Voices from the Hills. Ancil Neil
The steelband was a direct descendent of the `tamboo-bamboo' bands. These tamboo-bamboo bands were comprised of several `pieces of bamboo of different lengths and sizes cut at special times of the moon, and in the hands of these make-shift percussionists, were made to create the same atmosphere of primitive abandon. So was born the tamboo-bamboo band, from `tambour', french for drum."21
Later, when it was discovered that the bamboo was not only used for instrumental purposes, but as implements in the inter-districts fights that had replaced the old organized tribal rivalries, the tamboo-bamboo bands were banned by the police.22
In the 1930's, the garbage can cover,23 pots, oil drum, and biscuit tins, all provided the new means of rhythm.24 The biscuit tin was said to be the first true pan. These tins were produced by the Rising Sun biscuit company.25 The tin was hung around the player's neck upside down, and the base, now uppermost, was struck drum-style with the edge of an open palm or with a closed fist.26
In the mid-1950's the steelband in the Laventille community took on a new image. A group of young men calling themselves 'Spike Jones' started a small steelband in the central Laventille area. This band was later incorporated into the original Desperadoes steelband. The merging of these two bands developed into the best steelband in the country.
It was this band that developed and modernized the steelband in the Laventille area. It eventually became the catalyst for the changes that occurred in the community.
SERVOL ORGANIZATION
The study revealed that in September, 1970, Father Gerald Pantin and Mr. Wesley Hall, a West Indies test cricketer, officially began a project in Laventille known as 'Servo!, (Service Volunteered For All). It was done with no advance publicity and no set plan in mind. They went into the depressed area reputed to be the biggest trouble area of the territory, and major source of the 'Black Power Riots' of February to April of 1970. The primary reason was to establish contact with the people and try to identify, at first hand, the problems of the area. They were primarily concerned with contacting the limers' (young men who hung around the street corners in small gangs because they were unemployed).
They realized that they were meeting a cynical, disillusioned, suspicious group and so they had to break down the barrier before they could obtain information and offer help.
"In February, 1971, Father Pantin made a formal request of the Commanding Officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Defense Forces, that some volunteers be assigned to work with him in a development program in Laventille."27
"Subsequent contacts with overseas foundations in Holland, Canada, the United States of America and England, and money obtained through local fund raising ventures, enabled full-time employees to be added to the staff."28
The general approach by Servol was to establish intimate contact with the people in every aspect of their daily lives, and to set up a model for development which could be examined and analyzed over a three-year period.29
Servol was interested in the self-development of the disadvantaged people in Laventille. The Organization saw itself as a catalyst for the social changes initiated by the success of the steelband in the area. It was in this context 'Serve developed in the area, and was responsible for a variety of programs that helped to alleviate the many problems of the poor in Laventille.
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