Keeping Carnival traditions alive

THE EDITOR: As a teacher I really look forward to teaching in term two. It is that part of the syllabus where I get to teach my young students about our history, about our culture, about all the colonial and non-colonial influences that made us the people we are today. We are a literal melting pot. A term in my opinion that will never be cliché to describe TT. We are a multicultural, multiracial, multireligious and multifaceted society.

This year due to the covid19 pandemic, Carnival celebrations on a national level were halted. How does that make you feel? Understandably, we've had a lot going on within the last week and some of us are still riding the momentum of the most recent tragic event so many of us haven’t processed the fact that this year we really had no Carnival.

For me, I feel a great sadness. A personal loss. Going back a bit to my concept lesson, my primary school students learn about the advantages and disadvantages of Carnival. They are not only aware of the cultural significance but also how Carnival builds our tourism and hence our economy. However, before this, they learn about our ancestors, starting from the First Peoples all the way to the French. Oh the French!

After slavery was abolished our African ancestors became actively involved in Carnival and contributed their own culture and traditions, integrating the moko jumbie, midnight robber, among others. We also have the fancy Indians stemming from our indigenous ancestors.

I can go on and on about our ancestors’ cultural influences in traditional and early characters portrayed, but for now my love for my country equates with my passion for teaching young children. On that note, I always tell my students that I don't know all the facts and that I pray one day they'll grow up to have a genuine interest in cultural and historical studies. I do my own research outside of the curriculum of course, but this year I am inspired to learn even more about our rich culture and do more to ensure my students appreciate our cultural diversity.

Imagine there was once upon a time we couldn’t participate in Carnival events that were accessible only to the elite few. However this year we are forced not to. That being said, I just want to thank all the individuals, all the soca artistes and companies doing their best to preserve our culture. I'm truly here for it all. Just to name a few that I've read or watched over the last couple days include: Zele events at Five Islands, social media posts by the National Gas Company, Lavway, Digicel and so many others.

Carnival is more than just you or I, it is more than the wine and jam. It is about our resilience as a people that started centuries ago with our ancestors. Our ancestors who toiled the land, who worked for little pay, who decided to stay here and make a life, who decided to open shops, to integrate with other ethnic groups, but most of all it is about people who preserve and protect our culture and history. Carnival is a unique cultural expression in TT. Carnival I love you.

The people who came are the First Peoples (indigenous), the Europeans, the Africans, the Chinese, the East Indians, the Syrians/Lebanese.

Five minutes before starting my lesson on Carnival Friday my principal sent a text record of our cultural lessons. I am so happy that she did because I cannot even begin to describe to you how my heart exploded when a little boy in my class, Dmitri, dressed up as a midnight robber and recited a poem. Or when another student, Charlize-Eva, proudly displayed her own funky moko jumbie costume complete with her mother’s heels to give the added height. I cried.

I wish I could list them all (my students) but I am proud to say that every single child in my class presented a Carnival creation/project. They confidently held up their masterpieces or wore pieces of their relatives’/parents’ old costumes like Adamarie, Myles and Malia. Some of them also designed costumes, collages and posters.

I am extremely thankful to colleagues like our art teacher who ensured that students were able to decorate their own masks with embellishments and the music teachers who incorporated fascinating traditional Carnival characters like pierrot grenade and the bookman into their music lessons. Thank you to my parents for encouraging your children and helping me to keep our tradition alive in their memories via our virtual classes. One day they will be in history and I'm here for it.

SABELLA MORRIS-OLIVIER

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