ROUNDTABLE

During the 3rd week of March, myself along with numerous Caribbean students on either a GSEP (Graduate Student Exchange Programme) or a CUSEP (Current Undergraduate Student Exchange Programme) were given the option to attend a roundtable discussion in the city of Ottawa, the capital of Ontario. It was to be hosted by DFAIT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) in conjunction with CBIE (Canadian Bureau of International Education). We were to arrive in Ottawa on Sunday the 29th, check into the Lord Elgin Hotel, and begin conference the following morning. Oh and by the way, the hotel as well as meals and transportation were supposed to have been provided and tabbed by the CBIE. Following the conference, there would be tours of the city - museums, Parliament, etc.

Initially, I had misgivings about attending the event as the following Tuesday I was scheduled to have both an exam and a presentation. On the other hand it would give me the opportunity to meet fellow Bahamians on exchange, an opportunity I would not have been presented otherwise should it have been lost. After weighing my options and speaking with my professor, a decision had been made. I consulted with a member of CBIE making arrangements to arrive on Friday and leave Monday evening following the conference. This concluded, I arrived by train the Friday afternoon.

On Sunday evening, I ventured to the hotel where I checked in and met a package with my name at the desk awaiting me. It contained the order of events for the following day as well as a few of the tourists guides for the city. It had been a long day (I attended a local Pentecostal church service earlier, the service began shortly after 11 and ended shortly before 4 - long!!!) and a cracked molar that I had recently acquired was not only plaguing myself with tooth pain but with a headache as well. I fought the urge to take a painkiller and lost shortly after 3 am. Much to my chagrin and the consternation of all those attending the conference - I overslept!!! Totally embarrassing!!! None the less I decided to make the most of it.

At the conference DFAIT, CBIE, International Relations liasons from participating Colleges/ Universities, as well as International Representatives of CARICOM nations all sat down to discuss various methods that could be utilized to maximize the exchange experience. The goal of the roundtable was to discuss the scholarship program, consider other education initiatives in place with the Caribbean, and explore opportunities for collaboration between Canadian and Caribbean institutions. Many travelled from far and wide. I distinctly remember the high secretary (Kendal Belisle) from Belize who sat at my table, she had arrived from Washington, D.C., only that morning. It was unfortunate that she along with many of the reps there had never heard of the programme and as such, did not have any students participating at this time. I would be remiss if I did not say that I believe that all the representatives gathered were looking forward to having students from their own country participate in the near future. What I gathered from the organizers was that our exchange was a sort of pilot programme that was not permanent. One portion of the discussion was whether or not to make the programme a fixture, which I believe was a unanimous decision (though still not as yet decided upon). Of course they discussed ways to improve the programme itself, how to make it more attractive to Caribbean students, technological advances and possibly extending the actual exchange length to possibly two semesters to make it a more viable and realistic situation to those involved. This was because we discovered that around the third month, the students are just adjusting to the changes and by then preparations are being made to return home - and oh yes the "BRAIN DRAIN".

Another segment was committed to improving the experience of the student, possibly ensuring that they contact their various embassies (as many of the leaders were not even aware of the students existence in Canada) and various immigration fiasco's prevented, ensuring that various hardships and expenses that were (by ourselves) incurred along the way are avoided in the next cycle. Funding as in most situations always seems to be a delicate issue.

The climax for me was having our High Commissioner Mike Smith, (whom I had met previously) stand up and assiduously speak about the benefits of exchange programmes and of his own experience and the technological relationship between Canada and the Bahamas today. This was specifically in relation to two different but very pertinent contracts: the laying of fiber optic cables between the archiepelagic islands as well as the reconstruction taking place at the Sir Lynden Pindling airport in New Providence. These contracts awarded to Canadian companies will prove beneficial to both the Canadian companies and the Bahamian people. What proved advantageous and to his credit was the fact that the Bahamian students present outnumbered the other nation's almost 3 to 1. I believe that there were approximately 12 Bahamian students on this exchange programme, 8 of which were present at the roundtable itself - Amad, Amina, Brandon, Brooke, Ken, Poinciana, Shavado and myself.

I wish that I could say the trip ended on a better note but somehow a miscommunication between the taxi and myself resulted in my missing the train on Monday afternoon and CBIE refuses to refund me the costs!!!! But anyhow - Alls well that ends well and I am grateful to the organizers and participants for the experience.