 Hello and welcome to the launch of the Nobel Laureate Festival. I'm Diya De Law and it gives me great pleasure to remind the world that St. Lucia has two Nobel Laureates. So William Arthur Lewis received the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1979 and Sir Derek Alton Walcott received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992. In their honour, the Nobel Laureate Festival Committee produces a number of events around the island and now, because of the beauty of the internet, they can be seen all around the world. To tell us more about the events and the Nobel Laureate Festival and its meaning to St. Lucia and the world, here's our Chair, Her Excellency Dame Palette-Louise Governor-General Emerita. Ladies and gentlemen, it's January once again, the start of a new year with its promise of the fulfilment of aspirations and dreams at the personal, community and national levels. For the past 31 years, the month of January has held special significance for St. Lucia as we have been celebrating the achievements and contributions of two of our eminent and distinguished nationals. The Nobel Laureate, Sir William Arthur Lewis and Sir Derek Alton Walcott, both of whose birthdays, as everyone knows by now, fall on January 23rd. Yes, indeed, the Nobel Laureate Festival held in their honour has earned pride of place on the national calendar of events and rightly so. So what better way to start a new year than by celebrating our achievements as a people, as a nation, and using these achievements as a springboard for even greater and more lasting successes? This year is no exception. We have chosen as the theme for the 2024 Festival this challenge to the nation. We have written excellence, inspiring our collective imagination, fostering national pride. We invite everyone to take some time during the Festival to fully appreciate the input and the impact of the achievements and contributions, not only of our two Nobel Laureates, but of all our distinguished as well as aspiring nationals at home and abroad and the many ways these have shaped the world we live in today. We speak, for example, of Sir Arthur Lewis as the father of development economics. But to be really realized that his pioneering work in that field has benefited not only St. Lucia in his homeland, but the whole world. Collectively, St. Lucia nurtured him, developed his potential, and then gifted this brilliant mind to the rest of the world. This has to be for us a source of immense national pride. Fellow St. Lucians, let's not hide our lights on the bushes. Let's place them with pride on our mountaintops, on our pitons, our jimmies, so that all the world can see what potential resides in us, what we have to offer as a people. As Sir Derek himself urged us, let us not make tiptoeing representations of ourselves. After all, we are a people of style, of grandeur, of large gestures. Sir Arthur and Sir Derek sadly have both left this temporal world. But they have not left us offence. Let us therefore show the world the legacy they have bequiffed us. I know we cannot all assemble in one physical space to celebrate, but we can use the virtual world to do so. I therefore invite all who can to post on the international social media platforms and on our festivals Facebook page during the month of January the name of at least one St. Lucia Luminary, whose life, successes, achievements and contributions we and the rest of the world should celebrate. Let their work inspire our collective imagination and so foster pride in our people and our nation. On behalf of the members of the Nobel Laureate Festival Committee, I take this opportunity to thank the government of St. Lucia, the Bank of St. Lucia, the St. Lucia Tourism Authority, the Library Cooperative Credit Union and all event coordinators and their sponsors for the continued support of this, our national festival. Ladies and gentlemen, remember the theme. Let it inspire you. Let it be seen in everything you do, in every facet of your life. Celebrating excellence, inspiring our collective imagination, fostering national pride. Thank you. Thank you to the Nobel Laureate Festival Committee Chair, Her Excellency Dane Palette-Louise. Before we tell you some more about the festival, we hope that you stay with us because we're actually going to show you highlights of some of the events. And of course, without yourselves who have helped this festival grow from one day to now over a month-long event, we continue to thank you and we continue to hope that you will join us during the month of January. But our sponsors, of course, this cannot be possible. And we have one of our sponsors who have joined us recently over the last year to inspire you to be part of our festival and also to encourage and engage other people outside of St. Lucia to come and join us in our beautiful island. So I'd like to welcome Ms. Doreen Georges from the St. Lucia Tourism Authority. Ladies and gentlemen, I stand here today proud to represent the St. Lucia Tourism Authority, who for a second year has come on board to support the Nobel Laureate Festival. Of course, we acknowledge the great work of two men who, ironically, shared the same booth day and has emerged from this beautiful gem St. Lucia. And of course, their contributions in economics and literature, we see the value from not just the tertiary level, which they're contributing to globally, but we also see the impact that it's having even at the infant level. And so the St. Lucia Tourism Authority will continue to support Nobel Laureate Month and the festival. And we will do that through our LucianLinks program, which continues to honor first, the second and third generation St. Lucians. Additionally, our social media strategists stand ready to share and promote the content that is related to the festival. And in order to win what it is that we're giving away for Nobel Laureate Festival, our social media strategists will be sharing a five-night stay for two at the Landings Resort and Spa, as well as a five-night stay for two at Bay Gardens Marina Haven. This will be supported with airfare and transportation fully sponsored by the St. Lucia Tourism Authority. So we look forward to your participation. We look forward to everyone embracing and honoring the theme for the 2024 Nobel Laureate Festival. And of course, the St. Lucia Tourism Authority stands ready to ensure that everyone is engaged and the information is shared in the global market place. Labric Redition is indeed happy to be associated with the activities of Nobel Laureate Week for the year 2024. We think the whole concept of excellence, not just at this time, at all times, is significant and important for a country like St. Lucia. We at Labric Redition have the view that excellence is not a skill. Accidents is behavioural. Excellence is an attribute that we think espouses or radiates or permeates through all what one does. And so we are saying that our Nobel Laureates with the epitome of excellence and we think we need to come up with some mechanism, probably even going beyond the program of activities for Nobel Laureate Week to ensure that more St. Lucia's, particularly our younger ones, are socialized to the whole concept of excellence. And when we talk about excellence, we could probably look at it from two approaches, from a quantitative approach. For instance, we are saying that, let us say from an examination results, if we say 90 to 100 is excellent, so then we are given a kind of quantitative definition to excellence. But then there's the qualitative definition of excellence, that at all times you want to be the best, you want to give of your most. And giving of your most means that your knowledge base, there have to be continuous improvement that your repertoire, your knowledge on the subject matter has to be current, has to be at the top of the class. And I think that is what we in St. Lucia must aspire. And from, even from a parenting point of view, how we socialize our child, from washing the dishes, to vacuuming the floor, to sweeping the floor, do we ensure that we espouse excellence, that we socialize our child, our children, that whatever we do, we do it to the best of our abilities. Excellence brings with it the right to even collect a premium. If you're an artisan, if you're self-employed in individual, for instance, when you perform your job, your carpenter, your mechanic, your mason, when you perform your job with that high degree of excellence, you could actually demand a premium for your work. Because it is what I would probably call a palaisart. And so as we go about celebrating Nobel laureate week, I think the emphasis has to be on excellence and how we go about developing a trans, what I would probably call a transmission mechanism through a process of socialization, where our young people in particular could, let us say, cultivate that culture of excellence and let it be reflected in all what we do as sentrysants. We are trying to inspire you to attend the events. And perhaps you don't know when you go to the social media, you don't know what questions are going to be asked there yet. So make sure you follow the social media handles for the St Lucia Tourism Authority and the Facebook page for the Nobel Laureate Festival St Lucia and encourage your family, your friends, everyone at home and abroad to share those links so that they can all come to St Lucia, what wonderful prizes. And how else can we entice you? Stay tuned because we have the highlights of some of the events, not only in the north of the island, but the south of the island. An annual church service starts the Nobel Laureate Festival activities followed by a sumptuous breakfast catered by the Benedictine sisters of the Abbey. Celebrating excellence is a series of four-minute videos where guests Kurt Harris, Darryl Raymond, Cantilio Louie and Matthew Emmanuel discuss the impact of St Lucia's Nobel Laureate on economics and the creative arts. An exhibition of photographs by St Lucia photographer Chester Williams will be displayed in three sections based on the motto of St Lucia, the land, the people, the light. It will comprise images photographed over several years as well as a small selection of special images. The 2023 Queens Commonwealth Essay Competition award ceremony announces the winners and recognizes the students who took part in the 2023 Queens Commonwealth Essay Competition. Labry's annual Plen Air painting event for people of all ages and levels of experience will paint together while enjoying the outdoors as a group with a focus on people painting in the midst of traditional activities in the beautiful village of Labry. This year, there will be a demonstration on the basics of figure painting followed by a question and answer session lasting 30 minutes before participants begin their own paintings. Participants should bring art supplies they wish to use. Free return transportation from castries to Labry will be available. Using the metaphor, giving up is not an option. St Lucia-born US-based fashion designer and entrepreneur Miriam Belas tells host Delia De Law that her mother, a professional seamstress, taught her how to sew when she was a child and how she continues to draw inspiration from her mother and her Caribbean roots with her designs. This is Derrick Walcott Memorial Lecture, what the twilight keeps saying, following the gaze of Derrick Walcott. Will be presented by Dr. Travis Weeks, who is a poet, playwright and current theater arts lecturer at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus in Trinidad and Tobago. His discourse examines Walcott's repeated use of the twilight in his poetry, a device he employs to highlight a vision for his people and country. The National Archives Authority of St. Lucia will hold a traveling exhibition to highlight the lives of our noble orates. In addition, the various services the National Archives offers to the public shall also be displayed. The exhibition will start at the Castry City Hall on Wednesday, 24th January, 2024, at 10 a.m. The exhibition will then travel to various districts around St. Lucia. Navigating the future, applying the teachings of Sir William Arthur Lewis to St. Lucia's 21st Century Development Challenges, that's the title of the Sir Arthur Lewis Memorial Lecture delivered by Dr. James Fletcher, who explores the enduring relevance of Sir William Arthur Lewis's theories and philosophies to the multifaceted development challenges facing St. Lucia. In an era marked by rapid technological change, environmental threats and social upheavals, Sir Arthur's insights provide a valuable framework for devising strategies to address these issues. The Reef Laying Ceremony honours the legacies of Sir Arthur Lewis and Sir Derek Walcott, both of whom are buried on the college grounds. During the ceremony, reefs will be laid at their gravesites. Members of their families, specially invited guests, and members of the college community will celebrate the remarkable works of the two laureates. The event will feature a keynote speech delivered by Honourable Monsignor Patrick Papa Anthony, SLC. The Sir Arthur Lewis Community College Day of Excellence displays the extraordinary talents possessed by faculty and students. Outdoor spaces will be transformed into art galleries, highlighting paintings and digital artwork. Literary talents will be displayed through poetry readings and storytelling sessions, while photos of outstanding sports teams, men and women will be presented around the campus. Budding entrepreneurs on campus also have the opportunity to exhibit and sell their merchandise on site. The Walking Tree is a captivating play about two adventurous Samarians who find themselves lost and trapped in the mystical, enchanted forest, courtesy of Papa Bois. As they navigate this other, worldly realm, they become entangled in the midst of a complex family feud among the forest inhabitants. Atipawol Quayol features an open-air spoken-word suare of original pieces from artists showcasing both their oral and written skills in the Quayol language. Awards for Best Submitted Written Peace and Best Performance will be presented. Join the Nobel Laureate Festival for the FRC Book Launch of Icons, a book of new and selected poems by John Robert Lee, featuring readings of chosen poems from the text. There will also be a book signing by Mr. Lee. We hope we have enticed you to attend the Nobel Laureate Festival. There is an event there for everyone. They take place throughout the island, and many of the events are free. We'd like to thank our sponsors once again, the Government of St. Lucia, the Bank of St. Lucia, the Labry Cooperative Credit Union, Flow, the St. Lucia Tourism Authority, and DD Media Relations for their continued support. And of course, thank you because, as I said earlier, you have helped us to grow from a day of events to over 30 days of events. You can request a program at the Facebook page, St. Lucia Nobel Laureate Festival. You can email info at noballaureatefestivalsentluxia.com or you can text 284-4111. Simply say program, and we will ensure that we send it to you. And of course, please share, share, share, help us to grow, help people to come into our beautiful island, that is St. Lucia. We hope to see you at the festival. Until then, I'm Di-li-di-lo. Goodbye.