One such citizen is Trinidadian activist and Newsday columnist Elizabeth Solomon, who has worked for years with the United Nations on humanitarian projects around the world and whose husband, Senior Counsel Reginald Armour, has been on the ground in Dominica since Friday.

“How he has described the place, it is really, really devastated,” Solomon told Sunday Newsday.

“It was a very lush island and now it is denuded. Those pictures that people have been seeing with lots of wood. Those are trees that have been stripped of all their leaves.” Solomon, who is also the executive director of the Dispute Resolution Centre, said the people to whom she has spoken on the ground tell a tale of serious hardship.

“There are lots of people sharing one room. There is no food. It is going to be quite some time before they are going to be able to be on their feet again and to just have a roof over their head.

So, they need immediate help.” According to Solomon, the island’s most pressing demand is for food, water, sleeping cots and tarpaulins. “They have been exhausted and traumatised and a little sleep will help so I think tarpaulins are needed.” Basic medical supplies, she said, are also urgently required.

Alluding to reports of violence and looting, Solomon said the such situations must be properly managed.

She said: “I imagine that there are elements who feel that they can take what they can get because they don’t know what is going to happen next. But then that spirals out of control.

And then there is also the propensity for people to believe that they don’t have equal access to safety and for goods. In the short term, it is important to be cognisant of that and to be conflict prevention wise.” Solomon said that rather than just gathering commodities to send to the island, people were genuinely interested in the restoration process.

Although she did not hear Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s appeal citizens to open their homes to Dominicans for a six-month period, Solomon said on the surface, she welcomed the initiative.

“It will be important to know the details of what he has in place. The devil is in the details. But I think it is important that we should open our arms to support the people of Dominica, to support our neighbours and they really are in desperate need of help.”

The question of the end of the world arises not so much because of the actual published prediction that the earth would be destroyed by a planet called Nibiru, but by things that are happening for real, right now.

With the current plague of natural disasters, it’s enough to make the most level-headed of us feel a bit paranoid. It is easy to see why, in less developed societies, such things are seen as demonstrations of anger by whoever or whatever people regard as being in charge.

Look out: it’s a thunder storm; we must have done something wrong and we’re being punished for it (even though a thunder storm is little more than a slap on the wrist unless you get struck by lightning).

In primitive communities, such castigations are ascribed to a god of some sort, and what distinguishes us in the developed world in the wonderful, all-knowing 21st century from these less educated groups is that here there is some dispute about the very existence of God. The ancients didn’t–and the remotes don’t–have access to scientific research that could be adapted to suit their own fears and theories, so they believed what their elders believed, just as devotees of the Bible and the Qu’ran can point to passages contained in them that indicate right and wrong or foretell disaster.

While TT is luckier than most Caribbean countries in that hurricanes usually start just in front of us and head the other way, even those who choose to interpret weather events as divine retribution must admit that whoever is dishing out the punishment is hugely biased.

Why should a nation in which murder and rape are on the front pages every day get away with it? Why should Irma wipe out peaceful, harmless little Barbuda and spare the gun-toting morons who make TT ’s streets such nervous places? And as for earthquakes, such as the ones that have just killed hundreds of people in Mexico, are they also supernatural beatings handed out to the bad guys? In which case, what has Italy done to warrant the quakes that have plagued it in recent years? Is pizza really that bad for the world, or is it just the stuffed crusts and the anchovies? Perhaps the point is that we, the human race, have to be self-policing at an individual level.

In other words we each have it within ourselves to be good citizens and whatever we may feel about our reward being in heaven, or that karma will sort us out later, it’s up to us to clean up our act here and now, just in case.

That doesn’t mean abandoning religion because it causes trouble, which is a fashionable point of view. That would be like banning football because there is occasionally trouble at a match.

It doesn’t even mean finding some way of getting everyone of a religious persuasion to worship the same god. That would just be insulting to the intelligence of the billions of people whose beliefs cannot be scientifically proven (nor disproven) but who go about their lives in peace, minding their own business.

This is not the first time our communal demise has been predicted.

It is, after all, the sort of thing that great wise men are supposed to know. If you’re going to be accepted as a fount of wisdom, you’ve got to have a few facts at your fingertips, such as what time is closing time.

In 1524 many people fled their homes in London and headed for the hills after a prediction by astrologers that the end of the world would start with the flooding of the city. When that didn’t happen the theorists revised their estimation, adding 100 years (a suspiciously round figure, don’t you think?), but guess what – it didn’t happen in 1624 either.

The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, as used by the much-respected Mayan civilisation which peaked in Central America between 250 and 900 AD, pinpointed December 21 2012 as lights-out time, resulting in huge queues at Penny Savers when people who didn’t expect to see another Christmas realised they were going to need to get some beer and ham in after all.So all together now: p h e w ! Isn’t it g r e a t t h a t there are s o m e t h i n g s we don’t know?

It’s a moot point, especially since Mottley, a former finance minister, has long left politics.

But Giuseppi, who, on September 15, launched his second book The Journey Continues at the National Library, Portof- Spain, remains convinced Mottley would have been an excellent prime minister.

Reading an excerpt, Giuseppi, one of the country’s wellloved media personalities, referred to his general distaste of politics but admitted to guests he once considered getting involved in the field.

That was in 2002, when he was invited by a friend to attend a meeting in Port-of- Spain hosted by Mottley.

Giuseppi, 69, wrote that at the meeting, Mottley indicated his intention to launch a new political party.

“He outlined his vision for TT and I must admit, I was impressed. For the next few months I worked very closely with Wendell and his team in setting up the party which was to be known as the Citizens Alliance,” he wrote.

Giuseppi wrote that a snap election prevented the party from becoming a force on the political landscape. He recalled, along with two others, advising Mottley against contesting the election.

“The time was much too short for us to even think of contesting the election since none of the party’s structures were yet in place to allow us to make a serious run at capturing the Government or even winning enough seats to allow us to make a difference in Parliament.

“My argument was that our goal needed to be long term and would be better served by taking the next five years to build strong party institutions which will allow us to be a force to be reckoned with down the road.” According to Giuseppi, a number of people disagreed and were able to convince Mottley to proceed.

He said he wished them luck and “withdrew completely from any further involvement in the party which went on to contest the general election and suffered a heavy defeat which ended Wendell’s involvement in our politics.” “I was quite disappointed with the turn of events since I remain convinced to this day, that Wendell Mottley would have made an excellent prime minister of TT .” Born and raised in Arima by Neville and Undine Giuseppi, both of whom were prolific writers, the former TTT broadcaster, in the book, revealed that former prime ministers George Chambers and Patrick Manning had approached him to contest the seat.

“My answer has always been the same.

I have neither the patience nor the testicular fortitude to be a politician,” he wrote.

He said while it might be true that politics governed everything in the world, “I have always felt that getting involved in active politics often forces one to make compromises that they will never make in the normal course of things.” Saying politicians and political parties should serve only one term, Giuseppi observed that once the question of re-election came into the picture, compromises started.

“Members who are committed to a oneterm party can make the hard decisions as often as needed without fear of losing at the polls on the next occasion.” Referring specifically to TT , the former Arima Boys’ Government student, wrote there were many hard decisions to be made which successive governments seemed afraid or unwilling to make.

“That is why we continue to be a third-world nation, a place I believe we will always remain, regardless of what the politicians may say to the contrary.” But Giuseppi’s brief political interest was just one area into which The Journey Continues delves.

Within its 382 pages, the book also captures his other life experiences, presenting never before revealed insights into the “things that made him tick,” according to his daughter, Nicole, who delivered a reflection at the launch.

Written in bold print with hundreds of photographs, she said the book highlighted her father’s love for family, friends and “genuine respect for true professionals who have made their impact on Trinidad and Tobago society, the region and the rest of the world.” Receiving equal attention, Nicole said, was his take on the Americanisation of Trinidadians, the breakdown of discipline in schools, religious fanaticism, the failure of one of the country’s major health institutions to provide an acceptable level of health care and what he considered the “rip off that is perpetrated on the country’s citizens by the large majority of the country’s insurance companies.” It also speaks to Giuseppi’s status as a free mason and onetime manager of two of the country’s leading calypsonians.

Nicole said, “He takes us back to a simpler time almost 50 years ago, when, along with his late parents, he was able to tour Europe on $5 a day.” Nicole said her father had the ability to recall even the smallest details about people and events many years ago.

Giuseppi joked that The Journey Continues–the sequel to his first book, No Regrets– was by “no stretch of the imagination meant to be any academic dissertation meant at enlightening the masses.

“This book, like the former, is simply a collection of the memories of a man who lived life to the fullest and who, in the twilight of his years, is reflecting on what these years meant to him and maybe to others whose paths he may have crossed along the way.” Businessman Ken Gordon delivered the feature address.

Giuseppi’s daughter, Lisa, also spoke.

Among those attending the event were Arima Mayor Lisa Morris-Julien, former Port of Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing and media personalities Jones P Madeira, Tony Fraser, Bernard Pantin and Dominic Kalipersad

It is alleged harsh words were exchanged between the 40-yearold John, who featured for the entire match, and the Stars players, during the one-sided contest which ended 6-0 in favour of North East Stars. Central FC, who completed a historic three-peat of league titles last season, are currently languishing in the standings and looking unlikely to make it four in a row.

Ironically, John is also an assistant coach with the Trinidad and Tobago team, while national coach Dennis Lawrence looked on in the stands.

According to a Stars player, who requested anonymity, John should permanently hang up his boots instead of trading barbs on the field with this country’s professional footballers.

“I thought it was very distasteful. There is always banter within football.

Banter amongst the players is one thing but when you have the position as the assistant coach of the national team, and a head coach (of a club team), it would come across a lot different.

“I was a member of Central FC previously. I don’t know him personally but I think that the remarks were uncalled for, coming from a person of his stature. It was definitely uncalled for, banter or not.” About the all-time TT record goal-scorer (70 goals from 115 internationals), the player stated, “You are past your career. Your playing days are over.

“Nobody said you (were) not a good player.

You were a good player. But now is time for the younger players because it’s their generation, their time to shine to make something of themselves, so they can now move (forward).” North East Stars coach Derek King, when contacted yesterday, pointed out, “As a coach, I would never disrespect (any) coach in the League or disrespect any player. At the end of the day we (need), as coaches and club owners, to build Trinidad and Tobago football.

“It’s not about us. It’s about building Trinidad and Tobago football to take it to the next level.

We’re here to support, we’re the feeder for the national set-up. We should be as one, all the coaches,” ended King, the former TT defender and assistant coach.

Efforts to contact Brent Sancho, owner of North East Stars, proved futile.

The Paramin couple, who celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on February 15, will be featured in the documentary 70 Years Together at the TT Film Festival.

The documentary will be shown at MovieTowne’s cineplexs in Port-of-Spain, San Fernando and Tobago, beginning from 1 pm.

The Josephs’ grand-daughter, Cassandra, told Sunday Newsday her grandparents story was inspirational and felt it should be shown to the world as an example of how married couples should live in an age where, according to recent statistics, the average marriage lasts only three years.

Cassandra said she was grateful her grand-parents were still alive to celebrate the milestone.

“It is unheard of for both people to be alive because one partner is usually deceased. It is something we take fro granted because a lot of people do not have their grandparents around,” she said. Cassandra said her grandparents have led by example.

“They get up at a certain time and they don’t eat any fast foods, white chicken as they say. The use a lot of organic stuff and I believe their lifestyle is the secret to their longevity.” She said her grandparents, devout Catholics, were exemplars in the community and deserved to be featured.

“People always ask them about their secret to a long and happy married life and what advice they could give to young married couples.

So, we believe that reaching this blessing is really a milestone.” Married in 1947, at ages 23 and 19, respectively, Bertrand and Claudia wore traditional creole wear, a dress code they repeated when they celebrated their anniversary in February.

Bertrand is a retired senior nurse, who worked at St Ann’s Hospital, while Claudia managed the household.

The couple raised five children Today, the Josephs, who still live at their home in Paramin, are also the eldest married couple in the village.

On achieving their 64th wedding anniversary in 2011, the couple was recognised at Our Lady of Guadeloupe (Pararmin RC Church).

They also received an apostolic blessing from Pope Benedict XVI.

Had it been left to her grandparents, Cassandra said their wedding anniversary in February would have passed quietly with little or no fanfare. She said they would have never agreed to a celebration or an appearance at the TT Film Festival.

“They are not very material people. They have never been interested in celebrating anniversaries.

Their money has been to provide for the family.” Cassandra, speaking on behalf of the family, wished her grandparents many more years of wedded bliss.

They make my job significantly easier. But what would happen if I didn’t have access to them? Over time, I’ve learnt that necessity really is the mother of invention.

Working with your hands is not only possible, but surprisingly beneficial for doing your makeup.

Your hands are great because they don’t cost you anything and you won’t encounter the stress of having to clean any brushes or sponges. A lack of tools doesn’t have to stop you from doing your makeup. There is, however, a golden rule: Always ensure that your hands are clean before you touch your face.

You can create various effects by using your hands.

Backstage at fashion shows, you see a lot of artists using their hands to apply makeup to models. This is because their hands are readily available and can melt products into skin for the perfect “no-makeup” makeup.

Usually, you use your hands to apply moisturiser and primer, so why not use your hands for the rest of your face makeup? Since your fingers won’t absorb product, you’ll find that you can use less product and achieve more coverage.

When it comes to concealer, you should apply it using patting motions to spread and blend it seamlessly.

I like to apply cream blush using my thumbs since they are the perfect size to deposit and blend the right amount of colour on the cheeks; the luminosity from the blush also creates a naturally radiant finish. Liquid and cream highlight also melt right into the skin when applied with fingers.

Using your index and middle fingers together, tap the highlight onto the high points of your face like the cheekbones, forehead, down the bridge of the nose, the cupid’s bow and the chin, for a litfrom- within glow.

If your eyeshadow doesn’t usually apply well with a brush, try applying it with your fingers.

A patchy finish is common with some frosty, shimmery, glittery or textured eyeshadows. Pat the color on to deposit it, then swipe your finger back and forth to crush and spread the pigments for a more foil-like finish. You will get a more concentrated application with your finger and thus, better colour payoff. In the same manner that you’d use a brush or a cotton bud to smudge eyeliner, you can use your little finger to blur it and create a smoky, smoldering effect.

Lastly, y o u c a n create a lip stain by dotting lipstick onto your lips and using your index finger to blot the color and spread it out for a sheer, flushed effect.

This is especially great if you have a colour that is too dark, bright or unwearable. For example, you can create a subtle berry stain from a vampy, wine red lipstick.

Some creamy products work best on normal or dry skin, so what should you do if you have oily skin? Unless you keep your brushes separate, the dusty, dirty brush at the bottom of your makeup bag should not touch your face. If you’re careful, you can use the sponge that comes with a powder compact to blot and mattify your skin.

Use it sparingly because the sponge can really pack the powder on, which will create a cakey appearance. If you don’t have a compact, then blotting papers or tissue paper will lift away any excess moisture, leaving you with a semi-matte finish. If you favour an eco-friendlier option, a reusable blotting sponge such as a blotterazzi by Beautyblender will remove excess oil and freshen the appearance of your makeup.

The Ark was founded in 2013 by Simone de la Bastide, wife of former Chief Justice and president of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Michael de la Bastide who is on the organisation’s board. Members include prominent individuals such as Dr Kongsheik Achong Low; Justice Kathy Ann Waterman; Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards; Danny Montano; Vicki Assevero Mottley; Carolyn Hart; April Bermudez; Dhisha Moorjani; Patt Christopher and Simone as president.

They are passionately supported by their patron, President Anthony Carmona. A support group, called Friends of the Ark, comprises people from all walks of life, including doctors, lawyers, housewives, media personnel, managers, judges and others, who volunteer their time and skills to the cause.

As one would imagine, the influence of such a group, working together for such an important goal, is tremendous. They particularly cater to “at risk” youth in high crime prone areas within TT and also support faith and community- based organisations, NGOs, and children’s homes to make a positive difference in the lives of children who would otherwise be lost to neglect, poverty, and the pervasive malaise that threatens our future.

Among their triumphs are the donation of a 30-seat Mitsubishi bus to Goodwill Industries; supply of education material and upgrade to the Each One Teach One early childhood centre in Beetham Gardens in partnership with the army reserve; the provision of a newly constructed home to an impoverished Tabaquite family of seven; and their partnership with the Daren Ganga Foundation and Inter Agency Task Force to hold an eight-month cricket and football coaching clinic in Beetham Gardens. In 2015, the Children’s Ark exerted their considerable clout against child trafficking, with an awareness and prevention anti- trafficking six-month campaign for the purposes of sexual abuse, manual labour, and drug trafficking.

The Children’s Ark. who funded the entire campaign at a cost of approximately $1 million, invited both the Counter Trafficking Unit (Ministry of National Security) and Victims and Witness Support Unit (TT Police Service ) to partner with them on the awareness exercise. The media support was indeed dynamic.

This hard-hitting, six-month advertising campaign drew many an eye and a heart to the problem, with billboards, thousands of anti-trafficking posters featuring children in dire situations, and captions reading, ‘Be aware, don’t be a victim, learn the signs’ and ‘What if this were your child; what would you do?’ The Ark bought several childsized puppets and hosted skits for thousands of children at the nation’s preschools and secondary schools, and distributed anti- trafficking material to over 600 schools, teaching them to recognise the risks.

The highlight of the campaign was the visit of Nepalese activist, Anuradha Koirala, founder of Maiti Nepal, and recipient of 30 inter-nation and national awards to give the feature address on child and human trafficking, at their fundraising event at Hyatt on May 20, 2016.

Koirala and her group have rescued over 29,000 girls and young children from trafficking in Nepal.

Her impassioned address at the luncheon left many in tears.

President Carmona exhorted others to do their part, saying, “It is critical that governments, NGOs and other stakeholders are able to facilitate and accommodate victims of human trafficking who have been rescued.” He echoed Koirala’s assertion that we should all ‘take each child as your daughter’, adding, “This is the message I would like Trinidad and Tobago to understand, appreciate and follow in real terms.” “There is no nobler cause than the one being pursued by the Children’s Ark….There can be no stronger symbol of protection than the ark. The Ark could push society to bear witness to its humanity by our actions rather than our glorious words. I am confident that The Children’s Ark will be the type of NGO that will create a holistic environment that will create a citizen and a patriot that we can all be proud of.” The Children’s Ark recently completed a significant project at the men’s prison on Frederick Street, in partnership with the Prison Service and Debbie Jacob’s Wishing For Wings project.

The Ark demolished 14 old colonial Death Row cells and constructed a library complete with furnishings. Wishing For Wings oversees the reading programme with fathers reading to their children and children reading to their fathers.

They are soon to construct a similar facility at the women’s prison in Arouca.

The Children’s Ark are in the process of relocating and reconstructing a new operating theatre and surgical ward at the Princess Elizabeth Home for handicapped children at an estimated cost of $ 1.1 million.

They are also in the process of supplying the St Dominic’s Home for boys with a vocational training school at their home in Barataria.

The Children’s Ark seeks to partner with established organisations in an effort to make a significant difference in the lives of as many challenged children as possible, through their urgent needs, education and sport.

They are quickly building a ‘brand’, which is a credible, accountable and transparent NGO, that corporations and organisations will continue to invest in through their CSR programmes.

The Children’s Ark is particularly interested in projects that will be of long-term benefit to large numbers of marginalized, at risk youth and challenged children.

The Children’s Ark can be found on Facebook, or at www.thechildrensarktt.

com.

Address: 7 Fitzblackman Drive, Woodbrook Tel: (868) 389-9772.

Feature submitted by The Children’s Ark.

“My entry into the world of film came at a young age when my mother began to film environmental documentaries,” Aurora says of her first exposure to the industry she now calls home. “This was a wonderful experience: seeing our country’s caves, waterfalls, flora and fauna captured on film.” At the age of 14, she was offered the opportunity to write a column for a leading local news publication, and interned at Gayelle The Channel as a co-host for one of their television shows at 17.

She was accepted into the Journalism Specialist Programme at the University of Toronto and studied, lived, and worked in Canada for five years before returning home and partnering with her mother to launch an environmental television show, Showcase Environment.

It was this varied background and experiences that fostered Aurora’s passion for media. “I truly believe that it is the best platform to effect positive and sustainable change in the world,” she says. “For me, utilising media means fiction and non-fiction storytelling through film and television and also the practice of journalism.” Upon returning to Trinidad in 2011, her sights were set on work as a journalist. Yet, small coincidences seemed to gently steer her in a different direction. Firstly, she was offered work on the set of Caribbean’s Next Top Model where she was introduced to Danielle Dieffenthaller, a woman she respected since the TT classic Westwood Park was on air. Soon, she would meet other colleagues who she grew to admire: she worked with Robert Dumas as a researcher for his film Red White and Black: A Sports Odyssey, and eventually interviewed with the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), becoming the official blogger for the festival – a position she filled for the past three festivals.

It was at a festival event that she met filmmaker Sean Hodgkinson. “He told me he needed a first assistant director for his film, Trafficked. I had never done that job before but it spoke to my skill set. That was my conception into the Quirky Films family, which I am proud to still be a part of today,” she shares of her first active role in film production.

She has worked on the projects of fellow filmmakers such as Salty Dog (2017), which makes its national premiere at this year’s ttff, The Warehouse (2016), Bazodee (2016), as well as other commercial work. She also produced The Weekend (2017), another Quirky production that is nominated for People’s Choice Award at this year’s festival.

“A producer is essentially responsible for co-ordinating the filmmaking process from beginning to end, developing the project with the director and other team members, finding funding, and running the production from casting to post-production,” she explains of the role she has now taken onset. “A producer makes sure that everyone does their assigned task on time and within budget.” However, she points out that in our local film industry, one person may wear many hats; directors may produce, producers may manage audio, actors edit, editors write, and writers create musical scores. She believes this diversity in roles is part of the magic that has birthed our local industry. “However, I don’t feel that is a fair or sustainable practice. Each person should have the opportunity to be paid for their particular role and also feel supported by all others fulfilling their own roles.” Of her producer credit on The Weekend, she describes the experience as intense and wonderful. “It was wonderful because so many people came together to give of their time and talent to the project,” she says, revealing that 42 pages of script was shot in three and a half days, as the cast and crew worked 20-hour days during filming. “I once described The Weekend as a passion project that took so much and gave so much. [Director] Sean has a very special ability to tell stories with dark undertones in a funny way; in many ways, this type of storytelling embodies our distinctive Trinbagonian culture and when I work with Quirky, I feel like I play a direct part in translating the nuances of our national identity on the screen.” She also worked as co-producer on Salty Dog, working alongside director Oliver Milne and producer Lesley-Anne Macfarlane, who she says has been one of her mentors and inspirations as a multi-talented woman trailblazer in the industry.

Of her work on the film, she says, “I scouted locations, set up casting sessions, and worked onset during initial weeks of filming.” Salty Dog is nominated for best TT short at this year’s film festival and Aurora holds pride in being a part of its coming-to-life.

While Aurora does not believe in “gender essentialism”, she does note that there are roles within the film industry that are not equally represented across genders. “I would definitely love to see all of these roles benefitting from equal representation,” she says, attributing directing roles to a mostly male demographic, while producers, script-writers, and costume designers tend to skew to a female average.

She has been privileged to work on balanced and diverse sets, where the gender imbalance isn’t glaring. However, outside of sets and in the arena of finance, she feels that women are less successful in securing funding for film projects than their male counterparts. “I think this speaks to our gender biases in society and needs to change.” As for the contribution of the ttff, she praises the organisation for effectively creating platforms for filmmaking on our shores that has consistently grown the industry. “They have provided workshops for filmmakers and producers, carefully opened up the market for Caribbean films, and painstakingly built regional and international relationships with investors and filmmakers,” she praises, adding that the festival has intelligently programmed the festival to examine pertinent societal issues. “The ttff has moved our country forward.” Yet, she notes that the availability of such progressive cinema that highlights our stories and societal contexts outside of the festival remains elusive, as opposed to cheaper and more accessible options such as cable television and Hollywood movies. “Hardworking creatives toil for months to years working on a project with very little revenue,” she says, pointing out that the channels for proper remuneration or constant funding to tell our own stories are limited at best.

“I fully acknowledge that our television stations need favourable economics to run. However, I feel that it is past time to negotiate terms between local content producers and television stations. We have the content. Now we need the platforms.

“The stakeholders of nation building have outlined the desire to ‘see ourselves on television’. However, how can these stakeholders expect the very people asked to work creatively to survive within substandard conditions?” She believes this situation can be changed if proper negotiated standardised contracts are instated, providing sustainable living and job security for creatives. As it stands, many cast and crewmembers currently create and contribute to projects solely out of passion, with no financial impetus.

“As human beings who are called to create, our work carries a very deep meaning,” says Aurora of the offerings the people in our local film industry bring. “Often, these cultural meanings have a hand in defining and redefining personal and national identities. This is a huge impact.” Even against such financial obstacles, Aurora is proud to be a part of our local film industry, and sees the ttff and other bodies that promote our local film market as irreplaceable. While there is still a ways to go, the progress that has been made thus far cannot be ignored.

“I genuinely feel that I am contributing to effecting positive change within TT. I am able to manifest and engage in national conversations on human rights, migration, government corruption, environmental degradation, crime, family, economic imperatives, art, and creation,” she says of the topical themes that can be relayed effectively through the magic of film.

“I have been very blessed to possess my particular skill set and I have worked very hard to develop and expand it. I believe that life is a gift and that if you can utilise your talents to make the world a better place, then you should.” 7

The hotel, located at Coblentz Avenue, Port of Spain, has been purchased by a company called Superior Hotels and it was to be rennovated under the Marriott brand; there is currently a Courtyard by Marriott at Invaders Bay.

The boutique hotel has 160 guestrooms and 51 suites and ab offical said items were being sold by lots and by room.

A number of people braved heavy rains and packed the hotel to attend yesterday’s event which began with a viewing from 9 am to 11am and then the auction from 11am to 3pm.

A variety of items were being auctioned including chairs, tables, television sets, stairs and lights.

Ursula Smith said she was interested in a bed set but did not like what she saw and decided not to buy. Denzel Lloyd from Santa Cruz said he was looking at puchasing a television and counter tops.

“It is my first auction ever so I am excited to experience it.” Glenis Douglas from St James said she came with a co-worker who was interested in purchasing a fridge and possibly a living room set. Louis Robinson from Arima said that he saw a king bed that he really liked. This was his first auction as well.

During Newsday’s visit, a television, painting and a set of lights were auctioned.

Queen Elizabeth II, her husband Prince Philip and their entourage stayed at the hotel during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting when The Carlton Savannah had newly opened in 2009. Back in 2013 it had been reported that the hotel had been placed in receivership by State bank First Citizens after struggling to turn a profit in the previous four years.

The second auction at the hotel will be held on September 30.

One individual apparently had a breakdown. The conversation went the road of racial politics and that the UNC didn’t stand a chance anymore if residents of other Caribbean islands were to be accepted here and that the PNM strategy had always been this importation of voters. And, of course, there was the overarching concern with crime. One voice was willing to accommodate because migrants would be better workers than locals and things might very well get done here. These were all legitimate concerns of course. And they tell a story of us, in a microcosm albeit, but a story anyway.

That line revisited saying, “A child cannot be told to share, if he/she hasn’t known what it means to possess something.” Not in those exact words but that’s the general essence. It comes from Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

The sentence is important here perhaps for the simple reason, that as citizens of this land, it seems that our battle for space– from the conversation on my Facebook feed–is still unresolved.

But this is not news. These views should not be new to any resident of Trinidad and one wonders, really, how ready we are for climate refugees? In the last two weeks, two hurricanes, in quick succession, hit some of our Caribbean neighbours leaving many homeless, and overnight refugees. But, even before this, the Rohyinga issue in Myanmar was uppermost in my mind (more on that at another date) together with the crime that took the lives of two elderly women in Trinidad. And I thought of the latter that, if this didn’t make citizens begin to form vigilante groups, well then nothing else would.

Well the conclusion is nothing’s going to happen. Pensioners have been robbed, raided, murdered and we stand by. Retrenchments, murders, kidnapping of children, men and women, rise in cost of living – are all issues that we have been trying to cope with and the situation keeps getting worse.

Are we hoping that a superhero is going to pop up to do the work– alone–while we cheer and congratulate or in some cases blame him/her for things gone wrong? Do we not realise that while we may not be able to eradicate some of these issues, that we can at least control them? That all the citizens need to do is quietly, without much fuss or fanfare if they wish, down tools and disrupt the systems, forcing administrators into action.

I read a foolish argument when this type of disruption was suggested that went something like this, “Think about the poor people who need jobs, how can they down tools? They are not privileged like you to have a job…etc etc.” I thought, “Well, this is the exact reason why nothing is happening.

It’s because this thinking prevails that we continue to box ourselves into a seemingly helpless situation. We haven’t as yet recognised, perhaps because we have never known the power of a collective voice.” Don’t blame the Government when we continue to suffer in silence and fear to the point that now when someone asks if we are ready for climate refugees some of us have meltdowns because our own sense of humanity has been depleted on account of the fact that we ourselves are essentially also trying to survive.

Some see these displaced peoples as threats because we as citizens are also helpless. We don’t mind giving aid from afar or even going across to help with the rebuilding, but why accommodate more persons into a space where our own citizens are struggling to make ends meet? The issue is, how human do we feel when we are constantly on the lookout for the next kidnapper, the next murderer, the next gunman, lying in wait to rob you and also take your life? Do some of us still feel human enough to extend compassion? What is compassion anyway but, as one writer put it, a primal instinct that tells you that this act might very well cover your own back in the future. It has nothing to do with goodness but rather your own survival. So, what do we have to gain from our compassion towards our Caribbean neighbours? Which “citizen” is ready to accommodate someone who is seemingly as dispossessed as he/she is and thus add more heads to the battle for cultural and political space? A n d so the q u e s – tion on that feed stands: Are we r e a l l y r e a d y for clim a t e r e f u – gees?