SIX members of the TT's 17-strong contingent from the 2024 Paris Olympics, along with eight team officials, will return to this country on August 14.
Lovie Santana-Duke, who was TT's chef de mission for the July 26-August 11 games, told Newsday the contingent includes sprinters Akilah Lewis and Devin Augustine, quarter-milers Elijah Joseph and Renny Quow, and veteran Michelle-Lee Ahye, one of TT's flagbearers for the opening ceremony in Paris.
They will land at Piarco International Airport at approximately 3.10 pm on August 14.
Swimmer Dylan Carter, who competed in the men's 50-metre and 100-metre freestyle events at the Paris Olympics, is expected to arrive at 3.55 pm that day.
Santana-Duke said the remaining 11 athletes are either en route or have already returned to their respective overseas bases.
On August 11, TT's hopes of a podium finish in Paris were dashed when ace cyclist Nicholas Paul was eliminated from the quarterfinal round in the men's keirin event. On the previous day, Paul's teammate Kwesi Browne saw his participation at the games come to an end with a nasty fall in the repechage of the keirin event.
TT finished the Olympics without a medal for the second straight edition, after also returning empty-handed from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
TT's last Olympic medal came at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, where 2012 gold medallist Keshorn Walcott bagged bronze in the men's javelin event.
In Paris, Walcott was one of only two TT athletes to make it to the final in their event, throwing a season's best distance of 86.16 metres to place seventh in the javelin final.
On August 7, Jereem Richards put in TT's most impressive performance at the games when he ran a national record of 43.78 seconds in the men's 400-metre final. Unfortunately for him, his blistering run earned him fourth place – narrowly finishing behind Zambia's Muzala Samukonga (43.74).
Both Augustine and Ahye exited their respective 100m events in their opening round, with the latter slamming some TT fans for their lack of support.
In her first Olympic Games, the 23-year-old Lewis lined up alongside Leah Bertrand and twins Sanaa and Sole Frederick for the women's 4x100m. However, TT finished a disappointing last in the semifinal heat.
Quow, 36, arguably had an Olympic experience to forget, as his shoe fell off midway through his first-leg run in the TT men's 4x400m semifinal heat on August 9. The TT quartet of Quow, Richards, Jaden Marchan and Shakeem McKay finished well behind the pack in their heat, in three minutes, 7.63 seconds (3:06.73).
The 23-year-old Joseph was an unused reserve for TT's 4x400m team. He finished fifth in the 400m final at the NGC National Association of Athletics Administrations Junior and Senior Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on June 29.
The officials expected to return with the athletes are: Santana-Duke, Verne Alleyne (physiotherapist), athletic coach Charles Joseph, manager Dexter Voisin, welfare officer Maria Thomas, social media official Melanie Gulston and massage therapists Brent Elder and Keisha Fraser. (Source: Newsday, Aug 12, 2024)

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Trinidad and Tobago mourns the loss of calypsonian Wilfred “Young Creole” Barker, who passed away on July 22 at age 87.
Young Creole, celebrated for his humorous calypsoes and dynamic stage presence, is known for hits like “Doh Jealous Them” and “Shave Me Barber Man,” and his dramatic rendition of the Mighty Sparrow's "Slave"
His contributions were recently honored by the National Action Cultural Committee. \(Source:  IEnt Live, July 24, 2024)

A Personal Account:
I remember that night quite vividly. It was during the late 1950s in the Morne Diablo area, South Trinidad. My aunt had just given birth, and I was standing outside their home, listening to the pandemonium inside. From where I stood, I could hear the chaotic noises, but I didn’t see anything directly. I was told that my uncle, normally a strong man, was frozen in fear in the corner when he saw the newborn child. Vashti, the mother, was said to be slipping in and out of consciousness.
Inside, Ms. Ingrid, the ‘chaamine’, was struggling to control the situation. She told me later that she tried in vain to hold down the child, but it scratched her fiercely and scurried under the bed. During a brief moment of silence, when the child had stopped screaming and growling, it was said to target the father with insults. With a disturbingly deep, unsettling voice it shouted: "Boysie! Wey yuh mudda? Watch yuh, yuh moorkh!" From outside, I could hear the cries, the screaming, the moving furniture.
Ms. Ingrid said that earlier, as soon as the child was delivered, it asked her in ‘a big man’s voice’ what she was doing there. She said she never expected the raakhas to be that strong, that the “kala jaadu that griping Vashti was too much.”
Ms. Ingrid described the creature as looking like a slippery, black ‘crapaud,’ with teeth like a dog. We were told to go ‘up de road’, away from the house. I heard later that when they eventually mustered the courage to look under the bed, the ‘thing’ was gone.
The trauma of that night left my aunt mute for nearly two years, and my uncle, unable to cope with the stress, fell into alcoholism, which ultimately led to his death. Ms. Ingrid herself was never the same after that night. To be honest, nothing was right after that, especially with Auntie Vash—no amount of puja, or visits from priests and pundits could bring her back to her old self. She eventually passed away in 2004. To this day, the memory of that night haunts me—the eerie cries, the growls, the stories from Ms Ingrid, it was really something else yes.”
- D. Bheepat
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"The Raakhas"
The tale of the “Raakhas” is a chilling legend that likely evolved with the East Indian indentured labourers who came to the Caribbean and was propagated by their descendants. This folklore may have been influenced by the “Rakshasa” of Indian mythology—demonic or ‘goblin-like’ beings known for their shape-shifting abilities, immense strength, and in some instances, an insatiable appetite for human flesh.
In Trinidad, a Raakhas/Raa-khas is a sinister newborn creature, often resembling a young rat, monkey, or frog, with a complexion as dark as night. It bears a high, sloping forehead, and its menacing grin reveals four protruding teeth—two on the upper jaw and two on the lower. Its long fingernails, toenails, and hair add to its eerie appearance, and it may even possess a tail. Upon birth, the raakhas immediately attempts to flee, leaping through windows and scaling rooftops, all the while shrieking the names of its parents as a chilling omen of impending doom.
The chaamine (midwife) faces a grim task: to kill the raakhas by strangling it or crushing its chest with a grinding stone (sil) the moment it is born. If the creature survives, it becomes a relentless predator, seeking to end the lives of its parents and others by clawing at their flesh and piercing their necks with its razor-sharp teeth.
The child never lives beyond a few days; it either perishes naturally or is mercilessly destroyed by human hands. A child is cursed to become a raakhas as a result of its mother's dark karma.
Have you ever heard of this tale?
Further Reading:
- Mahabir, K., & Khan, A. (2010). Indian Caribbean folklore spirits. Chakra Publishing House.
- Pattanaik, D. (2003). Indian mythology: Tales, symbols, and rituals from the heart of the subcontinent. Inner Traditions.
- https://www.nalis.gov.tt/.../Indian-Caribbean-Folklore
(Source: San Fernando North Community Library, July 20, 2024)

​Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has announced that children from hurricane-ravaged regions in Grenada, and St Vincent and the Grenadines will be allowed to enter T&T and seek refuge with their families.
The decision was made yesterday in reaction to the pressing need to help and support the hundreds of individuals in the wake of Hurricane Beryl’s devastation and deaths on the islands. Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines faced significant devastation.
“Given the level of total devastation experienced on these islands, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, acknowledging the deep familial ties between these islands and Trinidad and Tobago, has offered to allow school-age children from the devastated zones to be allowed into Trinidad and Tobago if they have family here who may wish to house them during the school holiday period that is upon us at this time,” the PM said.
Back in 2017, Dr Rowley offered accommodation to Dominicans who were left homeless following the passage of Hurricane Maria. At the time, the usual immigration requirements necessary for entry into the country were waived.
(Source: The Guardian, July 3,2024)