In the beginning of 2008, we launched the "There is Hope" Campaign, and we must admit that it did not fly as high as we wanted it to in the first year, but as we mentioned, ChutneyZone.com is not giving up with this campaign. When going to a beautiful country such as Trinidad and seeing what it use to be and what it can be, but where it is heading, it reminds us why we want this Campaign to work. We do not want to get into too many details, but to us, there is too much corruption in the T&T politics and higher authority that is giving the opportunity for so much crime and hate to grow in the country.
Question: Why is it that so many huge foreign companies take away so much $$$ from Trinidad? Is the country getting their fair share back? Why isn't more being done to brighten the country and invest back into the country's communities, schools, security etc? We believe that the media (All West Indian: websites, newspapers, tv, radio, artistes, and bands) can help bring these questions and many more to every day conversations and wake up the people with the power that the time to fix the problems is now and not later. I don't think we are dreaming about this Hope....I think it is highly possible to bring this Hope to reality. I will leave this article with one example to show where we are coming from.
Dec 12th, 2008, a 7 year old girl living in Penal, Trinidad was shot in the neck by a gunman who ran into the house opening fire and asking questions afterwards, pushing the number of homicides in Trinidad to 526 for the year (365 days in the year). Examples of this will not stop or decrease in 2009 unless something is changed. Change is needed and we have the means to help. THERE IS HOPE!!!!!
In the year 2008, ChutneyZone.com has decided to start a campaign to encourage all to join us to promote "Hope For All". When we use the word HOPE, we are referring to aspects such as increasing safety, reducing drug use, reducing crime, increasing levels of education etc. The only way to accomplish this is for everyone in our community to come together to help and encourage each other to do better.
You may wonder why ChutneyZone.com wants to start such a campaign?? The answer is very simple.......Because we can and because we want to!!
Over the past 2 years, we have noted that our website is visited by a wide range of people of various ages, education levels and professions. The main thing that all of our visitors have in common is our culture that we all love so dearly.
Amongst our site visitors, we know there are also some very high profile promoters, radio annoucers, club owners, djs, artistes, band members, community newspaper owners and even other website owners who frequently visit our site. What does all of this mean? All of these people also have one thing in common....OUR CULTURE. We are asking these high profile visitors to join us in our campaign and help our community grow in a positive direction.
Some people may even ask, what does our campaign have to do with our culture. Well, in our opinion, it has everything to do with our culture! If we do not work on strengthening our community, changing the mind sets of people with negetive attitudes, people ripping each other off, people bad talking each other... the effects will sooner or later trickle down to the point where our culture is impacted. Here is a loose example; if the level of violence/crime occuring on the street, in a club or chutney show increases, it will result in people not wanting to come out of their homes to risk their safety. This will lead to low attendance at shows or events, which will result in promoters not being able to afford hiring artistes or bands, which will eventually result in entertainers not being able to make a descent living in the entertainment business.
Some may say that you cannot change the mindsets of certain individuals, which may be true in some cases and wrong in others, but, if the majority of us see that there is a need to point everyone in the right direction and set examples for our youths, we will be on the right track.
There is good in everyone, and where there is a will, there is a way.
Some of the reasons that are influcing us to start such a campaign are some recent events that have occurred in Trinidad. We would not go into specifics, but we will say that they were some sickning acts of violence on innocent victims. These types of incidents are occuring all over the world, but when it strikes our own country, community and people, whether it is Trinidad or Guyana, it hurts so much more. If our people become more involved, we can definately put a curve on this type of violence.
We would also like to invite all races to join this campaign as it is not only Indo-West Indian's in our community but many other races as well. No matter what your race is, we all live in the same community and we impact each other in one fashion or another.
We also have a couple of challenges that we would like to make.
We have an aim for at least 100 entries to recognize people's accomplishements, good gestures etc. by March 31st 2008.
We have a support list that you could be a part of by simply signing your name and adding to the movement.
And finally, we have a HUGE Challenge going out to all Artistes and Bands (including Soca Artists) to compose a positive song to our people and to promote any sort of postive message.
We hope that you share our view and opinion, and that you would like to join us in our campaign of HOPE FOR ALL. We have a "Hope" logo available for downloading to show your support on your websites, newspapers, email, IM, facebook... anywhere!
We also welcome all ideas and comments.
1. Aiming for at least 100 entries to recognize people's accomplishements, good gestures etc. by March 31st 2007.
Simply describe the accomplishment/good gesture of the person you are recognizing, and hit the submit button. Your entry would be posted on an asap basis. Results will be a huge compilation of achievements of our very own people! This section would encourage us to continue to aim for higher heights, recognize achievements and to help set a positive example for the next generation.
2. Please sign our Support List and be a part of the growing number of people who want to see a change in the quality of our culture.
3. Artistes and Bands!!
Compose a positive song to our people to promote any sort of postive message, and send it to us! We will continue to add positive songs to our collection for all to hear!
d'hitman - crazy world
rikki jai - good father
shurwayne winchester - no more
xtatik - world needs more love
