A Message from Camp Tobago Founder & CEO – Cecile Ablack

My name is Cecile Ablack. I am a proud Tobagonian and the Founder & CEO of Camp Tobago.

I come from generations of strong Tobago women who lived with independence, faith, and an unwavering belief that every person has a hidden strength — and a duty to find it, use it, and do good.

My mother, Theresa Carrington Ablack, was born in Parlatuvier to Alice and Sydney Carrington. Their love defied the prejudices of the time: a white Tobagonian woman and a mixed-race Barbadian man who chose each other despite the risks. When they emigrated, they listed my grandmother as “Coloured” so the family would not be separated. My mother - still a baby - remained in Tobago, raised by her great aunt, Constance Anderson.

As children, we visited the plum tree where Mum’s navel string was buried — her only link to her parents. She carried that sadness quietly, then moved forward with her signature Tobagonian strength.

At nineteen, needing to work, she left Trinidad & Tobago to serve in World War II. She joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service, excelled, and became part of the Royal Signals Intelligence Corps, intercepting German Morse Code. In London, outside Churchill’s War Rooms, she met my father Ken Ablack, an island scholar from Trinidad attending Oxford University, also working covertly to save democracy and freedom. They never spoke of their heroism; they simply continued to live it — through hard work, humility, and a commitment to always do their best. Read more about A Heroine From Parlatuvier under Who We Are.

Camp Tobago honours my parents — their love, their courage, their legacy. Everything I do is to make them proud and to uplift our beautiful island, Tobago.

Warmest regards,
Cecile