FIFTY young people from Beetham Estate, Port of Spain and Misir Lands, Morvant recently graduated with certification in music. The graduation ceremony was held at City Hall and came after nine months of training at the Beetham Estate Community Centre and the Misir Lands Community Centre Morvant.
The instruments used in both programmes were donated by the Foundation for Enhancement and Enrichment of Life (Feel) to the Roy Cape Foundation, who in turn donated them to the Office of Law Enforcement Policy (OLEP) of the Ministry of National Security and to Women in Action for the Needy and Destitute (Wand).
The Roy Cape Foundation also donated a set of marching band drums to the Oropune Police Youth Club.
According to Kevin Greenidge, leader of the Oropune Police Youth Club, the drums will be used to enhance the music programme, which is sponsored by the Massy Foundation.
There are 235 members in the youth club but only 85 are active at present.
Greenidge said in addition to music, the members are taught martial arts, basketball, drama, garment and dress making, life skills and conflict management.
Source:  T&T Newsday

T&T’s sprinter Marc Burns, right, with his father Alec after graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science (Physical Conditioning and Performance) at Auburn University in Alabama, USA on Sunday.T&T’s well-decorated sprinter Marc Burns graduated on Sunday with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Exercise Science from Auburn University, Alabama in the United States.
“Super elated,” said Burns yesterday on his achievement. “Looking back at the journey, having that dream as a young child coming up competing in Carifta, CUT Games, all those things and have that dream of having free education, getting that scholarship and furthering my career. Looking back at it, I checked all those boxes.”
He was one of some 4,000 new Auburn graduates, who was part of spring commencement exercises over the weekend.
His parents Alec and Josephine Burns were present to witness their son open this next chapter in his life in a field which specialises in physical conditioning and performance.
“I was also so blessed to have both, my parents, here, I feel super elated,” said the two-time Olympic medallist, who shared that following the ceremony his parents told him: “Moments like these make parents teary-eyed, actually being alive and blessed to see those moments and have it to cherish forever”.
Burns most recently represented T&T at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia last month. However, it was an unfortunate end to the experience as the men’s 4x100 metres relay team was disqualified.
But that disappointment did not sideline him as he stayed focus on his academics.
“Me personally, I don’t compartmentalise my success,” said Burns when asked where does this achievement rates with his success on the track. “Over the years, I tried to deal with it (each challenge) as objectives that I need to complete and in going about it that way I am more focused at the job at hand. I just try to complete those objectives and in that way, I stay grounded and actually focused on what I need to do and not get sidetrack by outside noise so to speak.”
He is now aiming to fulfil his dream of earning a Master’s Degree Biomechanics, which is the study of the mechanical laws relating to the movement or structure of living organisms.
“Getting my Master’s in Biomechanics is my next objective,” said Burns as he prepares for life after track but he is not yet hanging up his boots.
“Yes, I will still be competing. At this point in my career, I have to choose my battles wisely so to speak so everything is based on after every training cycle how I feel, how the body feels, how well am I recovering so now it’s just tentative but I am still competing.”
Source:  Guardian, May 9.

Jillionaire wants NYC to get ready to rum-ble!
“I’ve always been a big fan of rum,” the Trinidad-born DJ, who’s one-third of the EDM trio Major Lazer, tells The Post. When he’s not busy spinning Top 40 hits “Lean On” and “Cold Water” with his groupmates Diplo and Walshy Fire, Jillionaire (real name Christopher Leacock) basically acts as the self-appointed Trinidadian culture ambassador to the US. His current priority: helping his country’s most prized spirit overcome its bad stateside reputation.
“People here go to college, drink Bacardi 151 and swear off rum for the rest of their life,” he says. “But, there are fine-aged rums the same way there are fine-aged whiskeys.”
The 40-year-old serves up several such varieties, including Angostura 1919 and Banks 7 Golden Age Rum, at his new Williamsburg bar, Clyde’s.
Trinidadian head bartender Cyllan Hicks pours the sugarcane-based booze into typical Caribbean cocktails (think rum punches) and more serious potions. Jillionaire’s favorite is the Night Nurse ($14), a riff on an Old Fashioned which swaps the usual whiskey for 8-year aged Bacardi, and tops it off with Benedictine, spiced coffee syrup and chocolate and Angostura bitters. On a recent Tuesday night, bargoers guzzled the Rum Sazerac ($14), with two types of rum, Velvet Falernum and orange bitters.
The cozy watering hole is named after Jillionaire’s grandfather, and is next door to Trinidadian restaurant Pearl’s, which the musician also co-owns. Through Clyde’s, Jillionaire hopes to sell New Yorkers on Trinidad’s laid-back booze scene.
On the Caribbean island, he says, life is all about “liming,” or “our word for ‘hanging out.’” Trinidad has “a very unique drinking culture. We celebrate everything. We celebrate the weekend. We celebrate the weekday. We celebrate, ‘Oh, it’s Tuesday.’” Think fewer premeditated, Facebook-invite parties and more leisurely happy-hour hangs. After work, “one [drink] turns into two or three,” two friends turn into five or six, “and all of the sudden it’s a big lime.”
Be warned: After a few hours’ “liming” at Clyde’s, you may indeed need “somebody to lean on.”
Source: NY Post, April 27, 2018

LAST month, 100-year-old Jasso Sookram told us the health benefits of her favourite food - Crix crackers.
On Monday, the Bermudez Biscuit Company paid her a visit.
Jasso lives of Mount Stewart Village, Princes Town.
According to granddaughter Gloria Sinanan, one of her favourite thing to eat is Crix and she would always tell her relatives to “eat Crix so you wouldn’t get wind.”
Managing Director at Bermudez, Ingrid Lloyd read the story and contacted the Express, hoping to provide a hamper on Jasso’s milestone birthday.
A Company representative visited her home to make the deliver in person. Sinanan said Jasso was thrilled to be presented with the products

She said: “She was so happy. She spoke with the young man who came and told him about her life and how hard she worked. He was very nice to her calling her ‘darling’ and she wished him well before he left. He also wished her many more years. This is a wonderful thing and I really want to thank them for this.”
Jasso worked as a cane farmer on the Caroni Estate and to date, does not suffer from any ailments.
She is a devout Hindu and attributes her long life to living well with others and her dedication to God. Her life’s philosophy is to work hard and live peacefully with everyone.
Source:  Daily Express

From working on the Beetham dump as a child to being featured in the Forbes Magazine, Camilita Nuttall is an example of the ultimate success story. Against all odds, she was able to escape a life of poverty. Nuttall is a successful entrepreneur, author and inspirational speaker.
She is the CEO of the Event of Champions ®, a company which hosts a series of events aimed at teaching people how to build, sustain and develop a global brand.
Nuttall’s work was featured on Forbes after she was contacted to write an article highlighting how she built the business so fast in such a short period of time.
She is also on her way to becoming an official Featured ForbesBooks Author.
Nuttall has authored several books including, ‘How to Fast Track Your Success’ and ‘Quotes Inspirational Messages & Success Secrets to Live Like a Champion.’
Now, the powerful female businesswoman will be returning to Trinidad for the Event of Champions ® Bootcamp which will be held at the Hyatt Hotel on Friday, May 4..
To find out more, go to: https://eventofchampions.com/our-events/boot-camp/ or contact Shane Ram on: 1 868 351 5000.
Nuttall in an interview with LoopTT shared her success story.
She said she had a tough childhood, but this did not stop her from pursuing her dreams.
“At the age of 13 my dad lost his job and told my mom he could not continue to afford to send me to secondary school and I had to stop. My mom said we will find a way, so we did. My sister encouraged us to go on the dump near the Beetham Estate to hustle bottles through large amounts of waste and rubbish in order to buy my school books and uniform etc just to attend secondary school. For 2 months, my mom and I hustled on the dump, got glass bottles to sell and I got my books and uniform etc. to attend secondary school,” Nutall said.
Nuttall said as a child she grew up very poor in Biche, Trinidad. She lamented that they had no running water, no shoes to go to school and not much to eat.
Nuttall explained that when her father lost his job, she and her mother were forced to go to the Beetham dump to get glass bottles to sell, to purchase her books and uniform.
However, Nuttall was determined to succeed despite her difficult childhood.
She said she couldn’t afford to attend the University of the West Indies so instead she enrolled in a tertiary education school to do A ‘Levels in Law and British and American Government and Politics.
Nuttall said by this time she had moved from Biche to live in Beetham, got a job at TSTT and then enrolled in Beckles and Associates Law School to start her LLB degree.
However, she said she wanted to go to the United Kingdom to finish.
Nuttall said it was while studying in the UK, at the beginning of her third year, she learnt about the industry of Network Marketing and Corporate Sales.
So she gave up law and decided to do business fulltime.
Nuttall became so good at Sales and Business Growth Strategies she became the Top Enroller and Top Business Builder for a company for seven years in Europe, travelling to 30 plus countries and making in excess of $20 million dollars in sales.
After 10 years, she decided to set up the Camilita ® & Event of Champions ® companies.
Through her Camilita brand, she is an International Keynote Speaker, Business Growth Strategist, Executive Business Mentor, Corporate Sales Consultant and Property Investor.
Nuttall’s work is well recognised globally, in addition to being featured on Forbes, she has also written for BBC Business News and Canada’s B2B Network, among others.
Asked what advice she would give to Trinidadians, she noted that success is a state of mind.
“It does not personify money, wealth or financial freedom alone. It means living out ALL your God-given talents and abilities as you enrich others to succeed. It's the whole you and not just the you that people see. It's about WHO you are and not WHERE you are and remembering to stay humble in the process. It's about giving your ALL, working smart and not worrying about what others think or say about you. Most of all it's about Living Like a CHAMPION, finding ways to succeed and living every day like it's your last."
Source:  The Loop, April 28, 2018.

The Scarlet Ibis will soon be added to the Sensitive Species Category, according to Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries, Clarence Rambharat.
He said the Minister of Planning, Camille Robinson-Regis, is expected to carry a Note to the Cabinet to declare the Scarlet Ibis an environmentally sensitive species.
Minister Rambharat said the nesting period was successful and he's confident that the National Bird is in safe hands.
But he added that when we have a successful nesting season, we also have a successful poaching season. He's hoping that harsher penalties would deter poachers.

Ahye died around 4 am on Thursday morning.
A student of the late Beryl McBurnie, founder of the Little Carib Theatre, Ahye was born Molly Leotaud on May 29, 1933. 
She was a principal dancer with The Little Carib Company founded by McBurnie and authored two books on dance: Golden Heritage, the Dance in Trinidad and Tobago in 1978 and Cradle of Dance: Beryl McBurnie and The Little Carib Theatre in 1983.
Ahye was a lecturer in African and Caribbean culture and held a PhD from New York University. 
In 1980, she received the Humming Bird Medal (Gold) for her outstanding contribution to cultural development.
Ahye was also an Orisa priestess. In 1979, she committed to the faith after she was introduced to Dr Marta Morena Vega, founder of the Caribbean Cultural Centre in New York which led her to reconnect with the Orisa and Voodun faiths as practised in the diaspora. 
In 1994 she was inducted as the Chief Iyalorisha of Opa Orisha of Trinidad and Tobago. 
Among her achievements was the introduction of dance in worship in 1969, choreographing dances for various inter-faith services. 
Source:  The Loop

Destination Tobago is projected to receive approximately 80,000 cruise passengers by the end of the 2017-2018 cruise season, making it the island’s most successful cruise season in recorded history.
This figure represents a 236 percent increase in cruise visitors from the 2016/2017 season, which saw the arrival of 23,821 passengers.
“These figures are certainly great news for the destination as we continue to work alongside all stakeholders to stimulate growth within the tourism industry,” said Secretary of Tourism, Culture and Transportation, Councillor Nadine Stewart-Phillips. “It is clear that Tobago has made significant progress within the cruise sector – a fact that has positively impacted the island’s tourism business unit – and it is our intention to maintain this momentum moving forward.”
Thus far this season the island has received 55 cruise calls from ships originating in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and France.
Among the most notable arrivals are the seven calls from the MV Britannia, the second largest ship to call on the destination with a total of 24,269 passengers; as well as the MS Fantasia, the largest ship to visit the island with a total of 3,519 passengers.
It is expected that the successful berthing of both vessels in the Scarborough Port will boost industry confidence in Tobago’s ability to receive ships of that size, and result in the destination’s ability to attract new and larger vessels in the future.
Source:  The Loop