News
Growing; a Woman who refuses to let TCI tradition rot in the field
By Shanieka Smith
Features Writer
#TurksandCaicos, April 5, 2022 – From Banking to Psychology to Farming, Mrs KacyDee Higgs, a forty-seven-year-old farmer from North Caicos resolutely confesses being a woman farmer has not been the easiest, but with equal determination, she tells the many challenges, I have grown to like you!
“My kitchen garden turned into my backyard garden and my backyard garden turned into a
farm,” she said as she chuckled and reminisced on the 10-years it took her to realise success as a farmer.
KacyDee Higgs started commercial farming in 2009. Higgs now has a thriving business patriotically called, Caicos Traditions, and her goal is to rejuvenate the staples of yesteryear.
Even as she balances her passion – farming, she currently works in the Mental Health Department for the Turks and Caicos Islands Government as a substance-dependence client counsellor.
“I get that question all the time [why farming?], especially from persons who know me and the jobs that I had before farming. I think they ask me that because, for years, we’ve been looking at agriculture as a demeaning job, so I get that question,” she admitted when we interviewed her following her recent awarding of a Government Agro-Grant.
Mrs Higgs was open and shared, one person asked why she would hang up a corporate jacket to do farming. “It came across pretty derogatory at first, but then I had to realize that they just didn’t see the vision that I had,” Higgs expressed.
Her vision for her Turks and Caicos Islands is to be a self-sufficient island nation, capable of feeding itself.
“A nation that cannot feed itself is not a growing nation,” Higgs expressed.
Her firm perspective is that food security is essential and agriculture should be the TCI’s top goal. In fact, the owner of Caicos Traditions said she believes farming should be taught from birth.
Though she acknowledged that farming is now being taken more seriously in the country, she emphasised that “food security is not only planting or giving a grant to plant food.” Higgs said, “for me, food security is making certain that should something strike this very moment, if you can give an account of 30 thousand people being in North Caicos, those 30 thousand people can be fed.”
The realisation of the significance of food security is the inspiration and motivation behind Caicos Traditions, where produce and herbs like corn, papaya, okra, sugar cane, sugar apples, sweet potatoes, cassava, basil, pepper, and a variety of peas like pigeon, cow, and dry beans bloom straight from the ground and are hanging off the trees.
She said she stuck with these foods, (staples of yesteryear) because they are more adaptable and conducive to the environment in the TCI, even with global warming and other existing environmental issues.
“The reason why Caicos Traditions has started this venture is to make certain that our heritage is carried on and our culture stays alive,” she added.
Higgs is married with four children and manages to be a star farmer. She also wears her jacket in the corporate space, and it would be remiss not to ask, “how do you do it all?”
“It is a work of art, I don’t have it all under control and sometimes I focus more on my job and my farm gets left behind but I try my best to keep my children on a good foot. She added, however, that most of her children are grown and are helpful in the farming department.”
When reflecting on how her children support agribusiness she drove home a profound point – farming is multifaceted. It is not just physical work on a farm; many other things are done behind and beyond the farm.
In all doings, there are challenges and successes. For Higgs, her series of challenges spiralled into her biggest success yet when it comes to her agribusiness.
“My biggest success for farming is seeing that my mills and my grits and corn flour are finally on the shelves of a grocer,” she expressed.
In a truly open exchange, revealing the length and breadth and depth of this Woman Farmer KacyDee said it was in a simple black and white composition book where she drafted her grand plans.
A cousin told her she is ten years ahead of her time – that was discouraging.
“…everywhere I twist and turn, I was getting knocked down. I had to move off the property that I was on, I had a three-year break from farming and I was like, if you want me to do this Lord, why are you making it so difficult?”
She lamented and she waited. In the waiting, throughout her three year break, KacyDee Higgs studied Psychology and had given up on farming or so she thought.
But as passion is a peculiar thing. It can go to sleep and be revived and so it was for her and the passion she has for farming and supporting the vision for national food security.
This champion businesswoman showed grit and picked it all back up.
Caicos Traditions would soon be outputting grits, corn flour and today, those products sit on shelves at Graceway IGA. The down home North Caicos product has also given birth to the idea and production of other traditional ingredients like grated coconut.
North Caicos is called the green island as the second largest in the TCI chain. It is home to farming and ingenuity. Though removed from the capital, Grand Turk and the main economic hub of Providenciales, it is not that far away.
A short ferry ride now does it, and perhaps soon a 12-minute flight will make the connections to key domestic markets more seamless. As farming undoubtedly turns a significant corner and mounts up as a dominant priority for smaller nations given the negative effects of geo-politics and the merciless health crisis, country leaders are now forced to pay proper attention to agriculture.
In the rich ‘brown gold’ of North Caicos, there grows the products island children were raised on and nourished with; there grows the value and offerings of KacyDee Higgs’ Caicos Traditions
NASSAU, The Bahamas – Participants of the Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting’s Camp Inclusion, including the camp’s student advocates, recently toured Nassau Cruise Port in a move designed to produce multiple benefits for the children.
Camp officials said the tour was part of the “moving away” from the old tradition of keeping children with disabilities locked away at home, and towards greater social inclusion for persons with disabilities – especially children.
Facilitated by the Community Affairs Division of the Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting at the Flamingo Gardens Family Life Centre, the camp is a collaborative effort between the Ministry, its Community Affairs and Disability Affairs Divisions, the Bahamas Coalition of Advocates for Disability Awareness and Service (BaCADAS), and the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD). The majority of the Camp Instructors are persons with disabilities.
The Camp is in keeping with the Global Family Day 2024 theme of “Embracing Diversity, Strengthening Families,” and is an extension of the Ministry’s continued efforts to take the lead in ensuring access and inclusion for all — particularly the community of persons with disabilities — in every aspect of society.
Children with different levels and types of disabilities, along with student advocates, participated. Its focus was to ensure that participating youth learn about living with mobility and intellectual disabilities, advocacy, inclusion and accessibility.
Mr. Townsley Roberts, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, said
the visit is expected to have a number of expected outcomes.
“It was very important to get the kids out and for them to see parts of the island that they rarely get a chance to experience,” Mr. Roberts said. “It was also an opportunity for them to feel a part of the Bahamian society because many times they are kept at home or just in the classroom (and) so this gives them a chance to spread their wings; an opportunity to dream. You never know, something they saw today can spark their imaginations and some may become artists, want to work in the tourism field or even just to try and experience a cruise. The ability to dream, to feel a part of society, to feel included, is important to the growth of all children, including persons with disabilities.”
Mr. Roberts applauded officials at Nassau Cruise Port for agreeing to the tour, which he said also allowed chaperones to inform the student advocates of some of the aspects that makes a facility accessible and inclusive.
“We are so happy that the Cruise Port allowed us the opportunity to come and tour the facility. As the name of the camp goes, what we are promoting is inclusion — total inclusion in all aspects of Bahamian society including the culture, and the open spaces. We want to make sure that all spaces are accessible and one of the things we know, because we had the opportunity to inspect the cruise port, is that the Port is accessible to persons with disabilities. So why not bring the children – including the student advocates — here as a means of helping them to understand and to witness first-hand what accessibility means and how it, or the lack of accessibility, affects the lives of persons with disabilities.”
Mr. Antoine Munroe, a Camp Instructor and employee of the Disability Affairs Division of the Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting, said access and inclusion ensures that every person is able to achieve the same outcomes whether in social, educational, or employment settings, and are the best methods of ensuring that persons with disabilities are given the same opportunities to participate in society. He applauded the inclusion of the student advocates in the camp.
“It is a passion of my own to see young people included and exposed to the life of persons with disabilities. Being able to tour the facility gave me an understanding of how I can use my cane to move about with a little assistance and I thought that was very, very smooth. I congratulate those persons who were able to cause this to happen, and also the persons in charge of the Nassau Cruise Port. I think this is a very good step in the right direction,” Mr. Munroe added.
Release: BIS
(BIS Photos/Patrice Johnson)
Bahamas News
National Commission for Persons with Disabilities gauges ‘accessibility’ at ZNS, BIS as part of ongoing inspection schedule
NASSAU, The Bahamas – Inspectors attached to the Inspectorate Division of the Secretariat of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) conducted assessments of the facilities at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, and Bahamas Information Services, Tuesday (July 23) as part of their ongoing efforts to ensure that all public facilities, and those private facilities that provide services to members of the public, are accessible for all.
Both entities fall under the remit of the Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting as does the Secretariat.
The team was headed by Mr. Townsley Roberts, Deputy Executive Secretary, Secretariat of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, and included Mr. G. Michael Ellis, Senior Inspector; Mr. Wesley Paul, Inspector; and Mr. Thorne Clarke, Inspector.
Deputy Executive Secretary Roberts said the inspections were two-fold.
“Today we are inspecting ZNS and BIS which are both a part of the Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting to ensure that they are accessible because it is our belief that we cannot ask the public to do the things required by law without first ensuring that our entities are also in compliance,” Mr. Roberts said.
“People need to understand that accessibility to persons with disabilities is just as important as it is to persons without a disability. We want to be able to go about your day-to-day business without any obstacles in our way.
“What makes us disabled is the built environment, the barriers in front of us. If you remove those barriers, then we can do many of the same things persons without disabilities can do, and sometimes better. So this is what we are about. We are trying to make The Bahamas a place for all persons (and) where it will be comfortable for persons with disabilities to be able to manoeuvre through buildings and other spaces with the same ease and comfort expected by everyone else.”
The inspection team conducted assessments of wheelchair ramps, bathrooms, office spaces, and parking and reception areas, and measured doorway and hallway widths, in addition to other spaces to ensure that the requirements as set out in the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities) Act, 2014, are met.
Mr. Ellis, who spent 34 years as a member of the Royal Bahamas Police Force before retiring as a Senior Police Officer and who brings that same knowledge of the law to his new role, said the inspections help to ensure that the community of persons with disabilities enjoy the same rights to accessibility as any other citizen.
“Persons with disabilities, including those in wheelchairs, persons with walkers, crutches and those who use other assistive devices such as canes, should be able to move around just like everyone else,” Mr. Ellis said.
“We were looking to make sure that there were accessible bathrooms for both males and females, to ensure that there are proper ramps and that the ramps are the proper sizes, to ensure that all of the offices are accessible and all of the other areas are accessible for persons with disabilities.
“The Act says whatever we, as able bodied persons can do, a person with a disability should be permitted or allowed to do the same without any hindrance. Our job is to ensure that these facilities are in compliance with the Act.”
Once inspections are completed, Adjustment Orders are sent to those facilities/businesses found not to be in compliance with the Act, advising them of any faults, and providing a time-frame for compliance.
(BIS Photos/Anthon Thompson)
Release: Bahamas Information Services
PHOTO CAPTIONS
Header: – ZNS/BCB
Left to right:
1: G. Michael Ellis – Sr. Inspector (NCPD)
2: Thorne Clarke – Inspector (NCPD)
3: Townsley Roberts – Deputy Executive Secretary (NCPD)
4: Wesley Paul – Inspector (NCPD)
5: Carlton Smith – Chief Security Officer (BCB)
Insert: – BIS
Left to right:
1: Elcott Coleby – Director General (BIS)
2: Wesley Paul – Inspector (NCPD)
3: Townsley Roberts – Deputy Executive Secretary (NCPD)
4: Carlton Smith – Chief Security Officer (BCB)
5: Thorne Clarke – Inspector (NCPD)
6: G. Michael Ellis – Sr. Inspector (NCPD)
***MEDIA RELEASE***
July 23rd, 2024.
Around 10:59 am, the Police Control Room received a call of gunshots at a location along the Millennium Highway, Providenciales.
Officers of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force were dispatched and, based on preliminary investigations, were told that the occupant (s) of a red Suzuki Swift was at a business place when another car pulled alongside it, and the occupants started shooting.
The driver of the Swift drove off while the other unidentified vehicle sped off in a separate direction. 
Officers found the Swift abandoned near Miracle Close, Blue Hills, shortly after.
Based on investigations, no injuries were reported.
This remains an active investigation.
The RT&CIPF is asking anyone with information or CCTV footage of the shooting that may assist the police with enquiries to contact 911, the closest police station, the Serious Crime Unit at 231-1842, or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-8477 and anonymously give any information.
Additionally, persons are being asked to download the Crime Stoppers P3 app.
-
Caribbean News7 days agoCayman Relief Mission to Hurricane hit CARICOM nations
-
Caribbean News7 days agoCARICOM raising profile and priority of its Migration Policy; curbing challenges ‘a tall order’
-
Caribbean News1 week agoHurricane Help; Money donated to Jamaica, Barbados, St Vincent & the Grenadines, St Lucia and Grenada
-
Caribbean News7 days agoJamaica’s Hurricane Recovery Efforts Bolstered by Donation from Cayman Islands
-
Bahamas News7 days agoPrime Minister Davis: Cannabis Reform Compendium 2024 ‘a long time coming’
-
News7 days agoWhat the new UK Prime Minister had to say about the Rwanda Deportation Plan at his first press conference
-
Bahamas News1 week agoBahamas Celebrates 51st Independence – ‘United In Love & Service’
-
News7 days agoTurks & Caicos’ E.J Saunders part of Election Observer team in UK on July 4