Why Tobago should be the horse and Trinidad the cart!

"Welcome to Tobago" says the Immigration Officer after our long transit flight from the UK. She smiles, asks us a few questions, stamps our passports and merrily tells us "Enjoy your stay and make sure and check out our Jazz Festival!"

 

For most foreigners and locals (who have lived abroad), Trinidad and Tobago are two entirely separate countries with Tobago being the "diamond in the rough".

This picture above was taken by me a few weeks ago. It is of a family sitting on the Grange Bay sea wall in Tobago watching the sun set. The father and daughter squealed in delight every time a large wave came in. Black, White, Indian and Mixed families from all walks of life and economic backgrounds with fellow tourists all sat together enjoying the simple yet breath-taking spectacle of the sun setting which the Universe gives us as a gift to end each day.

Now take a look at this picture below.

Every week youths from the three special needs schools/organisations in Tobago take a road trip to Healing with Horses in Buccoo where they are exposed to therapy outdoors with the horses. There are days they are treated to organic gardening and nature walks and do not even let me get started about the amazing yoga classes these children enjoy on the cliff tops of Buccoo where they chant with Glorious Elspeth to the ocean below them. Ground breaking work is being done by NGOs in Tobago. The Yahweh Foundation, SOS Turtles etc. are trailblazing the future of Tobago's youths and communities. And the world is paying attention! You cannot help but notice immediately the caliber of volunteers and professionals you find in Tobago from all over the world (Germany, Sweden, UK, US, Austria etc.) who all fly in to work with local NGOs.

There is a saying that "if it walks like a duck and acts like a duck....it must be a duck!". Well, Tobago is showing all signs of what the experts in the urban planning world refers to as the phenomenon of  "POCKET NEIGHBOURHOODS". Typically Pocket Neighbourhoods are clustered groups of neighbouring houses or apartments gathered around shared open space i.e. a garden, courtyard, series of joint backyards etc. - all fostering a strong sense of community among neighbours where they easily get to know one another, where empty nesters/far-flung families can find a helping hand nearby and where children can have shirt-tail aunties and uncles just beyond their front gate. One only has to be in Tobago during Harvest season to experience the sense of community within the larger community. 

Now, just imagine how possible a proper "POCKET NEIGHBOURHOOD" can be if one or two of the major oil and gas companies picked up and decided to move their head-quarters or create satellite centers in Tobago. In doing so they work out with the THA the creation of a proper urban planned pocket community (photo above of Seaside Florida) with an international school run by GEMS or RAFFLES with an ARTS, IB and British curriculum within the community itself. Students should be able to go to school on their bicycle.  Also within the community there must be world class health care (also possible medical tourism for Tobago) with a flag like John Hopkins. I am not going to ignore the fact that it will take some heavy hitters to make this happen and it will require  world class education and health care for any international company to even consider this proposal . And make no mistake, I am purposely choosing the oil and gas sector since it is the only truly international sector in TnT who spends major dollars through their corporate social responsibility programs developing the communities they live and work in. And if a large oil and gas company moves to Tobago with it's entire team, Trinidad has to pay attention since they will without a doubt be bringing major revenues to Tobago.

With the almost non-existent crime, sense of community, breath-taking beauty and proud and patriotic people,  do you not think Tobago can serve as a role model for Trinidad, internally and globally?

Now by no means am I saying Tobago is perfect. I have heard there is a large international drug trade in Tobago but I have never heard about a gang related shoot out in Tobago because of drugs.  Have you? I have also heard incest is far more significant in Tobago. But until I hear this out of the mouths of the two women I respect as warriors in this area, Diana Mahabir-Wyatt and Verna Rose Greaves, I have to believe Tobago is no worst that Trinidad. And I also want to add given the size of Tobago we can truly make the effort and utilise resources to incubate and solve the "incest" issue once and for all in Tobago and also Trinidad.

What I can tell you is that I was ready to pack up and leave TnT after just one year living part-time in Trinidad. I gave up like so many others before me who thought they could make a difference or who saw the world through a "global" lens. It is extremely impossible if you plan on being a "Warrior for Change' (after living and working abroad for the majority of ones life) to come back and live and work in Trinidad. The anger, hurt, vindictiveness and pure negativity of the overall surroundings breaks ones soul...literally.

But Tobago stopped me from fleeing. And I will say this to anyone listening, before you pack up and leave Trinidad, try moving to Tobago first! In it's simplicity it brought me the much needed faith I had lost at warp speeds in Trinidad . I was able to "see" again what is possible and can be done to bring about a better TnT sitting in Tobago. Every day I come across the likes of Alvin the fisherman who meticulously fillets his fish for his customers and when asked about his job happily tells you that he is the luckiest man in the world to do what he loves every day i.e. spear diving.  And then there is 'Tall Man' who spends a full hour washing your car giving it back to you so clean you can eat lunch of your car mats. And not to be forgotten are my wonderful neighbours, who every morning look out for me to say 'Good Morning". Elaine, to the right, saves fresh bread for my Husband every time she bakes and flatters him telling him he looks younger that George Clooney ( I keep reminding him about that local word mamaguy). She has a laugh so infectious the whole of Tobago can hear her on her porch on evenings chatting up her church buddies. And there is absolutely no shame when she tells her story of working as a house keeper in the US for over 20 years to save up and buy her piece of land on the hill to build her house that overlooks the sprawling ocean. And then below me is Nelson. He just "shakes his head" when he sees me these days I am sure remembering a few months back when I asked him to help me scale my fence because I forgot my gate control in the house. Tobagonians truly are in every way very proud, caring and extremely patriotic people.

So just in case you are still wondering why I am suggesting that Tobago should be the horse....

Studies have shown over and over again that any successful long term impactful change in people's behaviour comes about faster when we study "those getting it right" within their own communities. Once we know what that "common thread' is, we then mimic it and stamp it with those households not functioning or with those individuals falling through the cracks. In other words the focus should be on the "sprouts of good" and not all the bad around us growing like grass. Think about it, have you ever read a study or anything really EVER on what is "going right" in the households of the few youths in Laventille who top their exams and go on to college etc. In my last three years in TnT, I seem to only read about the negatives of Laventille.

And as a result, I have come to conclusion that there is so much going right in Tobago that it can actually, given it's size and already existent "pocket community" attributes, serve as a incubator to lead the way to help Trinidad not only find solutions to crime but also deal with the break-down of family and community. With a little bit of tweaking, Tobago holds all the answers to Trinidad's social problems and the rest of the world seems to have already taken note. Don't you not agree?
 

FOR THOSE OF YOU INTERESTED IN POCKET NEIGHBORHOODS....continue reading:

Why are Pocket Neighborhoods important now?

The fabric of social health in our society has been fraying, in part because many people lack networks of personal and social support. Family members can be spread across the country, friends live across town, and neighbors don’t know one another. A listening ear or helping hand is not available when it’s most needed.

Pocket neighborhoods can help mend a web of belonging, care and support. Their protected setting encourages informal interaction among neighbors, laying the ground for caring relationships. An elderly neighbor may need assistance trimming a hedge. Another needs help looking after the kids while going for a short errand, or feeding a cat while away on vacation. Nearby neighbors are the ones most available to respond to daily needs. They are also the ones to hear a story, admire a newly planted garden bed, or reminisce about old times. All of these encounters strengthen webs of support and friendship, which are the basis for healthy, livable communities.

How is a Pocket Neighborhood different than a regular neighborhood?

A pocket neighborhood is not the wider neighborhood of several hundred households and network of streets, but a realm of a dozen or so neighbors who interact on a daily basis around a shared garden, quiet street or alley — a kind of secluded neighborhood within a neighborhood.

The wider neighborhood is where you might describe “the red house on the corner of Elm and Main Street”— a local landmark that helps define and give character to a neighborhood. You may know some of these neighbors, but likely not the hundreds that live there. In most neighborhoods, streets are public, yards and gardens are private, but protected semi-public spaces are unusual.

In a pocket neighborhood, neighbors have a shared stake in the common ground they live next to. Because of their watchfulness, strangers are taken note of and children are free to play. Neighbors are on a first-name basis: “Tom and Melissa live across the way.” These are the first ones to call on in an emergency, and the closest to join you for an impromptu order of takeout pizza.

Why are pocket neighborhoods so good for children?

Children need increasingly larger zones of play as they grow up. A baby explores the room their parent is in, while an older sibling is free to play in the next room, or in the back yard. At some point, though, their desire to explore the world beyond the front gate is blocked by the real and perceived “stranger danger” and danger from traffic. Children are then chauffeured to friends’ houses and organized activities until they can drive on their own. Too often, children feel painfully isolated and lack access to safe, unplanned play.

Pocket neighborhoods provide a protected, traffic-free environment for a child’s widening horizon — a place for unplanned play alone and with other children, and a place to have relationships with caring adults other than parents. This matches their growing curiosity, need for increased responsibilities and maturing social skills.

Why is shared outdoor space so important?

The shared outdoor space at the center of a cluster of homes is a key element of a pocket neighborhood. Residents surrounding this common space take part in its care and oversight, thereby enhancing a felt and actual sense of security and identity.

This shared space has clearly defined boundaries — beginning at the entrance from the street and extending to the gates of the private yards — creating a felt sense of territory by anyone who enters. A stranger walking into the commons is likely to be addressed with a friendly, “can I help you?” At the same time, a 6-year-old’s mom is likely to feel at ease in allowing her daughter to explore the “bigger world” beyond the front door.

During the daily flow of life through this commons space, nearby neighbors offer ‘nodding hellos’, or stop for a chat on the porch. These casual conversations can eventually grow to caring relationships and a meaningful sense of community — all fostered by the simple fact of shared space.

Community sounds good, but does it come at the expense of privacy?

While there are many examples and kinds of pocket neighborhoods, privacy is an essential ingredient that allows residents to have a positive experience of community. In a classic cottage courtyard community, there are several increasingly private ‘layers of personal space’ between the shared commons and the front door: next to the sidewalk is a border of perennial plantings and a low fence with a swinging gate; then the private front yard; the frame of the covered porch with a low railing and flower boxes; and the porch itself, which is large enough to be an outdoor room. Within the cottages, the layering continues with active spaces oriented toward the commons and private spaces further back and above.

To ensure privacy between neighbors, the cottages ‘nest’ together: the ‘open’ side of one house faces the ‘closed’ side of the next. You could say the houses are spooning! The open side has large windows facing its side yard (which extends to the face of neighboring house), while the closed side has high windows and skylights. The result is that neighbors do not peer into one another’s world.

 

Is this meant to be affordable housing?

It can work well for affordable housing. It can also be the choice for affluent communities.

What are these design principles?

Successful pocket neighborhoods start with the central idea of a limited number of dwellings gathered around a shared commons. When the number gets larger than 8 or 12, other clusters form around separate shared commons, connected by walkways. Multiple clusters can form a larger aggregate community. These communities are not isolated to themselves, like a gated community, but connect and contribute to the character and life of the surrounding neighborhood. It is essential that cars and traffic do not invade the shared pedestrian space. The active rooms of the homes, including front porches, face the commons rather than turning their back to neighbors. As noted above, there is a layering of public to private space, and careful placement of windows to ensure privacy for each dwelling. These are core design principles, essentially.

In many pocket neighborhoods, residents park their cars away from their homes, having them walk through the shared common area on the way to their front doors. Is this viable in cold climates?
This relationship between the car door and front door greatly increases the level of interaction among neighbors and strengthens their bonds. For many people, the short walk is not considered a hardship, even in snowy or rainy climates. That said, others feel that having an attached garage is an amenity or requirement that outweighs the community-building benefits of the walk through the commons. It’s still a pocket neighborhood, but with fewer chances to meet.