Daily Archives: March 31, 2021

Marriott is adding another Sunwing resort to its portfolio: the Mystique Holbox by Royalton in Mexico.

The resort is expected to align with Marriotts Tribute Portfolio brand later this year, according to Sunwing.

That comes after Marriott recently entered into a long-term agreement with Sunwings Blue Diamond Resorts that will add 19 resorts to Marriotts all-inclusive portfolio in the Caribbean.

We are excited to be furthering our agreement with Marriott International by introducing Mystique Holbox by Royalton to the vibrant Tribute Portfolio, said Jordi Pelfort, President, Hotels and Resorts of Sunwing Travel Group. Mystique Holboxs unique, nature-inspired design, secluded location and personalized service offers an unparalleled vacation experience that we are thrilled to share with new and existing customers.

The resort is set in the Yum Balam Nature Reserve in Holbox, a tiny island off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula thats increasingly popular with travelers.

We are thrilled to add Mystique Holbox by Royalton, the twentieth Blue Diamond Resorts property, to the Marriott portfolio, said Laurent de Kousemaeker, Chief Development Officer of Marriott International, Caribbean and Latin America. This exquisite boutique beachfront resort, which is located on the exotic Island of Holbox, is a perfect fit for our Tribute Portfolio brand.

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Marriott Is Adding Another All-Inclusive in Mexico Caribbean Journal - Caribbean Journal

This boom has been aided by the fact that since March 1, everyone over 16 has been eligible to get the vaccine in the Virgin Islands so tourists dont even have to worry about cutting in line. The territory accommodates about 100 walk-ins each day, too. Nowhere else in the U.S. can you actually just walk in and get the vaccine, anybody over 16, Mr. Bryan said on Monday. On March 1, the islands also opened two federally supported community vaccination centers on St. Thomas and St. Croix.

March 31, 2021, 5:02 a.m. ET

U.S. travelers also face less red tape when visiting the U.S. Virgin Islands compared with other Caribbean destinations. If they submit a negative coronavirus test within five days of leaving for the territory, or a positive antibody test taken within four months, they do not have to quarantine upon arrival. Travelers to Jamaica and Barbados, in contrast, are asked to quarantine no matter what. And U.S. travelers cant visit the Cayman Islands unless they conform to strict eligibility criteria.

Dr. Hunte-Ceasar said that, at this point, the Department of Health did not consider vaccine tourism to be a problem. We definitely want to ensure the local residents get vaccinated, she said. But we have not had any shortages by serving both populations. The Virgin Islands currently have 27,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 18,900 doses of the Moderna vaccine, and 600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine available, said Monife Stout, the departments immunization director.

Noreen Michael, a scientist at the University of the Virgin Islands who studies health disparities, agreed that it was crucial to ensure that vaccines are available to residents who want them, but said she had not seen evidence to suggest that tourists are taking vaccines away from residents who want them. On the public health side, its a plus, she said. On the equity side, I dont see it as significant issue.

Perhaps, too, vaccine tourism could be used as a force for good to secure doses for marginalized groups in other regions. Although the Virgin Islands provide free Covid-19 vaccines, the islands could charge tourists for their vaccines, and the funds could be used to send vaccines to regions that need them, said Felicia Knaul, an international health economist at the University of Miami. Could we send those vaccines to Jamaica, or to the Dominican Republic or Haiti? she asked. Once youve gotten past the key welfare and human rights aspects, if you can use that funding to pay for people who right now have no access, I think its worth thinking about.

For now, health authorities are focused on ways to reduce vaccine hesitancy in the territory. People access misinformation and perpetuate lies and things that are harmful, Dr. Hunte-Ceasar said in a news conference last week. As a result, the islands have been experiencing a surge in cases and hospitalizations that she said give her chest pain and heartburn every night. Although vaccine hesitancy does seem to be decreasing, residents will need to start widely embracing the vaccine if the islands are to meet their goal of vaccinating 50,000 Virgin Islanders by July 1.

In the meantime, visitors from the continental U.S. will continue to take advantage of the extra doses. Some have stayed longer than they planned, too and have even contemplated moving to the islands for good.

I started falling in love with the culture of St. Croix, said Hemal Trivedi, a documentary filmmaker who lives in Weehawken, N.J., and was vaccinated in St. Croix in February. Toward the end of the trip, we were actually looking for a place to buy.

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Some Tourists Find Luck in the Caribbean with Covid-19 Vaccine - The New York Times

Based in Bogota Colombia or Port of Spain Trinidad

One-year fixed-term contract with possibility of move to a permanent contract

Competitive salary

IPPF is a global service provider and a leading advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for all. We are a worldwide movement of national organisations working with and for communities and individuals.**

The job holder leads the overall programmatic, service delivery and organisational development and governance approaches of IPPF in the Americas and the Caribbean supporting Member Associations (MAs) to meet high standards, achieve their goals and deliver against the Strategic Framework of IPPF emphasising on sustainability.

The post holder is a member of the senior management team (SMT) of the Americas and the Caribbean Regional office.

This position will be based either in Bogota, Colombia or Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago although initially can be performed remotely due to current COVID-19 restrictions.

You have a Masters Degree in public health, social sciences, business or equivalent experience and fifteen years experience on programmes and development, five of them at the national level based in the Americas and the Caribbean. Your command of both English and Spanish is outstanding. Proficiency in French or Portuguese is desirable.

You are a thought leader on SRHR and gender equality programmes and services with solid technical competence and well-established international and regional connections in the Americas and he Caribbean. You have previous significant leadership experience of leading programming on contraception, adolescent health, safe abortion, comprehensive sexuality education and/or gender based-violence and previous work with adolescents, indigenous groups, afro-descendants, migrants, sex workers, transgender people and LGBIQ+, people living with disabilities and/or people living in poverty.

You bring solid experience on governance, accreditation and/or institutional development and sustainability in the non-profit sector and are fully committed to bodily autonomy and womens right to choose and to have access to safe abortion care.

CVs will not be accepted. For further information and an application form, please see our website http://www.ippf.org or contact Human Resources, IPPF, 4 Newhams Row, London SE1 3UZ Tel: 020 7939 8298 or email jobs@ippf.org Application form available in Large Print, Audio or Braille. We regret only shortlisted candidates will be acknowledged.

Closing date: 12 April 2021 12 midday UK time

Interviews:16-19 April 2021 remotely

Applications are particularly welcome from candidates openly living with HIV/AIDS. IPPF is committed to equal opportunities and cultural diversity. Candidates from all sections of the community are welcome to apply.

IPPF is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

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Director of Programmes and Development Americas and the Caribbean Regional Office - ReliefWeb

Nestled among the palm-trees on a rocky outcrop between two secluded coves lies the idyllic haven of Curtain Bluff. With two spectacular beaches offering surfing waves as well as tranquil waters to float in, this is quite possibly the most beautiful corner of Antigua. Opened in 1962 by Howard Hulford and situated on the southern coast of the island, Curtain Bluff is an all-inclusive five-star sanctuary within easy reach of the historic English Harbour, the former stomping ground of Admiral Nelson that is now home to an astonishing fleet of super-yachts. Following an extensive 13 million-dollar refurbishment in 2017, the hotel possesses state-of-the-art facilities, two restaurants and 72 luxurious bedrooms that mix old-school glamour with understated contemporary chic.

The much loved Curtain Bluff in Antigua will temporarily close its doors from May 17th through to October 23rd, in order to undergo a series of exciting enhancements to further amplify the guest experience, including updates to the pool areas, gym, yoga deck and accommodation offering. Those visiting from October 2021 will be the first to experience the enhanced Curtain Bluff product and a new guest experience. The reopening will coincide with the exciting celebration of the resort's 60th season, a milestone moment for this Caribbean icon.

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Iconic Caribbean hotel unveil refurbishments this Winter : Curtain Bluff, Antigua Hospitality Net - Hospitality Net

Caribbean Airlines is rolling out a health-focused border control solution from Ink Aviation to give governments across its network confidence that air travel can resume safely.

Caribbean Airlines will use the Ink Health Platform to seamlessly verify the COVID-19 health information of crew and passengers prior to departure. This platform will enable authorised clinics and labs to send test results or vaccination certificates directly to travellers via a smartphone app. Governments will be assured that the test result certificates of inbound passengers are issued and uploaded securely from verified labs.

Ink will facilitate the booking of RT-PCR tests and rapid tests such as RT-LAMP and Antigen for Caribbean Airlines across its network via a new integrated Passenger COVID-19 Test Booking Portal. The portal makes booking appointments and paying for tests within a 72-hour window easy and convenient for travellers.

Steve Azevedo, chief operations officer, Caribbean Airlines, says: As travel guidelines continue to change, we need tools that are easy to implement and can be managed effortlessly to ensure our operations are optimized. We were impressed by Ink Aviations solutions and how they can support us through this Covid-19 pandemic. The app is user-friendly and will help our customers to confidently prepare for their journeys.

The coordination of dependable regional and international Covid-19 testing of Caribbean Airlines' crew was a very challenging undertaking. Working with Ink, we were able to streamline the process into a fully managed service. We now have a single point of contact instead of multiple lines of communications to individual labs.

Shawn Richards, CEO, Ink Aviation, says: We were instrumental in helping Caribbean Airlines by co-opting proficient Covid-19 testing clinics and labs across their entire network, including the USA and the Caribbean. A key element of the Ink Health Platform is its ability to verify test and vaccine records from paper certificates or any QR code-based digital health wallets. After implementing our solution, labs securely upload test results avoiding forgery and the doctoring of results, as is occurring more frequently worldwide.

Uniquely, we are giving destination governments the means to ensure the authenticity of inbound passenger test and vaccination statuses as well as interactive inspection, acceptance or rejection before flights depart. The proliferation of more virulent strains of Covid-19 makes the ability to widen the health cordon around a country and move verification offshore more crucial than ever.

The solution prioritises privacy by design as protected health information (PHI) is securely stored and only used for validating the passengers' health status during their journey. The platform conforms to GDPR and HIPAA data security principles and continues to rapidly evolve to meet the unprecedented challenge of working with changing border restrictions.

The Ink Health Platform provides a secure and trusted framework for any airline, airport, or immigration department to efficiently manage their borders and can be deployed within a matter of days.

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Caribbean Airlines Partners with Ink Aviation to Debut Technology to Help Safeguard Borders - AviationPros.com

Audio from the ride can be heard just after the ship goes over the water's edge. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Another ride reference this one in the third "Pirates" movie, "At World's End."

Just after Barbossa and the crew fall off of the edge of the waterfall, and therefore the world, the screen goes black for a few seconds and we can hear the classic "Pirates Life For Me" song as well as the phrase "dead men tell no tales" play over the black screen.

These are both from Disney's iconic ride, and they actually pop up throughout the movies. Jack and Elizabeth sing "Pirates Life For Me" together while stranded on the island in "The Curse of the Black Pearl," while Cotton's parrot says, "dead men tell no tales" when they look for Isla de Muerta in the same movie.

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25 cool details you missed in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies - Insider

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates afterlife for me.

Thats probably not what the people who willed their remains to UCLAs Medical Center imagined would be their final repose, but for some, it actually was. Maybe even still is the jury is out on that. But one thing is absolutely certain: When Pirates of the Caribbean opened at Disneyland in 1967, all of the skeletons on the attraction were actual human bones.

The ride was originally envisioned as a walk-through wax museum. Walt Disney rethought that after the runaway success of the 1964 Worlds Fair, where the company debuted audio-animatronic people in the Carousel of Progress and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Its a Small World, which also debuted at the Worlds Fair, was able to move large numbers of people through quickly on boats, and Walt decided to employ the same technique at Disneyland for its new pirate attraction.

The iconic attractions runaway success and ability to move enormous numbers of guests through the experience motivated Walt to incorporate a similar ride system for Pirates, Arthur Levine wrote for TripSavvy in 2019. Besides, the boats worked well with the theme, and they allowed the story to unfold in a more controlled and linear fashion.

The ride opened just months after Walt Disneys passing, and was the last that he personally oversaw.

Building the ride involved close collaboration between the machine shop, the animatronics team, and the sculpting and wardrobe departments, Cara Giaimo wrote for Atlas Obscura in 2015. The whole thing cost $15 million, about $106 million in today's currency and as much as the rest of the park combined.

One thing the Imagineers couldnt recreate was skeletons. The technology of the time wasnt sophisticated enough to make skeletons that the company felt met their standards of realism. So instead of faking it, the Imagineers went to find the real thing straight to UCLA, where they procured real human skeletons for the ride.

It didnt last forever, though. Giaimo quotes Jason Surrells book Pirates of the Caribbean: From Magic Kingdom to Movies as saying, Eventually, as fake skeleton technology improved, a new generation of Imagineers replaced the real ones, which were later returned to their countries of origin and given a proper burial.

Today, Disneyland says that there are no longer any human remains on the ride, and the internet is rife with accounts from people who have taken VIP tours, which often provide a deep history of the parks. They report that their cast member guide assured them there were no more real skeletons in place.

But some people remain unconvinced. Jason Petros of the "EarzUp!" Disney podcast has a blog post detailing where he believes there are four remaining instances of, well, remains. Two are on the small islands just after the boat drops down to the lower level, one is in the bed chamber mounted on the headboard, and another lies in the jail scene, trapped under a flaming timber. Click through if you want to see some pretty grisly up-close photos.

The bed chamber skull, in particular, seems to have the most speculation around it. A cast member confirmed that it was real, and others have said that that skull in particular, which some believe to be the only actual remaining human bones, was donated by a former Imagineer.

If youre surprised about this chapter of Pirates of the Caribbeans history, well, it gets darker. The original ride had a much more problematic story line, which had kidnapped women being sold in a Bride Auction, with fat-shaming dialogue about purchasing by the pound and other women attempting to look their best as though theyre happy about being sold. Just afterward, a pirate has lost the woman he just bought, who is hiding in a barrel behind him, and is asking his friends for help, using her as the reward. I be willing to share, I be, he says, chuckling.

Even the full lyrics to the song Yo Ho (A Pirates Life for Me) includes the lyrics, We kidnap and ravage and dont give a hoot. While its unclear whether those lyrics have been changed for the current iteration of the ride, theres no moment where that line is clearly comprehensible the way it was in 1967. Much of the overtly misogynistic theming was changed, starting in 1997, according to the Los Angeles Times, and parts of the Johnny Depp Pirates of the Caribbean movies storyline were incorporated in 2006, including Jack Sparrow.

A YouTube recreation of the full 1967 ride exists online, with the creator explaining that he made it, so this original version can live on as a historical document and we can have an educated discussion about it. Theres also a parody calling out some of the most cringe-worthy parts of the original ride.

Even Walt had some doubts about the scene, Todd Martens wrote for the Los Angeles Times in 2017 of the most recent Pirates reimagining. In that article, Martens quoted original Pirates Imagineer Claude Coats, who was there when Walt Disney first saw the auction scene.

He came in one time and even said, This will be all right, wont it? He was just a little doubtful of auctioning off the girls. Was that quite Disney or not? Coats told the paper.

Although Disney has made many updates over the years to revise its questionable themes, there is one part in the original that actually makes more sense than the modern version. They removed a menacing pirate holding a flaming torch who looks as though hes about to cause some real problems. In the next room, everything is on fire. Including, possibly, one of the last remaining real human skeletons in Disneyland.

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Disneylands Pirates of the Caribbean ride once had real human bones and maybe still does - SF Gate

A new Netflix documentary series shows that certain aspects of Pirates of the Caribbean are surprisingly accurate to actual pirate history.

The new Netflix documentary drama seriesThe Lost Pirate Kingdom shows just how accurate thePirates of the Caribbeanfilms were to actual pirate history. The time period was represented surprisingly well - minus the ghosts and sea monsters, of course.

Modern depictions of pirates have been largely defined by thePirates of the Caribbean films from Disney. Based on the Disneyland ride of the same name, the franchise proved incredibly popular, and revived interest in the pirate genre for both film and television. Being Disney movies, they were never going to be completely realistic historical dramas. Instead, they focused on their more fantastical elements, telling fun outlandish adventure stories withfictional characters like Jack Sparrow and Will Turner. They also sanded down the rougher sides of the pirate life in order to appeal to families, earning each of the films a relatively tame PG-13 rating.

Related:Every Pirates Of The Caribbean Movie In Chronological Order

With this in mind, it's understandable to think that the movies are completely inaccurate to the time period they're set in. Yet asThe Lost Pirate Kingdom shows, this isn't the case. ThePirates of The Caribbean movies are surprisingly faithful to certain aspects of piracy in the 1700s, particularly to the look of the time period and the various locations the characters visit. The representations of real-world locations like Port Royal and Tortuga were surprisingly accurate, and so were certain details like the costumes, the look of the ships, how they were operated - not to mention the films featuring some realfamous pirates such as Blackbeard. Along with that there were other true historical details, like female pirates dressing up like men when they sailed and the English government Letters of Marque. These real letters were issued to "professional" pirates known as privateers, which allowed them to freely raid and rob the ships of any of England's enemies. Even ideas from the film that seem far-fetched have historical precedent - for example, there really was a pirate republic established at one point, which no doubt partly inspired the Brethren Court in the movies along with groups like the Brethren of the Coast.

Butthat isn't to say details weren't left out. The Lost Pirate Kingdom, being a Netflix series, is able to get away with a lot more than any movie based on a Disney ride ever could. It features all the swearing, violence, and sex that would be expected from the often debauched pirate life. It was a brutal time to be alive, and real-life pirates were more likely to die of some horrible disease than in some epic sea battle. The series also delves into the role that prostitution would play in pirate havens like Nassau, and how much of what fueled piracy either came out of a place of awful poverty or government scheming. Then there's also the fact that at the end of the day pirates are criminals, and often committed horrible acts of violence against people who didn't deserve it. It should be no surprise to anyone how much Disney cleaned up these aspects of the pirate life.

The reality of piracy strips away much of the fun and romanticism that movies likePirates of the Caribbean, or its reboot, have created in our modern culture. At the same time, shows likeThe Lost Pirate Kingdomproves that even with all the family-friendly content, some elements of the real world can still make their way into these beloved stories.

Next:Everything We Know About Margot Robbie's Pirates of the Caribbean Reboot

The MCU's New Cap Proves The Danger Of Superhero Worship

Brooks Vernon is a freelance writer, filmmaker, and recent college graduate based in Maryland, USA.

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Netflix Documentary Shows How Accurate Pirates Of The Caribbean Was - Screen Rant

UNICEF highlights the damaging impact of total or partial school closures on the education of children in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The UN agency says the Latin American and Caribbean region is experiencing a crisis that has left 114 million children unable to return to in-person learning in classrooms.

By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ

School closures, either total or partial, owing to the ongoing health emergency currently leave approximately 114 million students in Latin America and the Caribbean without face-to-face school, according to UNICEF.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the UN Childrens fund said that one year after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Caribbean and Latin America remain the region with the largest number of children missing out on in-person classes in the world.

In spite of government efforts to ensure continuity of education through virtual platforms, and educational initiatives on radio and television, school disruptions are raising growing concerns about the impact on learning achievements, protection, mental health and the socio-economic prospects of children in the future.

According to UNICEFs estimates, only seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have fully reopened their schools with the resulting effect that children in these two regions have lost 158 school days of face-to-face school on average. In twelve countries of the region, schools remain fully closed and, in the others, classrooms are partially closed.

Nowhere else in the world so many children are currently left without face-to-face schooling, said Jean Gough, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. This is the worst education crisis Latin America and the Caribbean has ever faced in its modern history.

Many children have already lost one year of face-to-face schooling; now they started to lose another school year. Each additional day without face-to-face schooling puts the most vulnerable children at risk of dropping out of school forever, she warned.

During school closures, UNICEF has supported educational support through the provision of distance programs which have benefitted about 45 million students in 24 countries in the region. 9 million children, parents and primary caregivers have also received mental health and psychosocial support.

However, the UN Childrens Fund is concerned that the longer children remain out of school, the less likely they are to return, as an estimated 3 million children in the region are at risk of permanently dropping out because of the pandemic.

Even before the pandemic, many students did not reach basic levels of math, reading and writing skills in elementary and middle school, the statement explained. In fact, a World Bank report indicates that 71 percent of students in Latin America and the Caribbean in lower secondary education may not be able to understand a text of moderate length. Before the pandemic, the figure was 55 percent. The World Bank worries that the number could rise to 77 percent if schools are closed for three more months.

While recognizing the efforts of education authorities and governments to mitigate the risks inherent to school disruptions and its impact on children, UNICEF insists that distance learning programs should be continued and scaled-up to reach more children. However, it notes, these will never be a substitute for face-to-face learning in a classroom with a teacher, especially for the most vulnerable children.

We are not asking for all schools to reopen everywhere at the same time; we are asking for schools to be the first to open and the last to close. Several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have made great progress in prioritizing an urgent and gradual school reopening; now its time for others to follow the same path across the region, added Jean Gough.

UNICEF also welcomed a recent decision of the Ministers of Education from Central America and the Dominican Republic to prioritize the gradual reopening of schools, and called on other authorities in the region to make moves in the same direction.

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Millions of children out of school in Latin America and Caribbean - Vatican News