A busy week lies behind us, and we are having our deserved rest. Since Selina came last Sunday, there were just hundreds of things to do, in particular, we had to National meeting on Wednesday. We spent Tuesday calling again on all our invitees and doing last preparations and practising. And then it was a big day. We went early to the library, where the meeting was to be held, and set up the auditorium, to food, tables and chairs. We were hoping that some people would turn up, but then, even before 10 AM, they started piling in. We had a total of 38 guests, from different government organisations, representatives of the National trust, individual Fisher men, a number of knowledgeable, concerned citizens, and representatives of environmental youth organisations. It was a fantastic spread of backgrounds and ages.

After Karim, the director of the environment Department, gave a welcome speech. We started with a presentation of our project, and then went into the exercises. In the morning, we did a historic timeline. People were divided into three groups, one looking on major changes in the fisheries since 1960s, one looking into major changes in tourism and international and regional development, and the final group looking into changes in the general environment and community. This was very interactive, and a lot of fun. Many people were surprised and excited about the final timeline.

After an hour’s lunch break, with lovely sandwiches and cakes, we came back to do a second exercise, called the policy cycle. So this was slightly more difficult, it turned out to be a great success. People started to think and after the discussion of the policy cycle everybody was eagerly awaiting the final discussion.

I believe this was a very successful day, and even though it was hard work, everybody seemed to have really enjoyed themselves, and taken something back.

Let’s hope the next national meetings in Turks and Caicos and the Caymans will be as successful.