2014-JAN-02-1658Hrs
Scratchie, I enjoyed your literary presentation about Mausica so much that it itched me to present something about how Mausica started. This will be new information to those who arrived later, . Mausicans you will find it attached.
Felix (Progues)
"Mausica Story
It was a morning of September, 1963 and about 108 young aspirant teachers (two more came later to make the complement of 110), strangers to one another, were gathered together in the Assembly Hall of the Mausica Teachers College. A few of us knew a few others who had attended the same school but in the majority we were total strangers to each other. However we all had the one ambition to be the pioneers of this new venture in education in Trinidad and Tobago.
Mr. Harry Joseph enters and introduces himself as Principal and proceeds to inform us of the details of this innovation in education in the country. These are the first teachers to receive formal teacher training before entering the profession.
He was transparent, or almost, as he let us into the pre-history of the opening of the college. The building had been completed some time before (I think it was years before), but the authorities were slow in making up their mind about opening. Mr. Joseph was asked to be the principal but it had ended there. The project was at a standstill and Harry Joe, as he was familiarly called told them that he could not tolerate this long delay and he decided that the college must be opened, so he began by hiring staff.
He informed us that he had chosen teaching staff from among the best in the country and had some from Canada. He also brought in a top class caterer, matron and warden with their ancillary workers. So he made a date and decided that he would open the college.
He invited those aspiring teachers who were chosen at the interviews conducted some months before. There we were like guinea pigs in this hall only to be told that the place is not really ready to be fully inhabited for although there were beds there were no mattresses and there was a kitchen but no cooks, a library room with no books, a playing field covered with bush, but we were not allowed to leave and return home but had to weather the conditions and make a life out of what we have.
I think it was marvelous how this group of strangers from all over the country with some from Grenada were able to get together quickly and make Mausica not only livable but a home of which we all could be proud.
So in the first days we had to help with the cooking starting from cleaning rice and following the instructions of the caterer Mrs. Messiah. During the first few days there were no classes for apart from the fact that we had no books there was a shortage of lecturers until things began to get in place and lecturers arrived and a few books and cooks and other amenities were slowly put in place.
In the nighttime some of us got around the piano (yes there was a piano!) and guided by the deft fingers of Bertie Fraser we happily sang together. This was perhaps the start of the Mausica choir. We however had a curfew. The Hall was the un-imaginary line that was not to be passed after 10pm. (or was it 9pm?) This meant that the males were not to be seen on the side of the female residences after this time and vice versa. Entering the bedroom of the opposite sex was forbidden day or night. I am just giving you what the rules were. OK?
That, in a very small nutshell was how Mausica began. Obviously there is much more to tell but not wanting to ‘hog’ the stage I leave room for my fellow pioneers to play their literary part."
Felix Edinborough 65
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