INSIDE

THIS

ISSUE;



The Literary Gem of the Caribbean



Some of us are born readers, while

others have to be encouraged. First Lady

Cecile de Jongh credits her father, Dr. An-

dre Galiber, for opening the portals of

reading to her. When she was growing up,

he insisted that she read, even during

summer vacations when many of her

friends were free to frolic and relax. But

now she thanks him for his diligence, espe-

cially as reading is so fundamental and

integral to her life and who she is. Mrs. de

Jongh says,:



“One important value of reading is

being able to transport oneself to wher-

ever and whenever the book takes

place. The wonderful thing about read-

ing is that each person can use his/her

imagination to picture the characters

and the scenes, the places described in

the book. Reading introduced me to new

worlds, enabling exploration of both

real and imagined locations without

leaving my reading place; that is a gift

that we should all pass on to the next

generation. The love of reading is such a

wonderful gift.”



For the past three years, First Lady

de Jongh, has commissioned a local writer

to pen a book for students in grades Pre-K

to 31 that she gifts to all children every

December. She is not just zealous about

reading, but has established a program to

promote and cultivate reading in students

throughout the Virgin Islands. She adds:



“I am deeply passionate about ini-

tiatives that promote and raise aware-

ness of literacy efforts amongst chil-

dren and adults, to ensure that these

experiences are always possible.”



While, Gone With the Wind is the

novel that had profound, life changing

impact on her when she was eleven years

old, Mrs. de Jongh remembers being in-

troduced to poets such as Edgar Allen

Poe, Rudyard Kipling, Langston Hughes

and Maya Angelou by her parents. While

she “loves Maya Angelou,” her favorite

poem is “If’ by Rudyard Kipling. She re-

flects that she shares her poetic taste

with her father. “One of my father’s favor-

ite passages (and mine) from “If is: “If

you can talk with crowds and keep your

virtue, / Or walk with kings - nor lose the

common touch.”



Anyone familiar with First Lady Ce-

cile de Jongh knows that she has not lost

the common touch. Affable and at ease in

any setting, she has her feet firmly

planted on the ground. Perhaps her father

was prophetic and was preparing her for

the role she occupies today. Certainly the

last two lines of “If” alludes to her present

role, but the entire last stanza deserves

our attention:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your

virtue,/ Or walk with kings - nor lose the

common touch;/ If neither foes nor loving

friends can hurt you;/ If all men count

with you, but none too much;/ If you can

fill the unforgiving minute/ With sixty

seconds’ worth of distance run -/ Yours is

the Earth and everything that’s in it,/ And

- which is more - you'll be a Man my son!



While Mrs. De Jongh claims, “I do not

have the natural flair for prose, she does

concede, “I have been moved to write on



DCCA CION In Frih OP TO OT



The next time you are feeling as if

you are not being heard, the First Lady

recommends that you write down your

thoughts. Also, the First Lady encour-

ages students and adults to explore the

creative writing classes that UVI offers

and sign up for one.



Gifting a book, which contains

knowledge, is perhaps one of the most

important endowments one can give to

anyone, especially a child. First Lady

understands clearly that literacy and



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