Aripo Village First Encounter: Sun 9th Oct, 2016.

Heights of Aripo Welcome Sign. (E. Mc Curdy. 2016)

Aripo Village in the Heights of Aripo is a small linear community nestled in the Northern Range. In this community, a sacred Hindu Site (a river connection to the Ganges), a simple church, a bar, "parlors" (small snack shops), a primary school, a community centre and so much more can be found in such a rural village in the Trinidadian context. 

Another CCRIF Collegue, Elon Mc Curdy, and myself  along with Dean Arlen, met with some members of the Aripo Village Council and  gave them an idea of the role the Department of Geography would play in the Participatory Mapping Approach. There were introductory discussions with the Youth Council of the area before and the Aripo Village Council became interested in taking up the project. 

Before this meeting, I had never been to Aripo Heights (surprising as I have been almost everywhere else in the Northern Range) and this was my first official introduction to this project. I am curious about Aripo Village and how it is from a community point of view; where they want to improve, what they expect out of the project and where they want to go from there. 

Sunday afternoon football. (E. Mc Curdy. 2016)

Members of the Council spoke of building on the main economic activity, agriculture, and the potential for chocolate and other cocoa products to be produced within the community. Dean Arlen ,  a stakeholder of the community and artist and designer by profession, suggested that the community should consider cooperatives and to form for their cocoa industry and other foods they produce.  Visualization of the community is done through participatory mapping. 

The objective of the project is to map the Aripo Village to help the community to visualize what they have, risks to the area, what areas and spaces can be used safely, where people live, recreate, socialise etc. and  lastly what future plans they can realistically consider.