3rd ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
TURKS & CAICOS MARITIME HERITAGE FEDERATION
ENVIRONMENTAL CENTRE, PROVIDENCIALES
We need to hear what you want to do about the history and heritage of this archipelago.
We need to hear what you want to do about youth becoming involved with the history and heritage of this archipelago.
THE PUBLIC IS WELCOME      7PM - 6 NOVEMBER 2007

AGM Election NominationsThe people who are being nominated and have accepted up to this date are:

Delton Jones
Ethlyn Gibbs-Williams
Alvin Parker
David Bowen
Albert Higgs
David Hartshorn
Michelle Gardiner
Dr. Gilbert Morris
E. Jay Saunders
Lew Handfield

 

The present Governors are all automatically nominated.
If you have somebody in mind who you feel would play an active part as a Governor, please email their names to me at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and I will post it to all members.

GT Model Museum Gets Support

The Department of Culture has given its support to the Federation Model Museum project slated for Grand Turk. Director David Bowen has organized a model sloop seminar with Federation Board Governor JJ Parker explaining what the Gemelemi model sloops meant to children back in the day. Last Saturday the finish of the Tourist Week Awareness celebration saw young people in the Main Salina in Grand Turk racing a variety of model Sloops and not wanting to come out of the water.

“I was shocked to see how they loved the models.” Says JJ Parker, who is from Bluehills,  Providenciales, “They didn’t want to get out of the water and neither did I. We have to get the Federation more involved in Grand Turk and the models might be the first real step. I am up for it.”

“We hope to make a proto-type with the woodshops in Grand Turk, then turn it over to the schools if they are receptive. That way it becomes a part of the system of learning.” added Federation Programmes Manager, H.E. Ross. “We have a general programme that includes the design and construction of a model museum for display and for racing viewing as well as the sales of the models the students make. Hopefully, the programme becomes self-sufficient because of the sales of really researched models of Turks Islands and Caicos Islands Sloops.”

The TCI Tourist Board, National Museum and the Department of Culture are about to meet again to discuss the next steps toward the fulfillment of the project.

Capturing The Imagination of Youth

Those who are invested in the Turks and Caicos Islands should pay a special heed to the following words because youthful delinquency could put a damper on your living or investment plans here in what still is a relatively peaceful area of the world.

The Federation has programmes that are intended to capture the adventurous side of teenagers and pre-teenagers and create a special relativity for them to these Islands that could produce fine well balanced citizens. The basis for all of the programmes deals with teamwork and investigation, with a nice thrill element always present.

Our simplest sailing lessons on traditional Sloops put young people into basic sailing vessels, make them lean on their sides and take responsibility for making sure the boat does not capsize or lose its rigging. The sailing terms are archaic but do not change much here or anywhere else sailors speak English. Which means a sailor here can go somewhere else and speak a language that others understand and usually be extended a welcome aboard.

Our most complicated programme would see young people aboard an ocean going vessel working together in a social micro-environ to achieve the goal of going from one place to another. The planning, continuity, regimen, inter-dependancy and accomplishment is more than most people appreciate if not given much thought.

The programmes point toward the importance of the individual amongst the group. If one falls behind everybody has to take up the slack. If one steals everybody has to suffer the  lose.

The youth of the Turks and Caicos Islands have had a great problem in identifying their own particular archipelagic culture and that problem is being exacerbated by the influx of foreign region cultures. Youth alienation is real here at present because of the lack of overall archipelago history references. What is a Turks and Caicos Islander? is a contemporary question that many answer with Spanish or French or North American accents.

Youth learn to walk and to stand up by knowing their heritage and, even if they don’t always use them, their traditions. They used to learn from grandparents and parents but the present career needs has changed the face of the family. That ol’ time passing on from generation to generation also passed along respect for elders and thereby respect for others. You can still see that but it is growing dimmer and dimmer. Oral traditions, when brought into the classroom are eaten up by extremely attentive students. There is a want and a need for the who we were and they all know it makes them who they will be.

But, aside from Sadler’s Turks Island Landfall and until the Honourable Dr. Mills’ book is published, there is not a Turks and Caicos history book for young people to refer to about what this place is. That will change soon but there are kids turning into adults right now who will not benefit from that change.

The Federation, the National Trust, the National Museum need you the investors to invest in ongoing youth cultural programmes. We, at the Federation, need volunteers and you need to know who lives here, so why don’t we combine these situations in a nice, fun way. You put together a programme or project and we assist in making it happen. A couple of times a month take a kid or some kids sailing. That’s not so bad is it? Ask some questions about their relatives regarding sailing or boatbuilding. Still not too bad, eh? We’ve got the boats if you don’t and we can teach you to sail them, and we can get some history for you to teach them if you are so inclined or do not have some yourself.

It is better to have these young people learning that there are other occupations out there that build on the history of this place then to have them frustrated at not being able to get one of the same jobs that everybody is in competition to get. With a family background that has always had the sea in it, it seems like a natural one to promote maritime and marine studies and careers, no?

I will end my sermon with an invitation for you to attend our Annual General Meeting this Tuesday evening, 6 November at 7PM at the Environmental Centre and to get active with us…

Winds of Change Announcement

The Federation is stopping the Winds of Change Club because of a lack of interest. The two contributors are being notified that their monies will be returned or they can still crew the Jim Brown trimaran when the restoration is completed.