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Contact:
Virnet St. Omer-Fontenelle
Monday, May 24, 2004 - A project to recognize and build pride in the
achievement of Caribbean persons in the field of science and technology is being
undertaken by a Trinidad and Tobago-based Research Company. The National
Institute of Higher Education Science and Technology (NIHEST) is going around
the Caribbean recording the names of outstanding West Indians, which will be
published and distributed to schools and citizens of the region.
The project, Caribbean Icons in Science and Technology being undertaken by
NIHEST is funded by the Organisation of American States (OAS). It involves the
building of a data base of outstanding Caribbean men and women in the field of
Science and Technology. NIHEST will recognize the achievements of these persons,
as well as publish a booklet and CD ROM of the names and their achievements.
Researcher, Stacy Ann Sargusingh, says the project is important for the creation
of awareness in the general citizenry, of the expertise in the region. According
to Miss Sargusingh, “we all know who our outstanding scientists are in North
America and Canada, but we don’t know who our Caribbean people are. Therefore,
this booklet will allow students to recognise that we have people here who
achieved great things also.”
Saint Lucian Dr. Earl Long is being interviewed for possible inclusion in the
who’s who of Caribbean excellence in science and technology. Dr Long works with
the Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta in the United States and is a lead
researcher in tropical diseases. He says the initiative is overdue and is
invaluable for the Caribbean psyche.
He said, “You really can’t achieve until you know what you can achieve. You know
what you can achieve when you find out the people who have achieved, who have
done things and these are your models. These are the people you follow, the
people you try to emulate. It’s difficult just to go off on your own and decide
that you are going to be a success in something. Anybody who is a success, has
usually built that success on the shoulders of someone else.”
NEHEST has to date recorded some 70 names from the region.
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