Msgr. Patrick Anthony: A Fire Cannot Burn Kwéyòl!

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t was Monday morning blues with a vengeance when culture-loving Saint Lucians woke up to the devastating news that during the night the Folk Research Centre (recently named for founder Msgr. Patrick Anthony) was history, thanks to a fire. The centre was home to all things cultural, historical and traditional for the last forty-five years. Some of the leading figures responsible for its existence and maintenance featured on Monday’s News Spin, hosted by Timothy Poleon.   

Bringing to mind the crucifixion of Christ, Msgr “Paba” Anthony said: “Perhaps FRC had to die for the sake of Saint Lucia.” The church leader expressed the hope that the destruction of the centre will present “an opportunity to recommit ourselves to culture as a country. We have lost all our primary material and there is no way of retrieving it”.

Also on News Spin were FRC’s chairperson Floreta Nicholas, director Hillary Laforce and Juliana Prospere. They all agreed that since 2003 FRC had continuously been seeking local and international assistance in a combined effort at digitizing the centre’s irreplaceable treasures.

“And we’ve not found success anywhere,” said Msgr. Anthony. “We knew that this was going to happen; we knew it could happen. Tomorrow it could happen to the national archives. What will we do then?”

National archivist Margot Thomas, added: “The National Archives has been asking for a vault to withstand fire temperatures, to no avail so far.” In 2006, Thomas said, she and her staff had experienced a small scare when the electrical meter at their aged headquarters at Vigie started sparking. They had been alerted by “some smoke and small flames”, said Thomas. They quickly turned off all switches in time to prevent serious consequence. “We are a very reactive nation,” said Margot on News Spin.

Midway through Monday’s call-in show, one of the guests said the fire was of unknown origin but there was the suspicion electrical problems could be responsible—hardly surprising. Almost all fires in Saint Lucia have been blamed almost hours afterward on “electrical fault.”.

The FRC claims it had six-day security from Monday to Saturday; also that the caretaker was on site until about 8 p.m. on Sunday but did not notice anything unusual. The fire service was called shortly after 10 p.m.

By official account, cherished works associated to Dame Sesenne Descartes and the Kele tradition were among other historic items that went up in smoke. For many students, this information was useful for the Caribbean Examinations Council’s school-based assessments and for theses for university degrees.

The National Archives Authority has only “a little nucleus” of FRC’s work. Its sister organisation, the Cultural Development Foundation, has offered office space to continue after-school programmes and other activities. Over the years international research from overseas institutes and universities has been
archived in the respective locations. Other researchers, authors, publishers and artists may also have copies or originals of their work once featured at FRC.    

Said Msgr. Patrick Anthony, finally: “We have been trying to get our children to understand and to love the Saint Lucian culture. When I started the Folk Research Centre it was with young people. That’s my source of hope, the children.”

FRC started Jounen Kwéyòl in Saint Lucia about thirty-five years ago and it is now one of the island’s most marketable celebrations. Once the work lives, said Anthony, so does the Folk Research Centre. “A fire cannot burn Kwéyòl!”