Category: columns2016

columns2016

Promoting unity in diversity through Carnival

Post author By Web administrator
Post date September 11, 2016

by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI

“The ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization” (Gandhi)

I thought of Gandhi’s words after the recent Notting Hill Carnival (NHC) in London, Europe’s largest street festival.
I was honoured once again to be one of the judges at the carnival. Read about the history of NHC which started in 1964.
The 50th Anniversary of NHC was celebrated from 2014-2016 with the different aspects of carnival: masquerade, sound systems, steel bands, calypso and soca – amazing creativity and diverse artistic excellence – including that of my brother, Anil ‘Speedy’ Ramdeen and his partner, Clary Salandy, who run Mahogany Carnival Design. They won first prize in their category on both days.

Tags Carnival

columns2016

St Teresa, icon of charity and mercy

Post author By Web administrator
Post date September 4, 2016

By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ (http://rcsocialjusticett.org) & Director, CREDI

The Vatican will anticipate the canonisation of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata with this special postage stamp, which will be released September 2, two days before Pope Francis officially declares her a saint. CNS photo/courtesy Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office.

“Love is not patronizing and charity isn’t about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same – with charity you give love, so don’t just give money but reach out your hand instead.” – Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Today (September 4), we thank God as Pope Francis canonises Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (now Kolkata). She was born on August 26, 1910 as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia. She was the third child of an Albanian grocer and his wife.

Each time we say the Creed, we profess our belief in the Communion of Saints. As St Teresa joins this Communion of Saints in heaven, let us ask her to intercede for us and strive to imitate her life – a life of prayer and action; a life of unshakable faith, devoted to the sick, the poor, the wounded and the marginalised. She died of heart failure at the age of 87 years old in 1997 in Calcutta.

Tags poor, poverty, saint

columns2016

Building a society for ALL

Post author By Web administrator
Post date August 28, 2016

On Wednesday, August 31, T&T will celebrate 54 years of independence. My 91-year-old father, Balgobin Ramdeen, who was a Member of Parliament then (1961-1966), loves retelling his experience on that fateful day when we gained our independence.

As he said in an interview: “I remember the day. I was in Parliament when we got our Independence and I stood in the front of the Parliament building there and saw the Union Jack come down and our flag the Red, White and Black, go up and flutter in the breeze.”

Tags Independence, patriotism

columns2016

Defining our vision for human development

Post author By Web administrator
Post date August 21, 2016

CCSJ members add our name to the list of those who are asking Cabinet to revisit its decision to discontinue the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) funding for persons over the age of 50 years.

It is noted that those over 50s already enrolled in undergraduate programmes will still be able to access GATE. Although age is not a ‘status’ under TT’s Equal Opportunity Act (Chap 22:03), the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), as stated in its press release on this issue, has submitted proposals to the office of the Attorney General for the act to be amended to include age as a status ground.

Tags education

columns2016

Building inter-religious dialogue to defend life

Post author By Web administrator
Post date August 14, 2016

“Let’s learn to live together, let’s be workers for peace.” These are the words of Roselyne Hamel, uttered at the funeral of her brother, Fr Jacques Hamel, at Rouen Cathedral recently. Eighty-eight-year-old Fr Jacques, assistant parish priest in the small town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, was murdered by two 19-year-old ISIS sympathisers while he said Mass on 26 July.

Pope Francis told reporters on a flight back to Rome from World Youth Day in Poland: “I think it is not right to identify Islam with terrorism. It is not right and it is not true.” The fact is that most of the 1.6 billion Muslims (about 22 per cent of the world’s population) in our world are peace-loving people. It is significant that hundreds of Muslims attended Fr Jacques’ funeral and Masses in Italy and France as a show of solidarity and love for Christians.

Tags religion