An important treasure!

That???s how Heritage Barbados, a book produced by Rasheed Boodhoo, in collaboration with Marcos Communications, has been described by this island???s Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ronald Jones.

Addressing a presentation ceremony at the Media Resource Department (MRD), at Elsie Payne Complex, Constitution Road, St. Michael, Mr. Jones said: ???The place is changing and we have to capture memories for those who come after us; the next generation, the next Barbadian and Caribbean civilisation, the next world.???

While acknowledging that many citizens should have penned their autobiographies and historians should be recording the work of great citizens, he said a nation could only start to truly appreciate itself through so doing.

“And, he lamented that not a singular work had emerged on The Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow and ???all he had done between the period of his coming into the House of Assembly, being elected, then unelected and then forming a party and all that he had done in his life???.

The Minister praised Mr. Boodhoo for creating work that would ???transcend time and touch so many persons??? and said he believed that schools and all others who wanted ???this testament to the past and current and future??? should get hold of it. Calling it an opportunity for students to look at the period with parents and grandparents, he said it could be a catalyst for engaging in conversation about the island.

Mr. Jones urged persons to ensure their libraries consisted of Barbadian materials, and said those who wanted to see ???Barbadiana??? and how people lived in that era, as well as the magnificence of historical and contemporary structures, needed to get the book.

Chief Media Resource Officer of the MRD, Walter Harper, recalling his own foray into photography, said that as he moved around Barbados he was made aware of how rapidly the landscape was changing but admitted that he too had failed to capture it.

???Although I was into photography, I never thought for one moment that I should photograph those places until they were gone,??? Mr. Harper lamented.??Praising Mr. Boohoo for his publication and for teaming up with the MRD, the Chief Media Resource Officer stressed: ???This work is a treasure??? our children need these records.???

Meanwhile, author Rasheed Boodhoo, said the presentation of his book to schools was his way of giving back ???to preserving a history and a tradition and things Bajan we lost???. Expressing gratitude to the MRD staff, he said: ???Several other people had turned down the idea and could not understand why I am giving them to the schools free.???

He also thanked Arts and Sports Promotion Fund for partially funding the books, therefore allowing them into schools at no cost. Heritage Barbados is a pictorial journey of the island that offers a glimpse of the past and appreciation of bygone times for future generations. Its photographs include the Barbados Landship, roasting breadfruit under a tree and old time rum shops.

joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb

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