Noble: We can fix T&T by helping children like Ezekiel

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way it treats its children.” Nelson Mandela, May 1995.

Ezekiel Ramdialsingh’s murder on 15 April received wide coverage in our newspapers. One even had it as a front-page story. But the description given to him was “an aspiring footballer”. That is the grand total of who they thought he was.

It took Arima North Secondary football coach Wayne Sheppard to recentre the narrative. He said Ezekiel’s death should spark an honest conversation about the changes needed, not finger-pointing or negativity.

“Instead of saying, Look, it happened again, we need to ask ourselves, What can I do to help these boys? […]”

Any understanding of Ezekiel’s plight should begin with his own words. Arima North Secondary School profiled him on their social media pages on 8 March 2023.

“I live in Manuel Congo, Arima.

“I work for my own money to bring myself to and from school and training. I was always a hustler from small.

“From 12 years old to maybe 13 or 14 years old, I used to spend my earnings on snacks and games. But in the late half of my 14th year, when I watched how things were going financially (for my mom, Kathyann Charles), I decided to do whatever I could do on my part.

“Now, at 15 years old, I work very closely with a tradesman. I do bigger jobs like construction and roofing. I also have two vehicles I wash down regularly.

“The money I make now takes me to and from school and training. It sometimes helps me to buy something that’s missing for the pot or house or a little lime or party.

“At home, I also have chores. I am the oldest, so I do the ironing for my sisters. I don’t have a uniform for each day, so sometimes, when I get home, I have to wash, dry and iron the uniform so I can use it for the next school day.

“But as my mother always says, I push on!”

Pause a while and read this once more. Is this not the reverse of what usually happens? Teens rebel more often than act with empathy for their parents’ woes.

Are we not witnessing a decent young man? How many more young people like him live in our country? Do we want to stand by and mourn their loss, or do we wish to act?

How often have we heard stories in the media about Manuel Congo? What kinds of stories have we seen or read? The likelihood is that we cannot remember much, if anything, about that village that lies about seven kilometres from Arima.

One story about that area has stuck in my mind. No water and years of begging for a proper road.

“[…] We have never asked for anything other than to have our road paved so that we can have access to better amenities.

“That’s all we’ve been asking for several years now, but all we’ve been getting is promises from both present and former members of parliament.”

They are invisible to all who live outside of the village.

But they are resilient people.

The story relates that “on 22 December, days before Christmas, some residents, including children, were out with their shovels and wheelbarrows, spreading asphalt and having it steamrolled by Sheldon Cyrus, whom they described as a kind-hearted neighbour.”

They live in the shadows and must fend for themselves. How many more Ezekiels are out there in our neglected towns and villages?

In a New York Times story, a school teacher had this to say: “ZIP code may not be destiny, but it operates with something like gravity.”

He explained: “The success stories that get publicised let people hide and say where you’re born doesn’t matter. But it’s not that simple.

“Against these anecdotes is the aggregate of millions of children—and data says that rich kids tend to stay rich while poor kids tend to remain poor.

“[Where you live] exerts a tremendous pull on children, for good or for ill. Can you break the pull? Of course! But most won’t. The rich will stay rich, and the poor will remain poor…”

Why? We need to look at how these places are treated by others, including government officials who decide policy.

When the entire community is stigmatised socially and culturally, the feeling of being excluded is more than what things you own. Too many children grow up in unstable homes and neighbourhoods, disadvantaging them for life.

The “hustler from small” embodied this struggle. How many of our children are hungry and tired of their childhoods being robbed?

Ezekiel was fortunate that his mother cared for him, and he returned that love. The video, which captured her excitement at being able to gift him with a phone, tells a thousand words.

What many other children from more privileged homes take for granted, both Ezekiel and his mother celebrated.

Children from affluent homes bring their parents’ affluence to school. Those parents can fund a broader menu of extra-curricular activities.

Those parents ensure that they have football boots. Their children have the school books needed. The parents can and do attend the sports events and the PTA meetings.

Parents who live in depressed areas can barely find the time to think or catch their breath.

We should pause and thank Dr Carlos Lee for responding to the need he saw in that video. How many others would have touched base with some needy family to ensure that their children can attend school?

It is not only a government issue—we, too, can help.

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” – Leo Tolstoy.

The data is evident: kids from unstable families grow up, on average, with significantly more physical, emotional and academic challenges than their peers from stable two-parent homes.

These problems result in more crime, inequality, underperforming schools, fewer skilled workers and unhealthier, less engaged citizens. (Hymowitz, 2020, Anderson, 2014).

A victimised (not only physical trauma) child may function well in specific domains while exhibiting distress in others. Areas of competence can also shift as children face new stressors and developmental challenges.

In the case of Ezekiel, he did well at football but may have been constantly evaluating the value of staying in school versus dropping out to earn money.

We may not consider this conundrum faced by our children with great potential. But Wayne Sheppard put his finger on the sore:

These boys need more support; if they get injured or fall on hard times, they need the tools to build a future. School administrators don’t take sports seriously. In fact, footballers are almost marginalised.

“Our educators need to understand not everyone is blessed with academic brilliance—some are gifted in other ways.”

Two points: this is true not only of footballers but also of all our youths from underprivileged homes. We do not care for anyone except the “bright ones” as evidenced by SEA and CSEC passes.

Secondly, these disadvantaged children are put into under-resourced schools. Whatever social ailments exist in a neighbourhood will inevitably find their way into the schools.

Without fixing poverty, unemployment, access to decent jobs, and income inequality, these schools will always struggle. What stops us from having smaller classes so these children can be seen and known?

In Antigua, all students are zoned for their primary and secondary school choices.

This policy forces the Ministry of Education to fund all schools equally. At the end of their primary education, only the top one hundred children could choose a school outside their district.

A separate tax, like our health surcharge, raises funding for the upkeep of the schools.

In Jamaica, the government has collaborated with multilateral agencies to host programmes for mothers and children for their first two years of life:

“Longitudinal studies (child cohort studies) from Jamaica show positive effects of interventions across generations.

“In other words, food supplements and psychosocial stimulation (home visits and play sessions with children and parents) not only benefited the children in the study, they also helped those children’s children a generation later! (My emphasis.)

“This gives us hope because it shows that early attention, especially to children who live in poor families with fewer resources, can break the cycle of poverty.”

What stops us, as a country, from doing these things?

Self-image is inextricably linked to one’s place in the community and that community’s fortunes.

Encouraging students and their families to engage with and take pride in their community’s arts, history, and culture strengthens their sense of belonging, inspires them to aim higher, and gives them confidence in what they can achieve.

Higher expectations improve academic performance and reinforce the area’s pride. This thought is what causes me to hesitate to condemn the schools.

The community elders have adopted a “hands-off” attitude to the schools. Unless the schools win a prize, the elders adopt an invisibility cloak.

The members of parliament will allocate as they deem fit. The community believes that their cultural expression is unworthy. No exemplars are elevated.

So, who are these talented young men to follow and learn from? They will be forced to find a leader from among themselves. That option is not always a route to self-improvement. We must remember that they are vulnerable boys in a big man’s body.

Sheppard and the Arima North football management team do the work necessary to support the parents and children. But who supports them?

FC Santa Rosa founder and former Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) technical committee chairman Keith Look Loy articulated the elements of this lack of support.

On another front, have we neglected the strength that the church should bring to improving family life?

Is the church stepping up and helping the community members (not just their church members) to be the best they can be? How does the church collaborate with civic leaders to strengthen families?

When we think of the lost potential represented by Ezekiel and many others like him, are we content to turn our eyes away?

Are we content to have people trapped in meaningless “ten-days-work” or dulling their pain through drugs?

Investing in their well-being can be a social and economic game changer. Ezekiel had the dice loaded against him. Do all our boys have to face the same fate? When will we learn?

Sheppy, I, too, hope that we will ask ourselves: What can I do to help these boys? The answer can change our country.

Editor’s Note: The funeral for Ezekiel Ramdialsingh will be held at Constantine Park in Macoya from 2pm on 26 April 2025.

Ramdialsingh, a celebrated young footballer who helped the Dial Dynamos to return to the SSFL Premier Division in 2023, will be buried in the Arima North Secondary football uniform.