My name is Rhian Vialva and I'm the UNESCO Conference coordinator of this year's Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival.Our father passed when we were toddlers and our mother migrated so my brother Reagan and I grew up with our (deceased) maternal grandmother. We couldn't have had a better parent or better guidance.I live in Diego Martin but I'm from La Brea, the best place to grow up. Reagan and I had lots of adventures with our neighbours Karen, Jessy, Sarah, Isaac, Hannah, Timothy, Adrian, Ezra and Dennison Junior. We hunted for, dried and roasted our own cashew nuts. Bathed in the Pitch Lake during July-August vacation. Pulled fish nets with Dado, were attacked by crabs and jelly fish, dug for chip-chip and smelt like bush bugs.
We never ate mangoes from our backyard. When you're from La Brea, you can afford to buss style on mangoes. I ate only hand-picked starch and Julies. Calabash and rose were for chow. My grandmother liked mango vere and Reagan ate anything that was edible.I have a niece and nephew who feel like mine and everything I have will be theirs. I've never felt like I needed to decide if I want a family myself.We may have had one school shirt, but classmates thought we were rich when we opened our lunch bags and there was always sufficient to share.