Trinidad 04/09

Without realizing it I had scheduled this trip to begin on the Monday following the 5th annual Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain Trinidad. What are the chances? But, by the time I arrived on Monday all the excitement was over and even the International Airport was pretty calm. You could see the aftermath of the large international event as there were flags, banners, billboards, event structures and other things that were testimony to high profile gathering. It was interesting to see how widely loved our President Obama is. There were some billboards just praising him or welcoming him, with images of his smiling face on them. I visited the buildling complex where the summit was hosted. A very impressive structure, complete with larger-than-life prints of some of Trinidad's famous paintings and artwork. I was told that to order to be able to accomodate all the persons in attendance, Trinidad rented some cruise ships and had them docked in the port due to a lack of available hotel space. What a good idea!

Aside from the lingering excitement of the summit, I had a productive visit to Trinidad. In April letters from the sponsored children in Trinidad were due to the office. So a portion of the trip was spent collecting, reviewing and organizing letters written by the children to their sponsors. This can be quite a task as the children are kept very busy and involved in many different activities. Therefore, if we are missing some letters it can be tricky to visit the home and find all the children present. As they should be, the children participate in many different sports, dance, tutoring, and many other extracurricular activities. Many times when we are taking updated pictures of the children you will notice they are still perspiring from the soccer field, or dressed in their school uniform on their way to class.

Playing with some children's books and keychains that I had brought for them.

We met with the home administrators and discussed the support being provided by the Angels of Hope program. We informed the homes of a new project that we are working on that will install computer labs in each of the homes. We are still collecting information from some of the other countries, but I was actually adivsed today that the computer sets for Trinidad were to be shipped next week. We worked with the homes to determine an appropriate location for the installation and ensured that the space was adquate and secure.

This is Sharaza. We spent a lot of time talking. She was telling me about her past and how grateful she is to be at the home because she is a lot "safer" now. She dreams of becoming a famous Indian actress and starring in Baliwood movies. This was her Baliwood pose!

As you can imagine, I spend a lot of my time in a vehicle, driving between homes in different parts of the country. But even this time is very enjoyable as I get to see the countryside and stop at different places to eat. I LOVE the food in Trinidad. It is an incredible blend of Asian, Indian, Caribbean and Latin food. For breakfast I had Shark and Bake, Peas Pie, or Doubles. I love Indian food, and I especially love to eat Indian food purchased from a vendor on the street. That is where the good stuff is! For lunch and dinner I had Jerk Pork, Curry Roti, Chinese Food, Rice and Peas, and some great Mexican Food. And even after all my travels, I am still trying new drinks. I had some peanut punch that was delicious.