CARIBBEAN NEWS , Volume 4

ST. MARY,JA(Gleaner-01/01/2002)- It will be a bittersweet start to the new year for 15 persons living in St. Mary. Sweet because they are still alive, but bitter because heavy rains which battered the parish over the weekend left many with only the clothes on their backs.
The 15, including 7 children, were forced to flee as water and landslides triggered by the heavy downpours, slammed into and destroyed 5 houses. Signs of destruction were evident in the deep gashes left in roads and flattened vegetation in Pagee, Dean Pen, Coffee Piece, Wood Park and Donnington in the parish. There was also a potential health hazard as there were reports that sewage may have washed into a river at Esher.
The Parish Disaster Coordinator estimated that damage, especially to farming areas would run into the millions of dollars.

BRIDGETOWN,BARBADOS(CMC-01/01/2002)- Barbadians experienced the true nature of globalisation as a host of regional and international events conspired to convince them of the closeness of the world community.
As the nation prepared to celebrate its 35th year of independence, a terrorist attack thousands of miles away on Sept. 11, sent shocks throughout the world and threatened the fragile economies of Barbados and the rest of the developing world.
Prime Minister Owen Arthur announced a series of measures to stymie the ill effects of Sept. 11, chief among which were a rescue package for the tourism industry, the formation of an Emergency Economic Council and the dicision to use some of the foreign reserves to ride out the pending inclement economic environment.
Also, at years end, there was a breach in the relationship with Trinidad and Tobago on the matter of fishing rights. Barbadian fishermen, insistent on fishing in Trinidadian waters, were continually being arrested by the Coast Guard there. PM Arthur threatened retaliation by reviewing the economic relationship between the 2 countries and by deporting Trinidadians living there illegally. Relations between Barbados and Guyana ran into problems when Guyana protested the treatment of its nationals arriving at the airport there.
The vital sugar crop started in February with concerns about the future of an industry that was once the key foreign exchange earner, and talks about restructuring the operations.

MARABELLA,TRINIDAD(Express-01/01/2002)- Jamaat al Muslimeen members Lukman Mohammed and his wife Maria,were freed of charges of unlawful possession of what police had described as "terrorist type" military items. The items included a night-vision infra-red telescope, gas mask, combat knife, various military uniforms, handcuffs,a cell phone and a pair of walkie talkies.
Magistrate Siumongal Ramsaran said they had shown reasonable explanation for having the items and ordered that they be given back to the owners. During the case, Mohammed, 27, produced bills to show that he had bought most of the items from businesses in Trindad.
The couple was arrested August 3, during a police raid on their home.

KINGSTON,JA(Gleaner-01/10/2002)- The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica(PSOJ) has called on Jamaicans to take back the country from criminals, social deterioration, apathy and slackness.
In its 10-point proposal to "start the positive process of change", the PSOJ called for an end to extortion of businesses, for drug dealers to leave the country, and for the up- coming election to be the most peaceful in Jamaica's history.
Last year, 1,138 persons were killed violently across the country, 822 in the year 2000 and since the start of 2002, police said that 22 murders have occurred.
"The fragmentation of our cities into warlord-dominated feifdoms must be reversed."

SPORTS:

ENVIRONMENT:

CULTURE:

MONTEGO BAY,JA(Observer-01/05/2002)- Hotelier Godfrey Dyer made history in Taipei, Thailand recently when he became the first non-American and the first black man elected to the presidency of the Kiwanis International Foundation. Kiwanis International was incorporated in 1940 as a tax-exempt organisation set up specifically to administer the financial affairs of Kiwanis, and to raise and disburse funds for Kiwanis' projects worldwide.
The KIF just concluded a six-year fundraising drive, along with the over 600,000 members of the Kiwanis family across the hemisphere, and was successful in raising $75 million to eradicate Iodine Deficiency Disorder in young children. The dreaded disease causes deformity and mental retardation, and affects nearly 2 billion people including 700 million children. Dyer's ascension to the presidency comes after a year in the treasurer's seat, and took place during Kiwanis' 85th annual convention.
"I am heartened, it's really a good feeling, it will be a challenge, but being a seasoned Kiwanian I feel I will be able to do justice to the position", he said. In his capacity as president, Dyer will oversee the fundraising activities and disburse funds worldwide, conduct board meetings and attend both International Conferences. In addition to Jamaica, there are 75 other countries involved in the Kiwanis movement around the world.

MONA,JA(Observer-01/11/2002)- The second Conference on Afro-Caribbean Culture and Festival of the Word in honor of Caribbean literary icon Kamau Braithwaite, opened at the University of the West Indies Mona Campus.
Unfortunately, it began without its main attraction- Nobel Prize winning Nigerian author, Wole Soyinka- who had to bow out to attend the funeral of his friend, the recently assassinated Nigerian Minister of Justice, where he was delivering the eulogy. Soyinka's replacement, Ghanaian poet and broadcaster Kofi Anyidoho stated that the central message of the conference was the continuity of culture from Africa to the Caribbean. Or, as he put it, "the fact that African culture has not been destroyed by the trauma of the Middle Passage, but had crossed the Atlantic, survived and creatively adapted to its new environment."
The opening ceremony demonstrated this cultural progression in the liveliest possible way. Starting the festival with a bang, were the West African style Akwaaba drummers. They were followed by a mixed spectacle of African drums and dance, English poetry, and finally a Calypso tune performed by the University's Panoridim Steel Orchestra. The guest of honour, writer and historian Kamau Braithwaite, was born in Barbados in 1930. After settling in Ghana for 8 years, he was described as "the poet of total African consciousness".

ST. AUGUSTINE,TRINIDAD(Express-01/11/2002)- Is the practice of Orisa in Trinidad and Tobago true to its African roots? This question arose at an international conference "Religions of the New World: Adaptation and Change" held at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.
Social Anthropologist Dr. Frances Henry said that the Orisa religion in Trinidad had long been characterised by the blending in of other religious traits and influences. "Rituals and prayer derived from Christianity, primarily Catholicism, were combined with Yoruban ritual and practice to form a mixed religion among slaves in Caribbean societies."
But she noted, these mixed forms of Orisa which have existed for centuries, were now being challenged by younger and more innovative members of the religion. "They regard the Christian elements as European imposed and wish to bring back the ritual practices to their authentic African form."
Initially, Orisa's main influence from Catholicism whose "Hail Mary", "Our Father" and even "Litany of Saints" were routinely recited at Orisa feasts, made no particular distinction between the Orisa and their Catholic saint identities. It was commonly believed they were two manifestations of the same spiritual force-'2 heads of the same coin'. "While there is still continued mixing at most Orisa shrines, some have abolished Christian elements entirely", she said.
Henry revealed that there was a move by some western practitioners towards a more purely African form of the faith, but that these aspirations might not be valid. She pointed out that Orisa worship among the modern Yoruban people of Nigeria had changed even more dramatically than in the diaspora. "The most obvious trend in Yoruba religion is the decline the traditional religion has had to confront with the strength of both Islam and Christianity. By the census of 1952, more than four-fifths of the population of the Yoruba provinces were said to be either Muslim or Christian." Henry concluded: "The changes do not therefore, reflect the complexities of Yoruban religious experience of centuries ago nor do they take into account the enormous regional variability in the practice of Yoruban Orisa worship, even today."

ENTERTAINMENT:

Guidance and Protection.
Patrick "Pato" Foster

"Unity is strength. No nation can divide w-ithin itself and remain powerful." HIM

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