“Our mission of ‘water for all’ is the assertion of a basic human right as enshrined in the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, namely – the right of the individual to life… Providing water for all our people provides for equality and equal opportunity…” Ganga Singh, July 2000. Our first …
Read More »Vaneisa: The Unseen and the Unspoken—and the need to fix “us”
When I started what I thought could be a series on cricket and our Caribbean societies seven columns ago, I imagined separating it into two elements: internal and external. My intention was to try to grasp the factors that affect the way our young people process thoughts and information. I …
Read More »Indra Persad Milowe: “My art brings to life many of my childhood memories…”
“[…] Our teacher pinned our small flags on our blouses and we had to hold hands with each other. We then walked clockwise around the school. “Every child had to recite one line of the national anthem. We then had to jump up in the air and, when landing on our feet, shout loudly: …
Read More »Dear Editor: FULs could also terrorise women in domestic violence cases
“[…] The presence of firearms in a household where there is a history of domestic violence increases the risk of lethal outcomes. “[…] The use of firearms by abusers in cases of domestic violence can extend beyond fatal outcomes. Firearms can be employed as tools to exert control, intimidate, and …
Read More »Daly Bread: The disconnect between Pan and our development goals
Last week, there was high level recognition of the relevance of the steelband movement to sustainable development goals, even though our governments have not published implementable policies for the mutual and sustainable benefit of communities and steelpan music participants—such as players, arrangers, tuners and tutors. By a resolution passed on …
Read More »Noble: The Church, Sex and the Young—our children can’t live in “sanitised bubble”
“If the kingdoms of this world are to be transformed into the kingdom of our Christ, qualified Christians need to be deeply involved in political, legal, and economic processes. “Resistance to the calling to address these social issues intelligently and with spiritual force arises within some local churches and Christian …
Read More »Demming: Digitisation won’t erase public sector “stuckness”, without attitude change
Congratulations to the Ministry of Legal Affairs (MLA). I received my digital marriage certificate in four days without leaving my home. Unfortunately, we have to start the process all over because there’s an error. The name of one of the witnesses is incorrectly spelt. Having gone through the application process I was …
Read More »Dear Editor: Why shouldn’t Smith by applauded on Father’s Day? When will his redemption come?
“[…] So why should Darryl Smith not be applauded on Fathers’ Day? […] Does his ministerial indiscretion of some years ago automatically exclude him from being a good father? “[…] Ms Dennise Demming’s moral outrage against the Guardian for their temerity, and her seeming inability to say to Mr Smith …
Read More »Vaneisa: Why Trinidad and Tobago’s trauma is real and festering
Trauma is a loaded word—carrying burdens that are often invisible until something triggers an eruption. The first part is the event that invokes it, some truly cataclysmic occurrence that horrifies and terrifies to such an extent that even if it seems to have dissipated with time, it is a continuous …
Read More »Dear Editor: When did Darryl Smith transform himself into a model father? What was Guardian thinking?
“[…] In less than five years, former Minister of Sport Darryl Smith moved from being fired for interfering in the public service while still being actively investigated for sexual harassment to being proclaimed among the recognized fathers of our land. “[…] What is the message being sent to men in …
Read More »Dear Editor: Trinidad and Tobago will benefit by better valuing our fathers
“[…] This apathy is societal, in which the positive impacts of involved fathers are ignored. And we do not seem to care to make any necessary changes to this for the benefit of our society. “Jamaica recently introduced a clear paternity leave policy. In T&T… nothing—3 or 4 days in …
Read More »Vaneisa: Parenting and punishment—“discipline is often equated with physical violence”
He was telling me about a group discussion about childhood. In an unfamiliar environment, he’d told those strangers that he had experienced what he’d considered a typical West Indian approach to discipline. Licks. When they pressed for details, they concluded that it had been abuse. “I learned about a thing …
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