‘Hakuna Matata’ launch
happy, festive occasion
PHILIPSBURG--True to the title, the launching of Gerard van Veen’s Hakuna Matata & Other Travel Stories at Philipsburg Jubilee Library on Saturday evening was a happy and festive occasion.
Hakuna Matata was presented in appropriate style, with Motiance Dance School performing dances from the musical “The Lion King” and renditions by singer La Vaune Henry and pianist Dennis Tjon.
Guest speaker former member of parliament Marcel Gumbs told the audience the educator in Van Veen was omnipresent in his description of the history, buildings and religion of places he had visited.
The author himself explained the title of his book, derived from the first chapter, which describes his experiences while travelling in East Africa. During this trip he was more than once told not to worry (“hakuna matata” in Swahili); for instance, by a guide and driver on a safari tour when a big elephant approached the car in which they were driving, and when chosen by a belly dancer in Cairo to dance with her during a dinner show.
In 12 chapters the author describes the joy and pleasure of travelling, but also has a keen eye on the history and culture of places visited. World traveller Van Veen leads his readers to different countries and regions around the globe such as East Africa, Scandinavia, the United States and the Caribbean.
Van Veen said a contest of The Daily Herald and Let’s Travel in 2004 had stood at the cradle of this book. He won a prize and decided to put several of his vacation memories together, resulting in this 93-page book published by House of Nehesi publishers.
Gerard van Veen, born in the Netherlands in 1933, came to the Caribbean in 1961, where he played an active role in the pastoral, social, educational and cultural fields, especially in Aruba and St. Maarten. Hakuna Matata is his eighth book. Articles and columns by him have appeared in the Newsday, The Chronicle and The Daily Herald newspapers.
