Event producer and acclaimed masman Brian Mac Farlane is wondering how much darker Trinidad and Tobago can become, following the murder of 12-year-old Ezekiel Faria in Laventille on Thursday.
Mac Farlane made the comment on the child’s senseless death as he handed over $100,000 in cheques to three non-government organisations, which represented part of the proceeds from his 2023 ‘Christmas Joy with a Whisper of Hope’ concert series.
Despite feeling pained on hearing the news on the radio earlier that day, Mac Farlane urged citizens to be the positive they wish to see. He said people should not allow themselves to be consumed by the negativity that sometimes occurs in T&T.
“I thought—how much more darker can it be than to hear this news?”
“Yes, there is immense darkness all around us, not just in Trinidad and Tobago, immense darkness all around us—the whole world. But we must, at the same time, although we are sympathetic and we are sad and it bothers us, we must open those blinds, we must see the light and focus on the light because if we don’t, we are also consumed,” Mac Farlane said at the Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s ceremony.
“Each of us becomes consumed into darkness and if we do that, then we are of no hope to anyone else. So, by seeing the light, we have a possibility of helping other 11-year-olds and other children and other people and other animals.”
The NGOs that received donations were Hope of a Miracle Foundation ($60,000), Animals Alive ($20,000) and The Mustapha Project ($20,000).
The Mustapha Project rescues stray animals, mainly dogs, and seeks to rehabilitate them. With no physical shelter, the animals are housed at veterinary clinics, which is why costs are high. Since its inception in 2014, 800 dogs were rescued, with 200 of them being rescued last year.
Also attending the event was Animals Alive’s Kathryn Cleghorn, who said they currently care for 500 dogs, 75 cats and a horse. The NGO was established in 2009. She reminded that a country is judged by how it treats the less fortunate, especially its animals.
“There is no society that can claim to be forward thinking, to be a civil society unless it’s providing for its animals and Trinidad and Tobago is quite backward in that way,” she said.
The Hope of a Miracle Foundation assists sick children in T&T with medical attention abroad, once it is not provided locally. Over the years, 160 surgeries have been partially funded by the NGO. These surgeries can cost between US$45,000 to US$60,000 per year. The NGO attempts to send between five to eight children for medical attention per year.
President of the NGO Cindy Schutters said getting donations from the public is difficult work.
“We always begging, we become beggars to help the innocent, whether it be animals, whether it be children, whether it be senior citizens and it is because of us, our generosity, our time, our willingness, our good will, the light that we wanna give people. We don’t give up!” she said.
Mac Farlane said his concert series could not be successful without his sponsors, as he noted ticket sales did not cover the cost of the show.
