2020 falls at the center of the United
Nations "International Decade for the People of African Descent" and as
follow up to the widely publicized 2019 "Year of Return", Africa Day
2020 was set to be a first of it's kind celebration and reunion of
African people from all over the world for the purpose of empowering and
motivating the next generation and sharing resources for their improved
development.Unfortunately due to the COVID19 pandemic, this event has
been limited to LIVE STREAM. Parts of the event discussions will take
place on Youtube and the event Facebook page.
Africadelic is an annual celebration of International Africa Day, on May 25 in Paradiso, Amsterdam. It celebrates the connections, creativity and cultural diversity in (and from) Africa.
This year it will be a twelve hour online festival, with a film program and performances and talks by amongst others Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band, Sampa The Great, FOKN BOIS and BALOJI.
'The Egyption Book of the Dead' / E.A. Wallace Budge
'The Pyramid Texts'
'The Coffin Texts'
The Book of the Dead
A unique collection
of funerary texts from a wide variety of sources, dating from the
fifteenth to the fourth century BC. Consisting of spells, prayers and
incantations, each section contains the words of power to overcome
obstacles in the afterlife. The papyruses were often left in sarcophagi
for the dead to use as passports on their journey from burial, and were
full of advice about the ferrymen, gods and kings they would meet on the
way. Offering valuable insights into ancient Egypt, The Book of the
Dead has also inspired fascination with the occult and the afterlife in
recent years.
The Pyramid Texts
The
oldest body of extant literature from ancient Egypt. First carved on the
walls of the burial chambers in the pyramids of kings and queens of the
Old Kingdom, they provide the earliest comprehensive view of the way in
which the ancient Egyptians understood the structure of the universe,
the role of the gods, and the fate of human beings after death. Their
importance lies in their antiquity and in their endurance throughout the
entire intellectual history of ancient Egypt. This volume contains the
complete translation of the Pyramid Texts , including new texts recently
discovered and published. It incorporates full restorations and
readings indicated by post-Old Kingdom copies of the texts and is the
first translation that presents the texts in the order in which they
were meant to be read in each of the original sources.
The Coffin Texts
The Coffin Texts form the missing link between the Pyramid Texts and the
Book of the Dead. These texts are an expression of the Egyptian desire
for immortality and the deep influence of the mortuary religion of the
pharaohs. This volume presents careful copies and comparison of all
available duplicate texts of Spells 1-75. Download
In October and November 2019, Twich Studio St. Eustatius interviewed Kenneth Cuvalay on various topics. The interview is available in three parts on YouTube. The interview is one in a series of interviews with people from St. Eustatius by Twitch Photo Studio (Twitch_DSM).
Foundation
Ocan, the Dutch Caribbean Consultative Body in the Netherlands, supports Dutch Caribbean persons in the achieving of their
individual and shared ambitions and objectives. During 2018, journalist Otti Thomas made a series of interviews "In the spotlight" commissioned by Ocan that were published weekly on the Ocan website, in the newspapers The Daily Herald and Antilliaans Dagblad.
The
Netherlands has more than 150,000 residents with roots in Curaçao,
Aruba, Bonaire, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba. Thousands of these
residents are successful in their own way. In the
spotlight this week is Statian clinical manager Kenneth Cuvalay,
initiator of Mental Health Caribbean, and chairman of The Quill
Foundation.
In his own words: I
started working from the age of eight because my mother was poor. She
had 13 children to raise: seven children and six grandchildren – after
my eldest sister passed away. I went to St. Maarten when I turned 12.
With the money that I made as a pool and beach boy at Little Bay Beach
Hotel, I would buy clothing and various items and send them over to my
mother.
I
travelled to Curaçao as a stowaway on a cargo ship when I was 14. I did
not have any money for a ticket. I worked for two years at the Hilton
and then another two years at the Sheraton on Aruba. Eventually, I left
for Amsterdam where I worked at the Hilton and obtained my MAVO diploma
within three years. After some years, I returned to St. Eustatius
together with my wife and two kids and worked for Statia Terminals – now
NuStar – but due to principled objections against pollution, I quit
that job.
I wrote for the Amigoe
newspaper about local corruption and other wrongdoings until I became
persona non grata on St. Eustatius. I had to sell my house and move to
Saba due to the reprisals.
The
choice for nursing came about due to a suggestion made by a lady I was
speaking to. When she had heard how much I was concerned for my people,
she said nursing formed a good starting point from which to help them.
I
did the internal course at St. Elisabeth hospital in Tilburg where I
had worked for several years. After a brief stint in the Intensive Care
Unit, I went to work in psychiatry and addiction – first with Symbion in
Rotterdam; and after a few years at Novadic-Kentron in North Brabant.
Eventually, I was asked by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport to
set up psychiatric and addiction health care on St. Eustatius.
Obstacle I
left behind a fine legacy when I left Mental Health Caribbean last
year; but that institution did not fall out of the sky. There was no
single form of psychiatric or addiction care on Saba and St. Eustatius
aside from a psychiatrist that visited the islands. I had begun work in a
vacuum. I had no staff or backup in the beginning but did everything
myself. I sometimes conducted admission interviews under a tree. At a
certain point, I said I would quit because I was in essence functioning
as a psychiatrist and psychologist, while those were not my
authorisations.
Eventually,
I was given room at the RCN building and later, there came support from
Dutch and local social-psychiatric nurses. A contract was also made
after plenty of lobbying, with psychiatrists from St. Maarten that could
visit St. Eustatius and Saba. It was not practical to have
psychiatrists fly over from Curaçao and Bonaire. That which now exists
is the result of years of fighting about everything, even for the logo.
Help My
daughter once asked why I did not start my own business in order to
make money; but you obtain the most wealth through helping people.
Taking someone out of the gutter and witnessing that person blossom –
you cannot replace that with money. My whole life therefore is centred
on helping others.
It
remains a necessity to carry out quantitative and qualitative research
on the psychiatric problems among the populations of St. Eustatius, Saba
and Bonaire. As the founder and chairman of The Quill Foundation, I
have been petitioning for this three years already. When I speak with
the youth, I notice that there is a need for attention socially and
pedagogically. Clients
are indeed being treated now, but there still is no good in-depth and
qualitative data about what is taking place in our society. We are not
examining the causes of the problem.
Inspiration Many
are ashamed of their heritage, but why should I be ashamed? My
background is my strength. I would have had a much different stance in
life had I not grown up in poverty. My origin is the foundation and I
value and cherish it. That goes back further than my youth on St.
Eustatius. I conduct a lot of research on my African ancestors and how
we came to be in the current situation. Little is actually changing.
There
may be black actors and politicians, but we possess nothing. I try to
bring about change through my work in the labour unions and politics. I
established the European Anti Racism Network (Europees Anti Racisme
Netwerk) that analyses and publicizes cases of racism and exclusion. I
fight together with organisations in England, the United States and
France for reparations for slavery.
Grateful My
mother inspired me and gave me the power to look forward. She came from
St. Kitts, which, just like the other British islands, does not have
much, but they are independent. The inhabitants possess a strong
historical understanding, are progressive and active. Inhabitants of the
other islands are often passive and biding in their way of thinking and
actions.
I
used to ask my mother why she would get down on her knees to polish the
tiles in the home of rich white people. She would say to me: “Listen,
Kenneth; it is not about what I do, more important is why I am doing it.
I do it to provide you with a better future.” I could not attend school
as a child due to circumstances, but even then I knew that I needed to
develop myself in order to help my people on St. Eustatius.
Advice Everything
starts with a positive self-image. The inferiority complex that many of
our people carry needs to be broken through. That is why it is good
that there are role models through which people can really recognise
themselves. It is also important to involve youngsters with the
development of society. Do not talk about the youth, but with them. They
will then feel that what they see, what they feel and what they want
matter. It stimulates their own sense of awareness and sense of
responsibility.
