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ABVMTT extends heartiest congratulations to the three Trinidadians, Doolarie Ramdath, Shankar Teelucksingh and Stephanie Omardeen who have been awarded silver in the 2023 Cacao of Excellence Awards for the Central America and Caribbean region. This recognition highlights the exceptional quality and flavour diversity of cocoa produced in T&T and solidifies its position as one of the leading cocoa-producing regions in the world.
The history of Cocoa in Trinidad dates back to the early days when the Spaniards were the first to commercially cultivate it. The Spaniards first planted the Criollo variety in Trinidad in 1525. Today, we travel back in time to the distant past to find out about the legend associated with the first cacao plant and how it arrived in Trinidad. Ancient legend tells us about the Feathered Serpent God, Quetzalcoatl who gifted the Meso-American peoples with miraculous cocoa seeds. He wanted his people to be able to live healthily and be well fed so that they could become the best version of themselves: being generous, talented, hard-working & knowledgeable. The Ancient Mesoamericans considered that the cacao tree was sacred, which is why chocolate became known as the food of the gods.They would make a drink from cacao beans that were believed to have spiritual powers and mood-enhancing capabilities. This drink was consumed during sacred ceremonies of birth, death, and marriage by nobles, priests, rulers, and warriors. Montezuma II, the Aztec ruler of Mexico, is traditionally believed to play a major role in spreading cocoa to other countries. History reveals that Montezuma supposedly consumed gallons of chocolate daily as an aphrodisiac and energy drink. He was also known to share his cacao beans with his warriors. Christopher Columbus encountered the beans in 1502, as did Hernan Cortes, who dominated the Aztecs in the Yucatan. Cortes and his conquistadores were served a bitter, hot beverage spiced with pepper and little resembling the stuff we call chocolate today. According to the legend, Cortés brought the first cocoa seeds to Spain from one of his expeditions to America. When he and his troops were looking for gold and riches, the last Aztec emperor Cuahutémoc, shared a cup of cocoa with him. According to historical records cocoa seems to have been introduced in Trinidad in the 17th century, since it was one of the few cash crops cultivated for export by the Spanish settlers. It was also grown by subjugated Amerindians on the missions established by Capuchin monks from 1687-90. At its peak in1830, Trinidad and Tobago was the world’s third highest producer of cocoa, after Venezuela and Ecuador, producing 20% of the world’s cocoa. Though cocoa is no longer the cash crop it used to be, we the citizens of T&T can still boast that some of the finest cocoa beans come from here. So, next time you enjoy a cup of hot cocoa tea , make sure to remember all of its beautiful histories and share it with our young children. (Source: Angelo Bissessarsingh's Virtual Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, March 10, 2024)
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 Credit to artist Rudolph Bissessarsingh Rice is a staple food in Trinidad and Tobago as in other countries of the world. At the end of the Indentureship period when immigrants from India were allowed to buy lands instead of a return passage to India (post 1860) many of them bought plots in swampy areas like Cunupia where they grew rice as the staple product. Rice, harvested from the rice fields also known as "Dhan " was spread out to dry in front of the dwelling houses of the rice farmers and then stored, being husked and cleaned as the need of the household demanded. An acre of land could produce enough rice to feed a family of 7 for a year or more. (Source: Angelo Bissessarsingh Virtual Museum of Trinidad and Tobago, Feb 5, 2024)  From the blog of Patricia Bissessarsingh Feb 22 2024.
Women's History Month is the perfect time to reflect on some of our lesser-known heroines out there. Women who are not household names , but women everyone should know about because of their incredible contributions in different field of endeavours. Today’s blog shines the spotlight of attention on; The first Woman Lawyer to be admitted to the Bar in Trinidad Did you know that women were not allowed to practice in the Courts of Trinidad and Tobago until well over a hundred years after our first Civil High Courts were established in 1822? In 1939, Mona Marjorie Rigsby became the first Trinidad and Tobago-born female attorney-at-law to be admitted to practise in the local Courts and the youngest barrister across the British Empire. Ms. Rigsby was born in Port of Spain in 1918 and in 1935, she wrote and passed the entrance examination for London University. She then attended Middle Hall, where she secured honours in the fields of Roman Law and Criminal Law and Procedure. She was called to the Bar in England in June 1939 at the age of twenty-one. At that time, upon her call, she was the youngest barrister, male or female, across the entire British Empire. Ms. Rigsby returned to Trinidad and Tobago and was admitted to practice in the local Courts in September 1939. Mona Marjorie Rigsby and other women barrister like her not only paved the way for women in enter the male dominated legal fraternity but they also deserve our respect, admiration and remembrance. TRIVIA QUESTION Who was the First female judge in Trinidad and Tobago ? Credit to the following sources : · Mona Marjorie Rigsby: Photo courtesy of the Trinidad & Tobago Guardian published on September 6, 1939, which is part of the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Newspaper https://www.facebook.com/nationalarchivestt/photos · https://civilwatch.wordpress.com/2021/08/02/who-were-the-first-women-to-practise-in-the-courts-of-trinidad IRA MATHUR (Source: Trinidad Guardian, Feb 24, 2024)
Chaguanas-born Trinidadian author Kevin Jared Hosein’s novel Hungry Ghosts (Bloomsbury Publishing Feb 2023) has been longlisted for one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world–the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. Hosein’s novel has been described by celebrated historical writer, the late Hilary Mantel, as “deeply impressive”, and Bernardine Evaristo, president of the Royal Society of Literature, called his historical novel “linguistically gorgeous”. The prize was founded in 2009 and is traditionally awarded at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, Scotland, in June every year. The winner receives £25,000, and shortlisted authors each receive £1,500. The shortlist for the prize will be announced in May and the winner in June 2024. Hosein shared the Walter Scott longlist link on his Facebook page on February 22 by calling the news “incredible”, and adding his book was with “massive company”. The 2024 judging panel includes Katie Grant (chair), James Holloway, Elizabeth Laird, James Naughtie, Kirsty Wark and Saira Shah. In a press release announcing the longlist, the chair of Judges, Katie Grant, said: “This year’s longlist sweeps us from one end of the world to the other and from the Dark Ages to the twentieth century–almost a millennium-and-a-half. Along the way, we hear tales of fifteenth-century Norwich and of the Highland Clearances of the 1800s; of the secret railroad through the Americas during the mid-nineteenth century and of forbidden love in London at the turn of the twentieth; from tropical Jamaica to Japan and Korea in the late 1800s, and to sultry Penang as the twentieth-century dawns; onwards to Trinidad, to Rome, to Crete and to New Zealand during the Second World War years; and to London and Paris in the swinging 1960s when anything seems possible. “In each book, emotions run deep from the epic to the intimate, from the philosophical to the swashbuckling, and from the traditional to the experimental. If you read the whole list, just like the panel of judges, you’ll never be short of conversation. Longlisted authors this year encompass a range of nationalities, including Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, Malaysian and Trinidadian.” The Walter Scott Prize is sponsored by the Duke of Buccleuch, and “celebrates quality, innovation and ambition of writing.” In 2022, Trinidadian/Irish writer Amanda Smyth’s novel Fortune (Peepal Tree Press), based in Trinidad in the 1920s, was shortlisted for the prestigious prize. An early review of Hungry Ghosts by Teresa White in The Sunday Guardian described Hosein’s novel set in barracks in 1940s Trinidad. “If traditional Trinidadian working-class narratives take place in the East Dry River yard (The Dragon Can’t Dance and Moon on a Rainbow Shawl come immediately to mind), Hungry Ghosts takes place in the shared space of the Caroni Plain barrack room. The emerging themes are similar: hunger, desire, ambition and the complete absence of privacy. But the exposed Central landscape lays humanity poignantly bare: “Here, the snakes’ calls blurred with the primaeval hiss of wind through the plants. Picture en plein air, all shades of green with vermillion soaked with red and purple and ochre. Picture what the good people call fever grass, wild caraille, shining bush, timaries, tecomarias, bois gris, bois canot, christophene, chenette, moko, moringa, pommerac, pommecythere, barbadine, barthar. Humanity as ants on the Savannah.” Hosein’s previous books, The Repenters and The Beast of Kukuyo were longlisted by the International Dublin Literary Award. The Beast of Kukuyo won a CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature. Earlier this year Hosein was longlisted for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize In 2022, Trinidadian/Irish writer Amanda Smyth’s novel Fortune (Peepal Tree Press), based in Trinidad in the 1920s, was shortlisted for the prestigious prize. The 12 novels in contention for the £25,000 prize are: • THE NEW LIFE Tom Crewe (Chatto & Windus) • A BETTER PLACE Stephen Daisley (Text Publishing) • HUNGRY GHOSTS Kevin Jared Hosein (Bloomsbury) • FOR THY GREAT PAIN, HAVE MERCY ON MY LITTLE PAIN Victoria MacKenzie (Bloomsbury) • MUSIC IN THE DARK Sally Magnusson (John Murray) • CUDDY Benjamin Myers (Bloomsbury) • MY FATHER’S HOUSE Joseph O’Connor (Harvill Secker) • THE FRAUD Zadie Smith (Hamish Hamilton) • MISTER TIMELESS BLYTH Alan Spence (Tuttle) • THE HOUSE OF DOORS Tan Twan Eng (Canongate) • IN THE UPPER COUNTRY Kai Thomas (Penguin Canada) • ABSOLUTELY AND FOREVER Rose Tremain (Chatto & Windus) Ira Mathur is a Guardian Media writer and the 2023 Non-Fiction Bocas Prize for Literature winner. www.irasroom.org  Miss World Trinidad and Tobago, Aché Abrahams debuted her national costume during the Miss World Opening Ceremony in India on Tuesday, February 21. Abrahams proudly introduced herself as T&T’s representative, noting that the nation is famous for its steelpan, soca and Carnival.
Her costume, designed by Lost Tribe’s Solange Govia, depicted the Fancy Sailor and channelled the Golden Era of Sailor Mas portrayals, which the designer said acknowledged “the sophistication, vibrancy and power of the mas character.” Govia explained: “I also started thinking about being a woman in the Carnival industry, and the fact that is also my duty to always honour our womanhood in these sacred traditions. I always want my costumes to remind people that there will always be a place and space for female representation in mas, and I am grateful that Val allowed me this amazing creative opportunity to challenge my design instincts, to inject this sense of femininity and grace into this design, and to just create freely.” The designer provided some insight into the design elements of the stunning costume. “From the embellished hat, to the towering collar, to the classic stick, I wanted to pay homage to the opulence that the Sailor Mas experience brings to the streets of Port of Spain. Of course, there had to be a design twist in this Fancy Sailor – the sand-coloured feathered skirt that replaced the bell-bottom pants, to not only represent the first visit of British, French and American naval ships in our nation’s history, but to also highlight where the Caribbean Sea meets the T&T shoreline,” she continued. “For me, it is this simple reminder that through every storm, women have become ‘the glue’ to the Carnival experience. We bring these powerful elements together to define our legacy, and we will always be pivotal in pushing the winds of change forward,” Govia concluded. The costume will again grace the stage for the Dances of the World segment. The Miss World 2024 pageant takes place Saturday, March 9 from 10am - 1pm AST. (Source: The Loop, Feb 21, 2024)  inister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Kazim Hosein toured a rice project which is intended to revitalise the local rice industry, with the help of disease-resistant seeds from Guyana.
In an update, the Ministry shared photos of Agriculture Minister Kazim Hosein on a tour of the project today. The Ministry said in 2023 it procured and distributed 91 tonnes of high-yielding, disease-resistant rice seeds from the government of Guyana—an essential step towards enhancing the quality and quantity of the country's rice production. The Ministry said the project has not only met but exceeded acreage cultivation targets set by MALF's technical team. The Ministry said other notable achievements of the project include contracts issued to individual rice farmers by National Flour Mills, repairs and servicing of MALF's Rice Harvester and other equipment, and ongoing training sessions introducing modern production techniques. Currently, Minister Hosein is actively spearheading the identification of new lands for rice production—a strategic initiative aligned with the Ministry's growth objectives. In 2022 regional leaders attended the Agri Investment Forum and Expo II to discuss food security and creating the easier movement of goods and services within the region. CARICOM has committed to a 25 per cent reduction in its regional food import bill by 2025. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the combined food import bill (FIB) for the 14 Caribbean Community member states sky-rocketed from US$2.08 billion in 2000 to US$4 billion in 2008, and surpassed the US$4.25 billion mark in 2011. (Source: The Loop, Jan 22, 2024)  The national bird of Tobago is the Rufous-vented chacalaca, locally called the Cocrico because of their call. Main Ridge, Tobago. (Credit: Jerome E. Foster Photography)
 TT Culture and the Arts e-book cover. AN e-book version has been created for the book Celebrating Trinidad and Tobago's Culture and Arts, making it freely accessible globally.
Author Nasser Khan expressed his gratitude to Minister of Tourism Randall Mitchell and his staff for backing the initiative. Described as the Students Companion of TT Culture and the Arts, over 600 educational institutions received approximately 2,000 hard copies of the 336-page book back in 2019. Researched and written by Khan, his 30th publication inclusive of the e-book, the book contains 33 chapters on topics including Carnival, literary arts, religious festivals, culinary arts and music. There is a special chapter entitled Uniquely Tobago, a media release said. Khan had lamented back in 2019, "Currently in the schools of TT there is no one reference book specific to the broad spectrum of our culture and the arts. Students and teachers must therefore use a variety of resources for assignments…I wanted this book to be a one-stop shop to reduce the amount of time it takes for people to consult multiple sources on the history and culture of TT, depending on the scope of their research.” Then minister of culture Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said, "The very title of this book, Celebrating TT's Culture and Arts, speaks to the importance of what this book brings to our young people." She said it is important for people to recognise the country's rich culture and develop a greater sense of patriotism. The book covers all of TT's cultural and artistic forms of expressions, with illustrations. The online link is: https://archive.org/details/cultureandthearts.com THE STORY OF A LOCAL HISTORIAN WHO NOT ONLY USED WORDS BUT HAND EMBROIDERED CREATIONS TO DOCUMENT HISTORY OF HER FAMILY’S ISLAND RESORT. Blog by Patricia Bissessar
At the Angelo Heritage House in Belmont , in the room designated the Sewing Room adorning one of the walls are two antique linen cross stitch samplers from Barbados, embroidered by sisters Hannah and Barbara Monteith in 1804. Aside from being unique to the region (cloth does not survive well in tropical weather) they are poignant and simple in their execution and showcase the needle work skills of these two sisters that time has long forgotten. For as long as women have been sewing, they've been using embroidery to tell their own stories. History lives on in their stories. This blog ‘A Stitch in Time” is a story of one of our local historians and author of the book Voices in the Street, Olga Mavrogordato née Boos who used embroidery stitches and techniques to create family heirlooms that captured memories pertaining to distinguished guests who spent time at the Boos family resort on Huevos Island. For those unfamiliar with Trinidad , Huevos is the second island out from Trinidad’s mainland in the Bocas Islands of the Dragon’s Mouth, which protects the Northern end of the Bay of Paria. It lies west of Monos, and east of Chacachacare. Huevos island is owned by the Boos family where once upon a time was visited by royalties and other distinguished guests seeking a holiday escape to a private paradise island in the Caribbean Our story is about a member of the Boos family, OlgaJohanna Mavrogordato née Boos who was born in Trinidad. OlgaMavrogordato née Boos, was one of the remarkable archivists and historians of Trinidadand Tobago. She described herself “as a creole born in the early 1900s” and claimed that her family’s oral tradition, a sort of collective memory, of most of the nineteenth century served as an inspiration to ignite the spark and passion in her for learning more about and documenting our local history “Long ago“,according to Geoffrey Mac Lean had this to say when asked what ignited her passion and interest in our local history “ “our parents told us stories of the past, either about our family or the places they knew and the things they did when they were young …… there was time then to sit around and listen, but the pace of life has changed and today our young people, caught up in a jet age, with the vital present and bright future, have no time to look back at the past, or even to wonder about it.” Mavrogordato accumulated in her lifetime accumulated an extensive collection of historical documents, photographs and rare books, wrote numerous historical papers, but what many people do not know about her was that she was a skilled embroiderer who enjoyed using thread and needles to create works of art using linen fabric as her canvas as much as she did writing and documenting our local history. She used her needle craft skills to create not only artistic work of art but heirloom pieces that would one day serve as a reminder of Huevos island’s glamorous and exciting history. De Verteuil C.S .Sp ( 2002) in his book Western isles of Trinidad mentioned that Olga’s passion for needle craft began in her younger days when she would use cross stitch and embroidery to create beautiful messages enhanced with embroidery scenes . These works of art, using needle and thread as her artistic tools were then framed and hung in the living room of the Boos’ family. De Vermeil also makes mention of the fact that when Olga served as hostess to the Boos’ Family Resort on Nuevo’s Island invited guests who spent time at the resort when leaving would be invited to sign their autographs on a hand embroidered linen table cloth Olga had made which featured an embroidered map of the island of Huevos. Olga , however , being the historian that she was , when her guests left would erase the signatures of those guests she deemed “ camp followers” , keeping only those of the more distinguished guests which she immortalized on her table cloth using the art of cross stitching. Some of these guests included: The Duke and Duchess of Kent (1935), Sir Anthony Eden (British Prime Minister 1955-57) (1959), Princess Margaret and Lord Hailes (to inaugurate the Federation of the W.I. in 1958), Princess Royal (1960), Princess Margaret and her husband on their honey-moon (1960) and Lord Mountbatten of Burma (1965). According to De Verteuil ( 2002) , when this hand embroidered tablecloth was filled with the signatures of these VIP guests , Olga began work on a new linen tablecloth which featured embroidered maps of Chacacharare , Monos as well as Huevos. As with the first , the second tablecloth was soon filled with signatures of distinguished guests at Huevos and was designed to serve as a means of preserving history of the lavish hospitality of the Boos family at their island Paradise. Olga Mavrogordato was indeed remarkablewoman . Her artistic creations not only explored the interplay between map images and text, without privileging one over the other but her hand-embroidered pieces told a story with each stitch that was created of Huevos Island’s glamorous and exciting past. If telling stories is what makes us Human, maybe the time has come for today’s youths to find innovative ways of telling a new story, one stitch at a time .As Betsy Greers, founder of Craftivists (2003) wrote : “We are the makers of our own future. We are the crafters of calmer minds. Our stitches are strength. And hope. And love. For strangers, for loved ones, and most importantly, for ourselves. Because without crafting our best selves, we are less use to others.” Credit to the following sources Western Isles of Trinidad ,De Verteuil, Anthony .Published by Paria Publishing Company Ltd., 2011 Geoffrey Mac Lean citizensforconservationtt.org: Olga Mavrogordato’s Voices in the Street.  A drone photo taken on February 8 shows the extent of the damage caused to the coast of Scarborough, Tobago. - Photo courtesy Dayreon Mitchell Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) say the origin and purpose of the overturned vessel in Tobago must be identified quickly.
In a media release on February 13, FFOS said the country remains in the dark about the situation, almost a week since the vessel was found leaking an oily substance 200m off the coast of the Cove Eco-Industrial and Business Park. FFOS said, "According to the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), booms have been successfully deployed in the vicinity of the leaking Gulfstream vessel, but isn't more oil still leaking from the vessel? "It's critical at this stage that we determine how much more oil will be leaked to determine if the booms will contain it." FFOS speculated that the substance being leaked into the ocean could be crude oil and warned about the devastating impact on the environment and people's livelihoods. "The thick oil-like substance observed appears to be an unrefined crude oil, suggesting that the Gulfstream is either a tanker or a floating storage and offloading vessel... "Based on this Gulfstream length, which is estimated to be between 300 to 560 feet, and to be conservative, if it was half-filled, we estimate that it could contain between 150,000 to 350,000 barrels of crude oil." FFOS said the name of the vessel and its measurement will help identify its owner. "Worldwide, there are many Gulfstream-named vessels. Most are of different lengths and uses. If the TT investigating team measures the length and width of the vessel, this would be the first step to identifying the model of this vessel and/or confirming whether it’s a freight vessel or a tanker and would narrow down an International Maritime Organisation search of the possible owner/s. "Secondly, and much easier, since this vessel sails under a St Kitts and Nevis flag of convenience, why haven't our team already contacted the St Kitts and Nevis authorities to reveal the owner's names and all details of the capacity and use of this vessel? Certainly, they should have records of what this Gulfstream is equipped to do. Or do they? And if not, why not?" FFOS also called for more skimmers to be used in the clean-up operations. "According to the 2014 National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP), Petrotrin owned three vacuum skimmers and five other types of skimmers. Where are these skimmers today? BpTT has three rope skimmers, and BHP has three skimmers. Why haven’t these skimmers been immediately deployed? Now the oil is spreading northwest!" A release by TEMA on Monday noted that the oil slick measures 48 nautical miles (approximately 88km) in length and 0.13 nautical miles (approximately 248m) in width. "The spill extends from the west to the northwest into the Caribbean Sea, with noticeable oil weathering beginning around 9.71 nautical miles (approximately 18km) from the source," TEMA said. FFOS said the vessel drifting undetected into TT's marine space is an indictment on our border patrols and needs to be addressed. "Does it mean that any vessel can enter our border and carry any substance… undetected?" it asked. After one family temporarily relocated... Lambeau residents want answers on oil spill Residents of Lambeau who live close to the coast are calling for the investigation into last week's oil spill to be concluded and the area cleaned and restored to normalcy as soon as possible. The spill emanated from a mystery vessel that was found overturned in the sea some 200 metres off the coast of the Cove Eco-Industrial Park around 7.20 am. Clean-up operations have been ongoing, with central government getting involved, the expertise of private companies utilised, environmental stakeholders brought in, and volunteers recruited. Booms have been used to contain the oil spill and keep operations at the Scarborough Port unaffected. Newsday visited Lambeau on Monday and unlike a few days ago, the odour of the spill was not evident. One resident who spoke anonymously said the scent had subsided by then. "On Wednesday when the incident had just happened, you couldn’t even stay in the area – the stench was horrible." She said she was visited by her area representative, Wane Clarke. "By Thursday, Friday, we didn’t have it so bad as compared to then, but it’s understandable based on what Mr Clarke told us. I really hope that they get to the bottom of this soon." Another resident, who gave his name only as Hiram, said he was aware of the incident on Wednesday when he came home from work and asked about the stench. He said he had numerous questions about the incident. "Whose boat, how long was it here; so many questions yet so little responses – definitely a mystery." A resident who only wanted to be identified as Phyllis said: "We just want an end to this issue. We’ve listened to both the chief secretary and the Prime Minister on the issue and we’re really glad that they could have come together on this, but we as residents – we just want an end." Clarke told Newsday that one family was temporarily relocated. Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection Dr Faith BYisrael urged the residents to be cautious. "They should stay away from the site, wear a mask when in close proximity, and keep their windows and doors closed – if necessary. If they feel dizzy, nauseated or generally unwell... they should seek medical attention." She added: "The fact is that we have to get to identify exactly what the substance is, therefore, we encourage folks to be cautious – not fearful but cautious." At a news conference with the Chief Secretary last Saturday, the Prime Minister said they are waiting on the results of the sample to determine the content of the spilt cargo. So far, he said, the authorities have not been able to determine if the oil-like substance leaking from the vessel is bunker fuel, fuel for preparation of the vessel or raw crude. Dr Rowley said the identity of the vessel remains a mystery. But he added that the central government will have to provide the THA with whatever support it needs. (Source: Newsday, Feb 13, 2024) |
T&T news blogThe intent of this blog is to bring some news from home and other fun items. If you enjoy what you read, please leave us a comment.. Archives
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