Today I am remembering with parting blessings, little Josiah Governor, who died last Friday. He is being laid in his final resting place today following a funeral service at Simpson’s Funeral Chapel on the Eastern Main Road, Laventille. The service starts at 10:00 a.m. and the burial will take place at the Tunapuna Cemetery. SOURCE
Rest in Peace, Josiah.
Please let his story, like those of too many other children gone before him, motivate us to be more humane in the way we treat our children.
.............................................................................................................................. "Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.
Blessed is all of creation Blessed be my beautiful people Blessed be the day of our awakening Blessed is my country Blessed are her patient hills.
T&R River, I tried leaving a comment on your blog but I kept getting the message that there was an error with my submission. Thank you for this post! Blessings .............................................................................................................................. "Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.
Blessed is all of creation Blessed be my beautiful people Blessed be the day of our awakening Blessed is my country Blessed are her patient hills.
HAR TARAF HAR JAGAH
Performed by Lata Mangeshkar and Jagjit Singh Album: Sajda
For JosiahGovernor
Har taraf har jagah beshumar aadmi
Har taraf har jagah beshumar aadmi
Phir bhi tanhaiyon ka shikaar aadmi
Har taraf har jagah beshumar aadmi.
In every direction, every place, there are several people
Even then, man is a victim of loneliness.
Subah se shaam tak bojh dhota hua
Subah se shaam tak bojh dhota hua
Apni hi laash ka khud mazaar aadmi
Apni hi laash ka khud mazaar aadmi.
From morning to evening, he is burdened
A man is a grave for his own corpse.
Phir bhi tanhaiyon ka shikaar aadmi
Har taraf har jagah beshumar aadmi.
In every direction, every place, there are several people
Even then, man is a victim of loneliness.
Har taraf bhaagte daudhte raaste
Har taraf bhaagte daudhte raaste
Har taraf aadmi ka shikaar aadmi
Har taraf aadmi ka shikaar aadmi.
In every direction, there are paths running
Everywhere, man is a victim of man.
Phir bhi tanhaiyon ka shikaar aadmi
Har taraf har jagah beshumar aadmi.
In every direction, every place, there are several people
Even then, man is a victim of loneliness.
Roz jeeta hua roz marta hua
Roz jeeta hua roz marta hua
Har naye din naya intezar aadmi
Har naye din naya intezar aadmi.
Everyday he lives and everyday he dies
Every new day is a new waiting for man.
Phir bhi tanhaiyon ka shikaar aadmi
Har taraf har jagah beshumar aadmi.
In every direction, every place, there are several people
Even then, man is a victim of loneliness.
Zindagi ka mukkaddar safar dar safar
Zindagi ka mukkaddar safar dar safar
Aakhri saans tak bekaraar aadmi
Aakhri saans tak bekaraar aadmi.
The fate of life is journey after journey
'Til the last breath, man is always without peace.
Phir bhi tanhaiyon ka shikaar aadmi
Har taraf har jagah beshumar aadmi
Har taraf har jagah beshumar aadmi.
In every direction, every place, there are several people
Even then, man is a victim of loneliness.
..............................................................................................................................
A Note From The Gull
Thank you, Lata Mangeshkar and Jagjit Singh.
I am deliberately returning to "Sajda" tonight to settle my troubled heart and I dedicate this song "Har Taraf Har Jagah" to Josiah wherever he is now beyond the pain of this world. I read that Josiah wanted to become a police officer and I find myself wondering if this desire was inspired by his own situation of powerlessness and pain. Did he see police officers as superheroes who could protect the weak and stop the abusers in their tracks? Could he have wanted to be for others the protector that he never found in those who surrounded him? It is this aloneness that is brought to mind by the lines:
Har taraf har jagah beshumar aadmi Phir bhi tanhaiyon ka shikaar aadmi.
In every direction, every place, there are several people
Even then, man is a victim of loneliness.
I did not respond well to the news of Josiah's death. Since my post, I was relieved to find the article below by an unidentified author. I wish that I had been able to write it because it addresses with empathy the roots of the problem rather than the fruit. Josiah's abuse and death, the dysfunctional family into which he was born and the neighbourhood which harboured his abusers are all fruits of a violence that is systemic in our society.
It helps nothing to simply respond with anger like I did, if we are not going to do something, no matter how small, to start addressing the underlying causes. Yes, some may say that it is the anger of others that is needed to shock the dreamers awake. We all share this society and at some point we have to tell those who have become too comfortable with their "issues" that society is no longer going to be their enablers, that they also have responsibilities as adults to find a way to address their problems. But anger can lead us to respond rashly and anger also fades after a while and very often when it is spent we find that we have not moved forward but have slipped back into passivity to await the next trigger. It is the thoughtful analyses of people like the author below which should be solicited and used towards creation of support systems to help those who feel that they lack the tools to help themselves.
Amidst the regrets and recriminations heard every time a child is murdered, many persons invariably hasten to make a distinction between "discipline" and "abuse". Yet the reality is that most abusers do not know when they are stepping over that blurred line, and so "disciplinarians" can easily become child-killers in a society where corporal punishment is widely approved.
In the case of six-year-old Josiah Governor, who was beaten to death last Friday, reports suggest that the alleged killer used to beat the boy to do better in his schoolwork. If so, the perpetrator was performing an act which 98 per cent of parents and teachers, according to a 2004 survey headed by Prof Ramesh Deosaran, approve. This, along with distrust of the police, is why Josiah's neighbours, despite hearing the child's cries over many months, never reported the matter to the authorities.
Yet the neighbourhood was only the last set of adults to fail Josiah. Even the circumstances of his birth made it more, rather than less likely, that the odds would be against him as he grew up. His mother was in her teenage years when she conceived him, and so little more than a child herself. Josiah's biological father abandoned him when he was still a baby, hence further weakening the child's family network. When Josiah's mother formed a relationship with another man, this created another downward spiral for, while there are many good step-parents, adults who are not biologically related to children are more likely to abuse them.
In an interview with the Express yesterday, Josiah's paternal grandmother revealed that she was aware of the abuse her grandson was experiencing — indeed, the child had begged her to take him into her home. But, when she threatened to report the abuse to the police, the grandmother was told that, if she did so, she would not be allowed to see Josiah. So she kept silent, and now her grandson is silenced forever.
In this death, therefore, the whole society is culpable. Josiah's family failed to fulfil their most basic duty — protect the life of their child. The community failed him, by refusing to get involved even to the extent of reporting the matter to the police. The teachers at Josiah's school failed, either by not noticing that anything was wrong, or failing to deal with the issue if they did notice. The social services failed from the time Josiah was born, by not identifying the mother and her baby as at-risk. And all the adults in Trinidad and Tobago who believe corporal punishment is justified have tacitly contributed to the cycle of violence which all too easily leads to the killing of children.
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.
Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.
"The 11th Commandment" by Collin Raye | Uploaded by lokngid
WARNING SIGNS OF CHILD ABUSE
Abused children often show sudden and marked changes in behaviour that are tell tale signs that they may be abused. Some behavioural signs to look for are:
• Withdrawal from activities, friends and family; • Display of inappropriate/overt sexual behaviour; • Unusual interest in, or avoidance of all things of a sexual nature; • Visible sadness; • Poor hygiene, unkempt appearance, malnourishment; • Marked decline in school performance; • Self-destructive or self-abusive behaviour or suicidal thoughts; • Aggressive or disruptive behaviour; and • Avoidance or dislike of visiting a particular relative or family friend.
Anyone who observes these behaviours in a child must notify the school principal/teacher/social worker in your community, or call Childline at 131 or 800-4231. SOURCE
REPORT ALL FORMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OBSERVED IN YOUR COMMUNITY!!
For victim, perpetrator and third party advice call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (868) 800-SAVE (7283) for 24-hr telephone counselling, support and access to safe accommodation.
Call the police, even if you are more comfortable making an anonymous report. Anti Crime Hotline: 555
.............................................................................................................................. "Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.
Blessed is all of creation Blessed be my beautiful people Blessed be the day of our awakening Blessed is my country Blessed are her patient hills.
POLICE are probing the death of a six-year-old Laventille boy who was reportedly beaten to death by a male relative for not doing his homework.
Homicide detectives were up to late last night at Herman Scott Road, taking witness statements and searching for clues at the home where Josiah Governor lived with his 22-year-old mother and the male relative.
According to neighbours, the frail child would be constantly beaten by the 25-year-old relative and for not doing well academically with one neighbour saying that the suspect was a "bright boy" and the child was a slow learner.
"What that child could do to get licks like that?" one neighbour asked as members of the media spoke to neighbours who gathered near a parlour discussing the matter.
They said they were accustomed to hearing the child's screams, but no one ever intervened.
Lystra Salazar, a neighbour, said one time she threw a big stone on the roof of the home because she was tired of hearing the child screams.
"Them living here years now and he accustomed beating the child. One time I wanted to call the police but my mister tell me no. Last time I couldn't take it and throw a big stone on the roof," Salazar said.
Another neighbour who wished not be named said she would normally hear the child and the child's mother "bawling"but never thought to intervene because she "not getting in man and woman business".
Police said the child was taken to the Besson Street Police Station around 3 p.m. yesterday by the two adults who asked that the child be taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital. The officers who noticed the child was unconscious rushed the child to the hospital where he was reported dead on arrival.
Officers believed the child was beaten with a blunt object as there were several marks about his body. The child was brought to the station, police say, wrapped in a piece of cloth.
Police are awaiting autopsy results before determining whether the killing can be classified as a murder. The couple are assisting police with their investigations.
Sometimes, I am really sorry for us and what we have become. Aided ably over time by those who have had the power to contribute significantly to setting the tone and direction of our society, we are now all hapless children it seems. Every time there is another injustice, the babies begin to howl and wail in their cradles. No one responds out of genuine concern, and if they do, the concern has a time limit of three seconds. The babies continue to fuss, perhaps adding some coughs and frantic kicking for effect. If there is a response, we are told either to shut up and stop making noise or to direct our complaints to the previous caretakers. If a slap upside the head can be executed without leaving much of a mark, the hot spots are the targets of choice. An equally careless caretaker may throw us a pacifier coated with something sweet but injurious or sing us some vapid lullaby composed on the fly about what Santa will bring us if we don't pout. Most of us eventually cry ourselves to sleep with feverish brows, tear-stained cheeks and with rum or an unfinished prayer on our lips...six of one, half a dozen of the other, some may say.
Battered woman syndrome be damned! I am not waiting for the results of any autopsy. I charge you all with murder - woman, man and neighbours.
I am remembering the story about Sabrina Lalla-Mitchell and how she was stabbed to death to the rhythm of her co-workers' cowardice and her "husband's" rage. Same story, but this time the lifeless body is that of a tiny broken dove, another frail, defenseless child who did not have a fighting chance against the blows of an adult.
On three occasions in T&T, I was present when crimes were in progress and I did not stand by. I didn't even have the option of simply making an anonymous phone call to the police. People asked me after the first occasion if I was not afraid that my face would be "marked", meaning remembered by the criminal for later retaliation. That thought had not even crossed my mind when I had intervened and if the opportunity were to present itself again, I would not think twice to jump in. These neighbours however, sat on this situation for a period of months if not longer and enjoyed the sweet luxury of:
- witnessing that the child was frail and would be constantly beaten for homework and playing too much SOURCE - becoming accustomed to hearing the screams of both the child and the mother - growing tired of hearing the child screams - observing the child “flying” through the window of the home before landing on the rocky ground almost 12 feet below SOURCE - choosing deliberately not to intervene - assessing that the suspect was a "bright boy" and the child was a slow learner - musing about what that child could do to get licks like that - recalling wistfully that "one time" they had ALMOST called the police - pretending that a mister's "No" has ever stopped a woman from doing what she is determined to do. - choosing to communicate jungle style, despite, I am sure, having possession of more than one cellphone, by lobbing a big warning stone onto the roof of the house of horrors - mumbling about the travesty of interfering in "man and woman business." - congregating AFTER the fact near a parlour to discuss the matter as a community. - deciding only AFTER the death that the male relative would not be welcomed there anymore. Apparently the relative had crossed a line by killing the child. Before that his abuse could be tolerated by all. "You can’t kill little children and women. That not right."SOURCE
Who named this child? Who valued this soul enough when he came into this world to name him so beautifully? For Christians, this name, Josiah, is not a frivolous name. This name coming from the Hebrew literally means "healed by Yahweh" or "supported of Yahweh." Where was Yahweh, you may ask, when His child was being pummeled to death? He was persistently in the ears and voices and the hearts and the hands and the bodies of the community of persons who are now pretending that they did not know what God expected of them. They were fully aware of that child's distress and chose not to come to his assistance.
This is not God's handiwork. It is society's.
This is not Mr. Gibbs' doing, although by the time the murder statistics come out for the first quarter, most would have forgotten, or will choose to ignore the fact that this murder, as well as many others included, can be traced directly back to our own sins of omission and commission in the formation of our children. It is more convenient to put the blame on the Commissioner, even more laughable in this instance because Mr. Gibbs was imported from another society. Perhaps if we must blame him, we ought to accuse him of not hiring a team of ace psychics who can predict when and where every crime will occur in T&T so that the police officers can arrive on the scene an hour before instead of after. But we remain babies and babies, you see, cannot be expected to fathom such complexities. They just need their excreta to be removed and their bellies to be filled in a timely manner.
Josiah was another test and we FAILED! His mute, dead body lies as our conviction and punishment.
I still love you T&T but you have to take the lead, I mean, YOU, the people. You will be respected only as much as you respect yourselves.
Some time ago, Minister for Youth and Gender Affairs, Verna St Rose-Greaves announced her Gatekeepers Initiative. In the scheme, twenty persons "from each of Santa Cruz and Covigne Road, Diego Martin, would be trained as “Gatekeepers” on a new $3.2 million, three-year pilot project. They would become the “eyes and ears of their communities”." SOURCE
So much and too late for Josiah, but Minister St Rose-Greaves, while other communities wait for formal training, couldn't your office, together with the Police Service organise some informal community meetings using the social wardens throughout the country to remind people about how they can and must try to make a difference when they observe that their neighbours are at risk? It seems ridiculous that we should have to be taught how to find ways to love each other but for better or for worse, this is the world in which we are to be tested.
.............................................................................................................................. "Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.
Blessed is all of creation Blessed be my beautiful people Blessed be the day of our awakening Blessed is my country Blessed are her patient hills.Mweh ka allay!Guanaguanare
Lord, Please walk beside me through this day. Clear the heavy air with the lightness of Your Presence. Guide my hands and steady my heart that I may give comfort when I cannot give hope, that I may give relief when I do not have a cure, and that I may radiate Your healing peace when the limits of science, time, and the human body overwhelm us all. Amen
Source
Sáncte Míchael Archángele, defénde nos in proélio, cóntra nequítiam et insídias diáboli ésto præsídium. Ímperet ílli Déus, súpplices deprecámur: tuque, prínceps milítiæ cæléstis, Sátanam aliósque spíritus malígnos, qui ad perditiónem animárum pervagántur in múndo, divína virtúte, in inférnum detrúde. Ámen
