Scheduled to be launched today at Soft Box Studios Gallery on Alcazar Street in St Clair, the book will be supported by an exhibition of Dixon’s travel and relationship- inspired artwork. The book is the first major collaboration of this nature for authors Mohammed and Dixon, who have shared a two decade- long creative partnership.

Trinidadian-born Mohammed is a scholar and film-maker, currently serving as Professor of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad. Dixon was born in London, England, but has lived and worked in the Caribbean since 1985 – and is a globally- renowned artist.

Travels with a Husband follows the journeys of Mohammed and Dixon throughout some of the most intriguing corners of the world, including: Australia, India, Namibia, Northern Ireland, The Hague, and several Caribbean islands (including Jamaica), where they both have lived for various periods of time. Infused with a compelling blend of humour and poignancy and presented in an entertaining mix of writing styles, the book explores the escapades and trials of the couple as they navigate new territories and experiences.

Curating memories of over two decades, Travels with a Husband reflects the lighter side of travel and relationships – all written from a familiar Trinbagonian perspective which local readers will relate to easily.

Mohammed and Dixon’s distinctive individual styles were fused to combine the intellectual and artistic outlook throughout the book. Prose and verse are also complemented by Dixon’s “striking and sometimes quirky” illustrations and artwork. As much a travelogue as it is a journey of a relationship presented both visually and through the written word, Travels with a Husband is set to appeal to a wide range of readers.

Mohammed noted the importance of returning the foreign gaze in such a book: “As Caribbean people, we largely experience the world as consumers of other cultures that have shaped our tastes” she stated. “With Travels with a Husband, we have a work which shows us the world through our own eyes. This work signals a radical progression in the importance we Caribbean people place on ourselves as world citizens.” For more info: patricia.mohammed@ sta.uwi.edu

HAVING a teaspoon of humility in your morning cup of coffee is sufficient to not only brighten your day, but to also strengthen your pathway of success.

For me personally, humility has been the bedrock of my success, as I love humankind and never allow my achievements to distract me from assisting and supporting my fellow men in the best way possible even with limited resources.

Lack of humility assumes an inflated sense of self that can negatively impact the psyche and self-worth of others.

Let me denounce from the start that life is not a competition, but rather a journey which each and every individual on this earth, should be afforded the space to navigate as best as they can.

Unfortunately, the absence of humility leaves little or no room for this to happen.

Humility is simply the act of being modest, polite and in its truest sense the opposite of aggression, arrogance, pride and vanity. It’s uniqueness offers some very interesting features worthy of practising.

Start by embracing the opinions and ideas shared by others, as the world operates collectively rather than singularly.

Humility is especially important in the sphere of leadership; humble leaders solicit input from others including their staff members, to ensure that all the facts are presented before decisions are made.

When this trait is exhibited by leaders, it’s a positive sign not only for the leaders, but their employees and organisations.

Being humble shows concern for the welfare and needs of others, and this approach should be used both in your personal and professional lives. Admission of mistakes is another good place to start being humble.

As human beings, we all make mistakes and understandably so, but your fortitude would always be tested, by your ability to own up to mistakes and take the necessary corrective action.

Accepting ambiguity is another step in the right direction; many individuals including leaders, commonly display attitudes of control, and in so doing, offend others. Always be mindful of your environment and learn to step back sometimes.

Take time out to self-reflect and introspect to assist in determining what changes can be made to create an inclusive environment, In a larger sense, humility is about appreciating, respecting and listening to others.

Every human life possesses intrinsic value, and therefore, it is important to understand, that the world does not revolve around one single individual.

When you are humble, you tend to listen more and speak less; devote more time to understanding others, and reduce the time being understood. Humility starts with you and a kind heart, and because of this indelible value, it offers tremendous control over attitudes and actions. As a humble being, you have nothing to prove, but all to offer.

To obtain a copy of the book With Women in Mind call 283-0318 or 795-9531.

Sandrine Rattan is a communications/ branding consultant, author and president of the International Women’s Resource Network (IWRN) Contact: thecorporatesuitett@ gmail.com or intlwomensresourcenetwork@ gmail.com

Parishioners yesterday asked if they are not even safe from crime while worshipping, where really can they feel safe in this country? The church was a crime scene yesterday as Northern Division detectives returned yesterday to continue investigations. The collection is money used for the upkeep of the church and also for charitable deeds within the community.

“I find that is real ridiculousness.

This is a real ridiculous thing,” said Kerwyn Moses, a parishioner who claimed to have been going to the church all his life and never experiencing such a robbery as what took place on Sunday evening. “How could someone go to a church and rob someone? It have people coming here and looking for God, a lot of poor people and that is where you looking to rob? I just find that is really ridiculous. What if this man go to another church and end up hurting someone who decides to defend himself?” Newsday understands that Northern Division Police responded to a report of robbery in the church shortly after the evening mass. When they arrived, officers were told that after the altar boys had gathered the collection with one of them walking to the back of the church with the cash when he was followed by the bandit.

The bandit pointed a gun at the altar boy and announced a holdup.

He gave the startled youngster a bag and ordered him to throw all of the money in. The bandit then escaped at the back of the church.

Police conducted a search of the area, in an effort to find the bandit, but this proved futile. Officers however found a plastic gun near the Church which they believe was used in the robbery. Despite the news of the robbery, parishioners said they will continue going to the church. “I was christened right here, before the church was even renovated,” said Moses. “I am not afraid that it will happen again. I will continue to praise my God in this church.” Investigations are ongoing.

UNC candidate and former councillor for the Freeport/Chickland electoral district, Anil Balliram, complained about receiving news of a change in a polling station from Freeport Presbyterian School to Upper Carapichaima on Friday.

“Is it a plot by the EBC to disrupt the electoral process?” asked Balliram. Balliram said the Friday notice did not give his party enough time to inform potential voters, many of whom still went to Freeport Presbyterian to vote. “They did not even have the courtesy to put up a sign to direct voters to the new location,” he said. Balliram crafted a sign on bristol board himself and hung it on the gate of Freeport Presbyterian School.

A similar discrepancy occurred in polling stations 3190 and 3185 which were historically placed at Esperanza Presbyterian School and Dow Village Government Primary School respectively, but were switched at the last minute, according to UNC candidate Ramchand Rajbal. Unlike Balliram, Rajbal said they were only notified yesterday morning, adding, “All the personnel at the EBC have the candidates numbers. A telephone call would have rectified the situation and we would have lived with that.” Rajbal raised his concerns with officials and asked that the stations be reverted to their original locations, but EBC officials decided against it as ballots had already been cast at both polling stations.

Speaking with the media outside her party’s office, political leader of the Independent Liberal Party, Rekha Ramjit, also complained of the late notice of location changes. “We got our information on Sunday while the UNC received the info on Friday. I do not know when the PNM received their information…We are very close to where the returning officer is yet we received ours on Sunday.” In a press statement, the EBC placed responsibility for the sudden changes on an “administrative error” made by the presiding officer and apologised for the inconvenience. Meanwhile in Charlieville, both UNC and PNM mock stations were ordered to be dismantled after they were discovered to have been within the 100 yards of polling stations at Charlieville ASJA Primary and Charlieville Presbyterian Schools.

UNC lawyer Saddam Hosein brought the location of the PNM’s mock station to the attention of the ASJA Primary station’s presiding officer. After measurements were taken, it was found that the PNM and the complaining UNC were within the limits. Both parties blamed their unlawful placement on the failure of the EBC to mark the 100-yard limit. PNM lawyer Christophe Brathwaite said, An EBC representative yesterday said the commission could not respond to the issue of mock stations being moved as no reports had been made about it.

However, responsibility for the marking of the 100-yard limit was placed again on the presiding and roving officers for the polling stations.

“He was reinstated this morning (yesterday). The thing about it is that Mr Forde had some leave inside which we had asked him to take. He was on a contract and there is a certain amount of days that you can accumulate, so we have asked him to take the days.

I had just simply asked them to bring back out Mr Forde until we deal with the issue. I will meet with him and the PTSC’s Board tomorrow (today) concerning his leave and to resolve whatever misunderstanding they had,” Sinanan explained.

However Forde told Newsday he could not say whether he was reinstated because he did not receive any indication from the Ministry and felt “numb” about the entire matter since last Friday when he was sent home. “I have not seen an official letter, neither did anyone from the Ministry contact me concerning the matter.” He continued, “It was not a good feeling at all last week Friday when I found out that I was suspended. Generally it was not a good feeling to know that you have lost your job because you have gone before the Joint Select Committee (JSC) and be factual about the state of the PTSC and it is all for the betterment of the PTSC. Everything I said was for the improvement of the PTSC.”

But thousands of miles across the sea, there was jubilation. In stark contrast to the tears and sombre tributes back on the island, Cuban- Americans in Florida gathered in the streets spontaneously to celebrate the death of former Cuban president Fidel Castro, under whose rule many thousands fled their island nation home. The stark difference in their reaction is a reminder that there are two sides to the Castro legacy.

Parties took place in the cities of Hialeah and Miami, home to the majority of Cuban exiles in the US, with celebrations particularly focused in the famous, vibrant Cuban neighbourhood of Little Havana.

These gatherings were jolly and some people were so exuberant that many felt the celebrants had crossed the line of good taste. Were they barbaric for so jovially welcoming Castro’s death? We believe all people must be treated with dignity and respect and that the line was, in some instances, crossed. However, if the Cuban-Americans in Florida can be accused of bad taste in their manner of celebration, then Castro can be condemned for far worse.

Donald Trump is not often a person with whom we agree, but it is difficult to contradict his assessment.

“The world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades,” Trump said in a statement issued hours after Castro’s death.

“Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.” Castro was courageously resolute in his beliefs and defied powerful enemies. The crippling US embargo was an attempt by that country to strong-arm after diplomacy and force failed. But what was the value of this when balanced by Castro’s human rights record? What was there of worth in Castro’s regime when voting could not take place? After coming to power in 1959, Castro’s regime built a very effective machinery of repression, according to Human Rights Watch. Amnesty International says death sentences between 1959 and 1987 numbered 237, of which all but 21 were actually carried out. Yet, historians have provided wildly varying estimates.

The figures range between 550 and 17,000. There have been forced labour camps, abuse of prisoners, the political abuse of psychiatry, censorship, restrictions on assembly.

In 1973, gay novelist Reinaldo Arenas was sent to prison after being charged and convicted of “ideological deviation” and for publishing abroad without official consent. He escaped from prison but was recaptured and sent to the notorious El Morro Castle alongside murderers and rapists. After eventually leaving Cuba, Arenas memorably described the horrors he endured under the Cuban government in his autobiography Before Night Falls (1993).

Thousands of homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, objectors, and dissidents were forced into military service in the 1960s and were subject to political “re-education”.

Many were brutalised. Men with long hair were locked up and their hair was cut. Castro himself later said in 2010 that the treatment of homosexuals was “a great injustice.” Who was his revolution for? While Cuba has a reputation for excellent heathcare, patients do not have rights to sue or to reject treatment; there is suspicion of political interference of the system. Epidemiological surveillance has become juxtaposed with political surveillance.

Things may have later improved.

However, the US-imposed trade embargo severely damaged the island’s development. Havana decayed.

Basic commodities such as aspirin was not readily available.

And the Cuban people could not decide for themselves what their future would be. It was all due to the policies of one man who never faced the polls.

Yesterday, we conducted yet another election. For the Cuban people, that has been a luxury which, since Castro, they have not had.

While there might be a certain level of legal authority to function as a leader through the various pieces of legislation that govern the Teaching Service, teachers enjoy moral authority to a greater extent.

This reality makes the power of the teacher all the more potent.

Such moral authority can either be enhanced or diminished based on the conduct, behaviour and attitude of the teacher to the task of teaching.

It is no wonder that so many teachers move on to occupy many leadership positions, since teaching serves as an excellent opportunity to enhance and develop leadership capacity. Very often teachers emerge as leaders in the communities in which they live, owing to the fact that people look up to them.

Moreover, as a teacher one is given the golden opportunity to significantly impact upon the lives of people both in and out of the classroom. Thus their actions and behaviour should always be beyond reproach.

Bearing this in mind, teachers should remember that their actions are under constant scrutiny by people within the school environment as well as by the wider community.

Unfortunately, many teachers fail to embrace this opportunity, ignoring the vast potential it holds to make a positive difference to the society.

Too many people restrict their practice to the mere delivery of academic curriculum, ignoring the moral and ethical responsibility to lead and inspire in and out of the classroom. This narrow view of the job that some people adopt significantly diminishes their output and at the same time reduces the level of intrinsic satisfaction that the job can bring.

All the people operating within the ranks of the teaching profession should understand that as agents of moral institutions, they have an obligation to maximise their impact by acknowledging their leadership roles and exposing themselves to opportunities to develop and refine those leadership skills.

As a teacher, this can be done very easily within the school setting by seeking out and accepting responsibilities to be involved in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.

Assuming responsibilities to lead committees to plan and organise functions and programmes are excellent opportunities to gain leadership experience and thus should not be seen as extra work but rather as a chance for personal growth and development.

This experience can then be easily harnessed in situations outside the school setting, thus laying the foundation for one to enhance their impact on the lives of people around them. Teaching permits opportunities for the teacher to realise potential that many people do not even know they have.

In seeking to become a great teacher, one cannot escape the fact that one must also be perceived as a great leader. The moral authority associated with great leadership enhances one’s capacity to deliver curriculum. Great teachers inspire as do great leaders.

One cannot go without the other.

However, people aspiring to be great teachers must be mindful that moral authority is earned and not demanded. It is earned through the exemplary behaviour one displays, projecting the image of a true professional at all times, with humility and selfless service being the philosophical foundation for action.

The genuine desire to make a positive difference to the lives of one’s charges must be the driving force of any great teacher. Many g r e a t teachers are ultima t e l y g r e a t leaders.

History is replete with examples of such people.

Crystal Tobias-Busby, a midwife at the Scarborough General Hospital, was stabbed multiple times in an incident which shocked the sleepy fishing village where she lived. The mother of one lived at King Street in Plymouth. When Newsday visited yesterday, the victim’s adopted mother Leiba Matthews-Julien said she was awakened by screams coming from the house at 3 am.

“It was the mother of Crystal Tobias Busby, screaming and calling for us to call an ambulance.

So I ran up the road and when I arrived at the house, I see Crystal sitting at the porch drenched in blood. When I asked what happened, I was told that a man who was close to her climbed through a window and stabbed her up as she lay in bed.

I immediately compressed some of the wounds and the neighbour Jason Drysdale also assisted in compressing some of the other wounds to stop the bleeding until the ambulance arrived,” Matthews- Julien said.

“While we we compressing the wounds, she was still in and out of consciousness and when the ambulance arrived, I accompanied her to the hospital and while there the doctors tried with her, they stabilised her, everything seemed fair, like she was going to make it. One of the stab wounds had punctured her lungs so there was internal bleeding, they did all they could do and then she took a turn for the worst and she pass ed away at 6:30,” she said.

Police said that the victim’s son who was asleep in the house at the time of the attack, was unharmed.

“She had a restraining order against that man. Many reports have been made to the police about his behavious towards her,” Mathews-Julien said. The victim had been in a relationship with the suspect for six years but ended the relationship when he abused her. Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Secretary of Health and Social Services Claudia Groome Duke visited the family and offered condolences as well as a promise of counselling.

An autopsy is to be conducted before funeral arrangements are made.

In the interim, investigations are continuing.

SRP Constable Dara Spencer, 40, who was last assigned to the Police Rapid Response Unit was charged with misconduct in public office by dishonestly obtaining $481 from the TT Police Service by falsely pretending to have performed duties on February 7 and 9, of last year, by submitting duty sheets indicating same.

The alleged offence was said to have taken place on February 28, 2015, at the Mon Repos Station.

Spencer, who was arrested on Thursday at her home, had received station bail in the sum of $60,000 which was not varied by Deputy Chief Magistrate, Nannette Forde-John.

The matter is expected to be transferred to the San Fernando Magistrates Court, however Spencer will return to the Portof- Spain Magistrates Court on February 6. She is represented by attorney Cedric Neptune.

She was charged by officers of the Fraud Squad.

Mere minutes after she appeared, acting Supt Wayne Thongs, 55, appeared before Forde-John charged with perverting the course of public justice by instructing a police officer to give Spencer a document which was part of the investigations of her conduct as a police officer.

He too had been granted bail in the sum of $80,000 at the Woodbrook Police Station where he was being held since his arrest last week Wednesday, and this was not varied by Forde-John.

Thongs, who was represented by attorneys Ian Brooks and Dr Kenneth O’Brien, will also return to court on February 6.

According to reports Paulette Forde, 45, reported to police that her 19-year-old daughter, Shenika Forde left her baby girl Jaya Marie Forde in a bedroom of their home and asked Paulette to babysit the child. Paulette reported that about 8.15 am she checked on the child and discovered that she was motionless.

A report was made to officers at the West End Police Station and a District Medical Officer Dr Ojar visited the scene and ordered the removal of the baby’s body to the mortuary.

Newsday understands that there were no visible marks of violence on the baby’s body.

The baby’s mother was contacted and statements obtained from her and the child’s grandmother.

An autopsy is expected to be carried out to determine the cause of death.