Black Immigrant Daily News

Élisabeth Borne a annoncé jeudi un “fonds pour une aide alimentaire durable” de 60 millions d’euros en 2023, destiné à permettre aux Français “les plus fragiles” d’accéder à “une alimentation de qualité”, lors d’une visite de…

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What began as “Culture Week” has exploded into an annual celebration of art, literature, cuisine, music and other cultural assets in an effort to preserve and showcase what makes the Virgin Islands special. The festivities now fall under the umbrella of Culture and Tourism Month, which this year also features the BVI Literary Arts Festival and the 10th annual Anegada Lobster Festival.

Organisers explained their vision for the 2022 celebration during a press conference on Oct. 28, and Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley shared his excitement for the events that got under way this week. “We want to take it to the next level, because we have a real mandate to diversify our tourism product,” Dr. Wheatley said, adding, “It is our intention to ensure that when you come to the Virgin Islands, you have top-of-the-line museums. And, in fact, we have increased the pace to make sure our national museum is being built.”

BVI Tourist Board and Film Commission Director Clive McCoy added, “Hopefully we can make it bigger and better every year.”

‘It’s lit’

The month started with an opening ceremony and opportunity to meet VI artists on Nov. 1. The second-annual BVI Literary Arts Festival, which kicks off this evening, aims to celebrate the literary arts by bringing together authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers over creative activities including workshops and readings. More information about the workshops can be found on the BVI Literary Arts Festival page on Facebook.

This year’s featured panel of international and regional creatives includes renowned Caribbean authors such as Kei Miller, Ana Portnoy Brimmer, Tobias Buckell, Desiree Bailey, Tiphanie Yanique, Derron Sandy, Carlyle Corbin, Andre Bagoo, Sharma Taylor, Yona Deshommes, Dinah Johnson, and Celeste Rita Baker.

VI Poet Laureate Dr. Richard Georges, the president of H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, said he is proud to see a robust programme filled with opportunities for community members to learn and create. He also noted that such events have the potential to boost tourism.

As part of the literary festival, panels and workshops will be held Nov. 4-5, and a poetry slam competition will follow from 7 p.m. Nov. 5 at Eileene L. Parsons Auditorium. Participants will have three minutes to perform a piece embracing this year’s theme of “Unspoken, Unwritten, Unknown.”

Music and more

This year also sees the return of Fungi Fest on Nov. 25. Junior Minister for Tourism Alvera Maduro-Caines, who is helping organise the event, said she is excited to see celebrations of traditional music for visitors and residents alike.

Nine bands are slated to perform so far, with a few coming from overseas, she said, adding that no entrance fees are planned.

“We need to really preserve this music,” she said. “We will be having bands from different schools as well to participate. We need to keep that tradition going, especially in the schools.”

A cultural food fair will be held at the same time. Additionally, the Virgin Islands Communal Association will host a “cultural extravaganza” and bonfire on Nov. 12. Organisers are also planning several days of cultural dance demonstrations for students.

The festival will culminate in the launch of a new children’s book: I Want to be a Thatcher Man, by Janice Nibbs.

Lobster Fest

A bevy of creative crustacean dishes are planned for this year’s Anegada Lobster Fest from Nov. 25-27. The festival begins with a “lobster crawl” covering many of the island’s favourite bars, and early on the last day there will be a “Butter Sauce Tramp.”

“In addition to promoting gastronomical tourism, the event is expected to promote the major attractions to explore and the activities to experience on Anegada,” Mr. McCoy added in a press release.

Ten restaurants are putting their culinary creations to the test while providing live entertainment. Lobster samplers will cost $10.

Mr. McCoy encouraged attendees to be sure to give one new addition a try: vanilla lobster ice cream from The Wonky Dog.

He noted that hotels and car rentals are booked up for the weekend, but he said ferries will be running among the sister islands and groups can consider booking catamarans or yachts for the day.

Attendees can download a digital guide to Lobster Fest with information about menus, ferry schedules, an island map, emergency contacts, and other fun activities. For more information, go to www.bvifoodfete.com.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, November 02, 2022 (SKNIS) – As an important part of its plans to further enhance the delivery of healthcare services across the Federation, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is making a significant investment in developing the skills and capabilities of the country’s healthcare workers.

On Friday, November 04, 2022, a large cohort of healthcare workers will be involved in training with officials from the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and CPR Solutions, which is a US-based organization authorized by the American Heart Association to provide training in a number of areas including Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).

“We will train 200 healthcare professionals to be certified in ACLS, PALS and BLS. These are basic certifications that healthcare professionals, especially doctors and nurses who are at higher levels, are to be trained in. We also have basic life support training as well for our healthcare workers and we’ll have healthcare workers coming over from Nevis,” said Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew during an appearance on the Freedom SKN Issues programme on Wednesday, November 2, 2022.

The Prime Minister stated that a number of healthcare professionals are also set to participate in an upcoming customer service training session “because one of the issues that people have been complaining of is customer service.”

Prime Minister Dr. Drew said another important aspect of upgrading the healthcare system in the Federation has to do with filling previously vacant positions.

“While we are making the infrastructural changes, we want to make sure that we change the human capacity and take care of the human resource. So far, we now have a Director of Health Institutions—a position that was vacant for a long time. Dr. Jenson Morton has been appointed to that position. We also had an issue where we needed more help with operations at the hospital and Ms. Lindsay Francis, who has a Master’s degree in Operations, is now at the hospital. We’re also getting ready to put in a PNO, a Principal Nursing Officer, so we’re upgrading our professionals and our personnel in the healthcare field and we are also investing in their training as well,” said the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Dr. Drew, a medical doctor by profession, ended by commending the nation’s hardworking healthcare workers, adding that, “if we give them the tools they can even improve upon what they deliver already.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A woman in Milton Keynes, England, who decided to rent out her husband to other women to do odd jobs for ?40 a time said business is booming, and he’s fully booked for weeks.

Mom-of-three Laura Young, 38, got the idea from a podcast describing how a man was making a living putting together flatpack furniture for other people.

She advertised on Facebook and the Nextdoor app, boasting of husband James’ general DIY, painting, decorating, tiling, and carpet-laying skills in June.

Expecting she might get a few giggles, the 42-year-old had his first client in a day, and was soon working six days a week from 9am to 8pm.

He’s been forced to turn down jobs and ‘Rent My Handy Husband’ is now fully booked until mid-November.

Jobs include helping with putting up a TV or curtains to rebuilding a wall, and he is available to hire to anyone who needs help — men and women.

While James handles the labour side of things, Laura works on running the social accounts and website.

The business has been more successful than the couple could’ve imagined.

The savvy couple have added a new service for the Christmas period, offering installations of festive lights, both inside and outside.

Laura said: “I never expected it to take off as much as it has.

“We’ve only been going four months and it got to a point where there was so much work coming in that James was working six days a week.

“We’ve had to start turning jobs down and reduce our hours, so now we do Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm.

“We had our own building plans that we’ve not even started as we’ve just been so busy.

“We booked our first job for January, too,” she said.

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 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today warned that unremitting armed violence has precipitated Haiti’s descent into the worst human rights and humanitarian situation in decades. Urgent solutions to this “protracted, multifaceted crisis” must be found, he stressed.

“People are being killed by firearms, they are dying because they do not have access to safe drinking water, food, healthcare, women are being gang raped with impunity. The levels of insecurity and the dire humanitarian situation have been devastating for the people of Haiti,” Türk said.

For the last two months, heavily armed gangs have been blockading access to the country’s main fuel terminal and seaports, severely hampering access to drinking water, food and medicine.

Food insecurity is on the rise, with a record 4.7 million – nearly half of the population – facing acute hunger. Poor sanitation and lack of safe water supplies have led to a cholera outbreak. To date, 2,600 suspected cases of cholera have been reported, half of them children, and claimed dozens of lives.

Gang violence continues to expand across the capital and in other regions of the country. In just over a week in mid-October, more than 71 people were killed, a dozen women were raped and hundreds of residents were forced to flee their homes, as a result of turf wars between rival gangs in Croix-des-Bouquets, one of the main communes of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, according to the Human Rights Service of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH).

“Kidnappings and sexual violence by gang members are being used as weapons to inflict severe pain and instil fear among the population,” the High Commissioner said.

“There is a desperate need to tackle the root causes of inequality and violence, including systematic corruption and rampant impunity that have crippled the country’s development for decades.”

The latest Security Council resolution 2653 (2022), establishing a sanctions regime targeting individuals and entities engaging in or supporting criminal activity and violence and imposing a targeted arms embargo, is an important step.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been demonstrating since late August to protest against Government policies, the rising cost of living and the increasing insecurity.

According to information received, at least 54 people were killed during protests, most of which allegedly because of disproportionate use of force by police officers. Political violence has also been documented with the killing of prominent political leaders and journalists.

“Police must respect the principles of precaution, necessity and proportionality at all times when using force,” the UN Human Rights Chief said. “Prompt, thorough and effective investigations need to be established and those responsible for unnecessary or disproportionate use of force must be held accountable.”

Türk called on the Government to commit firmly to strengthening the judicial sector and other accountability mechanisms, including by establishing specialized judicial divisions to address financial and gang-related crimes.

“In this context, it is clear that the systematic violations of rights in Haiti, do not currently allow for the safe, dignified and sustainable return of Haitians to the country,” warned the UN Human Rights Chief.

International human rights law prohibits refoulement and collective expulsions without an individual assessment of all protection needs prior to return, Türk pointed out, calling for solidarity to ensure all those who wish to seek asylum have access to fair and efficient asylum procedures, regardless of their reasons for leaving their country.

“I also encourage Governments across the region to ensure that all Haitians have access to legal status, protection and support services regardless of their reasons for leaving their country,” he said.

“Haiti is on the verge of an abyss. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past. While urgently tackling violence is a priority, Haiti’s future and sustainable recovery requires urgent and sustained action to tackle the root causes of this multifaceted crisis, and the Government’s firm commitment to accountability and the rule of law,” High Commissioner Türk stressed.

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