DOMINIC SALVARY
Born August 1945 in the little hamlet of Matelot on the
north coast of Trinidad,Dominic Salvary's twenty odd years
as an employee of the Ministry of Health has not diminished
his yen for the country life,nor in any way altered his seafaring
instincts or rural identity.
This remains the only explanation why this son of 'Stormy
Weather',as his deceased father was nicknamed on account of
his daring exploits at sea,has frequently over the years journeyed
the seventy five miles of rustic countryside separating Port-of-Spain,
the capital, from rural paradise,his home in Matelot. Dominic's
bondage to his roots also explains his activist involvement
in environmental and social causes designed to promote a better
quality of life for the entire twin island community but especially
those villages scattered across the north and north-east coasts
of Trinidad.
His leadership has graced many a protest culminating at Whitehall,P-O-S,
the seat of government.Issues across the spectrum ranging
from health to bad roads to the slaughter of helpless, docile
turtles have been addressed. These days Dominic prefers to
build upon the platform of his protesting past by shaping
the history of community development he has forged since the
early '70's into an effective instrument for constructive
social change via community-based eco-tourism.
His family and village connections,his affinity with the
north coast,his love of nature,his abundant skills in hiking,boating
and diving,and above all, his tremendous love for people,friends
or strangers,all but guarantees Dominic success in this recently
embraced people-centered venture with longtime friend colleague
and co-host,Opio.
BIOGRAPHY-OPIO MORANI
"You should have remained in teaching."This
plaintive desire uttered years ago by Opio's elderly mother
is rivalled in pathos only by the equally well-intentioned comment
by flattering friends-"you would have made a good priest!"
Today,Opio,a veteran of community development,former
probation officer, former teacher,ex student-priest at St.John
Vianney's Seminary,considers himself both priest and teacher,
happy in the thought that his career has formalized neither.
The references to aborted vocations in teaching
and the cloth however summarize and lament what relatives and
friends identify in Opio as a bewitchment with seemingly impossible
causes.He has had little time for mundane exercises like eight-to-four
employment and getting married! Born in May, 1945,Opio is truly
a child of the late sixties and raging seventies in revolutionary
Trinidad and Tobago.
Like so many of his contemporaries,he readily
adopted the New World mission of the day that pursued peace,brotherhood
and equity within the elusive vision of social justice.
Like Dominic,Opio was born and bred near the
seacoast.Unlike Dominic's,his upbringing was urban,in a littie
town,now a city,called San-Fernando.Paying homage to an earlier
promise of academic prowess with a few short stints of formal
study,Opio attended to courses in philosphy at the aforementioned
seminary and did studies in Social Work at the University of
the West Indies, Jamaica.He was also a onetime student at Selly
Oak Colleges,Birmingham,UK. Preferring practice to theory,however,he
has spent the last three decades as a community development
activist principally on the north and north-east coast of Trinidad.
Such wide-ranging experience in a people centered
discipline has enriched Opio with friends,acquaintances and
contacts in diverse fields such as complementary medicine,organic,herbal
and floral agriculture,arts and crafts. Whether resulting from
the mutual bond of salt sea breezes in our environment,or a
more profound concern with the processes of people's development,Dominic
and Opio have been thrown together firstly into an activist
alliance and friendship spanning the decades,and now presently
into a business partnership employing community-based tourism
as a tool of development.
Salvation of the two hundred million yr. old
marine turtle is the latest cause!
Contact: Dominic Salvary L/p 50 Esperanza Drive,Champ
Fleurs, Trinidad and Tobago,West Indies.
Telephone: 868-645-3025
e-mail:tacaribe@tstt.net.tt
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