The T&T Prison Ser­vice host­ed its 14th an­nu­al Di­vali cel­e­bra­tions at the Pris­ons Sports Club re­cent­ly. It was themed The Light Mo­ti­vates and Em­pow­ers us.

It brought staff and their fam­i­lies to­geth­er for an evening filled with mo­ti­va­tion, pos­i­tiv­i­ty and ca­ma­raderie.

This year’s cel­e­bra­tion was filled with food (pep­per roti, dou­bles, pholourie, sweets) pre­pared on hand for all pa­trons. It al­so fea­tured lights, mu­sic, dance, a fire­works dis­play and the much an­tic­i­pat­ed “Cho­ka Com­pe­ti­tion”.

There was al­so a bam­boo bend­ing dis­play and tent dé­cor com­pe­ti­tion.

These com­pe­ti­tions por­trayed the di­ver­si­ty of cul­ture and cre­ativ­i­ty with­in the ranks of the ser­vice.

Pris­ons Com­mis­sion­er De­op­er­sad Ra­moutar, in his ad­dress to guests, em­pha­sised the pow­er of light to con­quer dark­ness.

Al­so at­tend­ing the event was Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty Min­is­ter Fitzger­ald Hinds.

Guardian Me­dia free­lance pho­tog­ra­ph­er Mariela Bruzual cov­ered the event.