April 1, 2024

The Hummingbird Newsletter

A Word From Our President

President - Ms. Julie Jones-Hewitt

Dear Members and Friends of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of GA,

I am honored to serve as your President for this term, and I am excited to work alongside each and every one of you to further the goals and mission of our beloved Association.

As we transition back to in-person gatherings, I extend a warm invitation to all of you to join us for a special monthly event: Sunday Fellowship with your Trinbago family. This is an opportunity for us to come together, share experiences, build connections, and strengthen the bonds that unite us as a community.

Your participation and involvement are crucial as we navigate the path ahead. Each of us plays a vital role in shaping the future of our Association, and I encourage everyone to contribute their ideas, talents, and efforts towards our collective progress.

Together, let us embark on this journey with enthusiasm, unity, and a shared commitment to the advancement of our Association. I look forward to meeting and engaging with each of you during our Sunday gatherings and beyond.

Thank you for your continued support, and let us make this tenure a memorable and impactful one for the Trinidad and Tobago Association of GA.

Warm regards,

Julie Jones-Hewitt

President

Trinidad and Tobago Association of GA

Celebratring Women

of

Trinidad & Tobago Heritage

Presentation by Ms. Brenda Chee Wah

Women’s History Month: It was endorsed by President Jimmy Carter, (still alive), who issued a proclamation in 1980 that women needed to be celebrated in March with a week-long tribute. Additional lobbying prolonged the week until we have the month of March with a national focus on the contributions of women everywhere. To begin to do justice to the contribution of women, we would have to begin with the Biblical ‘Eve’ who began it all and our stories from there will not end. Today, however, I choose to highlight 3 women, two of whom I can give some first-hand details, and the other I admired from afar.

Special thanks to Joan Pedro, Ph.D. and Alana Simpson for their input and sharing.

Allyson Hennessy

Our first, is a Trini-women who as David Rudder wrote in song, was ‘Trini to de Bone’, she must have been on his mind. Her name was Allyson Hezekiah Hennessy. She will be remembered as a regular and popular Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) host for several local shows. Born January 4, 1948, she attended Holy Name Convent, and then left Trinidad to attend the Ursuline Convent in Barbados and then on to reside as a student of that Convent in Kent, England. Allyson went on to the Cordon Bleu School of Cooking in London and graduated as a Sou Chef. In England, she met her future husband, Emmett Hennessy who was a musician and actor.

Dr. Joan Yvonne Pedro

Dr. Joan Yvonne Pedro, presently Dean of the College of Education at the University of Houston, Clear Lake, Texas. Moved from the University of Hartford, Connecticut as Associate Dean of Nursing and Health Studies, received her Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic and State University in Curriculum and Instruction and her Masters from the University of Miami in Special Education and Psychology.

A very impressive listing, but who is Dr. Joan, or Joanie as she is called by her close friends. A woman who did make history in her own way. Born from humble beginnings, lost her mother at age 10, she was not expected to do as well as she has, but this is testimony to her focus, discipline and pursuit of educational excellence. With three other siblings, her educational goals became paramount, she attended St. Joseph Convent, San Fernando. Her first venture into the education field was at the School for the Hearing Impaired. Dr. Joan went on to Malabar Government School where she met lifelong friends. She moved back into Special Education and worked at the School for the Mentally Handicapped now called Wharton Patrick Special School. It was here that Joan, made the decision to leave the family behind and travel to the University of Miami on a scholarship from the Organization of American States (OAS) to complete a Masters, in Special Education.

Alana Simpson

A mother, entrepreneur, creative director, restaurateur, chef, motivator, friend, daughter and businesswoman. Alana ‘Tastebuddz’ Simpson. Her early days were spent in Trinidad where she learned the cultural dances and love for music, Carnival, a strong family foundation, and good food. From early she had a distinctive style which developed as she grew older. Clarity of vision she did have when she moved from Trinidad to Chicago and later to Atlanta, where she laid stake to claim her friends and contacts. Young, driven and full of ideas, she was an organizer from the ‘get go’, when you thought of – an idea she would put it into reality. Simple you may say “I think we could have a piece of cake.” There is Alana on it already, by the time you turn around there it was!!