Tag Archives: poverty

“Poverty is hell, and the angels are in Paradise/ Driving in their limousine, where everything is nice and clean…” Shadow, the calypsonian. Shadow sets the stage in his opening lines: one cannot understand poverty without appreciating the wealth on the other side. Poverty and greed are two sides of the …

“You help others who don’t do as well by lifting the people who do well and making them the example so others will follow. But you don’t lift the children, you don’t motivate, you don’t inspire. “You want to talk about bad parenting but do not want to commend, acknowledge, …

Mahal was the walking legend in Trinidad from the 1930s to the early 60s. He pretended to drive a car while he, in fact, walked or trotted. He made hand signals and blew his horn as though he had a car. An anecdote reflects us in Al Ramsawack’s story on …

What do the deaths of the siblings Faith Peterkin, 10; Arianna Peterkin, 14; Shane Peterkin, 17; and Tiffany Peterkin, 19, have to do with our national budget? Does the death of Shazade Simon, the three-year-old who suffered burns in a cooking-related accident, have any relevance to our budget discussions? What about …

On 30 May 2015, the then Prime Minister, Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar said: “Without education and training, you are doomed to remain at your same level. That is why my government provides so much money for educating the young people.” This high-sounding statement masks the reality of life and promotes the …

I support the decisions of the parents of the Nelson Street Girls’ RC Primary School children who agreed with the school administration not to take this year’s SEA examination. You, too, should concur based on the dramatic decline in the national results from 2020 to 2022 (a whopping 26% decline …

Government policies toward public housing are linked to their position on delivering economic growth. To interpret the strategies, we need to appreciate that governments respond to the pressures arising from social and demographic change and adherence to particular ideologies.  These decisions are complicated by the public discourse which advocates that …

Like a passing cloud, our discussions about the SEA performance of our children have come and dissipated. While we anticipated that there would be some learning loss due to the effects of Covid on our schools and our children’s education, the results are astounding.  In every tier of the results, …

The QPCC football community was plunged into mourning yesterday after losing two players on the same day in different incidents. Former goalkeeper Raheem ‘Birdie’ Belgrave, 29, drowned yesterday morning while full-back Ackime Prudhomme was gunned down in Arouca. QPCC head coach Shawn Cooper and his former assistant Wayne Sheppard both …

My mother got an A in picking cotton and a B in digging yam instead of the Common Entrance Exam. Her grandmother (and primary caregiver) must have thought that that was the better use of her time.  Can’t blame her though; she herself couldn’t write and had a thumbprint on …

“[…] The spread of Covid-19 has disrupted households and businesses in the form of reduced economic activity which has affected wages and revenue. This disruption leads to a lowered standard of living/poverty, or price increases to prevent business losses which then results in inflation…” The following Letter to the Editor …

‘Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings.’ These words of Nelson Mandela should resonate as we approach our upcoming budget debate. A national budget is more than an economic forecast; it is a declaration about …