I am honoured and delighted to be heralded with the responsibility to bring leadership to this esteemed organisation, The Trinidad and Tobago Best Village Association (TTBVA).

The TTBVA is constitutionally mandated to represent all organisations, groups, communities and individuals that hold and have accepted our responsibility as custodian and preservers of the heritage - traditional and performing arts, as a major cultural segment of Trinidad and Tobago. This laudable ideal is far from being a reality.

The innate abilities of the practitioners of these artistic forms are blended in every other cultural machinations of Trinidad and Tobago, and therefore are significant contributors to the total cultural admixture that is classified as Trinbago

The framers of the TTBVA in their wisdom recognised the diamond in the rough and began the journey to harness and polish this unique inheritance to give it true value, its true potential and more so to earn its respect and position the fraternity to provide a real livelihood for all concern.

The TTBVA is tasked to choral the fraternity  to provide representation, recognition, organisational structure, organisational development, growth and prosperity.

Armed with the tenets of our constitution and based on the truism “unity is strength”, we are duty bound to bring our fraternity together despite  being perceived as scattered, disorganised, demoralised and disillusioned. We however, must draw strength and be driven and motivated by Grandma’s Poem:

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"If all the seas were one sea

What a great sea that would be

And if all the trees were one tree

What a great tree that will be

And if all the axes were one axe

What a great axe that would be

And if all the men were one man

What a great man that would be

 And if the great man Took the great axe

And cut down the great tree 

And it fell into the great sea

What a great splash that would be"

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It simply means that if we all come together and utilise all our strengths, our powers and our talents; we can remove all pettinesses, all obstacles, barriers, and seeming indifferences. We can realise the greatest result which can empower, motivate and galvanise us to the greatest stage in the world: portraying unity, success, self- determination, growth and wealth.

Coming together would allow us to overcome all challenges, widen our reach, broaden our scope, strengthen our abilities, and fast-forward our destination.

Our present situation cannot be our final destination.

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“come on let's do this together”

“wa lori je ki a se eyi paoo”

“aao ham ise ek saath karen”

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I eagerly look forward with a great degree of optimism for us to lock our arms as we move forward positively.  All are invited

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Yours truly

Selwyn Martin Luces

President