September 2014


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UWI TODAY: Your life has revolved around caring for others, was this something you wanted to do from early?

RM: Coming up in a family of seven sisters and brothers and not having much money, the onus was always on the siblings to help in sickness, in time of need, to help around the house. The culture in our household was one of helping and being available. I remember my mother and father helping other people; my father was always helping people from work, they would come home to see how he could help them with their difficulties. It was put there by my parents that this is how we should live. After I left school and began to work I got involved in charity work. During the polio epidemic in Trinidad I was very involved in our area in organising the vaccines. I got involved with NGOs and this was even before I had an experience of God. So I would say the environment in which I grew up certainly sparked something in me for caring.

UWI TODAY: In your work, you must have come across many lives scarred by drug abuse; you must have heard many of their circumstances, what would you say is the most common aspect of those stories?

RM: I was exposed to drug abuse from a very young age because my father was an alcoholic and I guess that was what gave me the impetus to want to be compassionate and to help those addicted to drugs and alcohol.

I’ve heard many, many stories, varied stories, but one of the most common aspects is that drug abuse has no respect for persons, for colour, creed, status, social standing – it has no respect for any of that. I’ve seen drug addicts from the biggest CEOs to the smallest people on the streets. If you have an addictive personality and you’re high risk for using drugs and drug abuse then you’re simply susceptible to it.

We now know that drug abuse is a hereditary disease and can be passed on in our families, and more and more families have been affected by drugs. One of the other aspects of it is that the individuals themselves feel a lack of appreciation for who they are. When they take drugs, as they begin to take a drink or a smoke, it makes them feel better about themselves and stronger so that they are able to relate to other people and have a discussion – without that they feel very inhibited. I think that’s a major thing for people who go into drugs.

UWI TODAY: How can we help such people?

RM: When we started New Life Ministries the first thing we did was an awareness programme right across the country. It was called Chemical People. At that stage nobody wanted to even recognise that we had drugs in our families or in our schools. We were in great denial. I always tell people you must be aware of the signs of addiction. It is very, very important. Mothers and fathers and guardians and brothers and sisters have to be aware of the signs and be aware of the risk value for people. So if I know that my family has addiction in it, I know my children are going to be at risk. I must understand that and say, yes, and not deny it and then educate myself about addiction and the signs of addiction. Even from young we can say to our children we have addiction in our family and this is something we have to look at and this is what it means and this is what can happen. But I have to know it myself to be able to translate it to my children. I find families very much in denial about this but adults, parents, need that education and must then pass that information on to their children at a very young age. When I see people giving their children sips of wine, rum and coke, rum punch and so on, that’s the worst thing we can do to a child. But they don’t know that, they have not been informed why that is not good, so they do it. The onus is really on the adult to inform themselves about addiction, especially if you have addiction in the family, because these kids are going out and facing all kinds of things outside and you have to be able to relate to them about that.

UWI TODAY: What has been the major challenge for an organisation like the Living Water Community?

RM: If you ask any NGO what’s their major challenge they would say finance, that’s normal, so it goes without saying that finance is always a problem. We see so many huge problems and difficulties in the country and in the people who come to us and we always want to help in this way or that way, but to do anything you need money.

Recently, I was talking to someone about the great need in the country for a halfway house or an assisted community for children who are challenged; you can dream all these things but everything takes money. Finding resources, committed people and volunteers are other common challenges. But a specific challenge for an organisation like ours is that because we have a particular spirit in our Community, our ministries have to have a particular spirit, because we are a religious organisation we want to make certain that our outreach to people is not like that of a social organization but a religious organisation. We seek to bring the presence of God to people so people working with us or volunteering with us must make a spiritual journey themselves because it is flowing out of that spiritual journey that you yourself have with God that you can really bring His compassion and love to people.

UWI TODAY: How can people help?

RM: People help in various ways. Our organisation has had tremendous response from the people of T&T. We could never do it without that. And all the governments in the last 20-25 years have assisted us in some of our ministries. People can assist us financially, some people who have no family and live alone leave us in their wills or make a pledge to help sustain our ministries. People can help us by volunteering. People can pray for us, particularly those who are housebound. We believe in the power of prayer.

UWI TODAY: What does this honorary LLD mean to you?

RM: I am happy for the Community and for the many people who have been involved and have been part of the community for 35 and 40 years doing work for the poor and needy. I am happy for the recognition of the Community, for the many people who are part of the Community. I am very honoured to accept this on behalf of my Community and for the glory of God to whom I have given my life and worked for these many years.

I would like to add something. In our country and in the world today we are experiencing a lot of turmoil, hopelessness, devastation, defeatism – all of these things are crowding in on us as peoples and nations all over the world. Deep in my heart I feel it’s a turning away from God that has caused this. We as individuals feel we can do everything, we could make everything, we can even make people and sheep, and we can go to the moon and we can do all of these things as individuals. But the spirit that is needed to live in harmony, the spirit that is needed to live as brothers and sisters in families, in nations, in the world today cannot come from what we create. That has to come from our hearts, and what is in our heart is what we put into ourselves, and if we do not put into our heart the source of love, the source of creation and the source of beauty and harmony in the world, which is God, then what we are giving off in our lives will be devoid of all these things. So my prayer for the world today is for God’s mercy and God’s power to open our hearts to receive this God of creation and this God of harmony, this God of love and beauty and mercy and compassion, so that we may see a world reflecting all of these things which are so needed today.