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PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POST AGE P AID MIAMI, FL PERMIT NO. 7315 Vol.21 No.1 DECEMBER 2009 Tel: (305 1-800-605-7516 editor@caribbeantoday.comct_ads@bellsouth.net Jamaica: 655-1479 We cover your world INSIDEA federal filing er ror on the part of Caribbean AmericanCongr esswoman Yvette Clarke’s of fice mistakenly landed her among the top 25 richest United States congr esspersons, page 2 . America’s federal government is pulling out all the stops to ensure more citizens and residents participate in the 2010Census. The big marketing push is to reach immigrantpopulations and undocumented residents, groups that historically have not responded well to the census, page 11 .News..................................2 Local .................................... 7 Viewpoint..........................9 Feature..............................11 Ar ts/Enter tainment .......... 13 Food..................................15 Health/Environment........16 Spor t .................................. 18 Tourism/Travel................20 Region/Politics................21 Books/Education ............ 22 Classified..........................23 THE MUL TI AWARD-WINNING NEWS MAGAZINE CALL CARIBBEAN TODAY DIRECT FROM JAMAICA 655-1479 Veteran Jamaica internationalplayer Andy Williams ended a roller coaster season on a tri-umphant note last month by helping his team Real Salt Lake capture its firstMajor League Soccer (MLS title, the sport’s biggest prize in North America, page 18. ~ Caribbean nationals, including those who enter the United States legally, are held unnecessarily and transferred needlessly within an expensive immigration detentionsystem that denies many of them basic fairness, according to three new U.S. reports, page 4. DRUMMING UP SUPPORTWilliam “Willie” Stewart, of Third World fame, has taken his distinct style of drum-ming into South Florida’ s schools, sharing his knowledge and experience with the students and motivating, uplifting andempowering them, page 13. December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 1 

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QUEENS, New York A Guyanese-born, New YorkCity cop, who killed thewoman he was once engagedto mar ry, will have to spend the next 25 years to life inprison. Harry Rupnarine, 39, was last month given the maximumsentence for the May 10, 2007 murder. His sentencing camejust two months after a Queens Supreme Court jury found him guilty of killing Guiatree Hardat, 22, on Atlantic Avenue in Woodhaven,Queens. The shooting was a deadly end to the couple`s tumul tuous two-year r elationship, Hardat`s friends and relatives had said. Rupnarine, in his defense, had claimed he had acciden tally killed Har dat with his 9 mm ser vice Glock while trying to shoot two knife-wieldingthugs. Rupnarine was a former Brooklyn Transit Task Forcecop who took the post aftergraduating fr om the Police Academy in July 2005. He had met Hardat while patrolling the Crescent Street subway station in Brooklyn, shortlyafter becoming a cop. CaribW orldNews WASHINGTON, D.C. Two confir med picks by the admin istration of United States President Barack Obama, forambassadorial posts in the Caribbean, plus a recent nom-inee, raised mor e than $1.4 million for the 2008 presidential campaign committee, according to a watchdoggr oup her e. Resear ch from the Center for Responsive Politics (CPR reveals that Nicole Avant, thenew U.S. ambassador to TheBahamas, raised $800,000 for Team Obama in his bid for president. She is at the top of the list of donors-turned-ambassadors. Michael Beckel, writing for CRP`s site OpenSecrets, noted that most of Obama’stop donors ar e now being rewarded with cushy ambassadorial posts. Avant, who tookup post as the 13th U.S.ambassador to The Bahamason Oct. 22, has no for eign pol icy experience, but worked largely in the entertainmentfield. She is the daughter of entertainment industry legendClar ence A vant and philan thr opist Jacqueline Avant. Prior to her appointment, she was vice pr esident of Interior Music Publishing and A vant Garde Music Publishing (19982009) and was the SouthernCalifor nia finance co-chair woman of the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign. T&T’S GAIN Beatrice W ilkinson Welters, Obama’s current pick for ambassador to the oil richnation of T rinidad and T obago, raised $500,000 for the campaign, according to CRP, and ranks fifth among the top givers to date who have been tapped by Obama to serve as U.S. ambassadorsoverseas. She, along with herfamily , contributed $28,400 to Obama’s campaign, while her husband contributed the legalmaximum of $4,600 to Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign. Her sons, Bryant, acollege student at Notr e Dame, and Andr ew, a high school student here, also gave the maximum amount, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission, even though both wer e classified as “not employed/student”. W ilkinson W elters, who now faces a Senate confir ma tion, also has no foreign service experience, but is a formerIBM engineer tur ned nonprofit chair. Vinai Thummalapally, the cur rent U.S. ambassador to Belize, raised $100,000 for thecampaign and ranks in thebottom five of fundraiserstur ned-ambassadors. Thummalapally , who was con fir med as U.S. ambassador to WASHINGTON, D.C A federal filing error on the part ofCaribbean American Congresswoman Yvette Clarke’s office mistakenly land-ed her among the top 25 rich est United States congr esspersons, a CaribW orldNews exclu sive investigation r evealed. CaribWorldNews last month noted that the Centerfor Responsive Politics (CRPlisted Clarke with an averagenet wor th of some $30 million obtained in 2008 alone.Accor ding to the group’s website, which analyses the topwealthiest U.S. lawmakers,Clarke ranked at 24 out of the top 25 with assets in two invest-ment funds totaling $10,000,002 to $50,000,000, respectively. But the congr esswoman’s of fice later clarified that it was a huge error, based on her of fice filling out the federal paperwork erroneously by ticking the wrong incomebracket. CRP’s Communications Director Dave Levinthal admitted by e-mail that it was an error and the group hadsubsequently r eceived the congresswoman’s amended filing, which reflected a substantially lower net worth, closerto ar ound $100,000, excluding liabilities. Guyanese-born N.Y.cop jailed for 2007 murder of ex-fianceBankrollers are Obama’s Caribbean ambassadorsFederal filing error places Caribbean American congresswoman among richest U.S.lawmakers 2 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com Clarke Bea trice Wilkinson Welters,the new U.S. ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago,and husband Anthony. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4) December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 2 

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, CMC Jean-Max Bellerive, who was sworn-in as primeminister last month, has listedjob cr eation and developing a better investment climateamong the priorities for the government of this Caribbeancommunity (CARICOMnation. “Haiti will continue to work with all the partners andall the people who believe instability and who believe theonly way we ar e going to change Haiti is through private investment and through creating jobs in Haiti,” saidBellerive, 51, the sixth person to hold the post since 2004. He also pledged to foster better r elations with legislators. Bellerive, who previously served as planning and external cooperation minister and had held several positions under at least six differentprime ministers in the pasttwo decades, succeedsMichele Pier r e-Louis, who was ousted by the Haitian Senate on Oct. 30. e will take care of putting (Members of Parliamentmor e in accordance with what we are doing,” the economist said. s the same program, basically . W e have the same priorities (as the previous government).” CO-OPERATION In addition, he said he will continue working with theUnited Nations special envoy to Haiti, former United StatesPr esident Bill Clinton, “in the same manner, in the same commitment that he has with the former government andwith Pr esident (Rn “The only way that we ar e going to change Haiti is through private investment, through creating jobs inHaiti,” he said. Earlier this year, the international community , at a donor s confer ence on Haiti in W ashington, pledged $324 million to help improve the impoverished country’s economy. Bellerive’s approach hasalr eady been lauded by the newly-formed Haitian Economic Development Foundation. “Our business community is pleased to see that Mr. Bellerive’s focus will be to continue furthering the probusiness direction encouraged by President Rn Prval,”said Y ouri Mevs, the gr oup’ s president. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Caribbean nationals, includingthose who enter the United States legally, are held unnecessarily and transferred need-lessly within an expensiveimmigration detention systemthat denies many of thembasic fair ness in the U.S., according to three new reports issued her e. In the first report, the inspector general of the Homeland Security Department found thatdetainee transfers by the Immigration and Customs Enfor cement (ICE haphazard that some of them ar rived at a new detention center without having been served a notice of why they were being held. The Washington-based Constitution Pr oject called for sweeping changes in agencypolicies and amendments toimmigration law , including new access to governmentappointed counsel for many of those facing deportation to the Caribbean and elsewhere. ‘CHAOTIC GAME’ In its report, the human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, said that gov-er nment data showed transfers wer e accelerating, with many long time residents of cities like New York,Philadelphia and Los Angeles, being sent to remote immigration jails in Texas and Louisiana, far from legalcounsel and the evidence that might help them win release. “ICE is incr easingly sub jecting detainees to a chaotic game of musical chairs, and it’s a game with dir e consequences,” said Alison Parker, deputy director in theU.S. for thehuman rightsgr oup, and the author of the r eport. The inspector general’s investigation foundthat the conse quences ofhaphazar d transfers include a loss of access to legal counsel and relevant evi-dence; additional time in detention; and “errors, delays and confusion for detainees,their families, legal r epresentatives” and the immigrationcour ts. FLAWED PLANS In August, the administration of U.S. President BarackObama announced ambitiousplans to over haul immigration detention, a disjointed network that relies heavily onprivate prisons and county jails. But taken together, thethr ee reports underscore the gap between the plans and the problems on the ground in a system that, according to theinspector general, is estimated to be detaining more than 442,000 people a year. The reports cited a Jamaican, who was transferred to Texas after threemonths in detention in New York and New Jersey. Immigration authorities contended that he should be deported based on two prior convictions for drug posses-sion. In New Y ork, his drug misdemeanors were not considered an “aggravatedfelony”, and based on his 22 years of legal residency and strong family relationships inthe U.S., he would have beeneligible for “cancellation of removal”, a form of relief fr om depor tation. However, in Texas, he was bar r ed fr om r elief based on Fifth Circuit rulings, and deported to his nativeJamaica. The bipar tisan gr oup said the agency makes it too hard for people to avoid detentionwhile challenging depor tation and recommended a significant easing in the bur den of proof, and a waiver from mandatory detention for lawful permanent residents. CMC ORLANDO, Florida A Jamaican man has been identified as the lone fatality dur-ing a shooting rampage at an office building here lastmonth. Police said Otis Beckfor d, 26, was one of six people shot, but the only one killed, by adisgr untled for mer employee at an engineering and constr uction fir m. The authorities have char ged Jason Rodriguez, 40, with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting spree after an extensive search. “Obviously we have a tragic incident her e in the city of Orlando,” said Mayor Buddy Dyer. “The gunmanhas been appr ehended.” Rodriguez surrendered to police at his mother s home after he was spotted by officers. A family member said Beckford, an architect at the firm, was the father of a seven-month-old and was due to get mar ried soon. ou couldn’ t ask for a better nephew or a son,” said Evelyn Cole, Beckford’s aunt.“He was just quiet, and he never troubled anyone or gotinto tr ouble,” she added. Belize by the U.S. Senate on July 24, 2009, also has no background in the foreign service, but was president of MAM-A Inc., formerly Mitsui Advanced Media, the nation’s leading manufacturer and distributor of ar chival r ecor dable optical discs. Only 35 of the ambassa dors nominated globally so far by Obama are career mem-bers of the U.S. For eign Ser vice. For ty-six of the pr esi dent’s ambassador picks personally donated to Obama, CRP found, giving him a com-bined $306,700, while seven of the ambassadors who wer e politically appointed have never personally contributedto federal politicians abovethe FEC`s $200 r epor ting thr eshold. CaribWorldNews Jamaican killed during Florida shooting rampageBankrollers are Obama’ s Caribbean ambassadors 4 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com Haiti’s new P.M.sets job creation, investment among main priorities (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 2) Bellerive Photogra ph by ICE.govReports raise questions about U.S. detention stra tegies. Caribbean nationals held unnecessarily in U.S.detention ~ reports December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 4 

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MIAMI – The Haitian-born ringleader of a gr oup accused of plotting ter ror attacks on Chicago’ s Sears Tower and Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI has been sentenced to 13years in prison. Untied States District Judge Joan Lenard imposedthe sentence on Narseal Batiste, 35, who pr osecutors said had hoped to spark an anti-government insurrection by seeking support from alQueda for his alleged terror-ism plans. ou’ve done great harm to yourself, your family , the young men who were your followers, and you’ve violated the trust of your country Judge Lenard said. Batiste, who had faced a maximum of 70 years inprison, was convicted in May of conspiracy to provide material support to al-Queda, plot-ting to blow up buildings andconspiracy to wage waragainst the U.S. Four otherHaitian men, described as Batiste’s soldiers in his paramilitary group, were also con-victed and sentenced tobetween six and 10 years injail. CULMIN A TION The sentencing last month marked the culmination of a case that began with an FBI raid in June 2006 on thegr oup’s warehouse, known as the “Embassy”, in Miami’ s impoverished Liberty City neighborhood. Top U.S. officials acknowledged at the time that the 100-storey skyscraper, Sears Tower, and FBI plots never got past the discussionstage and that the gr oup never acquir ed the means to carry out such audacious attacks. But prosecutors said the case was a prime example of the post Sept. 11, 2001 strategy of stopping terror plots in the earliest possible stages befor e they ignite. There were two previous mistrials in the case, and two men were acquitted before prosecutors finally won the case. Batiste testified at all three trials that he neveraspir ed to be a terrorist and only went along in hopes of scamming the FBI informantout of $50,000. At the sentencing hearing on Nov. 20, he apologized tohis family and the young menwho became his followers, blaming his “arrogance andpride” for leading him downthe wr ong r oad. “I wanted respect,” he said. “I wanted to be this per-son that I r eally wasn’ t. I’ve never been a violent person.” NEW YORK, N.Y. Grammy Award-winning Haitiansinger , songwriter and producer Wyclef Jean has earned mor e r ecognition for his contribution to human rights. Jean, along with Bono of musical group U2, was pre-sented with Ripple of Hope Award at Chelsea Pier in New York City last month by The Robert F. Kennedy Center forJustice and Human Rights. The Haitian ambassador at lar ge was honor ed for his work to strengthen and inspire change in his nativecountr y of Haiti thr ough his Yle Haiti organization. “As champions of justice, Bono and W yclef have brought the national spotlight to human rights violations, empowered local activists, and transformedthe lives of millions of peopleliving in pover ty fr om Por t-AuPrince to Dar fur ,” said Kerry Kennedy, founder of the RFK Center. “Their efforts evokethe spirit of my father and we are honored to recognize them.” Jean also per for med at the ceremony. The award came on the heels of several other human rights awards presented to the singer thisyear , including by ASCAP and BET in June 2009. The RFK Center is a nonpr ofit organization dedicated to advancing the human rights movement through innovative support to human rights defenders around the world. CaribWorldNews NEW YORK Several members of the New York Congressional delegation last month continued the call forcompr ehensive immigration reform. At a pre-Thanksgiving event that recognized NewY ork’s immigrant history, several congr essional lawmakers admitted the need for immedi ate pr ogress on immigration reform legislation. Representative Yvette Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrant par ents, told the audience that the current set of immigration laws must change now. “Our immigration laws ar e inconsistent and inefficient and place an undue bur den on native-born Americans, documented immigrants and undocumented immigrants alike,” said Clarke. “This sys-tem is inef fective and unsustainable. We must never forget that this debate is criti-cal to impr oving the lives of all American citizens,Americanbusinesses, and the lives of those who seek to beAmericans.” “New Yorkers stand proudly with the majority of Americans in their suppor t of compr ehensive immigration reform,” said U.S. Representative Charles B. Rangel. “Too many families are being kept apart by thehypocrisy of a system thatencourages people to come and work, then tries to crimi-nalize them when they want tostay . We have an obligation a moral obligation to see that these laws ar e changed.” The event was co-hosted by the American Jewish Committee, the New York Immigration Coalition and the New Y ork Interfaith Network for Immigration Reform at the New York Historical Society. CaribWorldNews Haitian gets 13 years in prison for link to Chicago terror plotWyc lef Jean receives Kennedy ‘Hope’ a wardKey Congressional leaders in New York call for U.S.action on immigration reform December 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 5 NEWS NEWS www .caribbeantoday.com Rangel F ile photogra phU2’s Bono,left,and Wyclef Jean performing together . December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 5 

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WASHINGTON, D.C. Few Caribbean students ar e studying in the United States, according to the latest Open Doors survey, which analyses foreign students in the U.S. The sur vey, which is published by the Institute ofInter national Education with suppor t from the U.S. Depar tment of State`s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, found that while Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela made the top 25 list, not a sin-gle Caribbean countr y managed to make the cut. By contrast, students fr om India, China and South Kor ea continue to dominate the top three spots in the ranking with students fromthose nations accounting for a large percent of the number of foreign students in the U.S. India had 94,563 students out of 623,805 globally for the2007/2008 period whileChinese students accounted for 81,127 of that number. Meanwhile, while a r ecord number of U.S. students are studying abroad, theCaribbean r egion did not make the cut either for thetop 25 places wher e the American students are turning for education. According to the Open Doors 2009 survey, the number of Americansstudying abr oad increased by 8.5 percent to 262,416 in the2007/08 academic year , with most choosing the U.K., Italy , Spain and France. CaribWorldNews Lesa-gayle Wee Tom, wearing the sash “Miss Donna’s Restaurant”, was last month crowned “MissFlorida Caribbean” 2009. Wee Tom is no stranger to pageants. She is a for mer first r unner up “Miss Hollywood T een”, second runner up “Miss Jamaica Florida” and second runner up “Miss Miami Tropic” and a contestant in “Miss Jamaica World”2009. She is a student atFlorida Atlantic University and hopes to earn a degree in broadcast journalism. According to organizers, the “Miss Florida Caribbean”pageant of fers personal development opportunity for youngCaribbean American femalesages 18-25, who live in theU.S. state of Florida. The pag eant also includes divisions for “teen” and “jun-ior” contestantsbetween ages nineand 17. The winner of “Miss Florida Caribbean” is eligible to representthe “SunshineState” at the 2010Miss CaribbeanUnited Statespageant in New York. The winner of that competi-tion will move onto the “MissCaraibes Hibiscus International”pageant in St. Maarten. Few Caribbean students choose U.S.schoolsWee Tom crowned ‘Miss Florida Caribbean’ MIAMI – Finance Minister Audley Shaw is confidentther e are many investment opportunities in Jamaica. Addressing the 33rd annual Miami Conference onthe Caribbean and Central America, recently, Shaw out-lined the strategies beingunder taken by the Bruce Golding administration to attract investors. He spoke of the development of the agroindustry, with its array of subsectors, including food pro-cessing, or ganic farming and green house production. Regarding tourism, Shaw said the island had recorded afive per cent incr ease in visitor arrivals and a two percent increase in spending recordedin the industr y, despite the downturn in the regio, caused by the global economic r eces sion. He said with the development of the industry, valueadded linkages to support thesector , such as the construction of houses for hotel workers, could be explored forinvestment. Shaw said ther e ar e also opportunities to develop attractions, to provide exoticcuisine, as well as to getinvolved in the fashion andmusic industries. NAPLES, Florida – The pr osecution is seeking the deathpenalty for Haitian Mesac Damas, 33, who is chargedwith mur dering his wife and five children in September. The State Attorney’s Office said that prosecutors willseek the death penalty forDamas, who has confessed to the killings. The notice of intent to seek the death penaltywas filed in Collier County court recently. Damas r emains on suicide watch in the Collier County jail and has not been allowedany visitors other than his attorney since his September arrest, the Collier County Sherif fs Office reported. Collier County Deputy Public Defender Mike Orlando, who representsDamas, filed a not-guilty pleain September and said at the time that he had concerns about his client’s mental state. 6 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com Ja’s finance minister woos investorsFlorida prosecution seeks death penalty for Haitian accused of murdering family Wee Tom December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 6 

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W ith the holiday season upon us, many goodwilled individuals expr ess their gener osity by giving to those less fortunate,” says Lawrence Loesch, formerNew Y ork Police Depar tment Deputy Chief and V ice President/General Managerfor AlliedBar ton Security Services. “Unfortunately, that can also cr eate an oppor tunity for scam ar tists to take advan tage of the kindness of others. It is impor tant to make certain your gener osity is received by those who need it most.” So when giving this holiday season remember to use your head, as well as your hear t. The following tips by Loesch to Caribbean Today’s r eaders can help: Look-alik e charities Watch out for charities with similar names to well-knownor ganizations. Some scam artists try to trick people byusing names that make themappear to be the same as orcomparable to valid charities. Always investigate the organization prior to making a dona-tion. Look at their websites.Many non-pr ofit web addr ess es end in .org instead of .com. Phone scams Be cautious of charities that contactyou over the phone. In NewY ork City, for example, there’s a popular scam from solicitorswho claim to r epr esent the NYPD and r elated police fundraising organizations. Only the New York Police Foundation can accept suchdonations and they do not SUNRISE, Florida – Sixty percent of Americans confess tonot having a holiday budget soit is no surprise the AmericanBankers Association estimatesit takes the average consumersix months to pay of f seasonal debt. “Everyone is caught up with the usual holiday questions of what presents to buy, who to invite to parties and where to go, yet the big question you should ask is ‘whereis the money going to comefr om to pay for it all?’,” says Barbara J. Stark, dir ector of community development and education for American Debt Counseling, Inc., www.americandebtcounseling.org , aSunrise, Florida-based nonprofit organization that provides financial education pro-grams as well as confidentialand pr ofessional cr edit coun seling and debt management services across the nation. Stark cautions that the cost of the holidays can derail the steps people have alreadytaken to r educe debt by discouraging them with new debtthat takes them back to square one or sets them back even further. “On average consumers spend $1,220 on holiday gifts,”she explains. “If that went on credit cards with an interestrate of 18 per cent and only a monthly minimum payment was made it would take 22 years to pay off, and wouldcost $2,600.” TIPS Stark of fers the following tips for avoiding bills that comeback to haunt you like theghost of Christmas past: P a y it forward: Layaway is back, enabling consumers to purchase within a budget and not incur interest fees. Online layaway sites are a new wayfor people who like to shopfr om their computers to gain the advantages of layaway , but shoppers should r ead the terms to understand if there are additional fees involved. Pad your pockets: Sometimes, all you need to bridge a budget gap is a fewextra dollars a month. Forexample, put your photos towork for you by submitting them to stock photo agencies. Anyone can do it, and if your photos are accepted you’ll earn money each time yourphoto is uploaded. P arty like it’s 1929: Even during the Gr eat Depression Givers,beware holiday scam artists Don’t pay for the holidays all year long,shoppers warned ~ E-layaway among new budgeting tips December 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 7 LOCAL LOCAL www .caribbeantoday.com The effects of holiday shopping can linger. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8) (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8) December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 7 

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Over $5,000 was raised from the fourth annualtribute and scholarship fundraiser held last month atthe Holy Family EpiscopalChur ch in North Miami, Florida to honor the life andlegacy of the late Jamaicancultural icon Louise “Miss Lou” Bennett-Coverley. Proceeds from this event will be used to support theLouise Bennett-CoverleyScholarship Fund that was started following Miss Lou’sdeath of in July 2006. Thescholarship is tenable at theEdna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica. So far, thescholarship has benefited four students pursuing studies in song, dance and drama at theinstitution. T wo students – Sodanne Br own and Omar Forbes – both pursuing studies in performing arts at Edna Manley were selected as recipients ofthe 2009-2010 scholarships. This year, a decision was made to awar d an additional scholarship to a student ofJamaican descent pursuing studies in performing arts at the New World School of the Arts in Miami. Details are currently being finalized with the school’s administration,accor ding to Norma Darby, founder of the scholarshipfund. In an effort to continue Miss Lou’ s legacy, the scholarship was extended to Jamaican diaspora in the United States to give those students an opportunity to engage their culture and heritage. JIS Students get ‘Miss Lou’ scholarship from Florida Hurricane season ended recently in the UnitedStates. But in some ar eas, it’s wildfire season. As you pr epare for the threat of a natural disaster in your community, put signing up for direct deposit at the topof your “to do” list. Doing socan eliminate the delay or non-delivery of your monthlypayment if a disaster for ces you fr om your home. It is still is the best way to get benefit payments for people who have a bank account. Here’s why: Safe Your money is deposited directly into your account at your bank or other financial institution. Because it’s transferred electronically, ther s no risk of your check being lost or stolen. Quick You’ll get your payment faster when it’s deposited directly and it isimmediately available to youonce it’ s deposited. Con venient No mor e standing in line at the bank to cash your check, or leavingyour house when the weatheris bad. For those who don’t have a bank account, there’s DirectExpr ess. With Direct Expr ess, we automatically deposit benefit payments to a person’s Direct Express cardaccount. The car d can be used to make purchases, paybills or get cash at thousands of locations, and most services are free. To learn more or tosign up for Dir ect Express, visit www.fms.treas.gov/directexpresscard. To learn more about Direct Deposit of your benefitpayments, and to sign up, visitour website at www .socialsecurity .gov/deposit. You also can call us at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778 To learn more information about Direct Express, visit www.fms.treas.gov/directexpresscard. In the unfortunate event that you ar e displaced by a natural disaster , your benefits do not have to be. Y our payments will be safe and secure, and ar rive on time to your account with Direct Deposit or Direct Express. Social Security Administration Direct deposit improves Social Security service solicit via the telephone. Ask the solicitor for the charity’s mailing address so that youcan send them a check dir ect ly. When in doubt, call the charity yourself and ask them if they’re aware of the solicita-tions being done in theirname. Kno w y our charity Many mor e organizations push for donations during the holidays. Resear ch your charity befor e making the decision to donate. If they of fer you ver y little information, they may not be legitimate. A legitimate charity will give you informa-tion describing its mission, how donations are distributedand pr oof that your contribution is tax deductible. DONATION USE How is your donation used? One of the most important things to consider when making a charitable contribution is how much of your money actually goes to the charitable cause. Most charities are required to register and file annual r epor ts showing how donations are used. Y ou can ask how to find this information at your state or local consumer protection agency. Contribution collectors Individuals who go door-todoor or position themselves inhigh traf fic areas should be carrying proper credentials and identification. These indi viduals should be knowledgeable about the organization and be able to provide youwith infor mative materials about the charity. Ask for written information and the solicitor’s identification to validate the organization. For security and tax r ecord purposes, it’ s important to pay by check when giving a contribu tion and write the charity’s official name on the check. Mail scams Holiday gr eetings may not the only thing crowding your mailbox. This time of year, watch for appeals for donations. If you do not recognize the name of a particular charity, you can check out their legitimacy as well as their ef ficiency with your money at the BBB Wise Giving Alliance website, www.give.org. Email scams Be skeptical of emails seeking charita-ble contributions. Many unso licited messages received through email are fraudulent.Do not r espond to these emails as many of them ask you to send money to an of fshore bank account. Additionally, a fraudulent charity email may have anattachment, of fering you mor e information. Be aware, as many times these attachments contain viruses. It is always important that any charityr elated email include a link to an authorized website. Y ou should also be skeptical of anycharity email or website that requires you to enter you social security number. Promised prizes Be cau tious of guaranteed sweepstakes winnings in exchange for your contribution. This may not be the type of holiday gift you are looking for. Fraudulent sweepstake mailers encourage consumers to return the apparent ‘winning’entr y along with a donation to the charity named in the promotion. The wording in themailer makes it seem like ther ecipient is alr eady a winner . Be skeptical if a solicitor thanks you for a contributionyou don’ t remember giving. Other options Instead of donating money to a charity , consider volunteering your time. Contributing your per-sonal time to help others canmean much mor e than simply writing a check. You can also donate toys, clothing or non-perishable food and make it part of your holiday tradition. Adamant demands Refuse any high-pr essure r equests for your contribution. Legitimate charities usually don’t require people to give at a moment’s notice. An established charity will still be will ing to accept your donation, even if you take some time to research first. Givers,beware holiday scam artists people knew how to party on a budget. Consider a pot-luck party this year where guestseach bring a dish. Or cut your tab at the grocery store by signing up to receive online newsletters from brands youlike, buy stor e brands that ar e often made by name brand companies, and combinecoupons with buy-one-get-oneand sale of fers. It’s in the cards: People spend up to 30 per cent mor e when paying with credit cards rather than cash. Pay withcash, debit car ds or checks whenever possible. If you use credit cards, chose a low ratecr edit card instead of high interest rate department store cards, and avoid department store credit cards offering aone-time discount. Protect y our identity: Crowded stores increase the risk of pickpockets and pursesnatchers. Don’ t car r y your Social Security card in your wallet or purse but do keep copies (both front and back of all of the credit cards and ID (including your driver’slicense) that you car r y with you to enable swift action in the event of loss or theft. The art of r e-gifting: It’ s important to remember giving a gift that you r eceived but never used is still a gift, and there is no reason to spoil themoment by confessing youdidn’ t buy it. Be sure the gift is clean and pr esentable, change the wrapping paper and, most importantly, keeptrack of who gave the gift to you originally. The tipping point: Many workers rely on receiving tips in order to pay for their holi-day season. As always, tippingis a personal issue and depen dant on the service received. Several online resources offer a guide to what is appr opriate. If you can’t find the extra money in your budget this year , show your appreciation with a home-made gift or baked good. Don’t take a financial holida y: Open your cr edit card bills as soon as they ar rive and verify all the transactions are correct. You have 60 days tochallenge er r ors, and be sur e to keep copies of all the correspondence. Most importantly, if you are faced with overwhelming debt, seek professional advice from an accred-ited cr edit counselor who can help get you back on track. 8 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 www.caribbeantoday.com LOCAL LOCAL Street Address: 9020 SW 152nd Street, Miami, FL33157 Mailing Address: P .O. Box 6010 Miami,FL33116-6010. T elephone: (305 (305305 Toll-Free Fax: 1-866-290-4550 1-800-605-7516 Jamaica: 654-7282 E-mail: editor@caribbeantoday .com Send ads to: ct_ads@bellsouth.net V ol. 20, Number 12 NOV .2009 PETER AWEBLEY Publisher GORDON WILLIAMS Managing Editor SABRINA HOPKINS Graphic Artist DOROTHY CHIN Account Executive SHARON LEE Account Executive CARMEN CHANG Account Executive JACQUELINE RUBIANO Accounting ManagerCaribbean Media Source Media RepresentativesOpinions expressed by editors and writers are not necessarily those of thepublisher. Caribbean Today , an independent news magazine, is published every month by Caribbean Publishing & Services, Inc. Caribbean T oday is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photos. T o guarantee return, please include a selfaddressed stamped envelope. Articles appearing in Caribbean T oday may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor. 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December 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 9 VIEWPOINT VIEWPOINT www .caribbeantoday.com Laura Marie West ,newly appointed Trinidad and Tobago consul general in Miami,is still settling into South Florida life.But she has been making the rounds at events hosted by nationals of the twin island republic,reaching out to thediaspora. Caribbean Today’s freelance writer Dawn A. Davis caught up with her at a recent leadership seminar host ed by Trinidad and Tobago Diaspora,Inc. Question:What is the consulate’ s mission? How do you see your role? Answer: We have defined four missions: An economic mission, a security mission, a con-sular mission and a political mission. But, I will focus on the consular mission. The level of service afforded to nationals traveling and living abroad, in addition to seeking to maximize the expor ted skills and investment potential of the diaspora, that’s why I am here.At the consulate, we have the responsibility for promotion, pursuit, protection of the national interest. We promote trade and investment. We try to establish two-way business relationships with companies here and in Trinidad and Tobago. We develop bilateral relations with the United States. We provide national assistance. We notarize andauthenticate documents like restoration of citizenship, cer-tificates for pensioners. W e ar e also ef fective for students who want scholarships. If some body dies here, you have toget documents pr epar ed in or der to take that body back to T rinidad, so you have to come to the consulate to get it done. In other wor ds, we ar e the gover nment of T rinidad and T obago in Miami. Q:The Trinidad and Tobago go v ernment has de v eloped a long-range de v elopment strat egy dubbed Vision 2020.Can you expand on it? A: V ision 2020 is based on five key pillars. It’s really about how you get to where youwant to get to. W e ar e on a journey to make our vision real, and so we are involved in activities and we have prior ities to accomplish thevision. W e want to be resilient, productive, inno-vative, and prosperous. We want our citizens to have a high quality of healthcare, safe communities, and sound and relevanteducation. W e would like our people to progress in ways that could take the good out of developed countries and leave the negatives where they are, and hope that we can con-tribute to a global community that will be more positive. Wear e a diverse nation; in Trinidad we are a rainbow of colors. The diversity and cre-ativity of all our citizens is keyto getting our vision on the way. Q:How do you market the twin island republic as a safe and attractive destination? A: Because we are a nation, we are governed by laws. So, we want to make sure there is respect for law, for the law guides the principles of democracy...We are committed to good governance; we are a principled member of the global community, we are an effective regional leader. Wewant to nur ture a caring society. You know when we were childr en and we did something wr ong, you could get ‘licks’ fr om your aunt, your mother friend, your grandmother. We want to go back to those dayswher e it takes a village. Q:The perception is that T rinidad and T obago is far ahead of the r est of the Caribbean in r elation to manu facturing and industry.Is this true? A: T rinidad and T obago is a model for other developing states. We were one of the firstcountries to move fr om oil into natural gas. Right now we are the world’s largest producer of methanol and ammoni-um. W e expor t 70 per cent of the U.S. requirement for natu-People, who for some reason have reason to cutthe ties that bind, shake off the shackles of matrimony, cut loose from the tethers that tie, and separate from the per-son whom they once loved. Yes, I’m talking about thatfinal split as you leave yourspouse. I have been privy to the insight of the minds of people and why they call it quits, and why they decide to take that plunge into the unknown. But the option of leaving is oftenfar better than staying. And yet, some will still stay and wallow in the miser y, despair and loss of self, pr efer ring to tell their tales of woe to whoever will listen. It’s suggested that the number one reason why people part ways is because of money. Yes, money, the loveof it, or the lack of it, is the root of all problems, and isenough to make couples gotheir separate ways. So many couples, married or not, have suffered and split because of financial folly . In some cases they foolishly enter into the union and have a joint bank account only. Oops, big mistake, as money and love don’t mix,and even though they think that they’re in love and what’s mine is thine, usually it endsup being all mine and notthine. So I advise you, keep a little mine for yourself, stashed away somewhere. ‘BIGGER EYE’ In many cases, one party in the r elationship has a big ger eye for spending than the other , r esulting in r esentment, as the imbalance is too much to bear. Sometimes the wifelikes to keep up with the Joneses and spends far more than they earn, or perhaps he has a deficit problem andloves to gamble, buy liquor , spend on wine women and song. Or per haps it’ s just a mat ter of priorities. “How can you want to buy a plasma T.V. and we don’t own awashing machine?” she cries, and so the quarreling begins until it’s splitsville. For what ever reason, this one pot to serve two, is a recipe for disaster, for invariably one will dip more often than the other. In other cases, it’ s the bor rowing syndrome, whereeither the man or the woman constantly ‘bor r ows’ from the other without having any intention of paying back. Usually it’s a one-way street,with one always bor r owing and never paying back, resulting in resentment and seethinganger that can fester for years. It’s usually hardly ever mentioned, but sex, the loveof it, or the lack of it, is also included in the reasons whycouples call it quits. Oh sur e, many people will outwardly say that it does not matter and will stick it out or take a lover on the side. But the long-term effects can be devastating, and they leave because of the sliding scale of sexual desir e. As one man told me, “It’s not that she stopped having sexwith me, but that she no longer desir ed me enough to want to have sex with me.” It wasn’t only the physical act that he missed, but he was hurt that his woman no longer wanted him. SPIN-OFFS Oh yes, women have expressed the same sentiments too, but for some r eason do not place as big a premium on it as do men. But you know that there are spin-offs andsub plots to this sex thing thatall lead to the inevitablebr eakup, with the main one being infidelity. A man will endure almost anything, but if his woman is unfaithful to him, then he’s leaving the scene of her crime. Most men just can’t handle it,to know that their woman laywith another man. The info shows that fewer women will leave a man for this reason than the other wayar ound, but she will leave if he takes her for granted or stops showing her attention. So even when women will leave because they’re takenfor granted, men will leave because they’re taken for a fool. It’s said that hell hath no fury like a women spurned, but there’s also much fury and rage in a man who’ s taken for a fool. Just check out those stories of mur der/suicides and We are the T&T gov’t in Miami ~ CG Those dreaded words: It’s over TONY ROBINSON West (CONTINUED ON P AGE 10) (CONTINUED ON P AGE 10) December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 9 

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you’ll see that in most cases the man was a simple, quiet, humble man who just lost it because his woman took him for a fool. I spoke to various men about this, and there was one common factor they felt hurt by being taken for a fool. “How could she really expect me to believe that management meetings would be held every Friday and Satur day until 3 a.m.? Better she tell me a decent lie, like her sister sick or something, but don’t take big man for idiot,” this guy told me. POWER TRIP The need for power is also a factor, and in these moder n times, with so many women having big jobs and earning far more than theirpar tners, it often leads to a shift in the balance of power . It often happens when the wife lands a great new high paying job, then suddenly she’s aware that her net worth is great, she has money in thebank, has a platinum cr edit card, can buy stuff and doesn’t r eally need her man for any thing financial. She’s now wor th more than him and will let him know it. One day he wakes up and he’s wearing the skirt and she’ s wearing the pants. Or it may happen sudden ly if he loses his job and now has to depend on her income to support them both. She calls the shots, she makes the plans, she pays the bills. It also happens if he doesn’t owna place and moves into hers, marries into her family andhas to live in her daddy’ s house. Then there’s also theneed for space which some couples never seem to under stand. One party always seems to think that being intertwined like vines or snakes is healthy,and living like conjoined twinsis the way to be. All that does is smother the relationship. But if one dares to mention that they want space, it’sinstant gr ounds for br eakup. And don’t believe that it’s only women either, for many men want their women to account for each hour of the day. “It’s work then home to me, nowhere else, no gym, nokarate class, no bible study , no girls night out, just me, yu hear?!” The data is ther e, people break up for different reasons, while some r emain and endur e the miser y. But all is not lost, as some couples are happy together, they respect each other, respect each other’s money, don’t take each other for granted, respect each other’s sexual needs, have no power str uggle and communicate. They may be few and far between and may also fall in the older folks categor y, but they do exist. seido1@hotmail.com ral gas on the Eastern seaboard. We are expanding exports to Chile and Peru, andother places. In addition, we are focusing on non-oil manufacturing systems. We are going into downstream industries from the oil, such as plas-tics and polyethylene. Q:One of the keys to becoming a developed nation andattracting in vestment is good infrastructure.How is the government addressing that issue? A: If you look at the last budg et, you will see where the minister of finance mentioned thatas the developed countries, we are now trying to make surethat you can cover the island in two-and-a-half hours. And so, the government proposes to build highways around the island that will facilitate ease of movement. The minister pointed out very clearly that ithas taken the concept fr om developed countries. That is the kind of thing we do at the consulate. We look at scientificand technological advance ment; we bring them to the attention of the government and when it is feasible, they will in turn implement our rec-ommendations. Q:Where does the government, and the diaspora,stand on the Caribbean as one common market? A: We were out front in pushing for the CARICOM SingleMarket; the economy comes on stream hopefully by 2014. The reason we did that isbecause CARICOM is our biggest trading partner. So, if the CARICOM is prosperous, we are prosperous. There areplans afoot now to help coun tries like Grenada and St. Vincent to train people so they can function in critical areas...The Summit of theAmericas, attended by American President Barack Obama and held in Trinidad and Tobago, was very successful. The highlight really, wasthe fact that we wer e the first CARICOM country to host the Summit of the Americas.And we did it, not only for us,but also for the CARICOM. Q:How strong is the relationship betw een the Trinidad and Tobago government and the diaspora? A: Our nationals know the businesses out there; they nowknow the ser vices that we offer. So, the diaspora can contribute to making us more effective bytheir networking ef forts and sharing that benefit with us. Ofcourse, we do it on our own as well. We make business contacts. We put companies in Trinidad and Tobago in touchwith companies in Miami andvice versa. But, we want our nationals also (to that process so that we mightstay connected with them. Q:Caribbean culture is well represented in South Florida. How do make sure Trinidadian culture maintains its presence? A: In addition to attending many of the events, we make contact with schools and univer-sities to encourage them to teach “pan” (musiceencourage the transfer of knowledge to support innovation and creativity. Those dreaded words: It’s over We are the T&T gov’t in Miami ~ CG 10 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 VIEWPOINT VIEWPOINT www.caribbeantoday.com Are we satisfied as a r egion,that our obligation and r esponsibility to create an en vironment and to provide an infrastructure which cater for the rights of all our people have been met? These are critical questions in need of urgent answers” St.Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr.Denzil Douglas ,who holds responsibility for health within the Caribbean community (CARICOM) quasi Cabinet, asks an important question in his message to mark World AIDS Day 2009,Dec.1. A dark pall hangs o ver our country; a shroud over our w omen. Their freedom, their rights,their v ery lives sees no sun shine in the dark-ness of organized assault on their person,their dignity, their humanity” Opposition Leader Lester Bird last month calling on the Antigua and Barbuda government to do more to safeguard women from rape. “Ralph would like to entr ench himself in power” F ormer St.Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Sir James Mitchell last month accusing the country’s current P.M.Ralph Gonsalves of being power hungry. ounded my (behind He just a pplied a plaster to those wounds,got right back on his horse and carried on riding all the way to yet another two world records” British sprinter Dwain Chambers admitting last month that any weakness Jamaican star Usain Bolt appeared to have had before this summers WorldChampionships in Athletics were figments of his competi-tors’ imagination. Compiled from CMC and other sources. (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 9) (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 9) December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 10 

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DAWN A. DAVIS Are Caribbean-born immigrants movingout of Dade and Br oward, the two South Florida counties with tradi tionally the highest concentration of those fr om the region? According to the latest United States Census Bureauestimates, this seems to be the trend. A thr ee-year comparison of social characteristics ofMiami-Dade County shows a slight decline in residents with West Indian ancestry. Specifically, out of an estimated total population of 2.4 mil-lion for 2006, 2007, and 2008,W est Indians accounted for 7.3 percent of the total for 2006 and 2007. However, by2008 that number declined to 7.1 percent. More significantly, however, the Caribbean populationin Br oward County shows the higher downwar d trend. Over the three years (2006-2008 the numbers have dropped steadily. Of the total 1.8 million residents in the county,the Caribbean population was estimated at 12.8 percent for 2006, 12.6 percent for 2007 and 12 percent for 2008.These numbers r eflect a notable drop for a population that had been on the rise forthe past 10 years. However, this trend does not only apply to West Indian residents, but foreign immi-grants in general. The dataalso show some decline in for eign residents across the country. It appears foreigners are either returning home or moving to other parts of the U.S.And, while ther e is speculation as to why , there are no definitive answers. A casual survey of several Caribbean-bornSouth Florida residents revealed thatsome have r elocated to, or are inthe pr ocess of, moving to areas such as Atlanta, New York and the Carolinas in search of cheaper housing, higherpaying jobs and lower cost of living. Others are returning to the Caribbean for various reasons, including economic hardships. MARKETING But, no matter where ethnic populations reside, theU.S. federal gover nment is pulling out all the stops to ensure more citizens and resi-dents par ticipate in the 2010 Census. Besides being much shorter than past surveys, there is a big marketing push to reach immigrant populations and undocumented residents, groups that historicallyhave not r esponded well to the census. With hundreds of billions of dollars at stake, and congressional representation for states with residents correctly documented through the cen-sus, local and national of ficials ar e partnering with the U.S. Census Bureau to get their residentscounted. The U.S. Census 2010 website makes it clear. “Census data directly affect how more than $400billion per year infederal and statefunding is allocat ed to communities for neighborhoodimpr ovements, public health, education, transportation and much more”, the website explains. “That’s more than $4trillion over a 10-year period. Spending just a few minutes to fill out your census form willhelp ensur e your community gets its fair shar e of federal and state funding”. A voice for immigrant rights, Cao Anh Quan, chairman of the Refugee AdvisoryCouncil in the State ofFlorida, in a r ecent address to the Census 2010 Refugee &Immigrant Committee put itthis way: “Now more than ever, our countr y needs us. Now more than ever, we the people are its government. Now more than ever, we have traveled too far not to overcome. Let’s go count our people. Let’s commit to each other to beginthis jour ney as a part of the Br otherhood of all nations”. FEDERAL AID Florida, with its large ethnic population, includingCaribbean nationals andLatinos, could pick up muchneeded federal funding if all its residents are included in next year’s census. Aware of this, the Census Bureau has already started its push. Bureau personnel met with ethnic media recently in a bidto r each those with historically low response rates. As such,r eaders, bloggers, viewers of media such as El Nuevo Herald, El Sentinel, Caribbean Today, Telemundo, Facebook and Twitter are expected to reflect information about the census. W ith only 10 questions, and thus more “user-friendly”, the census appears less intimi-dating than in the past. And, immigrant advocacy groups are pleased that Question 9 allows individuals to specify nationality. Specifically, race must be selected, but there isalso r oom to include nationali ty, for example Jamaican, Trinidadian or Guyanese. But New Y ork-based immigration attorney Joan Pinnock, in her presentation to delegates at the recent U.S.Census 2010 holds key to welfare of Caribbean Americans IVAN CLIFFORD HAMILTON, Bermuda, Saying it is time forBer mudians to play their part in breaking down racialbar riers, for mer Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith has joined the pr edomi nantly black Pr ogr essive Labour Party (PLP been in power for 11 years. Smith, who is white and the brother of former Education Minister TimSmith, said he r efuses to be corralled “into a political camp because of the legacyBer muda has had.” The former education minister in the UnitedBer muda Par ty (UBP ernment, in reacting to his br other s decision to joining the r uling party, said “sadly, we have historically defined people by which political party they join. This is asmuch the fault of individual biases as it is legacy of both the UBP and PLP. “It will be refreshing when we can define political par ties ar ound how we expect them to govern. If he can help by making the PLP gover n ment more accountable, transparent and responsive, thenBer muda should be the better for it. “While I might not share the same political affiliation, I am hopeful he can have a positive impact. It will cer tainly make for more interesting political debates around thefamily dinner table,” headded. BERMUDA’S WALL Smith joined the PLP in August after previously turn-ing down r equests to join both the r uling party and the main opposition United Bermuda Par ty (UBP “Bermuda is a better place when the status quo ischallenged,” he said. “Race has been Bermuda’s Berlin Wall. Some choose to sit onthe wall; some cower behind it; some hold it up. I’m con-vinced that the majority of Ber mudians have chosen to knock it down. “In knocking it down, all must play a par t in building the foundation for the future. We simply cannot keep doingthings the way we have alwaysdone.” The for mer top policeman said that he believes futur e generations of black and white Bermudians “deserve so muchmor e than the legacy of what we’ve been left. s up to all of us to play our part, to forge that way forEx-commissioner joins Bermuda’s ruling party,hopes to break color barrier December 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 11 FEATURE FEATURE www .caribbeantoday.com File photographThe 2010 census offers Caribbean immigrants a chance to stand and be counted in the U.S. File photographThe Statue of Liberty is a symbol of the freedom in the U.S. Caribbean immigrants have learned to embrace. Smith (CONTINUED ON P AGE 12) (CONTINUED ON PAGE 12) December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 11 

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Jamaican Diaspora Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, explained at least one draw-back. “One of the fears of whether or not you should complete the census form is that people that are undocumented are scared,” she said. “Many of us come fromJamaica; we come her e in visitors visas and we don’ t go back...So, my advice would be if you are undocumented or in a situation where you have family members who areundocumented, do not fill that information out.” Pinnock added that there is some talk of a new immigra tion bill coming out of Washington that she hopeswill include amnesty for undocumented immigrants in the U.S. and allow them to get “green cards” or permanent residence and not be penalized for being out of status. She urged the Jamaican diaspora to lobby representatives and let their voices be heard. Jamaica’s Ambassador to the U.S. Anthony Johnson, who also addressed conference attendees, urged Jamaicans to go even further. “Become American citizens,” Johnson said. “We would not regard it as disloy-alty to Jamaica because withour constitution you cannotlose your Jamaican citizen ship...If you become an American citizen you are entitled to all the rights and enti-tlements of Americans, whichmeans you can go stand up with your placards...We muststand together Dawn A.Davis is a freelance writer for Caribbean Today. ward. When history looks back we’ll take great comfortif it describes that we paved the way that we put Bermudafirst.” Traditionally, the overwhelming majority of whites, who account for 40 percent ofthe island’ s 65,000 population, have backed the UBP , which ran the country for 30 years until it was ousted from powerby the PLP in 1998. The PLPhas since won two mor e gen eral elections and the UBP is facing a crisis after five of its14 parliamentarians quit thepar ty in the past 12 months. Three former UBP legislators have since launched the Bermuda DemocraticAlliance (BDA The r uling party’s only white legislator, Zane DeSilva,was r ecently swor n in as minister without portfolio in Premier Ewar t Br own’ s 11-strong Cabinet. Prior to her appoint ment, the only other white member of the government wasT ourism Minister David Allen, who died of cancer in 1999. SAME GO AL Smith, who served as police commissioner until2005, said all thr ee political par ties aspire towards the same goal: a successful economy, improved public safety and jobs for Bermudians. “Several things ar e clear to me in making this decision: Ber muda must come first. I’m committed to a path of reform, modernization, social justice and expansion of the economic opportunities for all Bermudians laid out by thePr ogr essive Labour Party,” he said in explaining why he joined the ruling party. “Politics must be about the people. Politics also pres-ents choices for us as votersand as citizens of the countr y we love. We need to refuse to be corralled by the politics ofthe past, which vir tually determined where the ‘X’ in the ballot box would go. “There is so much more which binds us together than keeps us apart. In making thischoice, I’m ver y optimistic about the jour ney we face,” he said, noting that the journey is “more than just race. e stand at par ticularly dif fi cult cr ossroads in time and to the extent that any Bermudiancan help all Ber mudians should help and choose the vehicle they believe bestenables them or empowersthem to contribute to Bermuda’s future. e have much work to do together on the many strategic issues facing the coun-tr y and I’m pleased to lend my support to that effort.” Smith said he had enjoyed a good working r elationship with the gover nment while he served as the island’s top cop,even though then, he had nopolitical ambitions. He insists that he is merely a member of the PLP and has made no for-mal steps to become anything more at this stage. CMC The Caribbean joined the rest of the international community in observing World AIDS Day 2009 – Dec.1 with a r ecognition that much mor e needs to be done to pr ovide the framework and infrastructure to ensure that the interventions by health authorities reach all people infected in the region. St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr . Denzil Douglas, who holds responsibility forhealth within the Caribbeancommunity (CARICOMCabinet, said that while the interventions in the past have contributed to the overall stabi-lization of the epidemic, ther e wer e still areas to be covered in order to effectively deal with the pandemic. He said there have been important gains and advances in the Caribbean’s response, and great strides have beenmade to meet the needs of thegeneralized epidemic. But thepr oblem is still large. “The evidence also shows, among other things, that in a comparatively small region, in2007 an estimated 38 persons died of AIDS each day and 20,000 persons became infect-ed,” Douglas said. “It shows fur ther that stigma and discrimination remain a barrier toscaling uppr evention and tr eatment pro-grams; and there continues to be consid-erable gaps (in some casespolicies and legislation with respect to the inclusion andpr otection of the most at risk populations.” FRAMEWORK Douglas said that the region must therefore provide the framework and infrastruc-tur e that are necessary to ensure that the interventionsr each all populations, and that the supremacy of the human rights cannot be over empha sized. A new r eport by UNAIDS shows that the HIV vir us is now infecting Caribbean men and women at an equal rate. According to the UNAIDS-WHO AIDSEpidemic Update for 2009,r eleased last month, the total number of people living with HIV globally is now 33.4 mil-lion. Of these, adults comprise 31.3 million; women 15.7 million; and children under 15years, 2.1 million. The r eport noted that Caribbean men and women were contracting the deadly HIV virus in equal numbers and that there has been a nine percent increase in the number of persons living with the virusin the r egion. It also stated that after 28 years, the HIV epidemic is now “evenly distributedbetween males and females”. ith a total number of 240,000 people living with HIV in the Caribbean,” saidArkadiusz Majszyk, dir ector of the UNAIDS CaribbeanRegional Suppor t Team. “This is an increase of nine percent between 2001 and 2008.” CMC U.S.Census 2010 holds key to welfare of Caribbean AmericansEx-commissioner joins Bermuda’s ruling party,hopes to break color barrierCaribbean joins in observing World AIDS Day 12 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 FEATURE FEATURE www.caribbeantoday.com (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11) (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11) Douglas December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 12 

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NEW YORK It will be a reunion of sorts in New Zealand early in the New Year for former Fugees members Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. Jean and Hill ar e slated to per form on Jan. 23 at the Ragamuffin Music Festival, in Rotorua, according to organ-izers. It will be the first time in years that the two will share a stage. The Ragamuf fin Festival will be Hill’s first performance since she canceled her 2009 tour in June, citing health reasons. Though the Fugees only released two albums, their second, “The Score”, has sold over 20 million copies world-wide, and a follow-up hasbeen highly-anticipated/allegedly in the works foryears. The Ragamuffin Festival will also feature some of reggae’s top performers, including Julian Marley, Sly and Robbie, Sean Kingston and Shaggy. CaribWorldNews Jamaican, William “Willie” Stewart has taken his distinct style of drumming into South Florida’ s schools. For the last eight years he has been teaching the into Broward County institutions,sharing his knowledge and experience with the students. Working with young persons,motivating, uplifting and empowering them led to the creation of his companySolutions in Music. After 23 years with the international reggae bandThir d World, Stewart has become a drum instructor anddr um therapist, while pursuing his passion of teaching. T oday, he continues to work with youth, teaching them the his-tor y and ar t of drumming, as well as the ability to focus and communicate using their cre-ative talents. Recently, Stewart took his technique center stage, work ing with students fr om two South Florida schools during a drumming workshop staged at the Broward Center Performing Arts (BCPA) in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The students were scheduled to come from Parkway MiddleSchool and W inston Park Elementary. FUSION Through the educational interactive program “ArtInspir es”, the BCP A has fused education with the arts, giving students the opportunity tointeract and work with worldrenowned practitioners in traditional ar t for ms. For thr ee years, the BCPA and Broward County Public schools havepr esented “Ar ts Inspires” a workshop that introduces students to South Florida’s multicultural community. It features well-known teaching and performing guest artists whoar e passionate about their ar t form and willing to share with the students, particularlythose who ar e interested in pursuing the arts. e ar e excited about this session. This pr ogram will further enhance and continue to nurture our cultural rela-tionship with Jamaica,” said Jan Goodheart, BCPAs public affairs director. In 2006, the BCPA forged an alliance with the Consulate General of Jamaica, resultingin a range of successful per formances including the National Dance TheatreCompany of Jamaica (NDTC Dem Three Jamaican Tenors, Ex-Fugees Wyclef,Lauryn Hill set for reunion on stage in N.Z. Bob Marley & The W ailers’ “Catch A Fire” album is among several r ecordings set to be inducted in the 2010 GrammyHall of Fame. The album was recorded by Island Records in 1973. It established the band as inter-national superstars, leader Bob Marley in particular. The socially aware lyrics and militant tone surprised many listeners, but others were attracted to songwriters Marley and Peter Tosh’s con-fr ontational subjects and opti mistic view of a futur e fr ee from oppression. “Catch a Fire” peaked at #171 and #51 on Billboar s (North America and Black Albums charts, respectively. It is number #123 on Rolling Stone’s list of the500 gr eatest albums of all time, the second highestplacement of the four BobMarley albums on the list. Other selections include songs from Bo Diddley, JudyGarland, Har r y James & His Orchestra, the Isley Brothers, Mahalia Jackson, Janis Joplin, Gene Kelly, Johnny Mercer, Jelly Roll Morton and the Nitty Gritty Dir t Band. “This year s Grammy Hall of Fame inductees highlight a diverse array of masterpiecer ecordings that have had a profound impact on our musical histor y ,” Neil Por tnow , pr esi dent/chief executive officer of The Recording Academy, wasquoted as saying r ecently . The Recording Academy`s National Trusteesestablished the Grammy HallOf Fame in 1973 to honorr ecordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that are at least 25 years old. CaribW orldNews ‘Catch A Fire’ for Grammy Hall of Fame BELMOPAN, Belize Moses Michael Levivy , better known as the Shyne, is sharing his experience in a New Yorkprison with prisoners in Belize. The rapper , Belize’ s most famous deportee, visited theHattievillePrison on Nov . 26, ThanksgivingDay in the U.S., where hespoke to about 400 inmates. His visit was planned to inspire the inmates. He told them that he never thought that a “young dude” who had a hard life in Curassow Str eet would r each the highest level in America culture. He said that he made$30 million, and said he didr ecor ds with Usher and Justin Timberlake among others while shooting a video whilein jail. “Anything is possible,” Levivy said. The son of Belize Prime Minister Dean Bar r ow ur ged the prisoners not to sit in prison and cry, but plan their lives out as he did. Oscar Ramjeet/Special to CaribWorldNews. Deported rapper Shyne visits prisonJamaican drums up solutions in music at South Florida schools December 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 13 ARTS ARTS & & ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT www .caribbeantoday.com VISIONS ON CARIBBEAN CANVAS’ Caribbean artists a ttempt to come to terms with a variety of issues, ranging from self,identity and community,migration,national politics,hope and disillusionment about older models of organization of art and society,and art and the making of histor y , through their work which will be on display a t an exhibition opening this month in South Florida. “Caribbean Canvas:Identity in an Era of Globalization”officially opens Dec.5 and runs through January at Multitudes art gallery, Contemporary Art Center @T eleAmerica in Miami. Among the artists whose work will be on display are Edouard Dubal Carrie,Maritou,Alejandro Mendoza,Turgo Bastien,Genevieve Lahens,Philippe Dodard,Franklin Sinanan,Guy Syllien,Francesca Lalanne,Kristo Nicholas and Peter Wayne Lewis. Shyne Photogra phs by dianeschafer photographyStewart works with participants at a recent interactive workshop. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 14) December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 13 

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WASHINGTON, D.C. Grammy-winning singer Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and Nas are set to cometogether this month for aNational Geographic discus sion on the cultural links of hip hop and reggae. The National Geographic`s Grosvenor Auditorium here will be the location for the Dec. 12 dis-cussion that will see Marley and Nas focusing on the Caribbean and African links of the musical genres. The discussion will travel the journey from Africa through the slavetrade to the American and Caribbean colonies, spawning both the dancehall par ties of Jamaica and the park jams ofThe Br onx, said a statement released last month. T itled “Distant Relatives”, the event will also include DJ Kool Herc, Rakim,Daddy U-Roy , King Jammy, Jeff Chang and Moussa Lo and DJ Red Alert. DJ Kool Herc is often seen as the “Godfather” of hip hop who br ought about the music elements of the cultur e to The Br onx as early as 1973. U-Roy is a rarely-credited rap pioneer for his 1969 hit ake The Town”, recorded in Jamaica the same year Herc moved to the UnitedStates. It will also be streamed live at www .natgeomusic.net. For more information, visit www.nglive.org. CaribWorldNews Jamaica Far ewell and Reggae Symphony. LEARNING The students par ticipating in the workshop with Stewar t were scheduled to share a two-hour session in drummingtechniques, coor dination and creativity, the role of percussive music forms in ritual andcultur e, and team building. Stewart calls this technique “liberating lear ning thr ough r hythm.” Thr ough his demon strations, Stewart intends to expose students to the historyof Jamaican music, tracing the genres from slavery through modern day popular culture. Following the practice sessions, the students will be allowed to perform with theirdr umming instr uctor to sound tracks from international reggae artiste Bob Marley, to aninvited audience of educators, art enthusiasts, patrons of theBCP A, media and friends. Through his passion, Stewart expresses his love for his homeland as a reggae“ambassador” and would alsolike to intr oduce his drumming techniques as part of the cur-riculum in Jamaican schools.He boasts of his worldwide collection of nearly 100 drums of all sizes and designs. Each one, he says, signifies a different rhythm and sound, creating a distinctive, gyratingsound unique to the ear . Drumming originated in West Africa and was transport-ed acr oss the world during the slave trade. This sound was a distinct for m of communication to the slaves during rituals. While he continues his program with schools,Stewar s goal is to educate the young ones about the drumming history, as a com-munication tool, leadershipqualities, team building, andfor those who want to pursue career goals in music specifi-cally with an inter est in per cussions. “I want to empower and inspir e the young people,” he said.“We all have rhythm and this kind of involvementteaches histor y , cultur e, and helps us to find an inner self.” Through his Solutions in Music teaching company , he has also done workshops with small gr oups, corporations, universities and community groups around the globe. Along with other band members, Stewar t began work ing with students in Jamaica during his time as the drummer with Third World. He has alsoworked in the music industr y as a songwriter, music technologist, pr ogrammer , instr uctor/facilita tor and director. During that time, Third World produced 13 record albums. The band has sharedstage per for mances worldwide with stars like Marley , Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder. Stewart feels blessed with the ability to communicate through drumming and is inter-ested in sharing this experience. “I am now focusing on sharing my talent with others –young persons inter ested in the developing leadership qualities and self empowerment and per-sonal development,” he said. Stewar t also expr esses contentment and a deep sense of spirit as he has blended his passion of teaching, service tothe community and his talent of communicating thr ough music, specifically drumming. Information obtained from the JIS. Reggae meets rap for National Geographic discussion 14 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 ARTS ARTS & & ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT www.caribbeantoday.com Photographs by dianeschafer photographyStewart in action around his drum set. (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13) ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFS Christmas variety show Jamaican singers Carlene Da vis and Paul Blake,plus drama group Sarge and de People dem Pickney, will provide the entertainment at the “Gu Wey! It’s Christmas”variety show, 5 p.m.Dec.20 at The Royal P alm Beach Community High School, 10600 Okeechobee Blvd. in Royal P alm Beach,Florida. For more information,call 800304-2862 . ‘Island’ fashion winners Eric Raisina of Mada gascar won top designer honors at last month’s“Islands of the World Fashion Week” in The Bahamas.Raisina won the “Sustainable Eco-F ashion Award”, for effectively using environmentally friendly products while incorporatingenvironmental or social issues into designs,and one of the four “Sealsof Excellence Awards”. Raisina won for his outfit called “African Lace”. The “Culture and F ashion Award”,given for incorporating a uniquely cultural element in garment design,was won by Jessie-Ann Jessamy of Grenada. Documentary spotlight A Haitian-born Princeton University janitor is among those featured in a documentary titled“The Philosopher Kings”. Josue Lajeunesse works as one of Princeton University’s 220 buildingser vices janitors and is also a taxi driver ,father,philanthropist and community organizer .The documentary tells the stories of eight janitors a t universities across the countr y and the wisdom found among the custodial staff. Caribbean ‘Secret’ The Caribbean was a gain represented in the popular Victoria`s Secret fashion sho w when Cayman Islandsborn model Selita Ebanks took the runway in New York recently. Ebanks was one of two black models to grace the catwalk.Sheearned fa vorable reviews in a sequined and feathered white corsettop and ma tching panties with by a purple train. Compiled from a variety of sources. Damian Marley Nas Jamaican drums up solutions in music at South Florida schools December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 14 

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December 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 15 Christmas comes this month and Caribbeanpeople ar e often in the baking mood during that season. Her s one version of a Christmas/wedding cake obtained from the online siteCaribbean Recipes: Ingr edients 12 eggs 1 pound of butter 2 cups of currants 1 teaspoon of salt 2 1/4 cups of sugar 1 cup of strawber ry jam 2 teaspoons of cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon of allspice 2 cups of seeded raisins 2 cups of seedless raisins 2 1/2 cups of chopped dates 4 cups of all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda 1 3/4 cups of slivered almonds 1/2 cup of brandy or pineapple juice 1 (10 ounce pineapple 1 (12 ounces no cherries 2 cups of citrus peels or mixed glace fr uit 2 cups of sugar (additional sugar listed below) Method Day 1 In a large size bowl, measure the raisins, nuts, currants along with the citron peel. Drain the cherries and reservethe juice. Chop cherries. They should measur e about one and a quarter cups. Then add to the fruit mixture. Stir in the brandy and soak it overnight Note: Y ou can also do this a few weeks in advance and let it sit in the refrigerator and let the fruit soak right in the brandy formor e flavor if you like. If you decide to do it the day before baking, cover it withthe plastic wrap and then leave on top of the counter at roomtemperatur e. In a large size sauce pan or a heavy dutch oven, simmer the entire contents of can ofpineapple with two cups of sugar and cook it uncovered forat least 30 minutes until itthickened. Frequently stir and make sure the heat is not too high. When cooled off, stir juice from the jar of marachino cherries. Note: It should not be more than a half-cup and the strawberry jam. This mixture doesn’t have to be done the day before baking, but it does have to be cool befor e you add it to the cake. Note: It is recommend that you do this step on the day of baking. Now prepare the cake pans by greasing and lining with wax double thickness of heavy brown paper. Brown shopping bags dowell or use aluminum foil withdull side out. Gr ease paper or aluminum foil well. Use any size pans you wish, but leave an inchspace at the top of pan. The total weight is 11. 5 pounds. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees Farenheit.Sift or stir the flour with thespices, salt and soda until itswell mixed. Use a cup of flour mixture and sprinkle over fruits and nuts then toss it until they arewell coated with the flour . Set the remaining three cups of flour aside. In a large measuring bowl, cream two and a quarter cups of sugar with the butter. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in dry ingredients, alternating with pineapple mixture. You must make about three dry and two liquid addi-tions, combining lightly aftereach addition. Pour over flour-coated fruits and nuts and mix until well combined. Turn into the prepared pans, fill them to about an inch from the top. Bake in a pr eheated oven for about three to three and a half hours depending on pan size. Place in a shallow pan of water on the lower rack for added moisture if you’d like. The cake should be fairly firm in the center and a skewerinser ted right in the center should come out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in pan for five minutes. Remove from pan then peel off paper and then letit cool on a rack. When cooled off, wrap it in cheesecloth that has beensoaked in the brandy , rum, black wine along with liquor, or either fruit juice. Then wrap the cake in tin foil (leaving the cheesecloth on the cake). Freeze if not being used right away. Note: you can soak fruits around the end of October for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator, then in mid-November, bake the cake and freeze it. Every couple of weeks, take the fruit out and re-soak thecheesecloth in the liquor andwrap it back up and r e-freeze. OPTIONS By the time Christmas comes back ar ound youwill have a moist cake. Note: You can use fruit juice if you do notwant any alcohol. Y ou can also decorate the cake with almond paste or your favorite icing or just serve itplain. Note: You can substitute strawber ry jam with marmalade or any flavor jam. You can use alcohol to flavor it or not. You can also serve it as a Christmas fruit cake or use it tomake a wedding cake. This recipe makes enough cake to fill a set of three gradu-ated wedding cake pans (7.5 inches, 5.5 inches, and a fourinch pan). The cakes are about two inches high and the total weight is about 11.5 pounds. If you were to cut the cake up for a wedding, it would serve at least 100 to 150 people, depending on how small you want pieces to be. is the season for a Christmas/wedding cakeCaribbean style F ile photographA beautifully decora ted Christmas cake can add cheer to the holidays. FOOD FOOD www.caribbeantoday.com December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 15 

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The Caribbean community (CARICOM released a song outlining ther egion’s position on the impact climate change is having on small island develop ment states (SIDS The song, .5 to Stay Alive”, written and performedby the Barbadian poet Adisa“AJA” Andwele, combinesthe “rapso” tradition, which is poetry performed to calypso and other rhythms from the Caribbean, and also featuresthe voice of Barbadian singerIndrani. The song was commissioned by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP Secretariat and was released as the r egion finalizes its position ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference(UNFCCCDenmark this month. The ven ture has also received support fr om the United Kingdom Department for InternationalDevelopment (DFIDthe Caribbean CommunityClimate Change Centr e (CCCCC “The theme of the song refers to the Centigrade degree limit to which global surface temperatures can risebefor eSIDS are severely compromised in their ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change”, the CARICOM Secretariat noted in a statement. COLORADO, United States – Colorado State University hurricane forecaster WilliamGray has closed the book onthe 2009 Atlantic hur ricane season that of ficially ended on Nov . 30. Because El Ni–o has created str ong wind shear over the tropics, “the odds of a storm are very, very small from this point on,” said Graylate last month. But the Florida-based United States National Hurricane Center (NHC it’s possible that the windshear could r elax over the coming weeks, with the waters in the Caribbean still warm enough to support storm for-mation. NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen warned not to “raid the hurricane kit yet.” Feltgen said that the hurricane seasonlooked like it was over in midNovember, but, then, Idafor med in the wester n Caribbean. He said it wouldn’t be unusual for a storm to devel-op in the Caribbean this month. r opical cyclones have been recorded in every month outside of the standard Junethrough-November period,”Feltgen said. LO W NUMBERS But Jef f Masters, chief meteorologist of the Weather Under ground, said that since 1950, in the years that El Ni–o has emerged, only three named storms have developed in the Atlantic after Nov. 15.El Ni–o is cr eated by a warming of the equatorial easter n Pacific Ocean. It generateswind shear – a change in windspeed or dir ection – and instability in the atmosphere, which acts to disrupt storms before they can build andstr engthen. Gray said there have only been nine named storms so far this year, including three hurricanes. He said the aver-age season has 11 named storms, including six hurri-canes. “It was a very inactive season,” Gray said. Forecaster closes book on ‘very inactive’ hurricane season GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC The United States says it will continue to support thepr ograms that have led to a reduction in the spread of thedeadly HIV vir us in Guyana, even as it warned that there are likely to be “obstacles that threaten the success of our future HIV prevention, treatment and care efforts.” In a statement marking World AIDS Day 2009, onDec. 1, Kar en Williams W ashington, charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy here, saidGuyana cannot succeed in thefight against HIV/AIDSalone, and the U.S. is commit ted to working with its global partners to support Guyana’sleadership in this ef fort. She said that over the next five years, the U.S. will place renewed emphasis on partner-ing with Guyana to build the country’s national HIV/AIDSr esponse. e will continue to work together with all sectors of Guyana as they craft strategies and programs to combatHIV/AIDS and suppor t the Government of Guyana as it engages international partners, civil society and non-gover nmental or ganizations,” Williams Washington said. She noted that as part of the U.S. Global HealthInitiative announced by Pr esident Barack Obama, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will support Guyana as itworks to fur ther integrate and expand access to other health care services, such as those that address tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health and family planning with HIV/AIDS programs. UNWAVERING PEPF AR is the lar gest commitment in histor y by any nation to combat a single disease and the U.S. is unwaver-ing in its commitment to its partner nations. “On World AIDS Day 2009, we r ecommit ourselves to furthering our achievements and look forward tocontinuing the battle againstthis global epidemic,” shesaid. The W orld Health Organization (WHOmates that more than fourmillion individuals in low and middle income countries currently have access to antiretroviral treatment. “Thanks to our many par tners, the American people, thr ough the United States support more than half of those men, women and children on treatment,” WilliamsW ashington said. “In Guyana, PEPFAR has allocated more than US$100million to the HIV/AIDS epi demic over a six-year period. At the end of September 2009, the national program, with the support of PEPFAR, had provided life-saving anti-r etr oviral therapy to 2,737 people and HIV care and support services to 5,399 persons infected with and affected by HIV U.S gives HIV/AIDS help commitment to Guyana 16 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 HEALTH HEALTH / / ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT www.caribbeantoday.com FIGHTING FOR CANCER CURE Sandra Griffiths, second left,Jamaica’s consul general in Miami, accepts checks on behalf of the Jamaica Cancer Society from Florida-based Dr .Wentworth Jarrett,right,who spearheaded a series of yoga salutations in October which raised over $5,000 to fight breast cancer.The funds were given to the JCS and the Vitas Hospice Charitable Fund.Marion Robinson, left,of Inochi Incorporated,and Sandra Jarrett,the doctor’s wife,also attended the presentation. C ARICOM releases song on climate change Williams Washington December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 16 

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The 15-member Caribbean community (CARICOMlaunched a public campaign ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention onClimate Change (UNFCCCmeeting in Denmark. The initiative is designed to promote the region’s unifiedposition on climate changeahead of the Dec. 7-18 meeting. The campaign under the theme .5 C to Stay Alive”, is intended to suppor t and “dramatize a common regional approach for mitigating theef fects of climate change on the region”, which will be ar ticulated at Copenhagen. The CARICOM Secretariat said that the plan includes a digital display onthe har mful effects of rising greenhouse gaseson the small island states (SIDSseveral video presentationson the how climate change isaf fecting human, animal and plant life in the Caribbean. COMMON APPROACH Secr etar y-General Edwin Carrington said the common r egional appr oach to mitigate the “unmanageable consequences” of climate change was based on studies by the Belize-based CaribbeanCommunity Climate Change Centre (CCCCC study concluded that global average temperatures which exceeded 1.5 degrees centigrade would have devastating effects on the region including significant destruction of coral reefs, coastal barriers, andmarine ecosystems, as well asexcessive flooding and mor e intense hur ricanes. “It will erode much of the foundation of our tourism,our agricultur e and our fish eries industry; it will wreak havoc on our plant-life, our forests and most of all dislocate our people. Immediate corrective action must there-for e be taken if we ar e to avoid this widespread destruction,” Carrington said. ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, CMC – The Global Fund tofight HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) will provide $34.5million to the Pan CaribbeanPar tnership Against HIV and AIDS (P ANCAP) to support the HIV r esponse in the Caribbean. The approval was made during the board meeting ofthe Global Fund last month. Carl Br owne, director of the PANCAP CoordinatingUnit (PCUthe meeting, said he wasthankful to the entir e PANCAP fraternity, including the UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Support Team, for its har d work which “has borne wonderful fruit for thepeople of the Caribbean whom we serve. “I have no doubt that the same spirit of collaboration thatbr ought us this far will see us thr ough to the end,” he added. PRAISE Browne also praised UNAIDS and the United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID providing much of the fundingto allow P ANCAP to submit “a top notch” pr oposal to the meeting. Of ficials said the proposal received a Category 2 rating, which means that PAN-CAP can begin making ar rangements to access the funds almost immediately after the completion of certain procedural requirements and thesigning of the grant. PANCAP, established in 2001, is a r egional umbrella or ganization which brings together national HIV pr ograms partnering with regional and international organiza-tions involved in the Caribbean’s response to theHIV and AIDS epidemic. The Global Fund was created in 2002 with a mandate todramatically incr ease resources to fight thr ee of the world’s most devastating diseases HIV, TB and malaria, and to direct resources to areas of gr eatest need. It has since approved funding totaling $18.4 billion for 144 countries. Ex-U.S.president expands malaria fight in Haiti, Dominican Republic Caribbean launches public climate change campaignFunding approved for Caribbean HIV/AIDS fight December 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 17 HEALTH HEALTH / / ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT www .caribbeantoday.com Carrington PORT OF PRINCE, Haiti, CMC For mer United States President Jimmy Carter has announced plans to expand a$200,000 pilot pr oject in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to curb the spread of malaria. “One of the most impor tant developments has been the new co-operationbetween thetwo coun tries,” said Carter whiletouring aHaitian hos pital that treats malariavictims recently. “And, for the first time in history, they are targeting thecomplete elimination of thedisease, instead of just tr eating sick people.” Carter said he was determined to travel to “the most distant and small and isolated and poverty-stricken villages in the deserts, in the jungles and in the poorest countries on earth” to wipe out diseases that have long been distant memories in richer countries. s a very different kind of life than any person couldsor t of do while still in the White House,” he said. U.S. health officials say about 30,000 Haitians and sev eral thousand people across the border in the DominicanRepublic ar e infected annually with the mosquito-borne illness. They say Hispaniola, the islandthat comprises Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is malaria’s last Caribbean outpost. Car ter said his pilot pr oj ect, established by his nonprofit Carter Center, has helped curb the spread of thedisease in two towns about 10miles apar t on opposite sides of the border between Haitiand the Dominican Republic.The for mer U.S. president said his program has funded nets treated with insecticide for r esidents to use, micr oscopes for lab technicians and motorbikes for field workers. Carter December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 17 

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Veteran Jamaica inter national player AndyW illiams ended a roller coaster season on a high note last month by helping his team Real Salt Lake capture theMajor League Soccer (MLStitle. RSL defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy on penaltykicks to win the MLS Cup, symbol of North Americanchampions, to bring a major professional sports title for thestate of Utah. Williams, who completed the 2009 season under thecloud of his wife Mar cia’s illness – she suffered from cancer, but is reportedly recover-ing and attended the game –played the full 90 minutes of regulation and additional 30 minutes of extra time which ended with both teams lockedat 1-1. And despite W illiams’s own miss in the penalty shootout, RSL eventually pre-vailed 5-4. Fellow Jamaica international Donovan Ricketts, thestar ting goalkeeper for the Galaxy, was forced to leavethe game in the second half with an injur ed right hand suf fered in a collision. While most of the attention in the final appeared to focus on the Galaxy, withMLS r egular season Most Valuable Player Landon Donovan and England inter-national David Beckham, itwas RSL which appear ed the better team on Nov . 22. The Galaxy scored first, when Mike Magee finished off agood build-up involvingBeckham and Donovan. RSL equalized in the 64th thr ough Robbie Findley and eventually took charge of the game. Still, the scor e r emained tied at the end of 120 minutes before the Galaxy missedthr ee penalties to RSL s two. A clearly exhausted Williams br oke into tears as his team celebrated the win andembraced several RSL andGalaxy team members andcoaches. GORDON WILLIAMS HARTFORD, Connecticut – Some of the greatest names inCaribbean cricket histor y are being immor talized in this northeastern United States city. Sir Gar field Sobers, Sir Vivian Richards, MichaelHolding, Clive Lloyd andGeor ge Headley are among more than a dozen legendsfr om the region who have ear ned induction into the Cricket Hall of Fame (CHF The CHF, which was established nearly thr ee decades ago by the Sportsmen’s Athletic Club (SACto pay tribute to the game’ s best, especially those who haver epresented the region with distinction. “It has dawned on us that everybody has recorded their own history except us West Indians,” said CHF’s DirectorMichael Chambers. “What convinced us that we needed a hall of fame was when we met (Alfalentineand (Lance induction ceremony, when they expressed their appreciation that nothing like this hadhappened to them; you knowthat you had to do it.” The two great spinners wer e inducted in 1981. Since then some 28 more “international” inductees have been selected. Among them are cricketers from non-West Indian countries, like Australia’s Greg Chappell, England’s Tony Greig, SunilGavaskar of India and Pakistan’s MushtaqMohammed. Jamaican cricketwriter T ony Becca and the late Australian businessman Kerry Packer ar e also in the inter national wing of the CHF. The “local” inductees are honored for their contributionto cricket in the U.S. andCanada. The original idea for the CHF came from Jamaicanborn Ken Wallace, who had a plan to set up a cricket museum. Trinidad native ErrolHousain then took that con cept a step further to include the hall of fame, which wasestablished in 1980, with the first induction held the follow-ing year . Chambers explained that most of the international inductees earn their spots for“accomplishments playing the game.” For the local group, the CHF looks “more to whatthey’ve done to move the game forward.” In the future, he said, when there is betterr ecordkeeping for competitions in the U.S. and Canada, players from those leaguescould also be inducted. “As of yet we can’t really base it on a player’s ability said the director. The CHF , located on Main Str eet, next door the SAC, features a variety of memorabilia, including signed playing gear , books, printed articles, photographs, trophies and statues. Most of theinductees, including some ofthe biggest names in cricket,have jour neyed her e to attend the ceremony. The most recent was held early October, Jamaican leads team to first MLS titleCricket Hall of Fame brings back memories of Caribbean legends Two Caribbean-born athletes were named worldathletes of the year last month. Sprint megastar UsainBolt of Jamaica and Jamaican-bor n American quarter-miler Sanya Richards both won the awar d for a second time. The 23-year -old Bolt collected the award for another sensational season of sprinting, which included world recordtimes in the 100 and 200 meters at the WorldChampionships in Athletics inBerlin last August, as well as agold medal for Jamaica in the 4x100 r elay . The 24-year-old Richards, who was born in Trelawny before moving to the U.S. with her parents while a teenager , captur ed an elusive maiden, global gold medal in her pet event in Berlin, andear ned a second gold as par t of the American team in the women’s 4x400 relay.Photograph shows PrinceAlber t II of Monaco, left, and IAAF Pr esident Lamine Diack, right, with Richards and Bolt at the IAAF WorldAthletics Gala in Monaco lastmonth. Bolt,Richards win world athlete-of-the-year awards 18 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 SPORT SPORT www.caribbeantoday.com Williams F ile photograph Photograph by Getty Images A photograph of West Indies legends Sir Garfield Sobers,left,and George Headley is part of the CHF. A sweater with shirt tucked inside,worn by Alf V alentine during his playing days, is on display a t the CHF . (CONTINUED ON P AGE 19) December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 18 

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GORDON WILLIAMS HARTFORD, Connecticut – A Caribbean American’sdr eam of returning to the pinnacle of boxing took a big hither e last month. Jamaican-born Glen Johnson, a resident of Miami, Florida, was defeated by Chad Dawson and in the process lost the chance to claim the American’s InternationalBoxing Or ganization (IBO title, plus the interim W orld Boxing Council (WBC the light heavyweight division. It was the second time in 18 months that Johnson found himself on the wrong side of a unanimous decision to Dawson. The two fought for Dawson’s WBC title in April 2008 in T ampa, Florida. Last month’s defeat, however, threatened to spell the end of the chase for a world title for the aging former championknown as the “Road Warrior”. ou know, he’s 40 years old, still beats most guys,” said Leon Margules of Seminole Warriors Boxing, which promotes some of Johnson’sfights. “On the other hand, I don’t know if he has the speedto beat a young, quick guy It was Dawson’ s speed of hands, feet and mind that caused Johnson’s downfall intheir 12-r ound contest at the XL Center on Nov. 7. The American constantly slipped out of the Jamaican’s reach,keeping him at bay with sharpjabs. “He was getting away from me,” Johnson said while in his dressing room immedi-ately after the bout. “Hefought a good fight. He foughtthe way how he can be mostsuccessful.” That also included cleverly avoiding a brawl, which gothim hur t in the first fight. “I didn’t want to go through hell again,” Dawsonadmitted. “I used my jab, I used my speed, outclassed him,” headded. “I made him miss. He was too slow The judges agreed. Two scored it 115 to 113 in Dawson’s favor. The third hadthe American ahead by a wider margin, 117 to 111. CompuBox, which trackedthe punchesthr own in the fight, also gaveDawson a signifi cant edge. The American threw more punches(756 to 688 landed more (246to 167), includingjabs (104 to 77and power shots(142 to 90 Johnson, who before the fightbelieved that heneeded to knockout the undefeat ed Dawson (29-0) to win in the American’s homestate, concededthat, unlike the controversial firstfight, the judges’ decision in the r ematch didn’t war rant much complaint. “When it’s that close it’s not gonna go in our favor,” he said. “So, it is what it is.” Johnson, whose record dropped to 49 wins, 13 lossesand two draws, said he is stillwilling to continue his ringcar eer and might move up to cr uiserweight, the 200-pound division. However, his chances of getting another world title shot grew decidedly slimmer following last month’s loss. According to Margules, whocalled Johnson a “courageous warrior,” it will be “a long road back” for the fighter. “He’d have to do something dramatic to get a big fight,” the promoter said. However, based on the Jamaican’s trademark deter-mination, he also r efused to totally r ule out Johnson’s chances. ou never know,” said Margules. “It’s up to him.” Gordon Williams is Caribbean Today’s managing editor. Windies suffer ‘embarrassing’ loss when India’s Farokh Engineer was inducted, alongside locals Lesly Lowe, Austin Hutchinson, Lloyd GeorgeDixon and Joslyn Chance Sr . The majority of the inter national inductees are from the Caribbean. e justify it by saying that the era those guys played in, they wer e consider ed champions or number one performers at the time,” saidChambers. Accor ding to the dir ector , the CHF of fers a fitting salute to their efforts. “What we do is give the players one last hurrah,” saidChambers. “They come to the end of their playing career and they can now carry theirinduction honor into the hallof fame to their graves.” Gordon Williams is Caribbean T oday’s managing editor. Cricket Hall of F ame brings back memories of Caribbean legendsCaribbean American boxer loses unanimous decision,world title hopes December 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 19 SPORT SPORT www .caribbeantoday.com Photogra ph by Gordon WilliamsJohnson,left,and Dawson square off at the weigh-in before last month’s fight. (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18) The West Indies slumped to an “embar rassing” innings and 65 runs defeat to Australia in the firstmatch in a thr ee T est cricket series Down Under last month, despite a brilliant centur y fr om teenaged Trinidadian Adrian Barath. Barath, 19 and making his Test debut, became the youngest West Indian to scorea hundr ed after he blasted 104 r uns in the second innings at The Gabba. Australia batted first and scored 408 for eight wickets declared. The visitors repliedwith 228 all out, fuelled by half centuries from Guyana’s Travis Dowlin (62captain Dinesh Ramdin (54 Forced to follow-on, the WestIndies was bowled out for 187.The visitors lost 15 wickets for 280 runs in 76.1 overs on the final day of the match. WestIndies captain Chris Gaylecalled the loss “downright embarrassing. The West Indies will face Australia in two more Test matches this month, followed by several limited overs games. December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 19 

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LONDON, England Jamaica’s Tourism MinisterEd Bar tlett believes Caribbean countries should dowhatever they can to upgrade their product and attract visitors in order to keep theireconomies afloat despite the global downturn. Speaking at the W orld Travel Market (WTMshow her e last month, Bartlett said his coun tr y has been able to maintain its position as a lead-ing destinationthr ough an aggressivedrive toupgrade its product and tomarket Jamaica as a placetourists want to visit. ell, we have had to bewe went out there andr efurbished and r efreshed ourselves in terms of our product offerings,” he explained. “Weadded 5,000 to 6,000 newr ooms, we added attractions and we impr oved our infrastructure. We had big investments in our airports and our highway systemswe recog-nized that if you have mor e rooms in a recession, you haveto be aggr essive, you have to go out there and market.” Jamaica has recorded a six percent increase in stay-over visitors this year . “Those countries that have remained aggressive during this recession, the rewards have been in terms of increased arrivals in somecases and in other cases it isboth an incr ease in arrivals as well as increased marketshar e,” Bartlett said. ‘OPTIMAL But Bartlett described the latter as being the “optimal”way to go. “It is, in fact, what you must do because when you’r e out of the recession that mar-ket shar e now is going to reflect itself in volumes high-er numbers which will give you the arrival explosion thatyou will need to drive your industry,” he explained. Bartlett said Caribbean countries have been using more aggressive marketing approaches to respond to thechallenges posed by the r ecession, but that now is not thetime to lax. “If we don’t quickly respond, we are going to be the region that is left out,” theminister war ned. NEW YORK – Haitian American travel executive Caroline Racine has been promoted to director of diver-sity sales within the globalsales division at ChoiceHotels Inter national. Racine, who ran the com pany’s Caribbean Franchise Development ef for ts for two and a half years, has been given the responsibility for the growing multi-cultural mar kets segment. Diversity and multicul-tural sales is anew divisionwithin the company’sglobal salesdepar tment and in the newly established r ole Racine will be responsible for developing strategic direct sales, marketing and e-commer ce solutions to help propel Choice as a leader in what is becoming a competitive market segment. Jose Salvador Icaza, who pr eviously assumed r esponsibility for franchise sales and development positions for the Cambria Suites and Sleep Inn brands, has been appointed director of emerging marketsand Caribbean Franchise Development, and will be aiming to build on the groundworkmade by Racine in the r egion. Launched about a year ago, Ascend Collectionincludes mor e than two-dozen upscale pr oper ties. W ith Ascend, Choice Hotels aims to lend marketing and opera-tional suppor t to drive busi ness directly to smaller, one-ofa-kind Caribbean pr oper ties. Racine has remained connected to the Caribbeanr egion, assisting Icaza with his transition into his new r ole. She was recently in Haiti with Icaza to help establish rela-tionships with key tourism andhotel stakeholders. Befor e joining Choice 11 years ago, Racine was lead account executive for America Online’s interactive par tnership mar keting initiatives. She has also served in various sales and marketing positions in organizations such as The Discovery Channel. CASTRIES, St. Lucia – St. Lucia’ s tourism authorities are ramping up ef forts targeting the Asian American market, with special welcome to Taiwanese Americans. Louis Lewis, St. Lucia’s director of tourism, said that on the heels of a recent famil-iarization visit of T aiwanese Americans, spearheaded byBay Gar dens Resorts, the island is anticipating the arrival of leading civil society activist Iris Ho, who is scheduled to participate in this month’s Caribbean Media Exchange on SustainableT ourism (CMEx Palm’ s Conference Centre. St. Lucia has explor ed the potential for “ethnic” tourismin theCaribbean andthe tourism authorities are assessing the potential tomarket the island to T aiwanese Americans. CMEx was scheduled to meet under a theme which examines multicultural tourism markets, as well as climate change. St. Lucia is one of a hand ful of nations in the Caribbean that r ecognizes the Taiwanese gover nment. s a long way from Taiwan, but we have hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese in America who remain attached to their home country,” said Ho. “They are now a prosper-ous community and include many professionals and business people. Like most middleclass Americans, they like vacations and we think they might like to show their appre-ciation to St. Lucia.” Time to upgrade product,market aggressively ~ Jamaica’s minister Haitian American mo ves up at Choice HotelsSt.Lucia ramps up courting of Asian American market LONDON, England – St. Lucia’s Tourism MinisterAllen Chastanet, has blasted the recently imposed BritishAir Passenger Duty (APD “catastrophic” and “unjust,” and strongly urged the UnitedKingdom to scrap it. “First of all, it’s a catastrophic tax and it’s going to be immediately catastrophic to us in the region, particularly tothe Caribbean wher e we’r e so dependent on tourism, it’ s not like we have something else to go to,” Chastanet said of theAPD, which was intr oduced on Nov. 1 and adds extra charges for passengers flying from the U.K. The Caribbean has been placed in a higher band thanthe United States, although some U.S. destinations are further away. As a result, pas-sengers will pay a higher levyto fly to the Caribbean thanplaces like Los Angeles andHawaii. The St. Lucian tourism minister , who was named “Caribbean T ravel Personality of the Year” at the event, said the tax has come at a bad timefor the Caribbean’ s br ead and butter industry, which is already reeling from the impact of the global recession. He further contended that theAPD is illegal, a point the region has raised at the level of the International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO Meanwhile, British lawmaker Sarah Teather has vowed to keep pressure on the Gordon Brown adminis-tration to r evoke its “ridicu lous” APD on passengers fly ing to the Caribbean. British travel duty to Caribbean destinations unjust ~ Chastanet 20 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 TOURISM TOURISM & & TRAVEL TRAVEL www.caribbeantoday.com AIR JAMAIC A TO THE WORLD Bruce R.Nobles,right,Air Jamaica’s president and chief executive officer,is joined by Miss Jamaica World 2009 Kerrie Baylis and George W . DeMercado, the airline’s senior director for global sales,to celebrate the honor of “The Caribbean’s Leading Airline”received at the 2009 World Travel Awards in London,England last month.This is the 12th consecutive year Air Jamaica has received the award. The World Travel Awards celebrate the achievements in all sectors of the global travel industry.Voting is cast by travel agents in more than 190 countries. Jamaica earned16 awards at the event.Among them,“Leading Caribbean Destination”,orld’s Leading Cruise Destination”and “Caribbean’s Leading Cruise Destination”.Jamaica was also honored for its “Once you go,you knoadvertising campaign,in a new category,“Caribbean’s Leading Marketing Campaign”.The Jamaica Tourist Board was recognized as the “Caribbean’s Leading Tourist Board”. Bartlett Ho Racine December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:01 AM Page 20 

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ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC Dominicans go to the polls onDec. 18, with Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit confident that his ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP returned to power for anew five-year ter m. “I am tonight ringing the bell...ladies and gentle-men, the day we shallchoose between going for ward and going backwardthat day is Fridaythe 18th day of December2009,” Sker rit, 37, said while addressing a political meeting in the westerncommunity of Mahaut last month, urging supporters to give his party an over-whelming mandate. The prime minister said 2010 would usher in a new erain Dominican politics, and called on supporters to “approach the new year with renewed vigor and enthusi-asm. e need to clean the slate and start a fresh we need to rally ar ound a common cause to take the beautiful country of ours to the nextlevel,” he said. The DLP won 12 seats in the last general elections, held on May 5, 2005, while the main Opposition UnitedW orkers Party (UWP eight seats. The other seat waswon by an independent candi date. OPPOSITION Meanwhile, in an immediate r esponse to the announce ment by the prime minister, the UWP Leader Ron Gr een, on a privately-owned radio station, appealed to voters to “build a new way forward” by removing the Skerrit administration from office. The UWP said it was pr eparing to contest all 21 seats at stake. Apart from the UWP, the governing party is expected toface a r evitalized DFP, which controlled the government ofthis mountainous Caribbeanisland fr om 1980 until 1995, but failed to win a single seatin the last elections. The DLP and the DFP formed a coalition government after the2000 general elections. Hotelier Judith Pestina, a former career local and inter-national public ser vant, is heading the par ty that was once led by the late DameEugenia Charles. She said the party would soon announcecandidates for the elections. Dominicans vote for a new government on Dec.18 December 2009CARIBBEAN TODAY 21 REGION REGION / / POLITICS POLITICS www .caribbeantoday.com SERENA STROKE American star Serena Williams,the world’s top female tennis player,tries her stroke with a cricket bat during a visit late last month to Barbados to play in an exhibition series with the world’s fourth ranked Caroline Wozniacki.Williams,a right-handed tennis player,shows a left-handed batting stance.She received a commemorativeba t from ICC World Twenty20 West Indies 2010 Corporate Communications Manager Gayle Alleyne at the Sugar Hill Tennis Resort.It features the tournament logo and an image of a batsman on the blade,plus the tournament tagline “Captivating, Conta gious Cricket” along with her name “Serena” on the back. The ICC WT20 West Indies 2010 championship takes place in four Caribbean countries Barbados, Guy ana,St.Kitts and St.Lucia from April 30 to May 16. POLITICS BRIEFS Vincentians say no to new constitution The government of Prime Minister Dr.Ralph Gonsalves suf-fered a major setback after votersin St. Vincent and the Grenadines overwhelming rejected a new con stitution in an historic referendum late last month. Preliminar y figures released by the Elections Office showed the vote totaled 29,019,com-pared to 22,493 people castingballots in support of changing the30-year old constitution. Ruling party distances itself from ‘Jagdeo Third Term’ The ruling P eople’ s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C itself from a campaign to get President Bharrat Jagdeo electedfor a third consecutive term inGuy ana. The campaign is being led by a group calling itself the “GuyaneseCoalition for Ja gdeo Third T erm” (GCFJTT support a referendum tha t would allow the president to stand for a third term when Guyanese go to the polls in 2011. Under the Guy ana Constitution, presidents are limited to two-five year terms. P .M. predicts lean sweep’ in St.Kitts elections Prime Minister Dr . Denzil Douglas is predicting a lean sweep”of the seats up for grabs when voters in St.Kitts and Nevis goto the polls to elect a new govern ment. In the last general elections, held Oct.24,2005,the St.KittsLabour P arty (SKNLP the 15 seats in the Parliament.The main Opposition P eople’ s Action Movement (PAM) won a single seat. The prime minister,however,gave no indica tion as to when he would call the general elections due in2010. Compiled from CMC RO Y AL WELCOME Britain’ s Queen Elizabeth II, right, stands with T rinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Patrick Manning,center,and India’s P.M.Dr.Manmohan Singh during the opening of the 21st Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGMTrinidad lastmonth. December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:02 AM Page 21 

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MARIE GREGORY When 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 sur vival techniques and the private atmos phere which tends to be produced 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 andbur eaucratic efforts is always uncer-tain at best”. “The Village Curtain” is described onthe cover as “A Jamaican Collection”. That is, perhaps, somewhat misleading. 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 culture. Tame has spent a lifetime in the marine industry. He admits that he has never earned a cent that has not come fr om his dealings with the sea. The first chapter and r efer ences thr oughout point to fishing r eading the weather , even dyna miting the coral r eefs testimony 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 uncertain envir onment. UNDERST ANDING Characters in the book ar e treated with understanding. The human spirit is strong, asillustrated over and over whether thr ough Sonia, the visiting American who falls in love with the Black River areaand wants to develop tourism; Mikey, who survives a Floridaprison and almost loses his lifeat sea; or Leo, who dynamites the reef and loses an arm yet is able to continue with an adapt-ed method. The hardships bind communities together, watched over by village elder “Mr. James”, a ganja grower, who dispenses white rum liberally, yet sticks to coconut water himself. The homespun wisdom of the man allows him to deal with people at all levels -politicians, charity workers, visitors and police advisingquietly , carrying on his own activities, ever hospitable yet never lifting the village curtain more than a few inches. COMMENTARY Social commentar y is scattered throughout. We hear of the young officer from Kingston explaining basic seamanship to the men of the vil-lage who had fished the Pedr o Banks since they were 10 years old, and the Englishman who comes to the Police Force as deputy commissioner telling the press that he has not come to solve crime. Finally, there is the “Charity Man”, so called by “Mr . James”. Here is the disillusioned dogooder who sees his projects diverted from their original intent. T ame is a master of under statement. W e ar e allowed glimpses of lives in the community. The curtain is never lifted completely. The final vignette is of the dog, “a for mal sor t 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 r um in the local bar. The chapter, which deals with the death and burial of the animal, is touching. As the stor y closes and “Sonia”, about to return to her homeland, looks at “Mr. James”and sees the veil of his eyes, themoment of tr uth 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 par tially successful at bringing the smell of the salt spray at daybreakand rage of the hur ricane 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 throughAmazon.com. Fishing to raise ‘The Village Curtain’ CARACAS, Venezuela, CMC – Caribbean students are likely to benefit from a decisionby the Bolivarian Alliance forthe Peoples of Our America (ALBA al net of universities for mem-ber countries. Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Honduras, St. Vincent and the Gr enadines, Nicaragua and Venezuela are members ofALBA, which Caracas has been promoting as the alternative to the Free Trade Area ofthe Americas (FT AA). A r eport in the Cuban news agency Pr ensa Latina stated that experts from Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have endorsed the constitution for the proposednetwork. It said that the regional project was ratified at the firstmeeting of the ALBAEducation Training Groupsand that the meeting her e r evised the agreements reached during the sixthExtraor dinary Summit of Heads of State in Venezuelaand of the second ALBA Education Workshop in Nicaragua. The projectionincludes the cr eation of a common pr ogram for the teaching of community integral medi cine, education and energy. “The idea is that the member countries incorporateto the development of thepr ograms permitting the academic mobility and the development of common curriculafor the countries, among other actions”, the report stated.It quoted Edgar do Ramirez, dir ector of International Cooperation, as saying thatthe meeting consider ed that UNIALBA should be a net for the participation of students, educational, investigators, workers and productivesectors in the design of inves tigation lines. Caribbean students likely to benefit from regional net of universities 22 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 BOOKS BOOKS / / EDUCATION EDUCATION www.caribbeantoday.com December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:02 AM Page 22 

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F or listings 800-366-9783 ext 5461. Bank Owned! Foreclosures! 4bed 3ba $225/mo! 3bed 2ba only $199/mo! 5% dw ,15yrs @ 8% For Listings 800-366-9783 ext 5558 Bank Owned! 4bed 3ba $199/mo! Only $14,900! 5% dw,15yrs @ 8% apr 5 Br $38,900 or $320/mo! For Listings 800-366-9783 ext 5466 F oreclosures From $10,000!! 1-4 Bedrooms Available From $199/mo!! For Listings 800-350-4142 Good Investment! Holly Hill, Near River! House/double detached garage plus garage Apartment Each; 2-Bedrooms 1-Bath Living/Dining Rooms, Large Sun P orches. $220,000 386-615-0901 386-212-2562. HUD HOMES! 3bd 2ba only $199/mo! 4bdr 3ba $215/mo! Stop Renting! 5% dw , 15 yrs @ 8% apr For Listings 800-366-9783 ext 5638 (Place Under A partments F or Rent) LAND SALE NOTICE:VIRGINIA MTNS Closeout Sale! 2.5 acres with pond near stocked trout stream, near sta te park,$29,500,must sell. Bank financing.1-866-789-8535 NOR TH CAROLINA Holiday in the mountains. Make your family memories today; even the family pet is welcome! Call F oscoe Rentals 1800-723-7341 book online www .foscoerentals.com Stuart,Florida Waterfront Condo 2/2 ground floor end unit.Deep water dock,North Fork,St. Lucie River ,heated pool,covered parking,quiet neighborhood,close to downtown.Estate sale, price just reduced $224,000 772-692-9017 NORTH CAROLINA SKI BEECH Discount Ski packa ges,Discounts on Lodging, Lift Tickets & Ski Rentals 1-6 Bedrooms,fully equipped chalets & townhomes. Chalet Rentals 1-800-368-7404 www.skibeechmountainnc.com HEALTH & BEAUTY WEIGHTLOSS? P AIN? CAN’T SLEEP? Men’s Health Flexeril,Tramadol,Soma,Viagra,Cialis, Levitra and Many More!!! Low Prices!!! Free Shipping Pharmac y Connection USA 1-800-4531448 AUTOMOBILES Acura Integra 00 $500! Nissan Altima 01 $350! Honda Civic 00 $800! Police Impounds! F or listings Call 800-366-9813 ext N580 Donate Vehicle Receive $1000 Grocery Coupon Noah’ s Arc Support No Kill Shelters,Research to Advance Veterinary Treatments Free Towing,Tax Deductible,Non-Runners Accepted 1-866-912-GIVE Donate your Car Truck or Boat to HERITAGE FOR THE BLIND F ree 3 Day Vacation,Tax Deductible, Free Towing,All Paperwork Taken Care Of. 1-866-905-3801 Honda Civic 00 $800! Police Impounds for Sale! Many Makes and Models Priced to Sell! F or listings call 800-366-9813 ext 9480. Police Impounds for Sale! Honda Accord LX 98 $800! Nissan Altima 01 $350! Hondas Chevys Jeeps and More from $500! For listings Call 800-366-9813 ext N581 $500! Police Impounds for Sale! Cars/Trucks/SUVs from $500! Many Makes and Models, Must See! For listings call 800-366-9813 ext 9482 December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:02 AM Page 23 

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24 CARIBBEAN TODAYDecember 2009 December2009.qxd 12/9/09 1:02 AM Page 24