Columns

The following is the text of the sermon delivered by Pastor James Harrigan at the Anguilla Day Thanksgiving Service at St. Mary’s Anglican Church on Sunday May 25.

Pastor Harrigan is from the “No Walls church” in The Valley.

High profile personalities who hold positions of trust in society’s eye are always being watched for character flaws. And when one falls from the heights of ethical and moral decency and plunges to levels of degradation, the media is quick to pickup the chorus, because bad news is “good” news to sell.

During the years of the Anguilla Revolution, Teachers in particular bore the brunt of the burden, ensuring that they stayed - that is, the majority of them - endured the hardships, the uncertainties, not knowing whether the move would be successful or not. We had one belief in the God of Heaven, our patriotism or love for the Rock, that the Revolution would, by God’s help, be successful. Anguilla’s future was our main priority; the meagre salaries which we received in those days were of secondary importance; our charge, that is, our pupils’ and students’ future, meant more than anything else to us.

On Tuesday February 19, I attended a press briefing at Cable and Wireless Anguilla in which they once again agreed to provide sponsorship to the ALHCS Interhouse Sports Meet for the ninth year in a row. In reflecting about the initial reasons and premise behind this column, I am reminded that this forum is meant to speak about youth in a positive way by highlighting children, organizations or businesses that promote youth development.

In this week’s edition of The Anguillian, you will find a lengthy article about child abuse. Some time ago, six representatives of the Anguillian Education Department, Media and other Government Organizations attended a workshop on child protection and child abuse in Antigua.

Sanford Richardson and I travelled together to Antigua as part of an Anguillian delegation to a workshop on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Child Abuse in the Caribbean. Among many things discussed, he and I agreed that it would be fitting to speak more thoroughly about child abuse in Anguilla.

I arrived in Dominica, The Nature Isle of the Caribbean, this past Friday January 25 to attend carnival and visit the many natural wonders this small island nation has to offer. So far, I have been through Portsmouth, Roseau, through many small villages; Bellevue, Bagatelle and Fond St. Jean. With additional visits to Trafalgar Falls, the Botanical Gardens, Champagne Springs in the volcanic crater of Soufriere, the Fresh Water Lake on top of Morne Trois Pitons and many visits to the sea, I have been able to witness something that is not too common in Anguilla.

Over three-and-a-half thousand years ago, old Jacob was sitting and musing one day when famine had overtaken the earth. As he considered his plight, with deep contemplation, he thought: “But there is food down in Egypt.” Then, speaking sternly to his eleven sons, he inquired: “Why do you look at each other like that?

The Social Security Board is one of the most active institutions in Anguilla and is dedicated, in every way possible, to the betterment of Anguilla and its people. Besides being the backbone of the people, it is also involved in many philanthropic efforts in Anguilla.

This is quite a scary time of the year for me as the Anguilla Tennis Academy is approaching the initial launch of the new facility in Blowing Point. It is difficult to run a non profit organization anywhere in the world and sometimes it feels even more difficult in Anguilla for various reasons inherent in a small island nation. One of the things that is quite disturbing is the fact that people try to take advantage of an organization that on the outside may appear financially sound, but in essence it is always struggling to stay afloat.

At this time of year with all the parties and celebrations, I found it hard to come up with a suitable topic Luckily, this just fell into my lap, literally. As you will see in this week’s edition of The Anguillian, the young people followed through with their word when at the Inaugural National Conference on Youth and Development, they promised to hand in a full report to the Government in which they would relay their concerns and solutions.

Although Anguilla is small, it truly is a microcosm of the world and provides people with a unique opportunity to study the human condition. An island is land surrounded on all four sides by water by definition, and as small as Anguilla is, it is intriguing that many Anguillians not only cannot swim but are frightened of the sea. For some people, swimming and the sea is a way of life such as those who populate the areas of Island Harbour and Sandy Ground.

In college, it is normal to do a major and a minor although some minors are more “major” than others. I majored in Spanish Literature and minored in Professional Education. Professional Education is a big term to describe a student who decides to get a teaching degree and become a licensed teacher in the State in which they are studying.

Thanksgiving week in Anguilla can be a very busy time for all those working in the tourist industry as we see an influx of island guests. It is during those busy periods that both my jobs with the Anguilla Tennis Academy and The Anguillian become more difficult as my time is spread very thin. Wednesday, November 21, was a particularly rough day as I had four hours of tennis lessons and three press conferences to attend.

After last week’s 3rd Biennial National Development Conference, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting with Pastor Elliot (Ellis) Harrigan and speaking about an exciting youth initiative he has started in Anguilla under his ministry called ManFocus. In response to all the crime in Anguilla and its relation with youth spawned the Youth Crime Watch chapter of Anguilla.

This week, from Monday November 12 to Wednesday November 14, I had the pleasure of attending the 3rd Biennial National Development Conference. Timothy Hodge, Director of Social Security, asked me to chronicle the conference and at the end provide a summary. Below is a copy of my initial address:

For the youth of today, you will know exactly what I mean. For the adult community, you will have to remember. Being young is a confusing time filled with so much insecurity, doubt and fear. There are so many people a child has to answer to on a daily basis such as parents, teachers, siblings and just regular adults who feel that because they are older, can speak to a child in any manner they desire.

I recently received an e-mail from Rhon Connor in which he spoke highly of the efforts of the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School Environmental and Conservation Club. He gave me the contact information for Joselyn Theophile-Richardson, a teacher at the school who also serves as the club’s coordinator and advisor along with Maxine Alonso. She invited me to one of the club’s meetings at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30, and I was quite impressed with the turn-out. Being a non-obligatory meeting, it was pleasing to see so many children interested in not only the environment, but specifically Anguilla’s current environmental situation.

“Work hard and try your best” was just one of the many uplifting and positive comments Junior Fleming made to more than 50 children at the Valley Primary School on Tuesday, October 2.

Last week, September 19-20, I had the fortunate pleasure to attend a workshop in Antigua with five other Anguillan colleagues. The report I made on that trip and workshop in its entirety can be found in this week’s edition of The Anguillian. I had heard many times about the Rights of the Child but never fully understood it. During the workshop, it was made clear why some would not understand it as the term itself can be quite ambiguous and, surprisingly enough, the USA did not ratify the agreement. Therefore, the USA does not take part in adhering to the demands of the Convention, although it is quite evident that their policies on child abuse are quite exigent.