 Thank you so much for staying with us. We got this. I mean, this video came out, you know, very early on in terms of our response to COVID-19. And I think we've been doing a good job so far. Cuddle Still Ministry of Health and Wellness for their management of every wave that has come hitting St. Lucia. We've dealt with it very well. At this time, we are now onto our interview segment for this morning's update. We're speaking to her excellency, Claudia Edward Lardner, as well as a partner in terms of her latest projects. We have Naja Simeon from Saki Productions. Here to speak to us about the latest project, painting the outside wall of the Blushar Combined School. Gonna come to that in just a moment, but first I want to say, first of all, good morning. Good morning. Good morning to you. Well, thank you for being here. I want to start with you, her excellency, Claudia Edward Lardner. Hi. A journey up until being appointed by the government of St. Lucia. Tell us what it has been like since you've been appointed, becoming an ambassador for St. Lucia. Well, I take that role very seriously because I think the fact that I was appointed as an ambassador, it means that they've seen some, they saw something in me in the work that I do and it's for, and I do it because I love St. Lucia. I love kids and my foundation basically does projects for schools, which benefits every child in the school. And I could have gone in and said, okay, let's do lunch bags or school books, but that would not benefit the entire school. And my aim was always to do something that'd benefit an entire school, every project that I do. And it's great that the government saw what I was doing and believed that it was something good. And for me, it's really a reward for, hey, you did a good job. Here's what we can do for you. Half of the back. Exactly, exactly. So that means a lot to me. And I take it seriously also because I want to be that example for that younger person growing up, say, oh, Claudia's a singer. She doesn't have to do this, but she does. And it's for love of my country, love of giving back and not expecting anything in return. It's just that feeling that when you do something good, that you feel like you fulfill a need for you. It's not for anybody else. So I love the appointment and I graciously accepted it and continue to do the work that I started. Okay, so Edward for education, you founded that organization, that charity organization. Yes, in 2010. Okay. And so far, tell us about the work that has happened in the last 10 years. Well, we do a project, we try to do a project once a year. And we've done a sick room for the current secondary school. And when I say we've done a sick room, I'm talking about building it from the ground up. Includes furnishing it after it's built. And we can't do that without partners. So what we do is go to the community where the school is in and try to get partners within the community. If we can't then we reach further out. So we've done a sick break for the current secondary school. We've done a learning center for the Ave Maria primary school. We recently finished the theater arts room for the Cicero secondary school. And we also brought in a Shakespeare professional one year to do literature workshops with teachers and students both in the North and the South of the island. I remember that. And we just completed our last project with Saki Productions, which is the painting of a mural on the wall of the Blanchard combined school. Okay. So tell me how did that, that this latest project come about? Painting the outside walls of the Blanchard combined school. School has been out for quite some time. The kids in and out of school. I can imagine that there would be some displacement of schools. Tell us how did that happen in the last year in terms of the engagement of the principal and so on? Well, we had a lot of proposals for school projects. And we were thinking with COVID-19 and the social distancing. Some of these projects did not, it did not make sense for us to approach them at this time. When we got the call from the Blanchard combined school, the principal, she said to us, we have a proposal that will enable our kids to learn on the outside of the classroom, which works perfectly with the social distancing and all of that. And also it gives the kids an opportunity to go outside to learn. And when she told us what her plans were, I said, oh my God, there's just one person I can call to do this. And, you know, thankfully you come across people in your life's journey that you can later on say, and you create relationships and friendships. And these people you can call and say, hey, Naja, I have a project. Tell me if you can do this. And I said, I know it's, what Naja does is not something that you could just tell somebody paint this, you know, it's talent, it's time, it's so much to it that I could not bring myself to say, Naja, do it for free, you know? And I said to him, I have a project. Tell me if you're interested, what will you need? How can you assist us with doing it? And I said, Claudia, oh my God, I love those kind of things. I'd love to do it. I said, for free, he said, yeah. He said, but the paint is gonna cost us. And at that point, you know, I was like, okay, we need another sponsor to come in to provide us with the paint. And that's when I called Harris Paints and Christopher Joseph, who is the person I deal with over there. He was more than happy to accommodate us and to be a part of the project. So getting this project together was, by far, one of the easiest projects I've put together and in a timely fashion as well. I know people are itching to see the finished product. I know, I love it so much. We're coming to Naja Simeon of Saki Productions, designing and really putting in the work in terms of this latest project from Edward for Education. Tell us about the project, the word that you were getting from the principal, your own inspiration. Well, I think Claudia mentioned almost everything there. But the project, the proposal she showed us, it was huge. It's like she wanted to put something on every single wall. So we had to actually break it down and chew little parts and be like, okay, let's start with this wall. And then we'll move on to the other walls first. So I mean, she had a brilliant plan. She knew exactly what she wanted, on what wall she wanted it. And Claudia showed me, and I just designed it right there on the spot. We did a side visit. Yes, we did. So the project was not just on the day. It was like months of preparation. And actually, back and forth, sending in designs, what we're gonna do here, what we're gonna do there. So it was, yeah, it was a very easy going project. No problem at all. Everybody was ready to go. Except the rain. Except the rain. The day of the project, there was a huge explosion and eruption at the La Sufie volcano. So we had rain and we had ash. And the staff was there painting and everybody was ready to go. Once you were in the school, that was it. Okay, so tell us about the concept of the painting. Well, the concept of the painting, based on what the principal gave us, she wanted to do maths, hair, English hair, social studies stuff. So what I did was the science part, which is a solar system. And I selected this huge wall. You walk up the stairs, you get this wall. So it's like you're walking into the universe. Space, yes. And Earth is right there in the middle. And when you see the image, you'll see the sun is in the center and it's actually painted on top of a light fixture. So when the light comes on, the sun goes. Everything lights up. So it's just a beautiful concept. But I wanted the children to walk into the solar system. And now they can look at, you know, not just the Earth, but the entire universe and beyond. Nice. Well, let's see if the principal liked it. Let's go to the clip from the principal to just hear from her what her thoughts are standing behind, standing in front of the painting. Behind me is an awesome mural of the solar system. The solar system was painted by the superbly talented major senior and his team of equally talented guys from psychological. This was concept to align out of the need to extend our living spaces, both in the classroom and outside. Our proposal was sent in to everyone for education, who responded favorably and quite quickly and quite quickly at that. I took about one and a half days to complete this project with the help of staff members and some students who were able to complete it quite quickly. Everyone loves it. We are very excited. The students were very excited. And they came in on Monday morning and saw this mural of the wall for the first time. And we were very, very excited. Parents are very pleased to see those kinds of things happening at the school. So on behalf of the Bloor-Shackle Mansion family, I wanted to thank Edward for education, staff correction, and our students for helping us see this project. Thank you very much. Wonderful. Wonderful. I love it. Mrs. Edward Lardner, so definitely a pleased principal. Oh my god, she's elated. She said to me, Claudia, I envisioned this, but I did not envision this. Right. So the school is pleased, the teachers are pleased, the students are elated. Wonderful. I can't get them away from the wall, which is really good. Absolutely. Especially a nice treat for the return to the classroom this week. Saki Productions, Naja, tell us about that. Tell us about your background. Ah, the background. Because this is a wonderful work of art. That's a lovely background, yeah. Saki Productions actually is part of my middle name, Saki. My middle name is Misaki, it's Naja Misaki Simian. Okay. I'm from a little kid, everybody calls me Saki, and it's just, I couldn't get rid of it. It's just, I was Saki. So I registered the business in like 2018 when I returned to Saint Lucia from university. I studied art at university and engineering. So I just wanted to hit the ground running. And I tried to show my artwork in galleries, but there were very few galleries. I think there was only one gallery. One gallery, yeah. Yeah. Just like the Inna gallery. Yeah. And I really couldn't get my artwork in there. I don't know. I don't know why. So we teamed up with a few other people and was like, you know what? We started the outdoor gallery and started just putting paintings out there. You don't have to put it in a gallery. Inna gallery, Inna gallery. Yeah. You don't have to put it inside of a gallery. I like the concepts. You just want, let's just put it out there. So we started doing murals. I had experience doing murals in the U.S. at university, and I came back to Saint Lucia. We just hit the ground running. The first murals were done with dupes. You know, dupes. I don't know if dupes is an ambassador, is it? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. It should be if it's not. Then we got some sponsorship, did some murals. I did murals in communities like Salty Bus, Painted Schools, and ever since we've been doing murals, over 40 murals all around the island now. Okay. So this commissioning was not unique for you. This is something that you've done already. We do this all the time. I think Claudia knows about that. But Claudia and I met in other artistic ways. Yeah. At theater. Yeah. We met in the movie. Yes. Yes. Wonderful. And that's Saki Productions and the Aldo Gallery. So Claudia, tell me a bit about, I mean, this is definitely giving you ideas for the future for Edward for education. The way in which it happened, it's something that you want to continue? I think it's a great initiative to continue, especially in light of the world we live in now. Outdoor learning is actually one of the positive ways to go for school, especially primary schools. When the kids are so fidgety and you just try to get them to settle, give them something to focus on, that's beautiful, that's colorful, you know, that they can appreciate and learn, you know. Make the environment, visually. Right. Exactly. Exactly. So if they go outside, they're still learning. Right. And it's not just paper and pen now, you know. It's an actual wall. What's this planet called? And it's right there in their face. Yeah. And we also did the multiple tables on the... Yeah, we did multiplication tables. Tables on the walls. Okay, nice. And I told you, this principal has so many brilliant ideas. Yes, she does. That there are more projects coming up and they could... For Blanche, I'll come back. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, wonderful. I have to design something else for them. And they have a local artist in the community who is on board. Right. And what's his name? Mr. Knight. Yeah. I'm giving him a shout out right now there, because he has a big project to do with Blanche. Okay. What are the other plans for Saki? The other plans for Saki. I just finished a project in Masha, actually, with the musicians, entertainers and people in theater. But I was with the Ministry of Tourism. Okay, nice. And then before that, we did the Independence murals, the St. Lucia mural at Point Seraphine. Also along the Cassius bus stop with other groups like USAID had a small group with... What was the name of that group? I can't remember. But it was Youth Groups and Anglican School and all this other stuff. The plan for Saki Productions and the Auto Gallery is to now start almost like a non-profit organization where we can get donations and get support from people who support the arts. So we can continue doing these projects in the communities, but involving the youth and the people in that community, so that they take possession, they take ownership of these spaces, beautify them, give it a little vibe, inspire others, even start their little tours around the village. And our theme is to put paint where it ain't. So anyway, there's a wall and it looks black, give it a little coat of paint, some nice inspirational quotes, something fun and lively, and you see everybody starts gravitating to that space. It becomes the backdrop. Photoshoots have been done, everything starts happening in that spot. So I'm very lucky that I can actually do that, we're transforming spaces. Absolutely. And therapeutic for the world we now live in, where persons have to be apart from each other like you indicated, Claudia. The kids had something to say to Edward for education, let's take a look at it. How do you feel? I love it, I love it, I love the smiles on their faces. And when I spoke to the principal yesterday, she says, Claudia, the kids love it, and that is what brings me the satisfaction, the smiles on their faces, the appreciation for it, which means that they will take care of it. And I have no doubt the principal especially, she'll do everything in her power to make sure this lasts forever on that wall. It will last, we need to care of that. We put a protective coat on there, basically the thing is I always work outside, so I have kind of perfected the art of painting outside, using the right material, sealing it. But the thing is, for me, everybody's like, but what if, I'm like, a mural is supposed to change with time. Right. I'm like, I'm not going to paint a mural, things will happen to it, people will write on it. And that adds to it. That adds to it. Don't be afraid if you put something out there and people interfere, you want people to interact with it. Right. And then again, it gives me another opportunity to come and paint it over. Right. I really don't mind. Well, it's good to finally put a face to some of the projects we've been seeing around the island. Especially the St. Lucio. Yes. I was trying to be like, Banksy, you know, just see Saki, but no, I don't like cover. Thank you very much for sparking, you know, that inspiration in some of the younger minds and so on. I know you're definitely working with a younger person in terms of, you know, pushing the artistic... Yes. ...the art form. I also want to highlight the project we did at Babuno Secondary on Friday before school reopened. And it was with Girls Over Feather and other organizations within the school. And the students turned out, the teachers showed up and everybody was ready and going. So they did a beautiful bathroom project, which is what Girls Over Feather have been doing at many bathrooms around the island. So just to give the channel inspiration when they walk into the bathroom, when there are no teachers, sometimes that's where you go to cry if you have a lot of problem. And when you walk in there, you want that place to give you a little inspiration. So the bathrooms are not a place for kids to hide, but it should be part of the school. Wonderful. Thank you very much. Thank you to Nazja Simeon from Sackie Productions. And before we go, thanks to Harris Baines. Yes. I want to say thank you so much to Harris Baines. I mean, I went to Christopher and he said he had no hesitation. He said, of course, we'd like to be a part of the project. And he even said, give me Nazja's number so we can find out exactly what he needs. So they spoke to Nazja and he said, tell us exactly what you need. And he told them and it was a go-go. We worked it out. Yes. We worked it out in the end. Wonderful. But thank you again, Harris Baines. And thank you to Nazja and Sackie Productions. Thank you so much. I mean, I too saw what he put on paper. But when I saw the wall, I was literally shocked, happy. I was just like, oh my God, he did that. Well, it wasn't just me. I know. But with your leadership, you know, but I honestly did not imagine such detail in the production and that's what just blew me. The teachers were really, they were ready and some students showed up too. Yes. Thanks to team Sackie. A few of my team members showed up, Lyvin and Jetty. But the teachers, especially a young man, what's his name? Khalil. Khalil did an incredible job. You saw he was an artist. Yeah. Do this. He was on it. Yeah. So that's good. Well, congratulations to you both on another project. Thank you. Thank you. And also of Sackie Productions and Naja Simeon. Thank you so much for painting another project on the outside walls of the Blusher Combined School.