 Hello and welcome to another episode of Stepping Up, I'm your host Daniel Dubois. This week we joined the St. Lucia Cadet Corps at their opening ceremony and shine a light on the organization and for link-up we head to Atlanta, Georgia to chat with young St. Lucia pilot Tevin Belasco. The cadet movement was introduced to St. Lucia on July 13, 1929 when a unit was established at the St. Mary's College. Its formation was significant, instilling the highest possible level of discipline and character building in the society. The cadets at the time were engaged mainly in drill and route marches as well as attending national parades and camps. The cadet corps aims to inspire young people to achieve success in life with a spirit of service to the country and their local community and to develop in them qualities required of a good citizen. Let's take a look at the interview with Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Hyacinth as I joined him at Nemo headquarters for the official opening of the Cadet Year and Commandance Parade. So let me know what is it that you guys did today that we are so blessed to see. All right, good morning everybody. This session today was the opening of the Cadet Year. The Cadet program has been suspended since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. So the cadets have been out of circulation since February and this year we've opened up since school has reopened so the cadet program has recommended. And so we are trying to bring all the cadets together. So this morning session happened with the first battalion where that is the cadets from the valley come up to Grosjele. So from all of those schools, those units, those cadets have gathered together today to signal the opening of the Cadet Year. So all the officers, the cadets, we have come together. We're just welcoming each other back and we are trying our best to see how we can put our programs together. Also recognizing the COVID-19 restrictions that are put in place and so we definitely have to. Well you mentioned that you guys were out of commission from since March or February. But I know that you guys were very instrumental with some of the programs in terms of bringing out good food boxes, the Nemo packages in the earlys. Tell me a little bit about how the Cadet Corps came in and was able to support these governmental initiatives. The Cadet Corps actually is mandated by law where we hold the chairmanship of the Supplies Committee of Nemo. Now I sit in that chair as the chairman of that committee and the Cadet Corps also assists in sending out volunteers in the packing of food items and to the distribution of food items. So the Supplies Committee is all about receiving and the distribution of supplies during the disaster for St. Lucia. So as an organization we fall nicely into that aspect of Nemo where our adults, so our adults were active, however the cadets, the young cadets, those secondary school, they were not active. So those adults we came together to assist Nemo within that capacity of supplies where we were able to help receive and to distribute all food items during the pandemic. Now you mentioned that Cadet Corps has an adult, and I didn't know that. I thought Cadets was always just about secondary school students, but I guess those who saved the Corps and they go up the once a Cadet, always a Cadet, right? True, and also the adults really are for the adult ranks. So we have from the warrant officers we're all up to the officer level. So those are the ones we put out into the extreme conditions. We will not put the younger cadets out into extreme conditions, although sometimes the younger cadets are used for sitting down at headquarters to help pack up items. So for instance when the hurricanes came in they were there at headquarters and they were the ones who were packing the flour, the rice, and the sugar and these things, but they don't go out. So you still utilize them? We do utilize them, but they don't go out into the public or into hazardous areas. We don't send them out on this. We only use the adults for that purpose. Tell us a little bit about the mandate of the Sinusha Cadet Corps and you know that place that you guys serve nationally in terms of youth engagement. Right, so the Cadet Corps this year actually celebrates 92 years. So on the 45th of July we did celebrate 92 years in San Jose. We, thank you, no we didn't get to celebrate it this year because of COVID, that's right. We operate at 20 secondary schools around the island. Our mandate is youth development and we use the military platform in order to do that. So we're not saying that we are soldiers, we're not, however we use the military platform in order to instill what we have as our motto. Our motto really is leadership, discipline and service. So we're saying that anyone who has come through the organization should emit those values. We have the values they will be leaders, they will have discipline and they definitely think about service and helping others out. And so that's what we're trying to instill in our young men and women in society. Now apart from that, as I mentioned earlier, we have been mandated in order to serve within the arms of NIMO. Our main purpose is as the chairmanship of the supplies committee. However, our credit officers also shadow all of the other subcommittees of NIMO. So we have shadow officers who sit within all the committees. Very soon we are hoping that we can get enough credit officers who also sit at the disaster, the community disaster level, so that they will be able to assist within the constituencies. But we are not there yet so we're hoping to get there very soon. Okay, so we're hoping that as an organization we continue that mandate that we have and we are looking to see how best that we can continue to serve Saint Lucia. We're in the capacity that we have. Saint Lucia is quite unique. We're not like all of the other islands in the Caribbean, especially those who have defense forces. So the defense forces really are the ones taking the lead, but in Saint Lucia we don't. So Saint Lucia, the credit corps really takes the lead in that. So anything having to deal with disasters, anything having to do with that, we are here with NIMO as a volunteers for NIMO in order to assist them in moving forward. So as we conclude the interview, let us know what's next for the Saint Lucia Credit Corps with the whole advent of COVID. Right, COVID has put us in a unique situation where we are not able to meet face to face as we normally do. So what we have decided to do is to we are going to break up our meeting time. So we look at two Saturdays a month where we will be meeting face to face. However, everything else is going to be done online. We have recently had contact with a donor, let's put it this way. He was offering computers, not only just the computers, he's a software engineer and he wants to be able to supply Saint Lucia youngsters with both computers and with the knowledge of how to build computers and also how to develop software. So he's willing to volunteer in Saint Lucia. So he has chosen the Saint Lucia Credit Corps as one of the agencies that he wants to work with. So hopefully we'll be setting up some computer labs at headquarters and that our credits will be able to use. And we're also having available cheap computers. I shouldn't say cheap computers, computers are lower value in cost so that the credits can use. So we're working with our ministry. I've mentioned it in word to ministry officials, but I will be writing officially to let them know so that at least we can get there. Yes. That you guys want to spearhead. I said we were concluding, but I can't forget that earlier this year that you guys were selected to receive support from proceeds raised from the Prime Minister's ball as part of independence celebrations. So let us know how you guys felt about that and what plans you have for the support that you received. Yes, we are very grateful to the Prime Minister and the members of the Prime Minister's ball and the agencies who are involved in actually selecting the credit corps as one of the donors to receive that funding. This funding is actually marked into getting uniform supplies for our credits. And if you notice, there are a number of credits on that opening period with our headgears. So they didn't have barriers and barriers. So that's one of the areas that we're looking at. So you're looking at barriers and badges and belts. I received the invoice yesterday, as a matter of fact, for 200 sets of barriers and badges. That really went a lot more than what the Prime Minister's donation was. However, hopefully that will get a part of the submission that we have received. We definitely will be able to at least get the 200. In some way later, we will get that done. So it will be a thing of the past that you will see credits with arteries. It's something that has distilled me tremendously to see credits of dress halfway, walking the streets without the proper attire. So hopefully that donation is going to go very well into getting our credits dressed adequately. So Lieutenant Colonel, do you have any final words first as we end our session today? I'd like to say one thank you for recognizing the credit corps and bringing us out in the spotlight. I think the credit corps, as I put it to my officers, we are one of the best kept secrets in San Jose. I think so. It is high time that we get out in the public, people get to know us, who we are, what is it that we do, and not only that you see us during disaster times, but we do quite a bit more. We do a lot of flag raising ceremonies. For instance, our credits raise the flags every anniversary at OECS. You will find our credit officers raising the flags at OECS for every anniversary. Our credits do many other flag protocols. We do a lot of volunteer work and we need to be recognized who we are. For 92 years in San Jose, that's a big secret. And I'm hoping that people get to know a lot more about us and our parents, I'd like to thank them for at least choosing the credit corps as one of the avenues to have their children to be part of. And I'm hoping that we continue to meet the expectations of everyone and we're asking them, asking the public to help us, you know, for us to meet our expectations. So again, I'd like to thank you for choosing us for this interview and for bringing us out there in the public. Well, we're always very grateful where we could get to speak to these things that are so very important and have always been a part of St Lucia's social fabric. So I'm grateful for the opportunity and the fact that you said, yes, that we got to catch this interview because you know the weather was a little bit iffy this morning. So I just want to say thank you and continue to step up. Thank you very much. We'll be right back. COVID-19 is a new pandemic disease as declared by the World Health Organization. It is transmitted directly by respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes or indirectly through rubbing the face with contaminated hands. There is still no specific treatment or vaccine against COVID-19 and as such, the farming community should adhere to some special recommendations. Limit the number of crew members to only essential persons. Practice frequent hand washing and cleaning of all boat surfaces. Limit contact with the public, keeping a safe distance between each person. Limit unnecessary conversation with customers and pairs during the sale of fish. Wash hands frequently with soap and running water or use 60 to 95% alcohol-based hand sanitizer until water and soap are available. Sneeze and cough in a flexed elbow or into a tissue immediately discarding the used tissue into a bin and wash hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer until soap and water is available. And avoid close contact with persons having respiratory symptoms. More than ever before, your important role as gatekeepers of St. Lucia's nutritional health and food security should be taken seriously. When you exercise these precautions, you not only safeguard your health but also continue to allow all St. Lucia's access to freshly caught fish and other seafood. Remember, it is our responsibility to ensure our nation eats fresh St. Lucia's best. Welcome back. The St. Lucia Cadet Corps has really cemented its place in St. Lucia and I just want to say thank you to Lieutenant Colonel Hyacinth and his team for pressing on with the mandate. Thank you so much and keep stepping up. This next segment I charge of two very young enthusiastic cadet members. Let's take a look. Welcome back guys. So right now I want to feature a few members of the St. Lucia Cadet Corps and right now I'm having Aquila. Can you just tell me what is your full ranking and your full name? Introduce yourself for the audience please. Okay, good day everyone. My name is Aquila Smith. In cadets I am one officer class two, Smith A of battalion one. So does that mean like you're the highest in the rank? I'm the highest you can get, yes, as a junior cadet. Before you reach officer, yes, as a junior cadet. So how long again until you reach you pass that? I'm not going anywhere. That's what you want to be? The next transition is to go to an officer which is more teaching than instructing more than less drill and the physical aspect of it and train the cadets. So I'm not looking to move forward. I'll stay there as long as they let me. When I joined cadets my father was a warrant officer and he had to go up because I joined so I can stay there for a long time. And that's good so you enjoy that aspect of it. So let us know how long have you been in cadets and what was your interest? Why cadets? As a young girl as well too. Okay so I've been cadets since 2011 when I joined in form one secondary school. I joined because of my parents both my mother and my father were part of cadets, my mother rejoined after I joined. So it was always in our families the next step all of us all my brothers and them we all joined cadets. It's always the next step that's what we are going to do doesn't matter in our choice. As a girl I don't think there's a difference like in cadets you're just a cadet you're a soldier. That's right. There's not a the disparities. You don't like to make that distinction. Okay. The distinction is what barricade you're in as the end of it. That's right that's right. So as a cadet what is it that you've learned? As a cadet I think it's to be modern a civilian. You're not part of the military you almost you semi-military so you work different you look different you act different you have different principles that you keep it just makes you more disciplined more of a well-rounded member of society as a whole. So even if the lowest cadet the one that did not do very well they are better person than or they have they're more rounded they have a better chance of being well more well-rounded citizen than average citizen I should say. Nice. So as we conclude let me know what was probably your most exciting activity as a cadet. I know that you guys know some amazing things you'll work throughout the whole COVID shutdown. I remember seeing you packing flour and sugar but I know before that you know tell us what what what comes to mind when you have to think about your best experience as a cadet. My best experience I don't want to say shooting because that's cliche all cadets favorite party shooting but the best part honestly is obstacle courses and the different FTX and activities so that's like physical challenges that they give cadets but it's it's another level when you go to another country and they have full military bases that you can train on and you can do these little challenges on. Have you ever been able to travel? Yes I've traveled three times one way I was leading the team but yeah where did you go? I went to Barbados the first time I traveled and the next time I went to Jamaica and the last time went back to Barbados with another contingent another contingent of cadet but the best part is the is a physical challenge is the different um competitions they put us in between each other's physical like I cannot do pull-ups but it's more than just that it's running and this and relying on your teammates and stuff like that finding objectives so it's it's everything mental and physical. How excited are you as the school year was finally able to open and what's next? I'm looking forward to the new the new classes and the increased material that we'll have especially as we move in more to online teaching and stuff like that I'm looking forward to more of the academics part of cadets taking part because we'll not be able to do drill as usual because of the amount of cadets we have so it'll be mainly classes and stuff so I'm looking forward to that we're gonna have something new we're gonna have new things to teach the younger cadets a new experience is to make that'll be different than what I experience what other people experience it'll be a new form a new breed of cadets. Wow you make me feel like I want to join cadets now well okay well thank you so much darling and keep stepping up okay what's what's the full the full um class I'm naturally a warrant officer class 2 Smith E. All right thank you very much. So we have another cadet and I would allow him to introduce himself. Hello everybody my name is Lance Corporal Mondays E.J. I've been in the Corps for nearly three years I joined in 2017 and yeah basically I have a love and hate relationship with cadets yeah because basically you know you love the uniforms you know you like the starters well not really a starters but like you know people looking up to you yes yes but at the same time it's the physical work you know a high demand you know expect you to be disciplined all the time not all of us disciplined all the time but yeah so but you enjoy that though nonetheless. Yeah of course I enjoy it you know because at the same at the end of the day you don't have you have the you have a higher you know what would they call it confidence not confidence but you have like a high liberty like other children you know like you know more like you let's say you you know most of in the military you and survivors yes for survival skills let's say let's say um Iran you know Trump something opposite Zellosha you know we now have to survive. It's true so tell us um what made you join cadets in the first place well basically I I joined cadets because you know I was inspired you know I like to see like the US Army and the British Army I've always like been inspired by them and like when I joined when I came in secondary school I found out the houses cadets I said wow the cadets and I just instantly joined because I already love the military I love everything too well you know if you love it you know you have to love the hard work too so talk about let me know what was your most exciting experience as a cadet with your your short stings compared to other persons here three years right well one of my best experiences was independence parade you know you like a peacock you know you're looking nice you know marching everybody looking at you everybody clapping you know they told us they told us people don't come to see the police officers march they only see they come to see us march the cadets and that makes that you know boost your ego a little bit you know boost your ego a little bit so so as you conclude what would you tell your friends to tell them to join what is what what would you say to them to say hey guys join the cadet call you know there's a lot of like conspiracy thing they're going to drop you know for us and leave you there for three days that is not true that is not true just just you know anybody that don't know me if y'all if y'all are afraid to join come and ask me questions okay that's right if don't be afraid to join cadet yes they'll shout at you know yeah you'll be able to do a little push-up and you know it'll get you stronger but me right now i i could do push-up because the summer get me with covid and so you you get there you get there all right well so thank you so much i was i enjoyed this interview passionately the passion though so do you think it's something that you'll grow up on you'll probably you want to go because my mother told me as soon as i leave school i drink the i drink ssu so all right so you know you have to no joking around well thank you so much darling and continue all the good work water do the same washing motions with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing at least 70 percent alcohol wash your hands wash them right this message brought to you courtesy the bureau of health education of the ministry of health and wellness now it's time for link up this week we chat with tevin balasco a st lusion pilot who is immensely proud to share his story and says that anyone can achieve and soar to greater heights once they work hard persevere and don't give up he recently celebrated a major milestone in his career and shares with us his story tevin how are you i'm doing good thanks ill how are you doing i'm okay i'm okay holding on so i know recently you and another st lusion pilot celebrated a really important milestone not only for st lusion but the u.s um so that's why i felt it was you know kind of prudent to reach out to you um but let's start from the beginning tell us a little bit about your childhood and your love for aviation my name is tevin balasco i was born and raised in granite vega rosalie i attended um anakin infant school then went on to the anakin primary school then later on went to the bokas secondary school after i'm completed my five years at bokas i went to the south of the west community college detent division to study building trees and after building trees then i pursued my career in aviation in a land to georgia so my my childhood was very i was a very family oriented person my my parents always showed equal love to both of my my brother and myself and always told us we could achieve anything that we wanted to be so that really pushed me to achieve becoming a pilot nice and what was the journey like you say you so you're a pilot so after you left school and you started your journey what did you have to do to be able to get accredited or you know during the extension let us know about that aspect of it yes so my interest in aviation began at a very tender age where my mother and i used to visit my father very often in trinidad and every time i get onto the airplane i always used to stick my head inside of the cockpit to wonder what these guys were doing up there and what it was like to actually be flying up there so later on throughout the years my godmother introduced me to um sylvanus ernes which is also known as squeezy and he invited me to his hangar at georgia's airport to get a hands on experience of how the airplanes operate and from there that's where my interest in aviation began and you know how long how old were you um when i uh during that time i was going by sylvanus ernes i was in secondary school yeah i was in public form two from three and then how did it continue to grow and it continued to grow by taking just decided i wanted to go to flight school and stop procrastinating and i actually you know this is what i wanted to become so i moved to um atlanta georgia by my aunt and visited a couple flight schools and that's where i went to flight school so when i started flight school in 2015 uh i started becoming a private pilot where you get the basic fundamentals down then you do your check right so i actually became a private pilot from there and then i went on to do um my instrument training where it's basically teach you to flying like flying in the clouds low visibility in in clouds etc and then i moved on to becoming a single commercial single engine pilot where now i can actually make money or be in a pilot after that then i did my flight instructor certificate where i could now teach people how to fly and to become pilots so i used that instructor license to build my time to 1500 hours which is the requirement that the u.s needs to go to uh airline and that is where i am today as an airline pilot 1500 or 15 000 what's it 1500 hours okay okay okay and that's a lot in in i guess an aviation the world yes it's a lot of flying where i use a when i was in shock that i used to fly eight hours a day which was the limit you could have flying a day teaching someone how to fly wow yeah so it took me it took me like one year to build from 250 hours to 1500 hours it took me one year of non-stop working wow are you there yet what's what's your hour count now right now i'm at 2150 hours nice yeah so this is it's still small compared to others but it's a good achievement right now great achievement how do you stupid question how do you like clock your time does somebody do it for you or you do it yourself no basically it's uh in the airplane there is an in and out time where when the plane pushed back from the gate when the the parking brakes is released that's when the time is started to to count as your flight and then when the plane lands at the destination airport and goes into the gate and he puts the parking brakes he sets the parking brakes the captain sets the parking brakes that's when the time stop and then after when the the door is open it sends a lot to us and tell us how long was the flight so then afterwards you get that it's almost like a online report every time you fly it will it will just accumulate right and then i put it into my electronic logbook okay yeah so every pilot has a electronic logbook because every airline wants to see how much time that you have and that's how you go to another airline is the amount of time that you have so tell me you tell me you tell me now sorry to cut you short you tell me now that you have a pilot license and you you basically surpass a 1500 hours how what's next for you what's what's the next goal Tevin uh my next goal is to reach to a thousand hours flying the jet that i fly is embryo 175 uh so right now i have 560 hours in the plane so when i get to a thousand hours i'm eligible to upgrade to become a captain on this on this aircraft nice all right okay nice so you want you still interested in flying commercial even though right now yeah that's the end goal even though the pandemic has hit us very hard where i almost lost my job right and we had to go into agreement with the union where they they decided to cut our p by eight hours wow so everybody could have kept their job and to avoid full loads yeah right yeah we as a company agreed that we're gonna take a p cut to keep everybody safe from getting full load yeah that's true so that at least is the bare minimum and you just have to hold on until things get a little bit better i guess all right what message do you have for saint lucians anyone who is young people in particular still figuring out what they want to do in life seeing that and i know your journey because i remember you so we just go by the go by the airport and watch planes and we used to laugh at you we used to laugh at you but you know what Tevin i always knew like you see that we meet like so obsessed with planes see he will become a pilot and remember i always say like what like i'm just so inspired by your journey so what what do you have to tell young people who are still figuring out what it is that they want to do and how they get to it well my advice for the young people is to find a career that they actually love something that they passionate about you know learn and master the trade find a mentor in that field that could help you get to your higher level in that field you know um for example like i went to bokeh secondary school and a lot of people said that people that go to that school won't become anything in life you know because of the bad reputation that they had at bokeh secondary school so where i am today is because of perseverance and uh being committed to one goal like you said everybody know from senator riles obsessed with planes where i'm sitting by the fence all the in the hot sun watching the plane take off on land you know and you know it doesn't matter what school that you go to you know it just you being determined and being focused so just stick to one thing in life and that you like me and to achieve it and um not to say to correct you but you know bokeh i won't say bokeh has a bad reputation but senator has this thing like the grade schools according to prestige and stuff like that because you know i remember you going to bec bokeh so you like really like a good success story so you should probably explore probably going back and like try not to do alone you know and to help and inspire i actually did what did you do uh i actually did went back to bokeh one of the teachers called me when i was actually coming home for like just four days and she told me if i would stop by by the school and i did so i was in my full pilot uniform and when and when the other teachers saw me that they were teaching me back then they was like so happy and amazed to see me like tell me i can't believe that's you and you were full time pilot and then literally i had to speak to one class and the teachers like no you gotta teach um talk to the whole form five so they open up the auditorium for me to talk to the children so that was a good experience i actually were really inspired all right it doesn't matter like if you go to bokeh because they had the same perception thinking that when they come to bokeh actually they cannot become nothing in life yeah so i think that's an important important um i'm point at you making tevin and how old are you i'm i hope you not try to say how old are you i'm 28 28 nice i'm so proud of you so before we wrap up just recently you celebrated a milestone not only first edition but the us tell us a little bit more about that and we know that the prime minister gave you a little bit of a shout out and you know we're always watching because is it um kevin is the other guy you know you know we follow you i follow i follow him i follow you as you know when you have your you know your aerial photos and stuff like that so let us know about the milestone and why is it so significant well it was amazing you know flying with another solution in general is a dream come true and you know there's not many of us in the u.s especially flying at the same company so flying with kevin was just a matter of timing i remember when i just uh went into the company and i met kevin he was a first officer like myself and he was just about to upgrade to become captain and i was like you know like man you know how much fun is going to be if the two of us actually flying a plane together as captain and first officer and say like man that's going to be crazy so it was an astonishing achievement to actually make it happen so soon after he upgraded to become captain so it was a unique experience you know i just want to clarify that we are not the only solutions flying in the u.s we are the first solutions to actually flying a plane together in the u.s i know i have a friend of my name giani he did the first flight i can remember with two he and another solution in the u.k so i just want to clarify that we are not the first emissions to ever do this we are the first ones to do it in the u.s with passengers nice well congratulations and i'm sure that has been i guess we manifested that because everything that you said you wanted to do you went ahead and you did it kevin that is not yeah that is an amazing feat and like let's want to say congratulations and all the best so before we wrap up do you have any final messages for us do you have any shout outs for your family back home i'm sure the belasco family is watching and they will be watching i want to say hello how are y'all because it's been so long yeah so as you wrap up what is it that you want to let sing lucia know tevin yeah like i said to the youth just stay focused stay determined um stick to one goal and definitely push as much as you can to achieve it big shout out to my family my parents lindy and emma belasco big shout out to my wife alasa belasco she's really been a tremendous help especially when i'm not around and she's holding down the household for me as i'm on my 40 trips so big shout out to them and my family much love to everybody that being supporting me and that knew where i came from and where i'm at today because they saw how persistent i was standing by the fence um in george charles running down to viewport to watch a certain plain land because of a special livery uh sivana's earnest big shout out to mr kubi twosent uh he was the assistant general manager for um george charles airport he allowed me to to go to the the tower george charles so yeah if it wasn't for for him and sylvanas you know pushing me and just getting another opportunity of support yeah definitely supporting my dreams from very tender you know mr kubi twosent always said like tevin i know you'd always become a pilot because you were so determined and so eager to learn the stuff where even though i was my week was ended at the tower i was used to call him and let him know can i come back just to see the operation how it's done so so big shout out to all of them tevin i want to say thank you so much say lucia is proud of you and we look forward to welcoming you back home hopefully hopefully it will be with another solution flying up a bigger airline it's going to be up for read and we have to come and look for you each eye yes interview from the plane when we land in a new or international airport that's right so that's the next one that's the next thing the next thing that's the next thing well tevin thank you so much and all the best thank you so much i know that's it for this week's installment of stepping up don't forget to send me an email at stepping up 758 at gmail.com thanks for joining me i'm your host Daniel Dubois keep safe see you next time and until then keep stepping up