TriniRealty.com

A tornado-like wind swept through Penal Saturday, knocking over trees and swiping off the roof of a house of a family of six. The Heeralal family, of Laltoo Trace, spent the night huddled under a blue tarpaulin, praying that the rains would ease and they would get their roof rebuilt. Shrimattee Sookdeo, 45, said she was at home with her children Tina Heeralal, 19, Sheldon Boodoo, 26, Durvesh Boodoo, 24, daughter-in-law Maya Samlal, 29, and husband Ramesh Heeralal, 46, when the incident took place. Sookdeo said that after taking a rest, she got up and went to the kitchen. “I saw the tornado spinning,” she said. “All the trees were blowing and the rain was drizzling.

By the end of May, Lorna Hamilton-Henry, her two children and her husband Curt, will be moving into a brand new house built for them by Habitat for Humanity Trinidad and Tobago (HHTT). The house, called the Promise Home, is the first to be built locally as part of an initiative called Women Build.

Started internationally in 1991, Women Build’s premise is to take a group of female volunteers, train them in basic construction and let them build a house. The goal is to increase the involvement and skill level of women in construction of Habitat houses. Hamilton-Henry and her family were selected for the first project because she and her husband have struggled against all odds to provide a legacy for their children, a release from HHTT explained.

Hamilton-Henry is HIV-positive and her family’s current living conditions are deplorable with termite-eaten boards and a rusting galvanise roof on the verge of collapse. HHTT is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, a Non-Governmental Organisation that builds houses for those in need. Its aim is to eradicate poverty through the provision of housing. HHTT has been operational in Trinidad and Tobago for 13 years.

Hamilton-Henry first approached them about two years ago seeking assistance but was unsuccessful. “When I applied they said they weren’t building in my area Malick, Barataria, because their sponsors were mainly oil companies and they sponsored homes in their areas. “I went back again some time later and they still had no sponsors but I told them I had two sponsors, 98.1 FM and AJ Solutions who together had raised $40,000 to assist me,” recalled Hamilton-Henry, 33.

Donnette Andrews clutched her four children in her arms and begged God to save their lives as sheets of galvanise blew off the roof of her home. She was one of 16 residents whose homes were damaged during a freak storm in the Claxton Bay area on Thursday night. Several trees fell and ripping apart electrical lines. Andrews, who lives with her sister Paterna Harewood at Diamond Village, said she ran under a bed when the winds hit. Recalling the incident, Andrews said she was out in the yard with her children Jayden and Jason, aged four (twins), Donetta two, and five-month old Shellyann, when she saw her neighbour's roof flying in the wind.