Trinidad / Charity Support

By Stephen Thorpe

Our designated charity in Trinidad is the Jesus Cares Family Cottage located at La Chance extension in Arima, east of Port of Spain, a children’s rescue programme catering for abandoned, orphaned or abused individuals from birth up to the age of 18. With no government social service system in place, dedicated organisations like these are ever more vital in view of the increasing pressures in a rapidly developing urbanised environment.

The remarkable work of the husband and wife team Leris Elisha Ali, a certified psychotherapist, and Garvin, a correctional officer in Port Of Spain, is truly heartrending in giving 15 children between the ages of 7-16 a foothold in life in their own home which they are currently trying to extend. Some are refugees from hospital wards and the police, others from magistrates courts and off the streets.

Leris, in particular, is the archetypal multi-tasking woman, operating as charity manager, mother to her own, child care worker, counsellor and all round mother hen. “We try to run it as a home, not as an institution.” she says. It’s unstinting, demanding work. Somehow the charity, set up in March 2000 in Tobago and based in Trinidad since 2007, has survived on a multiplicity of fundraising events and the odd donation but any additional help would be greatly appreciated.