In 1999, calypsonian Winston “Gypsy” Peters saw something slipping away from T&T.
He put pen to paper for a stirring composition called Soul of the Nation, as he reflected on the disintegration of what was then a proud image of a republic of happy island-dwelling people.
In his calypso, Peters asked several pertinent questions, including, “How could someplace so good turn out so bad, where is the love in this land that we once had?”
The refrain also made a poignant declaration, “Somebody tiefing the soul ah mih nation, somebody gone with the love that we had.”
It’s been 25 years since then, but the true significance of those lyrics hit home to us yesterday morning, as the country was awoken by news of the brutal beheading of four-year-old Amarah Lallite.
Even though as a nation we have become somewhat accustomed to senseless and horrific murders of late, the way that young Amarah’s life was taken was still a hugely sickening shock.
Amarah was simply an innocent child, who, from police accounts, was caught in the middle of a quarrel between two adults.
One can hardly imagine what it was like for her in the last moments of her tender life, facing a heartless adult with a blade against her throat, snuffing her life out in the most gruesome of ways and for something she did not do, much less understand.
This brutal killing tore at the very heartstrings of our nation, particularly coming as it did in between two of the holiest commemorations of Easter and Eid-ul-Fitr, where lessons of love, compassion and caring are paramount.
The recent emergence of videos portraying violence against children in T&T has already heightened our state of consciousness and elevated our concerns about the lack of robust child welfare protection systems backed by strong community support.
Amarah’s death further emphasises the need for us to build and restore social cohesion within communities for speedier interventions that can resolve conflicts before they escalate into senseless killings.
The adage it takes a village to raise a child speaks to the importance of an all-of-society approach to the care, guidance, and protection of our children.
This requires active and consistent work from the formal social development arms of the State, and the pillars of communities, including religious bodies, sporting groups, community councils, education facilities and, of course, the family.
It is within these units that the soul of communities resides and from where the revival of our nation’s soul must begin, through deliberate action to take back control of our society and our preferred peaceful way of life.