CARIBBEAN TODAY


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Caribbean students likely to benefit from regional net of universities


CARACAS, Venezuela, CMC
- Caribbean students are like-
ly to benefit from a decision
by the Bolivarian Alliance for
the Peoples of Our America
(ALBA) to establish a region-
al net of universities for mem-
ber countries.
 Antigua and Barbuda,
Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica,
Ecuador, Honduras, St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, Nicaragua
and Venezuela are members of
ALBA, which Caracas has
been promoting as the alterna-
tive to the Free Trade Area of
the Americas (FTAA).
 A report in the Cuban
news agency Prensa Latina
stated that experts from


Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and
Venezuela have endorsed the
constitution for the proposed
network.
 It said that the regional
project was ratified at the first
meeting of the ALBA-
Education Training Groups
and that the meeting here
revised the agreements
reached during the sixth
Extraordinary Summit of
Heads of State in Venezuela
and of the second ALBA
Education Workshop in
Nicaragua. The projection
includes the creation of a com-
mon program for the teaching
of community integral medi-
cine, education and energy.


 "The idea is that the
member countries incorporate
to the development of the
programs permitting the aca-
demic mobility and the devel-
opment of common curricula
for the countries, among other
actions", the report stated.
It quoted Edgardo Ramirez,
director of International
Cooperation, as saying that
the meeting considered that
UNIALBA should be a net
for the participation of stu-
dents, educational, investiga-
tors, workers and productive
sectors in the design of inves-
tigation lines.
0


 MARIE GREGORY

Ten Kingstonian Tony
 Tame began to write
 "The Village Curtain"
he had specific ideas as to what
he hoped to achieve.
 The first aim was "to
examine a specific segment of
West Indian and in particular
Jamaican society's use of cul-
turally unique survival tech-
niques and the private atmos-
phere which tends to be pro-
duced within small Caribbean
fishing communities".
 The second intention was
"that readers will enjoy experi-
encing the sharp contrast
between appearance and reality
in what seems so picturesque
and idyllic a place as the West
Indies where the outcome of
the best charitable, official and
bureaucratic
efforts is
always uncer- -iT i I
tain at best". VI I
 "The AJAMACA
Village
Curtain" is
described on
the cover as
"A Jamaican
Collection". ,,-
That is, perhaps, .....
somewhat mis-
leading. I expect-
ed a collection of
short stories.
True, the stories
are there, full of
interesting
vignettes and characters who
appear and reappear. Yet the
framework is more that of a
novel. The action needs to be
followed chronologically.
 There is no obvious human
hero. The story deals with the
sea, survival and the village cul-
ture. Tame has spent a lifetime
in the marine industry. He
admits that he has never earned
a cent that has not come from
his dealings with the sea. The
first chapter and references
throughout point to fishing -
reading the weather, even dyna-
miting the coral reefs testimo-
ny to his intimate knowledge.
He is fascinated by the various
methods used in fishing, sympa-
thetic to the plight of those who
eke out survival in that uncer-
tain environment.

UNDERSTANDING
 Characters in the book are
treated with understanding.
The human spirit is strong, as
illustrated over and over
whether through Sonia, the vis-
iting American who falls in
love with the Black River area
and wants to develop tourism;
Mikey, who survives a Florida
prison and almost loses his life
at sea; or Leo, who dynamites
the reef and loses an arm yet is
able to continue with an adapt-
ed method.


 The hardships bind com-
 munities I ,I L llk r watched
 over by village elder "Mr.
 JJiIms a ganja grower, who
 dispenses white rum liberally,
 yet sticks to coconut water
 himself. The homespun wis-
 dom of the man allows him to
 deal with people at all levels -
 politicians, charity workers,
 visitors and police advising
 quietly, carrying on his own
 activities, ever hospitable yet
 never lifting the village curtain
 more than a few inches.

 COMMENTARY
 Social commentary is scat-
 tered throughout. We hear of
 the young officer from
 Kingston explaining basic sea-
 manship to the men of the vil-
 lage who had fished the Pedro
 Banks since they
 were 10 years old,
 and the
CURTMN Englishman who
 comes to the
I ECI lE*uN Police Force as
 deputy commis-
 sioner telling the
 press that he has
 not come to
 "solve crime.
 Finally, there is
 -the "Charity
 Man", so called
 by "Mr.
 jlaIlm ". Here
 *is the disillu-
 sioned do-
 gooder who
 sees his projects diverted from
 their original intent.
 Tame is a master of under-
 statement.
 We are allowed glimpses of
 lives in the community. The cur-
 tain is never lifted completely.
 The final vignette is of the
 dog, "a formal sort of dog",
 passing to other owners after
 the death of Myra, the love of
 his life. Nameless, loyal, know-
 ing, the dog becomes an alco-
 holic after being given rum in
 the local bar. The chapter,
 which deals with the death and
 burial of the animal, is touching.
 As the story closes and
 "Sonia", about to return to her
 homeland, looks at "Mr. JJIIKm
 and sees the veil of his eyes, the
 moment of truth teaches her "it's
 not a veil, it's a curtain. Curtain,
 hell. It's a wall".
 Tame says: "I hope that I
 have been at least partially
 successful at bringing the smell
 of the salt spray at daybreak
 and rage of the hurricane into
 the general atmosphere of this
 book as well as the tranquil
 sound of a quiet, rainy night".
 Mission accomplished.

 Marie Gregory is a freelance
 writer for Caribbean Today.
 The book is available through
 Amazon.com.
 0


Fishing to raise 'The


 Village Curtain'


December 2009


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1 0 It S / IE I> U C ON T I o n