Hikers 20 pays tribute to Josanne and Paul

THE EDITOR: This is in fond rembrance of dedicated, committed youth leaders who are no longer with us. Paul Rene and Josanne Metivier Emmanuel.

Josanne showed her commitment to service very early in life, when her school friend got ill and had to be taken to hospital from school. Wanting to ensure the safety of her belongings Josanne took the child’s school bag and portable typewriter all the way from St Joseph’s Convent, Pembroke Street Port-of- Spain to De Verteuil Street, Woodbrook, where we lived (the child was my daughter). Josanne had no money for taxi and walked all the way with the heavy bags. That was her commitment to service or friendship. They remained friends, as it was an incident never to be forgotten. But there was so much more to that young woman, she loved the outdoors and hiked with us whenever it was possible to do so.

While on one of our quite memorable hikes to prove to ourselves “we had the endurance” we set out to walk from the Crown Point Airport to Charlotteville and back, over a weekend. The attendant at the BWIA counter took one look at Josanne and said “there is no way you can do it, particularly the fat one.” In her usual style she said “ wham to he, I not fat, I am pleasantly plump.” No need to say we all made it to Charlotteville and back in time to be on the flight. The attendant wrote “HIKERS/20, my God they made it.” So proud were we that a decision was then taken to keep the name, and followed by formalising ourselves. We soon became the Service Organisation for the President’s Award Scheme, the Boys Scout Association, and the QRC Cadets   

This required training almost every week and weekend, be it an assault over the hills from Teteron, on the field, rappelling or rightsising dinghies, rowing or diving at Staubles, first aid with Fire Services, horseback riding at the Mounted Branch, or doing a recognisance in preparation. They never missed training. We were tops when on national, regional or international expeditions in Canada, England, USA, Africa, Venezuela, Columbia, St Vincent, Barbados by land or water. We understood the sprit of adventure, the natural desire to discover, exuberance of youth, and the importance of character building through non-formal education, as we prepared youth for life. We asked and answered the question: What will it cost society to create access for personally meaningful pursuits and what will it cost society if we don’t?    

Paul used our many exercises as the back drop for the radio programme “Wonderful World.” He saw positive growth and development, leadership and character building in the young people as he and Josanne both dedicated their time in service. The question we often ask ourselves is: Are people in our community who are socially isolated able to find opportunities to participate? Quite often in Hikers/20 we answered ourselves, are you willing to explore the role leisure (free time) can play in your life and in that of your community? And what does it mean to you? That was the driving force behind the pleasantly plump, Josanne who gave dedicated, committed service throughout her short life. We believed that the future is not someplace we are going, but one we are creating, if you care about our country, you have a role to play! President, members of Hikers/20 wish to extend to your families our deepest sympathy, we pray that the memories of the beautiful times shared will provide our families with some measure of solace. We also trust with God’s help members of your families will get through this period of sadness.

We love you Josanne!
GIA GASPARD TAYLOR
Founder, Hikers/20