The man behind the first-ever dinosaur exhibition in the Caribbean explains how his experience in the energy industry gave him the idea to change the way we see the earth. Lyndon Baptiste mostly disliked school. In addition to being unimpressed with most of his teachers, who didn't encourage their pupils to ask questions, he found learning tedious since everything was in boring textbooks. Seventeen years after leaving secondary school (with a sigh of relief), this South boy is intent on changing the way children learn about Science. Baptiste has brought the first-ever dinosaur exhibition to the Caribbean–A T Rex Named Sue.
The exhibition, which features a full-size cast of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever found, opened at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port-of-Spain, on May 10. In the last three weeks, thousands of schoolchildren from across the country have seen it. Besides being a chance to get out of school for the day, the students were really amazed and excited by Sue's towering skeleton, the documentaries on dinosaurs, and trying out all the interactive exhibits. Many come with their digital cameras and phones to take pictures of Sue, which measures a whopping 42 feet long, and towers above their heads. A model of her skull, which measures five feet in length, is also a hit since the children can get up close and touch it.
Interactive exhibits show them how Sue found food–using her powerful sense of smell. Others allow the kids to see the world through her eyes, and experience how her arms moved.
The well-known BG Science Bus has set up shop in the basement, where groups can compete to assemble miniature dinosaur skeletons and learn about the hundreds of different types of dinosaurs that existed over millions of years. D Rex, a miniature robotic dinosaur, can move and respond to commands. Science teachers can take photos of the various bones (such as the pelvis and legs) to use in teaching, to point out different aspects. In the Dino Dig Pit where 36 bones belonging to a T Rex are buried, competing teams have five minutes to dig into the sand and see what they can unearth. You can also buy dinosaur games, books, puzzles and toys. A T Rex Named Sue is just the first of many edutainment events that Baptiste hopes to bring to T&T through his company, Cayenne International Events. He is looking at 70 different types of events with the hope of bringing them to the Caribbean; including one comprising robotic animals to teach children about robotics, and Bodies: The Exhibition features real human bodies that have been preserved right down to sinews and veins through a technique called plastination.
"Our main objective is to open the minds and hearts of the youth through innovative educational and entertaining experiences," Baptiste explained. "It is very important to blend education with entertainment because that's how you get through to the youth. Everything is multi-media now. "These kids know how to play XBox from practically babies. Hopefully, in time, we will see that there are more ways to teach than just book, book, book, like in my days." The 34-year-old, who has been living in London for the last decade, got the idea of producing "edutaining" events from the most unexpected of places: an energy conference for executives in Saudi Arabia. Baptiste was the Business Development Director of an international business event and consultancy company with branches in Cairo and Bahrain. The focus was on the developing regions of the world: The Middle East, North Africa, Asia and South America, where they bring together people, services, information and products.
His responsibilities included attracting sponsors, getting them involved and orchestrating connections between industry professionals. Before that he had worked with CWC Associates Ltd, which offers professional training, conferences and exhibitions in energy and infrastructure. He had spent five or six years with CWC becoming the business development manager for Saudi Arabia, visiting the country regularly, and spending two to three weeks at a time. He learned a lot about the energy industry, meeting high-level executives and experts in the field. Often the conferences were the place where the Saudi government would announce its upcoming contracts; explain to contractors and interested parties how to get into the market, how to go through the tendering process, that sort of thing.
Being a black man in his position in the Middle East, he raised a few eyebrows, but soon made a name for himself through his professionalism and reputation for getting the job done. Then one day a participant who had been to quite a few energy conferences griped about how they all seemed to be the same, year after year, and he wished it could be more interesting, interactive and a learning experience for executives as well as the general public. Baptiste thought about it, and realised that this was a niche waiting to be filled in these countries too. In the US and Europe, children love to go to museums because they have been using interactive media and devices to complement their fossil exhibits for a while now. Places like T&T, however, had next to nothing in the way of edutainment.
While many might think this field is a gamble in a global recession, Baptiste argues, "You can't sit down and do nothing, and don't invest. You have to do something to get things going again." Baptiste's experience as a business development director has served him well with his new venture. A T Rex Named Sue has a most appropriate title sponsor–energy company Atlantic LNG–with SM Jaleel (Chubby, Kool Kidz), BG Trinidad & Tobago, UTT, Vemco Ltd (Kerrygold), Piranha International Ltd, and Green Cyclone Incorporated as co-sponsors. "Sue was supposed to be either in Bahrain or Trinidad," Baptiste explained. "But since I'm from Trinidad we decided to try it out here first."
More Info
A T Rex Named Sue runs every day until tomorrow,
at the National Academy for the Performing Arts
in Port- of-Spain.
For more information, call 296-8541.
