A non-profit organisation is attempting to secure this country’s future by creating a forum for the public to learn from those who shaped its past. The Oxygen with Nicole (02N) Foundation will be hosting one of its Human Development Talks tomorrow (September 25) at the Hyatt Regency hotel from 4 pm.
The programme is titled The Power of Four Score and highlights the life and times of stalwart citizens over the age of eighty, hence the title “Four Score.”
Speaking on CNC3’s The Morning Brew yesterday, chairperson Nicole Dyer-Griffith explained the inspiration behind the event.
“These are persons who would have made a national contribution to Trinidad and Tobago and we felt it absolutely imperative, as the saying goes, ‘let’s give them their flowers now’ so that it will not be too late and before we lose them we can tap into their experiences, tap into the things that we may not be able to find archived anywhere,” she said.
02N Foundation creative director Richard Young explained that it will be an intimate and enlightening session.
“We believe in the oral tradition of storytelling and transferring values in a very organic way. We are doing a format where we form a circle and posit an idea that everybody is going to contribute towards and in the contribution, they will share their biographies and how it applies to the particular point that is being discussed, so it’s not chronological.”
Dyer-Griffith said the speakers carded for the event include Dr Ralph Henry, Dr Hollis Liverpool, Gerald Hadeed, Grace Talma, Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards, Rose Mohammed, Rhona Baptiste, Ferdie Ferreira, Dr Yvonne Bobb-Smith and Diana Mahabir Wyatt.
“This event is absolutely essential and I am convinced even more so having visited each of these individuals and having the honour of interviewing them on a one-on-one basis because when you think you know, in speaking with some of these individuals you realise how much you do not know,” said Dyer-Griffith.
She said this is why they reached out to tertiary level students and non-governmental organisations, as they will have the opportunity to understand, as Dyer-Griffith put it, “who we as a nation really are.”
Dyer-Griffith said the event is free of charge but interested people must book their spot by calling 321-8064 or by visiting www.eventbrite.com
“We believe our human development should be open and accessible to all across the board,” Dyer-Griffith said.
The foundation describes itself as an organisation which has taken up the charge of creating safe space events and activities designed to foster creative entrepreneurship agenda, facilitate social transformation dialogue and formulate human development prospects.