaining, with little or no help from the authorities.
Father of two Palacio Quinones, 34, worked as a fisherman and a Spanish/Warao teacher in Mariusa in Delta Amacuro.
Quinones, who cannot speak English, said many people in the community have never been to other parts of the country. He, however, has visited different areas, including Bolivar State.
Speaking in Spanish, he explained that his wife was seven months pregnant in April 2019 when members of the Guardia Nacional began shooting at a boat, killing her and her seven-year-old sister.
"There were about 20 people of different ages fishing in the river where they opened fire without warning," Quinones said.
"Maybe they thought it was bandits. The (Orinoco) river has become dangerous.
"But for hundreds of years, it has always been normal to fish and to see groups of people fishing."
He spoke on behalf of the Warao.
Quinones, his two daughters Genesis and Beatriz, and other Warao made the clandestine trip in September 2019. Many people in the community had already fled to Brazil and other neighbouring countries.
The only person they knew here was a fisherman.
"There are about 45 indigenous tribes in Venezuela. They speak their own languages," he said.
August 9 was International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, as declared by the UN General Assembly in December 1994.
In 2002, then-president Hugo Chavez declared October 12 is Indigenous Resistance Day in Venezuela. This national holiday honours the contributions made by the indigenous people, highlighting their struggles. It replaced Race Day, which celebrated Christopher Columbus.
But even in their country, indigenous people, as a minority group, still face discrimination, Quinones said. Many non-indigenous countrymen still refer to them as Indians.
"We are not Indians!" Quinones and another Warao, said in unison.
Their houses, which do not have electricity, are calledpalafitos (overwater bungalows). They mainly have open-plan homes.
It is common for babies to learn to swim before they can walk, he said.
The only school in this community closed three years ago.
"The river ate the school. The building was very old. It was rotten," Quinones said.
As boat people, they use canoes to travel, and sleep in handwoven hammocks, and not beds.
Quinones said: "We depend 100 per cent on rain to get drinking water. Sometimes it is difficult to get fresh water. We cannot go out as we used to because we could get killed in the river."
To survive in Trinidad, he and other Warao beg people on the streets for money and food. They also do odd jobs. Living inland and away from the river was new to the group. They slept on mattresses for the first time. They live in cramped conditions, unable to find regular work.
"It pains me to beg. We want to work. Our living conditions are horrible here. It is cramped, and we have no money. We need help. As Warao, we live in harmony with nature. We want maybe a parcel of land to live and work freely," he said on behalf of the group.
Just when they thought things could not get any worse, they did, in 2020, owing to the restrictions imposed because of the covid pandemic.
Quinones reminisced that in the jungle. the moriche palm trees (
Mauritia flexuosa) are trees of life.
These trees provide food, shelter, medicine and have aesthetic value.
The trunk is used as the stilts of their homes and to make canoes. The fruit is eaten and used to make juices, he said. People extract soft tissues at the tree's centre to make many dishes, including the popular yuruma.
Another significant benefit of the tree is "delicious edible insects" (worms). The worms are a welcome presence inside the trees. People eat them raw or cook, roast over direct fire.
"It has a lot of protein. The insects get all the nutrients from the tree. It is used as a medicine too."
The group is registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency. The UNHCR said about 200 "Warao persons of concern" are registered with the organisation in Trinidad and Tobago.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has identified Venezuela as being second to Syria as the world's second-largest external displacement crisis. A press release from IRC on June 16 said over 5.6 million Venezuelans had left the country.
Indigenous people traditionally depend on organic materials for medicines, preventing and curing many illnesses naturally.
Several reports say indigenous languages are becoming extinct, and when natives die, they take knowledge of medicinal plants with them.
On June 8, a report from the UK Guardian referred to a study that warned that knowledge of medicinal plants is at risk, saying the loss of linguistic diversity may lead to the disappearance of age-old remedies unknown to science.
Sunday Newsday also spoke to Kape-Kape, an organisation in Venezuela dedicated to protecting the rights of their indigenous peoples.
A representative said the original Waraos of the Orinoco Delta continue to move towards neighbouring countries like Guyana, Trinidad, and Brazil.
In the Pedernales municipality and Tucupita, entire communities have also emigrated, leaving their former homes lonely.
On the migration to TT, the representative said before the pandemic restrictions, trips were usually made two or three times per week.
The official, who asked not to be named, spoke on behalf of Kape-Kape. The pandemic and tightened restrictions have reduced migration, he said.
"Clandestine travel continues today, but less frequently. A woman who asked not to be identified explained that she had to pay US$200 to travel.
"Unfortunately, she and others were arrested and imprisoned by the Trinidadian authorities, then deported after three months."
Kape-Kape also promotes the leadership and democracy of the states of Bolívar, Delta Amacuro and Amazonas.
The official quoted a Venezuelan journalist, Adaira González, who has lived in Trinidad for more than two years. She estimated the number of indigenous migrants at more than 1,000.
Contacted by phone, an official from the Venezuelan Embassy in Port of Spain asked the reporter to schedule an appointment with ambassador Carlos Amador Perez Silva for an interview. (Source:  Newsday  August 15, 2021)

Derron Watkins is the latest T&T national to be awarded an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree (EMJMD) scholarship.
Watkins, who obtained two bachelor’s degrees in economics and psychology from the UWI, St Augustine, will read for a Master’s degree in Work, Organisational and Personnel Psychology at the University of Valencia, Spain and at the University of Coimbra in Portugal.
He will journey to Spain to begin this course of study in September.
According to Watkins, hard work and a passion for psychology are the drivers of his success. It was while studying for first degree that he realised his true interest lay elsewhere.“When I entered UWI in 2013, I decided to pursue a major in economics,” he stated.
“But along the way I fell in love with psychology.”
Not being one to quit, Watkins decided to finish his degree rather than switching majors and then made the decision to return to UWI for a second undergraduate degree in psychology.
It was not an easy road. With GATE funding unavailable for this second degree, Watkins needed to work full time to make ends meet and to pay tuition and other expenses.
Still, he was able to graduate with first class honours. A true change maker, it was while working at one minimum wage job and observing how management treated their employees, that he decided that industrial and organisational psychology were the keys to his future career.
“I want to help companies to realise the true potential of their employees, while ensuring that employees in turn feel valued and rewarded,” he said.
Speaking about his future plans at the end of his study abroad, Watkins, currently a business operations assistant II in the social services unit of the Judiciary of T&T, Family and Children Division’ said he hopes to, at least initially, be able to return to his job providing services for families and children. Longer term, he plans to establish his own consulting business.
The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree Scholarship programme is highly sought after around the world by individuals seeking to study in Europe. It allows scholars the opportunity to read for a postgraduate degree in at least two countries in the EU, all expenses paid.
In 2021, 2,756 scholarships were awarded to individuals in 141 countries. Watkins is one of an elite group of approximately 100 individuals from T&T who have been awarded the scholarship since 2005.
Commenting on Watkin’s achievement, Charge d’Affaires ai of the EU Delegation, Ze Alves-Pereira said: “We are very happy that this enterprising and hardworking young man was chosen and we celebrate with him and his family this achievement. We hope that he will find his time in Europe to be an enriching one and that he will return to Trinidad fully prepared to play his part in this country’s development, as so many of his predecessors have done.”
He added: “There are so many talented individuals in T&T who can benefit from this opportunity to expand their horizons and experience and I would like to encourage more nationals to apply to the Erasmus programme.” (Source:  T&T Guardian, July 16, 2021)

Hundreds of Venezuelans returned to their homeland on Sunday after being repatriated from Trinidad and Tobago.
At the eastern coast of Venezuela, on the port of Guanta, some 330 kilometers east from Caracas, a Venezuelan commercial ferry transported hundreds of Venezuelans who left Trinidad and Tobago for lack of employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Valentina Itriago, a repatriated Venezuelan, said she was unable to find work to care for her son:
"We returned because in Trinidad and Tobago we didn't have the capacity... I didn't have the capacity to take care of my son.  Jobs were scarce because of COVID, I had already been out of work for three months, rents were super expensive. It was time to return."
“The only way to work there is cleaning houses. I have an infection on my hands. No. I'm staying in my country. Don't think that being abroad is easy and even less so with a child. It is better to be here in Venezuela than to be abroad."
The Venezuelan government began a repatriation plan called "Return to the Fatherland" in 2018 and since then, more than 25,000 Venezuelans have been repatriated from other countries in the region such as Peru, Ecuador and Chile.
This return of Venezuelans from Trinidad and Tobago is the first voluntary repatriation to be done by sea - Loop News was told that 680 people Venezuelan nationals made the decision to return home. 
The process was monitored by officials as passengers were processed prior to departure last Friday. 
Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Dr Amery Browne, Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds and Communications Minister Symon de Nobriga were also present to examine the logistics of the repatriation exercise.
Source: The Loop, July 19, 2021

The United States Embassy is assuring individuals that they do not need to get the Covid-19 vaccine before travelling to the US.
However, travellers must present a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which should be taken within 72 hours of arrival into the US.
The information was provided by US Embassy consular chief Cindy Diouf during an information session on social media last week.
The session was held to respond to the many questions from the public regarding travel to the US at this time.
Diouf said one of the common questions was whether people travelling to the US could access the vaccine there.
“The answer to that is what I have heard from Trinbagonians who have travelled recently is that they were able to go to the US and get a vaccine. You would want to consult your family and friends that are living there,” she responded.
Asked if the US Embassy will be making arrangements for US citizens here to be vaccinated, she clarified that the Embassy did not provide private medical care to US citizens anywhere in the world.
Responding to another question about whether a specific brand of vaccine is required for entry into the US, Diouf again stressed that, unlike other countries, the US did not have a vaccine entry requirement.
Asked if a fully vaccinated person still required a negative PCR test to enter the US, Diouf said: “Yes! Even me! I got vaccinated, my kids got vaccinated but we still had to take the PCR test here in Trinidad and Tobago to be able to travel. That test has to be taken within 72 hours of arrival into the United States. So yes, everyone needs that.”
Visa queries
Diouf said the easiest way to obtain a US visa at this time was via the interview waiver process.
“And the reason for that is due to social distancing requirements, due to Government of Trinidad and Tobago regulations. We are only able to see a small number of applicants every day. Keep in mind that we have been open continuously since the beginning of the Covid pandemic,” she said.
She advised that people with US passports that expired after January 2020 are able to return to the US on that expired passport.
“We spoke with Caribbean Airlines about a month ago and they confirmed that they were allowing American citizens to travel into the US with those expired passports,” she said.
One person wanted to find out whether a visa would still be valid if it expired on August 22 but they wanted to travel from August 20 to August 30.
Diouf said the visa must be valid the day a person presents themselves at the airport.
She noted that emergency visa appointments were evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
“Keep in mind that the number of requests for emergency appointments far exceeds the capacity. So if you have an appointment, hold on to it. What you would need to send us are the particulars of the situation...fully lay out what is your circumstance, what is going on with your life that you need to get immediately into the US.
“So you don’t want to put in there something along the lines of having heart surgery at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota because when you show up at your interview I’m going to ask you for the documentation from Mayo Clinic indicating you’re having surgery soon. So whatever you say, always be honest. The US government knows everything...most things anyway, with regard to travel and entry into our country.”
Source:  Daily Express, July 13, 2021

For this month, up to Tuesday, the country recorded over 10,000 new covid19 cases according to statistics derived from the Ministry of Health’s daily 4 pm update.
The country saw 10,055 new cases and 239 deaths in the past 25 days. With 408 deaths overall, since the virus hit TT in March of 2020, the deaths in May alone, is more than double the overall total.
The ministry recorded 612 new cases and 18 more deaths on Tuesday. The total number of covid19 cases is now 20,879. Of this, 12,027 people have recovered.
Active cases have increased to 8,444 with 7,195 patients in home self-isolation, 443 in hospitals receiving medical care, and 194 patients in step-down facilities waiting to be discharged. There are also 170 people in state quarantine.
A total of 72,120 people have received their first dose of the covid19 vaccine and 1,179 people have been fully vaccinated. The ministry also reported that 173,912 samples have been sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency, the Tobago Regional Health Authority, UWI, and other local testing sites.  Source: Newsday, May 25, 2021

TRINIDAD EXPRESS – Calypsonian, Sergio Francisco, son of music icon Mighty Sparrow (Slinger Francisco), has died.
FRANCISCO, 40, passed away suddenly on Monday. It was not immediately clear what caused the singer’s death. Those close to him said he tested negative for COVID-19 last week.
“I don’t know exactly what he died from and we don’t want to speculate. We sure it wasn’t COVID because he had a negative test up till last week,” Calypsonian, Shirlane Hendrickson told the Express via phone on Monday afternoon. Francisco, a former National Action Cultural Committee Young Kings Monarch finalist and 20 Stars of Tomorrow honouree, was described by colleagues as a young, bright talent in the genre. Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO) president Brother Resistance (Lutalo Masimba) said the performer was “a brilliant composer” with a “positive future”. “It’s a great loss, especially among our youth who have chosen to go in the direction of our indigenous artform. Sergio to us would have been one of those young bright artistes.
He was a brilliant composer, a man that coulda write all different styles. Certainly, he would have had a real positive future in this artform,” Resistance told the Express during a phone interview. Resistance said Francisco, a regular at the annual Klassic Russo Calypso Tent at City Hall, Port of Spain, always had his support since his emergence on the local music scene at the spoken word showcase Rapso Explosion. “We were always there for him. He was in the Klassic Russo but he was also involved in the rapso movement. He did a Rapso Explosion, I can’t remember the exact year, but he was also talented in that direction,” Resistance said.
Hendrickson, who managed Francisco’s nightly appearances at Klassic Russo, described him as “our big baby”.
“He was our big baby. He was a loving child. He had his challenges but we worked with him. He was a loving baby, he was our Sergio,” Hendrickson said.
STRIKING RESEMBLANCE TO HIS FATHER
She said Francisco bore a “striking resemblance” to his famous father on stage and even had some of his legendary vocal inflections.
“What is so striking is his resemblance to his daddy. It was wow. When he sing those notes and intonations it was like a reincarnation. They really say goat doh make sheep,” Hendrickson said.
Sergio’s older brother, Sancho Francisco, said he wasn’t able to comment on Monday.
“Right now wouldn’t be a good time. I trying to handle some stuff here. So, I gotta go,” Sancho said.
Hendrickson recalled a joke she made with Francisco the last time she saw him a month ago.
“He had grown even bigger and taller. I joked and said ‘boy you getting big like Godzilla’.”

​Trinidad-born scientist Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted was awarded the World Food Prize 2021 on Tuesday 11 May, 2021.
The announcement was made by US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken and Thomas J. Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture.
The World Food Prize is the most prominent global award recognizing an individual who has enhanced human development and confronted global hunger through improving the quality, quantity or availability of food for all.
Thilsted, who was born in Reform Village, attended Naparima Girls’ High School before going on to earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in Tropical Agriculture in 1971, from the University of West Indies, St Augustine.
After graduating, she worked as the first female agricultural officer at the Ministry of Agriculture in Tobago. While in Tobago she met her husband Finn Thilsted, a Danish citizen, and would migrate to Denmark with him.
In 1980 she received her Ph.D. in Physiology of Nutrition from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark, where she worked for many years.
Her research focused on food and nutrition security in many developing countries, especially in Asia and Africa.
Since 2010, she has been a researcher at WorldFish, headquartered in Penang, Malaysia.
WorldFish is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources.
Thilsted's husband Finn is a former Danish ambassador to Bangladesh, Kenya and Nepal.
Source: World Food Prize Foundation

THIS country’s first and only aquatic veterinarian, Dr Ayanna Phillips Savage, has received a regional award for her professional contributions.
She said she was honoured and that it was as a result of “years of dedicated, unwavering hard work in a still little recognised field in our region.”
She is a lecturer in marine mammal medicine/aquatic animal health and co-ordinator of the aqua health/aquatic animal health unit and the aquatic animal health diagnostic laboratory at the School of Veterinary Medicine at UWI, St Augustine.
She recently received the Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Excellence Award for science and technology.
In a release, UWI said in her senior year at the institution, she presented an aquatic animal-based research project which earned the highest score in that year group.
But despite this, it said, it was “met with some scepticism as the field of aquatic animal medicine was not yet recognised across the Caribbean."
Now, however, “aquatic animal medicine is well recognised globally, having been introduced to the curricula of several of the top veterinary programmes in North America and Europe.
“The aquatic animal medicine unit seeks to sensitise and educate the Caribbean region about the importance of the health, management and conservation of aquatic ecosystems, and the impact of aquatic ecosystem health on human health.”
The unit has ongoing studies in the areas of diseases of marine and freshwater fish and shellfish, sea turtles and marine mammals and the potential impact of these on public health.
The release said, “Her dedication continues with her work in the rehabilitation of endangered and protected sea turtles.
“Dr Savage is responsible for the work of the TT Marine Mammal Stranding Network, a network of 100-plus volunteers from many varying professional spheres who work together to respond to marine mammal stranding when they occur in TT…(She) described some of her current work as being focused on identifying, documenting and educating on diseases of economic and public health significance in aquatic species across TT.”
Savage said receiving the award was a “tremendous honour” for which she is “immensely grateful.”
The school’s director, Dr Karla Georges, believes the award shows there is a “wealth of talent” at the school and the work it does is relevant and has an impact.
“Our school, though very small, is making a giant contribution to the region, and this recognition by our Caribbean peers is an immense booster for the morale of the school, staff and students, faculty and the UWI family.”
The release said Savage promotes and advocates for her field’s inclusion by means of regulatory guidelines in the local aquaculture business.
It said she intends to continue “promoting aquatic diseases that have economic and/or public health implications in an attempt to safeguard the livelihoods of those who interact with the aquatic ecosystems and championing the cause of Caribbean aquatic ecosystem conservation so that our protected and endangered aquatic wildlife are preserved for generations to come.” Source: Newsday, March 31, 2021