Susan Moore-Williams grew up in Guyana and developed a love for the country’s diversity and culture.To this day everything she does reflects her Caribbean heritage.Now a Bermudian, she serves as president of the West Indian Association of Bermuda the association was recently honoured with a Bermuda CableVision Community Service Award for its role in advocating cultural diversity here. Ms Moore-Williams described the recognition as “such an honour”.The group holds charity fundraisers and has hosted a Caribbean Day highlighting art, culture, food and music from the region.“Yes I am at the helm and have been involved for a while, but I think it’s less about me and more about what we have achieved as a group because I haven’t worked in a vacuum,” Ms Moore-Williams said. “It’s a validation for our impact on the community and the fact that we continue to deliver in the way that people recognise and can continue to be viable.”The organisation represents the “unity and diversity” of the region, she added.“We are from different countries but we have formed the executive and work as a unified front.”The association is looking forward to getting more involvement from others affiliated with Caribbean countries here.They also want to establish an educational scholarship for a local student and raise funds for natural disaster relief efforts in the Caribbean.“Bermuda and much of the Caribbean is affected by national disasters,” she said. “In Guyana it’s flooding; many other places it‘s hurricane damage.“We want them to have a sense of preparedness because when these things happen we want to be even quicker in our response.“We are very good at galvanising and working with [others] in having a national response but we need to do more in terms of our association giving an even larger contribution.”The association has assisted with the To Haiti With Love telethon in 2007 and Operation Caribbean in 2004.It is in the process of setting up a committee to manage the scholarship fund so it’s sustainable; not just a one-off award.Ms Moore-Williams said: “We believe at our core that education is the way to success and empowerment, so education is a very high value in Caribbean region generally.“This is something that we believe is in line with our core values as a community and association, but we also see it as a way to help particularly in those times when economics is becoming an increasing challenge.”Ms Moore-Williams said Caribbean art, culture and food have become so intertwined into the way of life in Bermuda and are now an “integral part of the entire Bermuda fabric”.She said she was proud of her Guyanese background and said her upbringing shaped her into the woman she is today.As a child she was exposed to many different cultures, including Chinese and Indian, and was also influenced by the strong poets and writers of her homeland.“So much of that was embedded in my blood and veins; that sense of pride also comes from Guyana which has been independent since 1966,” she said.“I think my strength [is a reflection of my heritage] and I am very proud of my country.“I am a Bermudian and I am proud of having Bermudian status but I am also a proud Guyanese and I think I reflect great national pride and it’s part of who I am.”