分类： society

Amanda Ackbarali, a 44-year-old mental health practitioner from San Juan, has dedicated the past 15 years to supporting survivors of gender-based violence and trauma. Her work coincides with the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (November 25-December 10), an annual campaign addressing violence against women and girls worldwide.

Ackbarali’s approach to mental health care stems from childhood experiences rather than academic training alone. Growing up witnessing her mother’s exceptional compassion toward neighbors and friends on their family porch taught her that “if you can be kind, then be kind.” Her own struggles with severe atopic eczema from age three provided early lessons in vulnerability and empathy for those on society’s margins.

Armed with a psychology degree and master’s in mediation studies from UWI, Ackbarali became board-certified as a civil and family mediator in 2013. Her frontline experience with institutions like the Rape Crisis Society, Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Children’s Authority, and Prison Service shaped her understanding of systemic challenges in trauma care.

During her tenure at the Children’s Authority (2015-2018), Ackbarali played pivotal roles in establishing the Child and Family Services Unit and developing protocols for child trafficking victims. She describes child protection work as profoundly humbling: “You are often the person standing between danger and safety, between chaos and stability.

The most emotionally challenging aspect of her work hasn’t been the clients themselves, but navigating “overburdened and under-resourced systems moving more slowly than the urgency demands.” This systemic pressure, she notes, causes practitioner burnout, making caregiver support essential rather than optional.

In 2018, Ackbarali founded The Opening Lotus, a virtual mental health practice emphasizing culturally grounded care. The practice incorporates small rituals like ringing bells during breakthroughs to “make the invisible visible” and help clients recognize their growth. The lotus metaphor reflects her philosophy: “Healing, like the lotus, is a slow unfolding. It doesn’t ignore the difficulty, it grows through it.

Reflecting on Caribbean women’s struggles during the activism period, Ackbarali identifies the pressure to achieve balance as a major emotional burden, exacerbated by cultural expectations placing disproportionate caregiving responsibilities on women.

She challenges misconceptions about trauma presentation, explaining that responses vary from hypoarousal (withdrawal) to hyperarousal (high functionality), both being adaptive nervous system responses. “You can’t read trauma from the outside,” she emphasizes. “You understand it by listening to the person’s story.”

Despite Trinidad and Tobago’s developing mental health system with gaps in education, service delivery, and referral pathways, Ackbarali remains optimistic. She advocates for better emotional literacy for children, training for community gatekeepers (teachers, police, coaches), and more intentional support for underserved groups including men, rural communities, and people with disabilities.

Her career has demonstrated that “people are capable of rising through things that should have broken them,” and with proper support and compassion, they invariably “find a way to bloom again.”

In a remarkable display of literary talent, 12-year-old Catherine Teemul from Trinidad and Tobago has achieved international recognition by securing second place in the prestigious Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2025. The St Joseph Convent student’s exceptional creative writing skills earned her a silver award among 53,434 entries from across the Commonwealth nations.

Catherine’s journey to this achievement began unexpectedly when she discovered the competition through social media while attending Curepe Presbyterian Primary School. Driven by curiosity and her longstanding passion for storytelling, the then 11-year-old decided to enter on a whim. ‘I have loved reading since I was in standard three,’ Catherine recalled, highlighting her early connection to literature that paved the way for this accomplishment.

Her award-winning essay, titled ‘Through the Pages,’ presents a captivating mythical narrative written in first person perspective. The story follows a young girl who discovers a mysterious leather-bound book with gold specks, leading her through a glowing doorway into another dimension. The protagonist finds herself trapped in her favorite book, pursued by a knife-wielding villain through a forest, before executing a thrilling escape back through the colorful portal.

Catherine described being ‘overwhelmed with joy’ upon learning of her achievement. ‘It came as a surprise. I was overjoyed when I found out,’ she shared, expressing gratitude for her previous studies that contributed to this success.

The competition, organized by the Royal Commonwealth Society in the United Kingdom, annually challenges young writers to engage with pressing global issues and Commonwealth values, fostering empathy and open-minded worldviews among youth participants.

This literary achievement follows Catherine’s previous success in Trinidad’s Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exams, where she also received recognition for creative writing at her graduation. Now attending her first-choice school, St Joseph Convent, Catherine follows in the footsteps of her eldest sister Chelsea-Marie while pursuing her artistic passions.

The young writer credits her former teacher, Valine Sewlal-Hamid, for playing an instrumental role in nurturing her writing talent. Her parents, Arvind and Nadia Teemul, along with siblings Chelsea-Marie and Celine, expressed profound gratitude for the teacher’s encouragement and believe this prestigious award has given Catherine ‘the proverbial push’ to further believe in herself as she embarks on her secondary education journey.

Despite her literary talents, Catherine reveals that Art is currently her favorite subject, with aspirations to become a fashion designer, combining her creative imagination with her eye for design that her mother describes as exceptional.