. . . Keep good company for success - Ansa Mc Al Foundation Chairman
Guyana Chronicle, 15 April 2008.
http://www.guyanachronicle.com
Guyanese Annette Arjoon, joint winner of the award for Excellence in
Public and Civic Contributions, accepts her award from Chairman of the
awards Regional Eminent Persons Selection Panel, Sir Ellis Clarke on
Saturday night at the Trinidad Hilton, Port-of-Spain.
NEWSDAY (Trinidad) - Ansa Mc Al Foundation Chairman Dr Anthony Sabga
told recipients of the 2008 Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for
Excellence that the secret to success is to first believe in oneself
and "then act with determination, perseverance and integrity" to
achieve one's goals.
He said this was an attitude he adopted while observing his father in action.
The gala award ceremony was held on Saturday night at the Trinidad
Hilton, Port-of-Spain.
Sabga advised the laureates and those who seek success to keep good
company. "The quality of people with which you associate, mirrors your
own quality," he said, adding, "aside from that, the knowledge and the
inspiration you absorb from your friends and colleagues help to mold
your future."
He explained that his 70 years in business has been rewarding due to
the people he associated with. "I have found pleasure and success with
everything I have done," he said, as he welcomed the laureates into
the ANSA McAL foundation family.
Guyanese Professor David Dabydeen received the Award for Excellence in
Arts and Letters; Barbadian businessman, James Husbands won the Award
for Excellence in Science and Technology and Guyanese Annette Arjoon
and Claudette Richardson-Pious were joint-winners of the Award for
Excellence in Public and Civic Contributions.
The laureates received a gold medal, a citation and TT$500,000.
Chairman of the ANSA McAL Foundation, Dr Anthony Sabga, right,
presents 2008 laureate, David Dabydeen with his Gold Medal for
Excellence in Arts and Letters, as Chairman of the awards Regional
Eminent Persons Selection Panel, Sir Ellis Clarke looks on at the 2008
Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence held Saturday night at
the Trinidad Hilton, Port-of-Spain. (Newsday photos)
Arjoon and Richardson-Pious gave back to Sabga in a show of
appreciation for their awards.
Arjoon's work as founding Secretary of the Guyana Marine Turtle
Conservation Society (GMTCS) led to the establishment of the
Amerindian operated North West Organics, a company which provides the
natives with a means of income to afford food other than hunting
turtles for their meat and eggs. She has also lobbied Guyana's
government to impose a partial ban on trawler fishing in the areas
around nesting beaches during the nesting season.
GMTCS, has also been instrumental in the Guyanese government decision
to identify Shell Beach, the main Guyanese turtle nesting area, as a
protected area. Addressing Sabga's failed desire to turn Pigeon Point
Beach Resort into a National Park, Arjoon after receiving her award,
dedicated the conservation of Shell Beach to Sabga.
She invited him to come to Guyana to assist in the development of the
beach into a National Park.
Sabga, in an interview with Newsday on Sunday, expressed his delight
at the invitation. "It is not a remote possibility," he said,
"anything to upgrade the concept of one Caribbean identity is foremost
in my mind. What is in Pigeon Point may not be in Guyana but Guyana
has its own unique features."
Sabga went further to hint that the next Caribbean Awards may be held
in another island. "We have to do what we can to keep the Caribbean
united," he said. When accepting her award, Richardson-Pious presented
Sabga with a scaled replica of the award winning "Bashy Bus",
developed by Richardson-Pious through her NGO, Children First.
The bus is a mobile HIV testing and counselling clinic staffed by
youth which goes to inner city and rural locations in Jamaica. Her
organisation assists children who struggle with poverty, abuse,
abandonment, exploitation and malnourishment and extends its services
to their families.
Coordinator of the awards' Regional Eminent Persons Selection Panel,
Michael Mansoor stated that the award is not an "end of life" offering
dedicated to what the individual accomplished.
However, he said it provides an opportunity to encourage the laureates
to foster and nurture their life's work and passion.
No comments:
Post a Comment