UNLIKE with climate change, there is no such variability in the Christmas season, a universal season of hope, peace, joy and love, initiated by Christians but enjoyed by near everyone, says President Paula-Mae Weekes.
In her annual Christmas message to the country, Weekes offered sentiments of hope, particularly for those who are without everyday necessities during the season.
"Climate change is a hot topic, pardon the pun, in local, regional and international fora.
"We lament the deleterious effect that natural phenomena and human action have had on our planet, making environments inhospitable, causing cataclysmic weather events and adversely affecting the sustainability of countries, in particular small island states," said Weekes.
"The rhythms and seasons of nature have become ad hoc and disordered and predictability seems to be a thing of the past.
"We scramble to forecast meteorological conditions and are forced to find ways to mitigate and deal with the vagaries of climactic tendencies. Certitude of seasons appears to be ancient history."
But, she added, "There is no such variability in the Christmas season when Christians world-wide remember and celebrate the birth of the Messiah.
"(While Christmas has) a special and specific meaning for the Christian faithful, these seasons can be tapped into, assimilated and enjoyed by everyone.
"Sadly, Christmas is not an unqualified time of celebration and rejoicing for all our citizens ... For many, it is difficult and can even be deeply distressing.
"The contrast between a season of celebration and a season of want and despair is particularly poignant."
But, there is hope, Weekes said, which "does not obviate the existence of our trials and tribulations, but gives us the strength to keep going, fortified by the knowledge that, as the old Persian adage states, 'This too shall pass'.
"An important aspect of hope is waiting patiently for what we do not have, even as we do all within our power to improve our situation, refusing to be defeated by present circumstances, and pressing confidently toward a better outcome.
"Hope anchors us, redirecting our gaze from the immediate issues and troubles of the world to a vision of peace and goodwill to all men."
Weekes said it may seem counter-intuitive "to expect a season of peace when living in a climate of peril and insecurity – the alarming and appalling murder rate, recent devastating flooding, and the sky-rocketing cost of living are among the things which, if allowed, can surely disturb or displace any feeling of peace."
In spite of external factors, we can experience a peace that comes from within, she said.
"Such peace allows us to keep focussed on and work our plans and accomplish our goals even as we exert energy and effort to deal with challenges and hindrances.
"It is the ability to maintain a state of harmony, tranquillity, serenity and calm amid the tumult of daily life."
Weekes said, "One can practise prayer, mindfulness, meditation, yoga or even deep breathing in an attempt to be internally unmoved and undaunted when confronted by the vicissitudes of life. It might need to be a daily discipline in order to be successful."
While many families across the nation will be without "trappings of Christmas" or even bare necessities, she said, one may wonder how they can be joyful in this setting.
"There is no easy answer. However, the generosity of benefactors, the presence and camaraderie of friends and family, the sharing of whatever little one has and the comfort of faith are all potential sources of joy.
It may take an active search, and a deep dive, phrases not usually associated with joy, to unlock that state of being, but it is not impossible."
A season of love is the easiest for all to embrace, she said.
"The precious and priceless gifts of compassion, empathy, patience, presence and a listening ear are all demonstrations of love at no cost. We can give these valuable gifts freely at Christmas and at every other opportunity all year through."
Whatever our situation, Weekes said, we can feel and demonstrate love to those nearest and dearest and can extend it to those outside of our immediate circle.
"We are not often called upon to give such sacrificial love, although the heroic acts of many of our citizens, often at great personal risk are apt demonstrations of this divine principle.
"In this Christmas season let us love each other freely, extravagantly, deeply and unconditionally, and may the seasons of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love continue long after the twelve days of Christmas are over."
Weekes' Christmas message may be her last as President as Government has given notice that the Electoral College will convene in January to elect a Head of State. Official sources report that Weekes will not serve a second term. (Source: Newsday, Dec 25, 2022)

UWI Open Campus is celebrating its alumna Alyssa Mohammed, who has won the 2023 Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholarship.
A media release from the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor and principal of the UWI Open Campus said Mohammed outperformed ten candidates from across the Caribbean.
Mohammed, a TT national, graduated in 2022 with a BSc in sociology with first-class honours. She is currently doing a postgraduate diploma in gender and development studies at UWI, St Augustine. Said to be passionate about gender equity, Mohammed hopes to work to advance the position of women in the Caribbean.
She said, “I have a long history of working for and volunteering with local nonprofit women's organisations, especially Muslim women's organisations, and I am very passionate about improving the gender inequality situation at home and at large."
She hopes to study the MSc in sociology or the MPhil in sociology and demography at Oxford. She will take up her scholarship at the university in October 2023, and will be among a cohort of over 100 global scholars doing fully sponsored postgraduate studies.
She said, "I hope (it) will allow me to look at gender issues on a macro scale...the interconnections between gender and other institutions and social processes in society.
She hoped it will allow her "to make a tenable gender impact, especially in the areas of sexual health and reproductive rights and agency.”
Gary Asselberg, Mohammed’s teacher at Open Campus, and coach for the Rhodes Scholarship interview, hoped all Open Campus students follow her path to learning.
That path, he said, "is the ability to grasp core concepts in one context and then apply that knowledge in an unrelated context to produce a fresh and exciting explanation of how things are and why. Her ability for transference is a talent that is difficult to teach, yet Alyssa did learn, and so can you.
"She intuitively understood the concept of confirming negatives, that a failed investigation has the potential to bring us closer to the truth.
"These character traits are a prerequisite if one is to thrive under the spotlight as a young leader for gender issues in the Caribbean.”
Pro vice-chancellor and principal at Open Campus Dr Francis Severin was delighted by the news.
He said, “Alyssa’s accomplishment in this rigorous and competitive Rhodes Scholarship, underscores the critical importance of the Open Campus, its mission of empowering the hitherto under-served in the Caribbean, and unequivocally proves that those who do not see the value of the Open Campus beyond the ‘conventional’ towns and cities, are tragically misguided and deluded.
"Alyssa Mohammed bears incontrovertible witness to our tremendous value. Well done!”
The release said the Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest and most prestigious international scholarship programme. The Rhodes Scholar is chosen based on stringent criteria, including academic achievement, personal energy, a desire to make a difference and the capacity to collaborate with others to accomplish one's goals.
(Source: Newsday, Nicholas Maraj, Nov 18, 2022)

The sea is eroding the coastline.  Very sad to see  (Source:  Zando Ruthless, Nov 21, 2022 on Angelo Bissessarsingh Virtual Museum of Trinidad & Tobago). 

Trinidad and Tobago has made National Geographic's annual list of superlative destinations for travellers to visit next year.
The list, which features 25 breathtaking places and experiences for 2023, was split into five categories including community, nature, culture, family and adventure.
The 'Best of the World 2023' list is as follows:
Community: Where conservation benefits everyone

• Greece — Visit the Dodecanese Islands where women-led ventures are leading the charge in sustainable tourism.
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin — Spend a long weekend in a vibrant Great Lakes city that celebrates its cultural community as much as its breweries.
• Alberta, Canada — Experience how long-held traditions and contemporary perspectives intersect with Indigenous tourism outfitters.
• Laos — Board a new high-speed train that makes lesser known regions accessible to tourists and brings economic opportunities to locals.
• Ghana — Explore Black heritage and hang out with a fashion-forward crowd in the capital, Accra.

Nature: Escapes to wild, beautiful places 

• Botswana — Marvel at the biodiversity as well as the programmes to rehabilitate endangered species, create wildlife corridors, and develop community-owned tourism projects.
• Scottish Highlands — Linger in the place where a rewilding movement is aiming to restore the original landscape and native flora and fauna.
• Slovenia —  A longtime leader in sustainable tourism, set off on new gastrotourism biking routes that visit farms, vineyards, cheesemakers, and other food producers.
• Big Bend National Park (Texas, United States) -- The park brings to life the frontier legend of Texas but the landscape will also surprise you.
• Azores, Portugal — Applaud award-winning sustainability programmes that conserve the natural wonders of this volcanic archipelago known for whale watching and thermal springs. 

Culture: Places where history and heritage rule

• Egypt — Visit King Tut’s new home at Cairo’s Grand Egyptian Museum and see Luxor’s Avenue of the Sphinxes.
• Busan, South Korea — Visit the nation’s second-largest city.
• Italy’s Appian Way — Make a pilgrimage through Europe’s ancient "superhighway".
• Charleston, South Carolina — Explore culture and history - with a side of Low Country cuisine - at the International African American Museum.
• Longmen Grottoes — See one of the world’s largest assemblages of stone statues at a UNESCO World Heritage site in Henan Province, China.

Family: Inspiring journeys for all ages

• Trinidad and Tobago — Help save the turtles in one of the most important leatherback turtle rookeries in the world.
•  Switzerland — Ride the rails to quaint Alpine towns for chocolate, hiking, and skiing.
• San Francisco, California — Gather around a campfire with Golden Gate views at Presidio Tunnel Tops and hike the urban Crosstown Trail.
• Colombia — Go birdwatching in the avian paradise that is also the enchanted land of Disney’s Encanto. 
• Manchester, England — Visit the playing grounds of a storied soccer team and be inspired by the city's art scene.

Adventure: Adrenaline-pumping outdoor excursions

• Choquequirao, Peru — An isolated Inca site that’s under the radar but soon to be more accessible.
• New Zealand —  Rekindle your sense of adventure post-pandemic in the country that invented bungee jumping.
• Utah, United States of America — Get your adrenaline rush in less visited areas of the popular adventure state.
• Austria — Hike the cross-country Bergsteigerdörfer network of mountaineering villages to sample local culture.
• Revillagigedo National Park, Mexico — Its protected waters boast the largest aggregations of sharks and manta rays in the world. (Source:  The Loop, October 26, 2022)

Several cocoa entrepreneurs will be able to take their businesses to the next level after being successfully matched with investors, said InvesTT.
In a statement the state agency said the Trinitario Cocoa Webinar Series, done in collaboration with the European Union, came to a conclusion on September 28, 2022.
The organisation said the grand finale of the three-part series, entitled “The Cocoa Pitch”, was designed as a ‘Shark Tank’ styled business pitch event.
Two youth start-ups and five medium-sized cocoa SMEs were given the opportunity to present a robust business pitch to investors, resource providers and key industry players with the aim of accessing technical, financial and capacity-building support and mentorship to start-up or scale their cocoa business operations.
EU Ambassador Peter Cavendish said the EU was proud to have been part of this venture.
“The Trinitario Cocoa Webinar Series has become a rich carnival, caravan tour of Trinidad and Tobago’s cocoa and chocolate producers. This heritage industry is moving forward to find and delight consumers worldwide with what every Trinbagonian knows, that the best chocolate is close to home – and the European Union has been proud to be a part of this dynamic.”
Trade Minister Paula Gopee Scoon said the sector is "a strategic commodity with the potential to generate foreign exchange and contribute to economic diversification.”
"The exports of primary and value added cocoa products increased by 31% over the period 2020 to 2021, from approximately TT$93 Million to over TT$122 Million. Of this increase, the European market accounted for 41%.”
“There is a clear demand for our products, however, what is needed are innovators to create new products and experiences, and entrepreneurs to ensure that these products are made available.” 
Sekou Alleyne, President, InvesTT said the venture will aid the local cocoa industry.
“The success of episodes 1 and 2 and the execution of The Cocoa Pitch event have enabled us [InvesTT] to fast forward the cocoa business agenda by facilitating investor matchmaking opportunities among European chocolatiers, investors and local cocoa stakeholders.”
Pramilla Ramdahani, Vice President, Investments, InvesTT also shared that the Series aimed to increase bean to bar opportunities and joint venture/FDI opportunities.
With 750 attendees in Episodes 1 and 2, and 244 attendees in Episode 3, representing over 32 countries worldwide inclusive of the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Singapore, Ghana and Jamaica, Mrs Ramdahani expressed confidence that the outcomes of the webinar series will contribute towards the development of a thriving and collaborative cocoa ecosystem.
The organisation said two youth start-ups;  GEM, owned by Giselle Mills and 19-year-old youth cocoa entrepreneur Oshun Matthews, owner of Tamana Mountain Chocolate both delivered strong business cases.
Three SMEs presented their pitches next; Ashley Parasram, founder of the Trinidad and Tobago Fine Cocoa Company, Tobias Schulze Frenkling representing the Original Trinitario Cluster and Vanessa Moses, Director at Caribbean Roasters.
At the end of each pitch, the distinguished group of panelists comprising Crisen Maharaj, Manager of Capacity Building and Funding at ExporTT, Michael Mcquilkin, Manager, Investment Banking at Republic Bank, John Hadad, Group Co-Chief Executive Officer, HADCO Group, Sandy Roopchand, CEO/Managing Director at Royal Castle and Markus Mann, Producer-Artist-Entrepreneur, shared thoughtful comments and invaluable insights on how each entrepreneur/enterprise can advance their cocoa ventures through various grant funding programmes and partnership and/or mentorship opportunities.
The panellists also posed a series of questions to each pitch presenter which enabled presenters and the live virtual audience to gain firsthand insights into the requirements for a compelling, investment-ready business case.
Next on the agenda was a special presentation made by Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan, Director at the Cocoa Research Centre, UWI, where he highlighted the Chocolate Island initiative, a cocoa, carbon and community innovative project which seeks to attract Impact Investment into the cocoa sector in Trinidad and Tobago, and contribute towards building sustainable cocoa based supply chains.
All attendees were then given a sneak peek into a short film entitled “Trinitario – On The Edge”, produced by filmmaker Denise Speck, who joined from Europe to introduce the trailer video. The documentary explores the storyline of the world-famous Trinitario Cocoa, birthed right here in Trinidad and Tobago.
The Cocoa Accelerator Network was highlighted after, whereby the live virtual audience and all pitch presenters would have been edified on various opportunities to access resources and/or funding required for business growth, such as the Shaping the Future of Innovation project, the Linking Farmers Platform and Government’s Grand Fund Facility, the latter allowing individuals to access up to a maximum of TT250,000 to finance 50 per cent of the cost of acquiring new machinery and equipment.
Albada Beekham, Director of Research at the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to support cocoa agri-entrepreneurs through the Agriculture Finance Support Programme, among other initiatives.
All three episodes in the series were moderator by Jessie-May Ventour, a seasoned broadcaster and media professional who effortlessly managed the conversations and ensured a seamless, interactive, informative and enjoyable experience for all. (Source: The Loop, October 3, 2022)

In keeping with time-honoured tradition, President Paula-Mae Weekes was pinned with the first poppy on Thursday.
Making the presentation at the Office of the President were Colonel Lyle Alexander, Denzil Mason and Hilton Clarke of the Trinidad and Tobago Legion of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League.
The annual distribution of poppies commemorates Remembrance Day, the day on which the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany took effect - the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918 and so is observed annually on November 11 in honour of the fallen soldiers of World Wars I & II.
The Trinidad and Tobago Legion of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League is a member of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League which assists ex-Service men and women who served The Crown, and their widows, who are now in need. (Source: The Loop, Oct 14, 2022)

VETERAN broadcaster and newspaper columnist Yusuff Ali died peacefully on Sunday at his home in London, England.
He was 85.
The Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) shared the thoughts of two other veteran journalists, Dominic Kalipersad and Neil Giuseppi, who worked with him and described him not only as a pioneer in the field of journalism in Trinidad and Tobago but as an individual who helped shape the media landscape as we know it in T&T today.
“His rich voice, charming smile, and piercing interview style endeared him to viewers of Panorama, the flagship evening news programme of the-then lone television station (Trinidad and Tobago Television),” said Kalipersad. 
“A former teacher at Five Rivers TIA School, Ali’s entry to media, however, began in radio. He was among those who opened 610 Radio (Radio Guardian) in September 1957. It was there that he learned the craft of radio broadcasting, news-writing and broadcast journalism,” he said.
“Under the tutelage of media heavyweights such as Larry Heywood, Frank Hughes and Ed Fung, Ali worked alongside great radio personalities such as Desmond Bourne, Freddie Wharwood and Ashton Chambers, as well as ace reporters John Babb and Geoff Lewis,” Kalipersad added.
Eventually, he became chief editor at the station, where they pioneered hourly news bulletins.
After four years at 610 Radio, Ali left to take up an announcer’s position at Barbados Rediffusion and, later, as an international functionary at a United Nations agency in Geneva.
In the late sixties, he returned to Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) in the post of news director/Panorama producer and built a news team that started the journalistic careers of Giuseppi, Dale Kolasingh and Jai Parasram.
Ali left TTT in 1975 for a position at the Commonwealth Secretariat at Marlborough House in London.
For 25 years he wrote a newspaper column, first with the Sunday Guardian then with Newsday.
Broadcaster Giuseppi described Ali as one of the greatest news personalities this country has known.
“When I joined Trinidad and Tobago Television in July 1971, Yusuff was the news director and on that day began a friendship that I have always treasured and I became part of a team that day that comprised Yusuff, Ed Fung and Dale Kolasingh, all of whom have now passed to the Great Beyond,” he said.
He said that Ali was the consummate professional who insisted on standards of excellence at all times.
“ ‘There’s a time for work and a time for play’, he would say, ‘and when it’s time for work, I don’t want to hear about play’. And he lived that philosophy to the hilt,” said Giuseppi.
“Yusuff, my friend and mentor, you have left an indelible mark on the news media in Trinidad and Tobago and this country will always owe you a debt of gratitude,” he said.
(Source: The Daily Express, November 2, 2022)