Tell Vincentians more about Elma Francois

21.SEP.07

Editor: I am wondering if the general public knows about Elma Francois?

I feel that the media houses should put greater effort in informing Vincentians about this heroine. After all, she is a Vincentian of great stature.{{more}}

Yes, Elma Francois is a national heroine of Trinidad and Tobago, yet she is hardly known in the land of her birth, St. Vincent.

Again, I think greater effort should be made to inform Vincentians about this great heroine, especially with her upcoming 20th anniversary of being a national heroine of T&T, later this month.

I do not want to knock the media houses at home, the education system, or the past and present governments, but it is truly amazing that such a great Vincentian is hardly known in the land of her birth.

Yes, I know that Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has named a national scholarship in her honour. But, outside of that commendable deed, I am not aware of what else has been done to further inform Vincentians of this great woman.

She should be a prime candidate for National Hero status in the land of her birth, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

I will end this by paraphrasing an American (who is married to a Vincentian and first learned about Elma Francois via the bulletin board on www.nbcsvg.com; and he was also quite surprised that his Vincy wife had no knowledge of this great woman): “It is true that no one is a prophet in his own country.”

Lance Davis