Interview with Fatima Teacher (and Fatima Old Boy) Kwasi Noel

Kwasi Noel (Class of 2001/2003), has been a member of the Fatima Staff since 2007. He teaches French and Spanish and has been a Dean since 2015 (Form 6 until December 2023; Form 4 from January 2024 to present).

“Gifts of Blue and Gold” (“GOBAG”), the Fatima Annual November Concert, was started in 2009 as a fundraiser concert for the Form 5 graduation. It was then under the leadership of the College’s Choir Director Kwasi Noel. The concert has now grown and become a tradition, staged in the Hall at Fatima. Moreover, it has become an opportunity for the College’s various music groups to showcase what they learned in their extracurricular activity, outside the realm of competition. Most of the performances are by the Choirs of the College, but there are displays of musical talent by the various instrumental groups and instrumentalists who collaborate to form The Orchestra. Additionally, singers from Holy Name Convent have become welcome participants in the production.

Q: Why did you choose to attend Fatima as a student?

I came from a family of devout Catholics. Particularly so was my maternal grandmother, who as part of her faith, often prayed the Rosary and loved the Church’s Marian doctrines. She was born in 1917 and thus grew up learning about the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima in Portugal, as occurred in 1917. As a result, my attending a school consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima was a given for my family. At my age then, I had no understanding other than that I wanted to pass for Fatima College!

Q: How was your experience at Fatima––pleasant and/or non-pleasant; worst mischief, etc?.

Looking back now, it was no different to any of life’s circumstances or anyone’s school life: there were great times, I encountered amazing people, and there were the tumultuous days of challenges––all amalgamating to help me to be an adult who could make some sort of useful contribution to society.

Q. What sports, if any, did you participate in in Fatima?

For a little while I was into swimming, which I continued to do beyond my Fatima years.

Q. Who was your favourite teacher(s), who was the scariest teacher(s) and which teacher(s) did you give the most trouble?

I had great respect for all my teachers but Madame Allison Poon (and everyone knew this) was my favourite and scariest––an amazing dichotomy when I think of it. I wouldn’t say that I was a trouble-maker (my mother was a teacher too!).

Q. Have you been able to maintain friendships with your classmates since school? Any class reunions?

Yes, I remain in contact with friends from back then, and I ended up working with one of them at Fatima––he is now a priest: Fr. Maurice White.

Q. Give us the ‘back-story’ about the Fatima music program, and your role as Fatima Choir Director.

Music has always been integral to life at Fatima and choral singing was a major part of this.

Mr. Maurice Brash along with Ms. Myrtle Cumberbatch ran the choral program in my time as a student. With Mr. Brash’s encouragement, a group of us who participated in Music Festival joined the Marionettes Chorale in 2002 when we were in Lower 6, and my interest and skills in choral singing (because singing in a choir is a different skill) grew and flourished there.

When I joined the Fatima Staff in 2007, I saw myself as just helping out, especially since I replaced Mr. Brash in the French/Spanish department. I never would have thought my involvement would have evolved into my leading the choir.

I think the music program has really grown. What existed has expanded, and what wasn’t there before was created––all due to the commitment of many stakeholders (teachers, parents, students, individual alumni and FOBA itself as an organization). In addition to Ms. Cumberbatch (who remains as our accompanist), several other persons are keeping music alive at Fatima: Music Teachers Ms. Nivedita Nobbee & Mr. Akil Patrick; Pan Directors Mr. Roy Edwards and his daughter Roisha, and Mr. Leon Grey, an old-boy and now Fatima parent who runs the Drumming Ensemble.

Q. GOBAG last year (2023) celebrated 15 years of stagings. Tell us about how you got involved back in 2009 and how it has evolved over the years, and about the eventual involvement of the Holy Name singers.

When I was a student, from 1996 – 2003, Fatima never had a major school concert. Back then, I would have wished that such productions existed. In September 2009, I took on the task of coordinating the Form 5 Graduation, and at a planning meeting, Mr. Michael Roberts, an old-boy and one of the parents of the boys of the class of 2010, suggested a concert as a fundraiser! That became a good excuse to get something off the ground––something I would have wanted to have seen happen at the College when I was a student.

It was also made easier because the then newly-installed Principal Fr. Gregory was all for it, and he gave me full support. Particularly in those early years, when I had less experience as a ‘Project Manager’, nothing was spared to ensure the success of the show. I like to think that FOBA’s construction of the mezzanine and upgrades to the Hall were made because of GOBAG (well I know it was at least part of it).

Holy Name is our adopted sister school, and the girls add a flavour that edifies the boys. Holy Name’s involvement naturally attracted a wider cross-section of Fatima boys into both the choir and the production, thus broadening the content we have staged through the years.

Q. GOBAG was ‘virtual’ in 2020 because of COVID. Tell us about that challenge, and the return to live concerts in 2021.

During COVID, the use of green screen technology and the audio and video editing were arduous. That’s not something I’d ever want to attempt again. I much prefer live shows. The 13th show in 2021 was under “safe zone” rules and there were difficulties as well…but it was a live show, which we were happy to experience.

Q. What are some memorable moments of your career thus far in Fatima?

I can cite: whenever we honour our scholarship winners; Fatima winning Cricket Intercol in 2015; my years as House Leader of St. John––the victories and the defeats; the first time I conducted the choir at Music Festival and we won (2010)!!

Q. What is/are the craziest/funniest excuse(s) or line(s) you have heard from a student?

As a young teacher in 2008, I gave a student a two-page essay as a penance and he wrote the essay on two pages from a notepad that was about the size of a credit card. That student was in Form 1 then, and I’ve since called him every year to be a judge in our Carnival Show!!

Q. Compare Fatima now to Fatima when you were a student.

Comparing wouldn’t be fair because each era has its strengths and weaknesses. Nonetheless, I’d like to think that the school has evolved positively, building on all the good work done before. I hope that the work that is being done now will pave the way for even more greatness to come, so that when a future old boy, 20 years from now, is a member of staff and he is asked this same question, like me he will cherish and celebrate the past, revel in the victories of the present, and look forward in joyful hope to Fatima’s future.

Q. Favorite Sunday lunch?

Macaroni pie!

Q. What does ‘Nitendo Vinces’ mean to you?

Conquering doesn’t always mean that you win the top prize, but that when people reflect on who you are, they would agree that you worked to make a space better than how it was when you first met it––even if it is by showing the example of grit, grace and humility in the face of struggle. Nitendo Vinces for me is essentially about following the model of Christ the Messiah.

Q. Any closing remarks?

Strive on, Fatima boys, absolutely strive on!