The 1920s saw Siparia expand as a commercial centre, especially with the steep rise in the price of cocoa which still occupied considerable acreages around Siparia. By this time, most of the old Royalist planters were dead and the only large cocoa estate was owned by the Hon Timothy Roodal, a member of the Legislative Council. Avocat and Standard Village, however, were occupied by numerous small cocoa farmers who planted estates of 10–20 acres.
The 1930s saw Siparia emerge into the age of the cinema. Two movie houses, the Regent and Plaza Cinema (originally owned by the Plaza Family), came into being at this time. The latter stayed in business until 1986, albeit under several different owners.
Plaza Cinema was the venue of many vaudeville shows starring local talent. Foremost among the performers was strongman and bodybuilder Phidias Bissessarsingh who was also known as “Tarzan” because his feats of strength were always done wearing just a loincloth made of real jaguar skin.
Jazz maestros Clive and Carlton Zanda (Alexander) are also long-time residents of Siparia and grew up here during the town’s heyday. These accomplished musicians still make contributions to the local music scene.
The years of WWII saw a change in Siparia society, especially with the influx of American soldiers to bases in Cedros and Los Iros. These soldiers would sometimes visit Siparia and have a spree with liquor, calypso and women.
A regular taxi service to San Fernando was established in this era, with Ford “Woody” wagons being the choice of vehicle.
The building which used to house the County Medical Office is known locally as the old army building because it was an administrative post for the Allied Forces during the war. Towards the end of the war, the St Christopher’s Anglican School was built.
Siparia during the 1950s was a place of change. In 1955, the Presbyterians built the now renowned Iere High School as a sister college to the famous Naparima College of San Fernando. This institution has produced many accomplished graduates and prospered exceedingly during the stewardship of its first principal, the venerable Rev Cyril Beharry.
The current prime minister (now former PM), the Hon Kamla Persad-Bissessar, is an alumnus of this institution.
With the formation of the People’s National Movement in 1956, Siparia became a major stop for the great political “excursions” of Dr Eric Williams. Towards the end of the 1950s a cycling velodrome was built at Irwin Park. The park was the scene of popular horse and donkey races in the 1920s and 30s which attracted spectators and punters from around the island. This is now the site of a modern stadium due to be completed in 2015.
The year 1954 saw the last of the Trinidad Government Railway in Siparia, which ran its last engine in that year due to the massive financial losses that were being sustained. The line was uprooted, and today only small sections of the original course exist. During the 1970s two secondary schools, Siparia Junior Secondary and Siparia Senior Secondary schools were constructed. These continue to provide meaningful educational stimulus for the youth of the district.
Though parang was originally brought to Trinidad in the mid-19th century by “cocoa panyol” immigrants who had come as labour on the cocoa estates, it did not really gain widespread credence until the advent of Daisy Voisin during the 1960s.
Daisy, the undisputed “parang queen,” (a former schoolteacher and nurse) lent a zest and life to the parang tradition with the assistance of her group of paranderos, La Divina Pastora. Though Daisy died in 1991, her music is still a cornerstone of a Trini Christmas. A bronze statue to her memory was erected in 2014.
Towards the end of the 20th and into the 21st century, Siparia continues on its brave front. Still a small country town, its heritage in parang and other endeavours is still very evident. Recently the Envirofest committee, comprising several notables of the region, has been instrumental in promoting local culture. The old landing place of the Amerindians, Quinam Beach, is now a bustling weekend hot spot.
The church of La Divina Pastora is also still very much alive, and the annual Siparia Fete is an event that is much looked forward to by many people throughout T&T. The multi-ethnic, cosmopolitan population is the real wealth of Siparia, where men are still brothers, and peace is still a very real concept.
Source:  Virtual Museum of TT

​Congratulations to the Trinidad and Tobago Under 18 Girls Water Polo Team who took the Gold Medal in their category today at the CARIFTA Championships in the Bahamas.

I hope you enjoy this small glimpse at our history.   

Three Trinbagonians have been shortlisted for the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Ingrid Persaud, Caroline MacKenzie, and Jon Lewis-Katz were all shortlisted for the prestigious award, making Trinidad and Tobago the country with the highest number of shortlisted entries this year.
Lewis-Katz’ short story, Shopping, is among the entries up for the Prize, along with McKenzie’s short story The Dying Wish, and Persaud’s The Sweet Sop.
Jon Lewis-Katz, who lives in the Bronx, New York, has written for publications such as Fiction, New Walk, and the Trinidad Guardian.
He teaches writing at CUNY and is working on a collection of short stories about West Indians and West Indian-Americans in New York City.
Mackenzie is based in Trinidad and has written for literary journals and magazines around the world.
A former national scholar, she speaks four languages and holds a Masters in technical translation from Imperial College London.
Persaud, who resides in Barbados, initially pursued a successful legal career that included teaching and scholarship at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, in the United States and King’s College London.
Her creative work has been widely exhibited and her writing featured in several magazines. Her debut novel, If I Never Went Home (2014) was highly praised.
Twenty-one stories have been selected by an international judging panel out of almost 6000 entries from 49 Commonwealth countries.
This was a record number of submissions, an increase of almost 50 percent from 2016. Now in its sixth year the Prize is for the best piece of unpublished short fiction in English.
Chair of the judges, novelist Kamila Shamsie, said of this year’s shortlist:
“The extraordinary ability of the short story to plunge you into places, perspectives and emotions and inhabit them fully in the space of only a few pages is on dazzling display in this shortlist.”
“The judges weren’t looking for particular themes or styles, but rather for stories that live and breathe. That they do so with such an impressive range of subject matter and tone has been a particular pleasure of re-reading the shortlisted stories.”
“The geographic spread of the entries is, of course, in good part responsible for this range – all credit to Commonwealth Writers for structuring this prize so that its shortlists never seem parochial.”
The Prize is judged by an international panel of writers, representing each of the five regions of the Commonwealth. The 2017 judges are Zukiswa Wanner (Africa), Mahesh Rao (Asia), Jacqueline Baker (Canada and Europe), Jacob Ross (Caribbean) and Vilsoni Hereniko (Pacific). 
Source: commonwealthwriters.org

A Trinidad-born orthopaedic surgeon has made a discovery in the field of medicine. Dr Jabari Martin, 33, who is from Petit Valley, found that a person can have cancer of the lymph nodes but it can be mistaken by doctors for an infection at the site of previous surgery.
Martin attended Queen’s Royal College before heading off to the prestigious Howard University where he studied biology, medicine and then orthopaedic surgery. He is currently completing a fellowship in sports medicine at the American Sports Medicine Institute.
The discovery was made while Martin was still a resident at Howard University Hospital but was completing a rotation at the US Veteran Affairs Hospital in Washington DC.
The ground-breaking case is featured in this month’s edition of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and is co-authored by Drs Jasmine Bauknight; Vincent Desiderio and Bahman Sadr.
According to the case, a 49-year-old man with a history of skin cancer and skin infections came to the hospital with increasing pain in the left shoulder that was exacerbated by overhead activities; the pain was even felt during sleep. When questioned by a team of doctors, the man repeatedly denied that he had any history of trauma.
In an interview with the Sunday Guardian, Martin noted that the man “had previously undergone shoulder surgery to repair the rotator cuff. He healed uneventfully, with no shoulder pain, and improved function of the shoulder but three years after the initial surgery he began having recurrent left shoulder pain. It was recommended that he undergo physical therapy and pain management but that did not help him improve”.
Martin and the co-authors noted that an MRI was subsequently done and it revealed that the patient had a surgically amenable re-tear of the rotator cuff and therefore a decision was made to go back into surgery and fix the tear. The man then showed the expected improvements after surgery but began suffering recurrent pain five months later that could only be attributed to secondary tendonitis. Anti-inflammatory medications were recommended and prescribed soon after.
A breakthrough
This was ineffective and, according to the journal, the patient returned with fevers, chills and swelling over the anterior aspect of the shoulder. He was admitted to the hospital and underwent surgical removal of all infected tissues.
It was during this third hospital admission that the patient began exhibiting the symptoms of night sweats. The article describes in detail, “While in the hospital, the patient had drenching night sweats, copious serosanguinous wound drainage, an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein level, and a mildly elevated white blood cell count, all attributed to infection from his presumed osteomyelitis.”
However, blood cultures, as well as capsule and synovial tissue samples and swabs obtained during surgery, showed no bacterial growth. According to the journal, “Over the next three months, the patient underwent three additional open débridements, each time with more aggressive removal of tissue, suture, and implants from prior surgeries. A total of 25 cultures was obtained, with the initial débridement cultures held for only seven days but subsequent cultures were held for 14 days and four to six weeks for fungal and mycobacterial cultures.”
Martin admitted that the team was perplexed as the cultures did not grow as expected. However, they encountered a breakthrough when, on closer examination, a swelling was noticed on the left side of the back of the man’s neck.
The swelling was not characteristically tender, prompting the team to test a sample. This led to the surprising diagnosis of cancer of the lymph nodes.
On Martin’s recommendation, the patient at once underwent chemotherapy and within days of starting chemotherapy, drainage from the shoulder decreased, and the pain improved. Within one month, the wound had healed, and at five months, the lymphoma was in complete clinical remission. At that point, the shoulder was minimally painful and remarkably functional considering the extensive multiple débridements of the rotator cuff and its footprint.
The study noted that one year following the last surgical procedure, the patient was re-evaluated and the lymphoma was in remission. His left shoulder ached intermittently on exertion, with the pain favourably rated between zero and six on a ten-point visual pain scale.
Source:  Trinidad Guardian

While Caribbean governments have been slow and downright skittish to decriminalize marijuana in the region, a Canadian-owned company is looking to profit by combining two of the region’s best known products – rum and ganja.
The Tinley Collective has created the Dark Rum Extract, a blend of Caribbean spices with dark rum extract infused with marijuana. It is recommended users sip on the rocks or with soda, orange juice, black tea, lime or Tinley’s Amaretto.
The Tinley Beverage Company Inc. of Ontario, says the company was founded based on the belief that medicating should be done with products that are healthy, delicious and in harmony with mainstream lifestyles.
Other products in the Collective include Cinnamon Whisky and Amaretto extract-based varieties, as well as a single-serve Margarita cocktail.
The products are currently only available largely California residents and those who hold a valid California medical cannabis recommendation by membership to the Tinley’s medical cannabis collective.
Membership is free and valid for as long as you hold a valid medical recommendation but contributions are required to cover the costs of any products you consume.
Tinley says it is now working to setup home delivery for any member who is unable to visit our members or partnering dispensaries.
The company says it is also accepting recommendations from any licensed California physician, including those who perform evaluations online and via telemedicine.
“Opening this collective represents a significant milestone for the company and a critical component of our ability to offer cannabis-infused products via California’s extensive medical cannabis system. We will update our patients as our products become available,” said Jeff Maser, CEO of Tinley.
Source:  News Americas 3/03/17