Do people still make this?  One of the great memories of childhood.
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Today’s #wcw is the first woman captain of BWIA, Captain Wendy Yawching! She is also the first Trinidadian woman that hiked to the Mt. Everest Base Camp in the Himalayas!
Born on September 5th, 1955 in San Fernando, she grew up in Port of Spain with her family. It was there that she decided at the age of 10 to become a pilot. Though she faced criticism that aviation was a job solely for men, she was undeterred, and nevertheless pursued her passions, becoming a flight attendant and migrating to Canada to study, where she was finally able to pursue her dream of becoming a pilot by the age of 31.
Her first role was as a commercial pilot for LIAT in 1986, followed by a position in 1988 at BWIA as a First Officer. The BWIA (British West Indian Airways) was the former national airline of Trinidad and Tobago and the predecessor of what we know today as Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL). There, she rose through the ranks to eventually emerge as a Captain on the B737-800. After the airline’s closure in 2006, she flew with Caribbean Airlines as Captain of the B737-800 fleet until her retirement in 2014.
No stranger to forging her own path in life, Yawching is also a skilled explorer, having hiked to the Mt. Everest Base Camp in the Himalayas, at an altitude of over 5,000 metres, in addition to the Swiss Alps. In 2022, she published her memoir, “The Courage to Fly”, describing her journey towards self-empowerment, and becoming Trinidad and Tobago’s first Feng Shui consultant.
This photograph is courtesy of the book, “Why Not a Woman?” compiled by Radhica Saith and is part of the National Archives of Trinidad & Tobago Reference Collection.
References: Mathur, Ira. “Yawching to Women: You Too Can Fly!” Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, 15 Oct. 2023. (Source: National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago, May 15, 2024)

Happy Birthday Rose! Trinidad and Tobago’s beloved Monarch, Calypso Rose,  celebrated her 84th Birthday in April.
Forty-six years ago, on February 5th 1978, Calypso Rose became the first woman to win the Calypso Monarch crown with the songs “Her Majesty” and “I Thank Thee”! She was also Calypso Queen from 1974 to 1978, making her the National title holder for five consecutive years—a feat that no calypsonian had accomplished before. In 1977, she also became the first woman to win the Road March title with her song “Gimme More Tempo.”
Tobago-born McCartha Linda Lewis, known widely as Calypso Rose, began sharing her musical talents with the world as a teenager. Over the course of her career, she has become a multi award-winning international recording artist, composing and recording over 800 songs. Through her music, she has brought audiences together and shone light on important social and political issues. In 2017, she was awarded the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the highest symbol of honour presented to a citizen of T&T.
This photo shows Calypso Rose in performance from the 10th Edition of the “Ins & Outs of Trinidad and Tobago” magazine, published in 2010. It is part of the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Magazine Collection. (Source: National Archives of T&T, April 26, 2024) 

Who was Mary Bartlett alias Ma "Mayute"?
Siparia and La Divina Pastora are synonymous, and the very identity of the little town is associated with the presence of its patron saint.
The Elders in Siparia would also remember the name Ma Mayute who was a wealthy parishioner who was custodian of all the wealth of the Siparia Catholic Church. Data from historical records speaks of the powerful influence of Mary Bartlett alias Ma "Mayute", in encouraging the workship of La Divina Pastora by persons of East Indian Descent .
In fact Mary Bartlett, alias Ma Mayute, dominated the affairs of Siparia and the local parish for many decades until her death in the 1960s at more than 100 years of age. Her large , ornate home, stood on Mary St. and was constructed in the 1870s. It was demolished in 2000.
Photo of Ma Mayute's mansion .
(Source: Virtual Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, April 6, 2024)

TT-CANADIAN feature film Doubles has won three awards at the Canadian Film Fest, including a Best Supporting Actor award for veteran TT-born actor Errol Sitahal. The awards were announced at the festival held last month in Toronto.
Sitahal spoke with Newsday about his win during a WhatsApp audio call and said he was excited by the news.
“It is a reputable institution, the Canadian Film Fest, and to get an award from them is pretty much an honour. It means to me I am regarded by the film fraternity as a top actor in the country. Pity I am not regarded the same way in Trinidad, but still.”
A long-time veteran of the stage and screen, Sitahal has appeared in several local theatre productions, Caribbean films, Hollywood films including, The Little Princess, Tommy Boy and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and Canadian television series 11 Cameras and How to Be Indie.
In Doubles, Sitahal plays Ragbir, a Trinidadian immigrant living in Toronto who is visited by his son Dhani (played by local actor and attorney Sanjiv Boodhu), a frustrated Trini doubles vendor who comes to Canada seeking financial gain from his estranged father. The trip becomes complicated when he learns that his father has a serious illness.


Both Boodhu and Sitahal reprised their roles from Ian Harnarine’s 2011 short Doubles With Slight Pepper which the new film is based on, and which won many accolades including the Best Canadian Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival and also a Genie Award.
In the new film Sitahal’s real-life wife Leela plays his estranged wife Sumintra. On his award-winning role, he said it was possible in the past he had roles equal to what he played in Doubles but they were not given any kind of attention including in Trinidad.
“I could have gotten (a similar award) a long time ago. But it was a proper part a nice part, and I related to it easily. It was a relaxed and comfortable performance.”
Sitahal said his role would have been special to the Canadian Film Fest as it was not the usual character seen in films, including those from Trinidad and the wider Caribbean.
“The area that is gradually being explored is the existence of diaspora. It is a very confusing area. People talk about multiculturalism, talk glibly about it. It is very confusing, very painful, and full of suffering and deep-down disturbances. People moved from one culture to another, specifically to (Canada).”
He said there are a lot of culturally displaced people in Canada, and it was important to recognize and engage differences without losing cultural distinctiveness. He added there are similar differences within Caribbean societies and, though there has been a longer time to engage with them, these issues were not being worked out.
Sitahal expressed hope his role and the award will lead to more films and discussions about the displaced immigrant experience and the disturbances they suffer. “I think cinema is a place to articulate these differences.”


Doubles writer and director Ian Harnarine spoke to Newsday about Sitahal’s win in a Zoom interview and said he was very happy that he was being recognized with this special jury award.
“Everyone who sees this film is immediately moved by Errol’s performance. And I knew when we were filming it, we were getting something very special out of the actors but especially Errol.”
Harnarine said he worked with Sitahal on two films and described the level of his talent as “unmatched.”
“The Trinidadian audience would know Errol Sitahal as the phenomenal actor who has been doing countless stage plays and movies in Trinidad, but I don’t think he’s received the recognition formally that he deserves. I believe he’s a national treasure. And I’m glad he’s getting the recognition for the amount of talent that he has and how much he puts into it.”
He said the team was pleased with the recognition that the awards represented. Together with the award for Sitahal, Doubles also won the Reel Canadian Indie Award and People’s Pick for Best Flick. Harnarine explained the Indie Award was a jury award and goes to the movie that encapsulates the spirit of independent film.
“It’s not a big studio movie. What we didn’t have in money in terms of budget, we made up for it in terms of heart and in terms of grit and of people really working hard to make the movie. And so, to be recognized for that, it means a lot.”
On the People’s Pick award, Harnarine said this award is voted on by the audience. He recalled Doubles had a soldout audience in Toronto which was a dream come true for him.
“The audience really loved the movie. There were people who were crying throughout their experience and that meant a lot. So you’re connecting with the audience, which is what we’re trying to do ultimately with the film. Trying to move people emotionally.”
Harnarine, a Canadian filmmaker born to Trinidadian parents, recalled the audience in Toronto included many people from Trinidad and the Caribbean diaspora but also “regular Canadian people” from Ontario’s capital city.
“Toronto is a really multicultural place. So, to tap into that audience, there’s something in there that they would know. Even if they didn’t know about doubles or anything like that, by the end of the movie they felt something about this universal truth that I think the movie is trying to get at. And if they felt something by that, then I feel that we’ve done our job.”


He said he was hoping everyone could appreciate the film whether they were aware of the culture presented in the film or not. “I’m hoping they can tap into the humanity that is involved.”
He said the film was shot during very cold conditions and they were always pressed for time and money.
“But the one thing that always kept me going was that we would screen this film for our people. We’d screen this movie in Toronto. We’d screen this movie for a packed house.”
He said that having this dream come to fruition made for a very special night.
The three awards are Harnarine’s first at the annual festival held by the Canadian Film Fest, which is a non-profit organization whose mission is to celebrate the art of cinematic storytelling by exclusively showcasing Canadian films. Harnarine explained the Canadian Film Fest was an early step in their film festival run and the awards immediately raised the stature of the film.
“We can say we’re a multiaward- winning film now with an award-winning performance by a standout actor. And hopefully, that will raise awareness for the film and get more people interested in it.”
Harnarine said he was looking forward to having a run in Trinidad after the film successfully opened the TT Film Festival 2023 back in September.
“I am hoping we can work with FILMCO to get a theatrical release of the film in Trinidad. And that would mean a lot to me. And I’m hoping the local audience would come out and support what I think is a really high-quality vision of themselves.”
On his other projects, Harnarine announced he was adapting the 2007 historical fiction novel Soucouyant by David Chariandy, a Canadian writer born to Trinidadian immigrant parents.
​(Source; Newsday, April 2, 2024)

​Tobago-born poet, playwright, essayist, and novelist M NourbeSe Philip was among eight writers awarded US$175,000 each by the Windham-Campbell Prizes to support their work and allow them to focus on their creative practice independent of financial concerns.
A media release said the Windham-Campbell Prizes are a major global prize that recognizes eight writers each year for literary achievement across four categories – fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
With annual prize money exceeding US$1.4 million – and total prize money awarded over the past decade at over US$18 million – they are one of the most significant prizes in the world.
In poetry, Philip was selected for her diverse and rich body of work – including "Zong! As Told to the Author by Setaey Adamu Boateng" – which is deeply engaged with the complexities of art, colonialism, identity, race, and forgotten and suppressed histories, and that constantly pushes boundaries on the page and in performance, the release said.
The selection committee gave her this citation: “Inventing derelict tongues of refusal, M. NourbeSe Philip breaks open and reimagines the horror of official speech and how it acts, creating a genre-obliterating poetry.”
Previous writers from TT who have been awarded a Windham-Campbell Prize include Dionne Brand (fiction, 2021) and André Alexis (fiction, 2017).
Michael Kelleher, director of the prizes, said: “Each year, I feel incredibly honored to call the eight recipients: to be the messenger delivering the entirely unexpected and life-changing news that they have been awarded US$175,000.
It is clear – now, more than ever – how challenging working in the creative industries, around the world, can be. A Windham Campbell Prize is intended to offer financial security, and through this freedom, the time and space to write, to think, to create – all without pressure or expectation.”
The prizes were the brainchild of lifelong partners Donald Windham and Sandy M. Campbell.
The couple were deeply involved in literary circles, and for years they had discussed the idea of creating an award to highlight literary achievement and provide writers with the opportunity to focus on their work independent of financial concerns.
When Campbell died unexpectedly in 1988, Windham took on the responsibility for making this shared dream a reality. The first prizes were announced in 2013.
The prizes are administered by Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and nominees are considered by judges who remain anonymous before and after the prize announcement.
Recipients write in English and may live in any part of the world.
2024 recipients:

• Deirdre Madden (Ireland) – fiction
• Kathryn Scanlan (US) – fiction
• Christina Sharpe (Canada/US) – nonfiction
• Hanif Abdurraqib (US) – nonfiction
• Christopher Chen (US) – drama
• Sonya Kelly (Ireland) – drama
• M. NourbeSe Philip (Canada/TT) – poetry
• Jen Hadfield (UK/Canada) – poetry

(Source: Newsday April 4, 2024)