Chairperson of the Homecoming 2010 Committee is St. Lucia’s ambassador to CARICOM and OECS with responsibility for Diaspora Affairs, Her Excellency Dr. June Soomer. Dr. Soomer said that throughout her two years of planning the Homecoming initiative, she has met hundreds of St. Lucians who have carried their nation’s flag in a positive manner. Despite the fact that many of them were not nominated, she believes they play an integral role in showing the world what St. Lucia’s real worth is.
“These are not people who came from any background that you would have thought would have taken this country this far,” Dr. Soomer said Tuesday evening. “These are ordinary people and I find that I am inspired by ordinary people because that’s my background also. I am inspired when ordinary people do extraordinary things and some of these people have done extraordinary things.”
The ambassador believes that the contributions of those who left these shores in pursuit of bettering themselves and their nation’s cause require the necessary recognition.
“These were nurses, people who went to work on the Panama Canal, people who worked on the subways, people who helped build the Underground in England. These are people who have helped other nations build themselves up and we have not taken the time to recognize them,” Dr. Soomer said.
As she had previously done on Monday morning at the official launch of Homecoming, Dr. Soomer responded to criticisms that the roster of events has been overrated and under-planned.
“One of the things that I realized is that nothing will get done if you are afraid that people will criticize what you do. People will always criticize what you do, especially people who do nothing themselves. They can tell you how to do it but they cannot do it themselves. So those of you who have persevered against the criticisms, those of you who have come this far that we can take time off to recognize you, I say thank you for being stalwarts, thank you for being here this evening and thanks to everybody for coming to Homecoming 2010,” the ambassador concluded.
Awardees and/or representatives were presented with their medals by Dame Pearlette Louisy who thanked them for their contributions.
Following the investiture ceremony, a reception was held at Government House.

Discuss Story