By Kevin Shereves
kevin@caymannetnews.com

The National Trust for the Cayman Islands hosted a party at the George Town Library on Tuesday, 15 September to celebrate the re-launch of its book “Fish Tea”.

Fish Tea is a collection of short stories written by National Trust employees, past and present, and seeks to highlight Cayman’s culture and traditions.

Inspired by the success of the first edition, the National Trust decided to launch an enhanced second edition.

The second edition is printed on re-cycled paper, and boasts 40 pages of intriguing stories and illustrations, and also includes poetry.

General Manager National Trust for the Cayman Islands, Frank Balderamos, said Fish Tea was being re-launched as a fundraising and educational tool.

“One copy of the original version of the book went to every classroom in the Cayman Islands and we would like to see our book in the curriculum,” he said.

He also pointed out that while the book is geared towards children, it is a great read for adults as well.

The books are being sold for CI$10 and are available at the National Trust bookstore. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go towards the National Trust Historic and Educational programmes.

Executive Director of the National Trust, Wendy Moore said, “We are always looking for fundraising for the Trust that is also educational.”

When asked how the idea for the book came about Ms Moore said, “We were brainstorming and joking around and a part of the story evolved, and we decided to do it on a bigger scale, on a grander level.”

“We considered the historical elements of the project during our brainstorming with different staff members collaborating, and together we came up with the ideas for the book,” she said.

Roger Corbin, Chairman of the National Trust said, “Fish Tea is designed to be read to children in the classroom and as their reading skills progress, they can read it for themselves.”

Robin Grant Dalsheimer of Visual Concepts Design Studio, who designed Fish Tea, highlighted the relevance of the book.

“The book is important because it talks about our heritage. Most of the stories have a moral and ends with a lesson and it give children something to think about.

“It is important to know where you came from and what your heritage is,” she said.

Andrew Jones is a supporter of the National Trust of the Cayman Islands and his contributions have helped considerably with the publication of Fish Tea. Mr Jones said, “My wife and I are delighted to support the National Trust. Fish Tea was a very interesting project and we are glad to see that it has been reprinted and that it is being made available to a new generation of school children.”