Group in for Indian dance workshop

It has not yet been a year since they were established, and already, members of the Indian Heritage Foundation can boast of having achieved a great deal.

To help with the further development of the foundation, a group of persons of Indian descent arrived here on Saturday to conduct a workshop on Indian dance.

Speaking at the welcoming ceremony at the E.T. Joshua airport, president of the Indian Heritage Foundation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Elmore Gaymes expressed his satisfaction with his organization’s achievements.{{more}}

He expressed his gratitude to both the government and the opposition for their unanimous support of the Indian Arrival Day Recognition Act which was recently passed in to law. Comparing what happened here with the struggles that were undergone to obtain recognition in Trinidad, Gaymes described it as “an easy flow”.

“When we were in Trinidad we underwent a number of struggles, we worked for many months and years, we even formed a newspaper organization, wrote in the newspapers, we sang about it, talked about it and then it eventually came in to existence. Here is St. Vincent there were no troubles at all, just the passing of the bill,” Gaymes told the audience.



LEFT TO RIGHT: President of the National Council of Indian Culture Kanhai Kangal, Minister of Urban Development René Baptiste, President of SVG Indian Heritage Foundation Elmore Gaymes, Secretary and Coordinator of the workshop Janis Deane and former president and senior executive member of the National Council of Indian Culture Richard Ramkhansignh.

“When she (Minister Baptiste) announced the foundation I was in a serious panic because over the past 150 years we have lost almost everything, we don’t know how to sing, how to dance, few of us know how to cook and we have lost our names,” Gaymes stated. “But we came out very well,” he continued.

Also addressing the gathering was the president of National Council of Indian Culture Kanhai Kangal who expressed his delight to be apart of the visiting group. He also assured the members here that he would try his best to encourage Indian artistes to visit St. Vincent and the Grenadines to give support to the foundation during their first anniversary celebrations.

Also speaking at the welcoming ceremony was the Minister of Culture, Rene Baptiste as well as one of the former vice presidents and executive members of the National council of Indian Culture in Trinidad Richard Ramkhansingh.

The workshop was conducted over the past week and will conclude tonight with a closing ceremony at the Thomas Saunders Secondary School where some participants will show what they have learnt during the past week.