By Jackie Garbarino
Gift Shop and Museum Volunteer Manager

The museum has been going through lots of changes recently not the least of which is sprucing up the gift shop in preparation for our welcome fall and winter visitors. Today was buzzing with activity. A great group of volunteers came forward to take two big tasks in hand.

Installation of new windows in the museum kitchen was on the schedule.  We are all amazed how brilliant the light is through the new glass bricks. It makes a huge difference in this small space.

Work requiring a finer hand progressed in the Guinep House Gift Shop.  Ann Dempsey and Meg Ward are creating wonderful panels to hide our under the counter storage area.  So in addition to shop duties, they are talented interior designers!  Pat Saxton brought the material from up north and it blends beautifully with the shop decor.

Ann Dempsy and Meg Ward, shop volunteers start the process.

Hard at work.

After adding Velcro on the fabric and on the counter edge, Ann and Meg began installation.

Next came tidying up and reorganization of displays and gifts.

We have lots of new goodies to share with visitors and  now a redesigned gift shop to show off.

Gift shop transformed!

Many thanks to Ann and Meg for taking time out of their schedules to do the work.

Come in and say hello to Ann, Meg and Pat Cassidy in the gift shop. Browse our gifts and tell us what you think.

Next step is the installation of our credit card swipe machine!

By Jackie Garbarino
Museum Gift Shop and Volunteer Manager

Rome wasn’t built in a day and the gazebo wasn’t renovated in a week — or even two or three. But it is now and looks WOW! The pictures tell the story.

Working on the new roof.	Painting the gazebo.

With the help of  Joseph and Etienne of Caribbean Tours International, who donated the benches, the new benches are waiting for you in the botanical garden and on the museum portico.

Joseph and Etienne start unpacking the benches.	Etienne carefully reading the “simple” instructions while Joseph goes full speed ahead.

So come soon and enjoy some history, some shopping and some shade!

Joseph and Etienne ejoying the fruits of their labor.	Benches in the shade of our beautiful renovated gazebo and our soon to be beautiful Botanical Garden at the Turks & Caicos National Museum.

We are open from 9 to 1 Monday through Saturday starting November — longer hours when cruise ships are in late. You can always call 247-2160 in the TCI for more information.

Early images of one of Grand Turk’s first formal medical facilities have been given a new lease of life thanks to an extremely patient design student. Shalomar Forbes, an intern working at the National Museum, took it upon herself to revamp 14 old black and white photos.

And now her relentless hard work will be put to good use as the pictures will be pumped up and put on display at the new Cockburn Town Medical Centre.
Brian Hogan, NHIB’s chief executive officer, said it was an appropriate way to pay tribute to medical pioneers that laid the foundation of the modern medical system. “NHIB is proud to work with the excellent group of medical professionals in the Ministry of Health, private practice and InterHealth Canada.

“We felt that incorporating a bit of TCI’s healthcare history was the best way to demonstrate our appreciation to healthcare professionals and remind people how TCI’s healthcare system has evolved.” Shalomar, who will be completing a degree in graphic design this year at Barry University in Miami, spent hours restoring 14 prints of the Grand Turk medical facility from the early 1960s. She scanned the historic images, which are part of the permanent collection at the National Museum, into her computer and cleaned them up using specialist software

Shalomar said: “The original pictures were so small, about two inches square, and enlarging them proved very difficult. They are over 50-years-old and every small scratch or spot became huge once we scanned them in.”

However her hard work was not in vain and the photos were enlarged more than five times their original size. The images show the Grand Turk hospital, nurse Bailey, and images of the probationary nurses’ class which were all photographed by Allan Bishop in the early 1960s.

National Museum director Neal Hitch said: “Medical facilities were at a minimum in the Turks and Caicos during 1960s with a 16 bed hospital on Grand Turk, a small operating theatre, an x-ray machine with limited capacity and a rudimentary laboratory. “Medical staff included two medical officers, one on Grand Turk and one in South Caicos. “The staff at the Grand Turk hospital consisted of a matron, four staff nurses, three probationary nurses, and one nurse working as a midwife.”

He went on to say that during 1960 eight women from the Caicos Islands were recruited and trained in Grand Turk to be midwives.

They were considered settlement nurses and were provided with a nurse’s bag, dressing, scissors, and a stretcher on which to evacuate very ill patients.
Prior to this, many local settlements were without any trained medical help.

By 1967 the Grand Turk Hospital was aided by four medical clinics in the islands, in Grand Turk, Salt Cay, South Caicos, and Bottle Creek, North Caicos.
Much changed by 1970 when medical staff included two doctors, one dentist, one matron, seven staff nurses, nine settlement nurses, nine probationary nurses, and two public health inspectors.

NHIB’s Mr Hogan said they showed current staff members the historic prints before they were taken for framing, and one recognised a family member.
“We hope that persons visiting our offices will take time out to look at the amazing prints; who knows, you might see yourself, a family member or a friend.”

If anyone can identify the nurses in the photograph that accompanies this article they can contact the National Museum via email or call 649-946-2160

Also, anyone who owns black and white prints showcasing the health sector, hospitality or utility sector is encouraged to contact the museum.

by Shalomar Forbes

Yesterday was Amazing!!! I have worked here at the TCI National Museum during my summer break from the art department at Barry University for 3 years, two of which as their Graphic Designer; yesterday, however will be my most memorable.

Two days ago I was asked to conduct a plein-air painting seminar at the museum, I was caught off guard at first when Dr. Neal Hitch asked me, but I have to admit, the excitement kept me anxious through out the night; looking forward to spending time with the kids at Children’s Club.

Yesterday, I hosted about 21 kids that were excited to get the ball rolling on our activities for the day. Expressing creativity through the prospect of being able to create beauty with the simplest of things was to be a new adventure for their imagination and an enlightenment to their capabilities. Watching them laugh and become amazed at their creations made me feel as if I would enjoy doing this for a very long time.

Prior to engaging in events with the kids at kids club, I have never entertained the idea of teaching art to children, or that it would be so wonderfully fun and exciting doing so.

After our painting sessions, we went in the ocean to cool off, jumping and splashing and playing… What a day. By the time I got home, the activities of yesterday were still stamped in my memories like a colorful home movie. I am still smiling at the memory today.

IT. WAS. WONDERFUL!!!

by Davis Hitch

Lion fish, the hunters of the sea. Stealth ninjas of fish.

This week I’ve been participating in the Junior Wardens Program, a DECR program which has been taking place at the National Museum. Today we learned and practiced the art of C.P.R. and listened to a presentation about the invasive lion fish.

My father, the directer of the museum, set up a tent outside. We were brought some lion fish and started to dissect them. It was disgusting but fun. We’d take a knife to its stomach and cut till our hearts content. We were required to cut out the stomach and reproductive organ to see if it was a boy or girl. We looked at the contents of the stomach. Many people almost fainted. All in all it was fun and an exiting time.

A couple days ago I was standing in front of the museum and heard an older gentlemen off of the Caribbean Princess Cruise Ship talking to Lina after her Historic Houses and Museum Tour.

He told her,”You are the best guide we have ever had on a cruise.”

He went on to say, “The upstairs of your museum was good, but the downstairs exhibit was fantastic.”

We like very much when people have a good time at the National Museum on Grand Turk.

We like it too!

by Aliatte Michel

It’s that time of the year again! The museum’s Children’s Club summer program has officially kicked off on Grand Turk. Last Tuesday marked the beginning of fun filled Tuesdays in July and August. The start of this years program was a bang!!!

The snorkeling class at Oasis South was marvelous. I have watched children participate in our swim class programs for the last couple of years and never imagined that they would be able to swim so well. But we have children who went as far as 20 feet deep snorkeling on the Bio-reef.

Even I, who never swam in the ocean before our Children’s Club program last year, can now swim thanks to the museum. On Tuesday, I had another lesson and was actually swimming water over my head. Now that is hard to believe!

A family from New York came by the museum today to spend a few minutes, but wound up being here so long they could not catch a cab back to the cruise center.

After going through all of the exhibits, Keven and his son Keion struck up a conversation with the director of the museum about spoiled children and the benefits of foreign travel. Seeing the world sometimes allows your children to see how really spoiled they are in the US.

This discussion turned into a discussion about life, internet, and connection. This turned into everyone getting to check their email in the museum offices which is just a little difficult on the cruise ship.

Finally, Laurell and Deloris came back to say they were still sitting in the heat waiting for a cab!

After such a great day at the museum and a great conversation, we drove the family back to the cruise terminal with plenty of time to look around before re-boarding.

How could we not do this…It was also Deloris’ birthday today!

Happy Birthday, we are glad you had a good time with us today.