https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r What did I learn... en-us 2016-11-27 18:59:41 UTC 2025-11-10 00:45:39 UTC hello@padlet.com shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140042455 Interestingly enough, over half of this year's national scholarships went to the girls.... and reading the comments below, Bernadette Annemaire Ricahrds (from her facebook account) commented on a probable link between female's success with violence towards them.

Oh, congrats ladies !]]> 2016-11-27 19:17:00 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140042455 shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140043973 I survived Caribbean Studies for CAPE.... this should be a piece of cake

* One Introductory Lecture later *

Well, my last year was a lie... along with anything previous to that 
But, the course sounds more fun than I first thought]]> 2016-11-27 19:36:30 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140043973 shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140044782 You can anyone this question and get varied responses. How does one define themselves? A trait, a family name, a title, a position in authority, your background.... your history.

History is made daily, through words and deeds. How can you expect to understand your present situation if you don't acknowledge the past...

What is my past? Can I trust what others tell me my past is... or what I discern it to be? Do I trust my family members or the historians? 

History is written through the eyes of the victors, never the fallen. So everything learnt is to be taken with a grain of salt as there is always more than one side to  a tale...]]> 2016-11-27 19:49:06 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140044782 shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140045840
The Declaration of Independence

That's apparently wrong, it's their dictionary. So if they want to spell realise with a 'z' ... It's now grammatically correct (at least, according to their standards)]]> 2016-11-27 20:04:08 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140045840 shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140046721 Our past unites.

There is never an end, only the start of new chapters and stories and when our lives are over sequels and continuations from those we have touched physically and emotionally.

We may not look the same, or have similar speech patterns, much less all speak the same language but..
We are one and the same, there are no differences between us on the inside. We all bleed, cry and hurt. We all laugh, smile and work.

No matter where life takes us, 
 Or however far may we roam.
 Our island blood connects us,
 To the place we call our own.
 While most see coloured skin,
 We all beat red.
 We all come from one home,
 Our One Unified Caribbean.

]]> 2016-11-27 20:13:13 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140046721 shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140366088 This is not only a regional issue but a global one.

Straying off topic, one can remark on the results of the presidential elections of the United States of America, where a female who spent years in politics from being the First Lady to a Senator then the U.S. Secretary of State lost to a... *I have no words* man.
Please note... she also won the popular vote.

Anyways, our sex is discovered when we are born however, what society does afterwards is link characteristics to what they believe to reflect our sex which they consider gender.

The male gender is seen as the stronger, the hunters, the providers, the more intellectual of the two sexes.
Whereas the female are represented by the caretakers, submissive and the fairer of the two.
The females were the damsels in distress to the male's hero.

This thought has run rampant for centuries. In the Caribbean, even prior to Columbus' arrival, gender roles were well defined. The males were the hunters and gathers of the tribe along with being the major source of protection. Their female counter parts cooked the meals, looked after the children and sick and generally never really left the village.

During slavery, on plantations like the Sevilla la Nueva in Jamaica, the European males were the top of the food chain. They did as they pleased and whoever went against their word was punished. Their equally fair skinned wives, not much was known about their role on the estate, though through most documented cases viewed them as the type that sat back and let the men do all the work, while they relax in the comforts of their own homes.
This was a different case from the enslaved, they were judged from the moment they set foot on these shores. The males that looked fit and muscular were the normally the first to be sold off as it seemed that they could handle the long process of sugar production. Females, for them, beauty was a curse and some were bought as breeders, if nothing else.

**Please refer to Food for Thought link**

Enough about the past, the present is not much better. Females are still deemed as inferior, though progress has been made since those times.

People were surprised that both awardees of the President's medal in Trinidad and Tobago, this year, were both female. They, Raquel LeBlanc and Priya Maharaj, both attended two female denominational secondary schools. I was pleasantly shocked and pleased by this news, along with the majority national scholarships being granted to females along with four of the top five schools that were awarded with the most scholarships happened to be all female institutions.

After talking about this great news with some male acquaintances, a good portion remarked not on the girls' excellence but the boys' performances. In my mind, I'm in just complete shock... I knew for an almost 99% certainty, if I told them that the recipients were males, they would not have reacted or said anything, much less mention the girl's who wrote along side them. Is this the society we live in, where I need to fight tooth and nail to prove my worth? Where, even if I graduate with First Class Honours, it does not matter as it is a male certification in this man's world. It just means that I think like a man. 

Where do I fit into this world? How far can I go before I reach my glass ceiling? That is up for us to decide. To see if we have to drive to beat the status quo, like these lovely and intelligent ladies... to create a society where there are equals not inferiors]]> 2016-11-28 23:34:12 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140366088 shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140371600 2016-11-29 00:40:20 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140371600 shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140372019 2016-11-29 00:45:29 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140372019 shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140374543 2016-11-29 01:11:02 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140374543 shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140389618 Due to the mixture of cultures in the region because of the influx of migrants from slavery, the Caribbean became a very diverse region in terms of religion, languages and cultures. With this diversity, also came a level of tolerance for another's practices and beliefs.

That is to say Christmas is no longer just for the Christians or the Catholics, Divali is not just celebrated by Hindus and Eid doesn't solely belong to the Muslims.

Below is a picture of a group of non Hindu students of varying ethnicities belonging to Holy Faith Convent, Couva in Trinidad, a Catholic institution, on the day of their Divali celebrations. ]]> 2016-11-29 02:12:49 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140389618 shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140392265
This course was an eye opener in some ways but it did bring up some concerns with me, mainly on how we grew up learning the Eurocentric view points. Caribs were warlike. Arawaks were peaceful and did not eat turtle meat because they thought that it increased stupidity levels. How much of my childhood exams were lies.

It is just straight out mind boggling on how mindless we can be at times if someone doesn't show us the truth.

I understand the divide and conquer strategy, take away all that is dear to them (family, language, religion, etc.) then rebuild them from the ground up with your own selective beliefs "blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3) and "blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5) but not "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe"(Exodus 21:24-25)

The sad part is that we are still mindless lambs, years later. We still believe that if we go abroad, we can get a better education. Foreign styles, clothes and shows are better than our own. We learn to write Standard English not Creole.  

This course really can make a person wonder about what is the truth and what is opinion.]]> 2016-11-29 02:44:00 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140392265 shahnaazvm https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140396358 2016-11-29 03:31:00 UTC https://padlet.com/shahnaazvm/qkywdq8s1a8r/wish/140396358