Head Coach Dennis Lawrence put the players who were inactive on Friday night through a session while the on-field players underwent a recovery workout at the Ato Boldon Stadium.

A 23-man squad minus the suspended Alvin Jones who was red carded on Friday, will head off to Panama City this evening.

“It’s a situation where we got to pick ourselves up and go again. We have another match to play and we’ve got to get our act together and focus on what is ahead,” Lawrence said.

“We’re all very disappointed with the result and the way in which things went down but the way the other results went on Friday, we’ve go to keep believing that we’re still in it and carry ourselves in a manner where we can keep fighting,” he added.

TT forward Willis Plaza, who came on in the 55th minute and put in a lively shift up top against Honduras, added that there was an obvious feel of dismay in the camp due the result but he was certain the spirits will lift again heading into the Panama affair.

“Yes we are disappointed. We felt this was a game we had to get a win and we didn’t make it happen. We got a goal back from Joevin (Jones) but we we couldn’t get the second goal to level it. When you look at the other results on the night it makes it even more disappointing.

Now we have to lift our heads and try to improve and do much more in the next game. I think we have the strengths to pull it off but it all comes down to how strong we can be mentally and physically in the next game,” Plaza said.

“We will have to dig deeper now.” In their previous World Cup qualifier against Panama in Panama City, TT came away 1-0 winners courtesy of a Stern John second half winner in the 2006 Final Round of qualification.

Lawrence was also part of the line up. In the most recent outing between the two nations there, TT were 2-1 winners in a friendly in 2015 by way of goals from Kenwyne Jones and Radanfah Abu Bakr.

Honduras head coach Jorge Luis Pinto said that his team got a dream start against TT in Friday’s 2-1 victory.

Speaking after the match, the Colombian-born head coach said: “We made the best possible start tonight. We got two early chances and we made sure with it. I was very happy with the way the team pressured the Trinidad and Tobago team and it put their game off.”

Campbell finished seventh on the overall table, with 96 points in Pam Am event, resulting in her being crowned the best Caribbean athlete of the Women’s Omnium.

Speaking to Newsday after her event, Campbell Stated, “The tournament has been really good to me and so far it is a very good experience as I have been competing against world champions.” Teniel crashed in the Tempo Race event which threw her back on the standings and also physically as she had to battle her way back up the ranks while riding through the slight injuries she sustained to her hip.

She continued, “In the end, it really paid off as the nation saw how much heart I had to recover as I really wanted to, at least, be crowned the Caribbean champion.” Yesterday, Campbell competed in the 500M event and today she will be in action when she attempts to win a Pan Am medal in the Women’s Keirin.

Jennifer Valente of the United States recorded a total of 160 overall points to claim the gold medal of the Women’s Omnium while Mexican Yarley Salazar managed silver with her overall 134 points.

Angie Gonzalez representing Venezuela secured the final podium spot with 128 points. Rounding off the Caribbean podium were Cuban Idarys Cervantes (92 pts) in second and Tamiko Butler of Antigua (68 pts). Mexico’s representation in the Women’s Sprint grabbed the gold and silver after Luz Daniela Gaxiola finished in a time of 11.48 seconds and Poala Verdugo in 11.62 seconds, respectively. USA’s Madalyn Godby took the bronze with her time of 11.84 seconds.

In the Men’s Points Race, Eric Young of the United States captured the gold medal with 21 points where he was closely followed by Chilean Antonio Cabrera on 19 points. Columbia’s Edwin Avila secured the bronze medal in the event, also finishing with 19 points.

The individual Men’s Pursuit saw TT’s Jovian Gomez placing 17th overall in the event. Canada took both gold and silver as Derek Gee and Jay Lamoureux secured the points race, respectively, followed by Ignacio Delgado of Mexico for bronze. The event concludes this evening at the National Cycling Centre, Couva, pedalling off at 6 pm. Entrance to the evening event cost TT $50 while this morning’s action, starting at 10 am, is free to the public.

But also like religion, education is being shamelessly exploited for financial gain at the detriment of many (especially poorer) people in society.

I was really ignorant of this from the angle of education, as it was only after several recent conversations with seasoned teachers and parents preparing their children for the new school term, did I become cognisant of the different ways in which the education of children is being exploited: textbooks, lessons, uniforms, fundraisers, donations and a lot of self-serving educators.

At both the primary and secondary school levels, it begins with the book lists; the prices of the many books required for a primary school education is baffling to me.

The substantive content of the English language or mathematics have not changed since I was in primary school in the 90s, so why do the text books? Is there some new way to construct sentences or to do calculations that I am unaware of? If that is not the case, it seems as though publishers are prolonging the life of their textbooks by taking the same material, making minor changes and switching things around so the same information appears on different pages in the “new edition.” In addition to forcing parents to buy these “new editions” with all the old content, some schools monopolise the buying process.

For example, a primary school in the Diego Martin area directs all parents to purchase books at a particular book store in Curepe. How and why is this even allowed? It would be very interesting to know what the true underlying relationship is between the owner of the book store and the principal of that school. And just when you thought the only expense was the exorbitantly priced textbooks, there is a uniform for every occasion at the school and transportation in one of those private vans is increasing by the term. In my time, using public transportation was fairly reliable and definitely safe for both male and female students. Nowadays, no parent who can afford otherwise, allows their female children to travel even to the nearest school, and who can really blame these private school vans for cashing in on the escalating crime rate? The secondary level is no different.

I saw booklists with prices for two “prestige” schools in Port-of- Spain, and the books for one form two student at a faith-based institution was in excess of $3,000. Three grand for textbooks! The other non-faith-based school had some of its books provided by the Government and, still, the costs weren’t far off. The provision of free textbooks by the Government was one of the first things the current Minister of Education decided to cut and since then, he has been slashing funding to education like a man possessed.

The offering of after-school lessons needs to be monitored closely because it is exploitation in its purest sense. Suddenly, it seems as though lessons are being offered everywhere and by everybody in every subject area. It really is akin to those doctors at the general hospitals who refer patients to their private practice to rip them off on the outside.

Why exactly do so many children need after-school lessons? Which begs the question: are teachers not teaching during the day? Lessons used to be a one-on-one, more personal experience, but these classes are now as big as the regular classes at school, so what is the extra cost for? Why can the curriculum be taught properly at lessons, but not at school? Figure that one out.

Now, as we should all know, the secondary school system is twotiered: there are the fully funded Government schools like many of the junior and senior secondary schools (call it what you like now), and the Government-assisted faithbased schools like colleges and convents.

Yet, with the Government subvention, parents are being asked to purchase paper and ink for printers, and apparently become an Office Depot for the school.

Apparently, some principals are now being overly frugal with Government subvention to highlight their ability to “save the ministry money” while parents carry the burden. Now we understand the “coincidence” as to why the children of affluent and influential people in our society end up at a select few colleges and convents, which also “coincidentally” explains why those schools are top class in all aspects.

Education is now as big a business as having a church, and it is sad that the people most af fected by the exploitation are the ones who deserve the most assistance.

It is bumpy, wavy and dangerous.

The UNC must be blamed for this dilapidated road, which is a main road to get to Bejucal Village.

This road has been in disrepair for decades.

I am now appealing to the Government to expand and pitch this road for light and heavy vehicles and drivers.

It is unfortunate that the UNC neglected this particular road.

I believe that before Christmas Warren Road will be fixed.

AHAMAD KHAYYAM Curepe

Since the eclipse cannot be seen with the naked eye, Muslims must have relied on astronomical calculation to determine the exact time when the moon eclipses the sun.

Perhaps astronomical calculation would now be the norm in determining the sighting of the moon for Eid and thus bring about closure to the annual controversy with respect to the sighting of the moon.

IMAAM IQBAL HYDAL Felicity

Alex Lopez (sixth minute) and Alberth Elis (16th) were the early goal-getters for Honduras to put the hosts under tremendous pressure while Joevin Jones (67th) replied for the hosts.

Also on Friday, Mexico edged Panama 1-0 while Costa Rica got the better of their hosts United States 2-0.

Currently, after seven matches, Mexico are assured of a spot in Russia with 17 points, followed by Costa Rica (14), United States and Costa Rica (eight apiece), Panama (seven) and TT (three).

With three games left, against Panama on Tuesday followed by encounters against US and Mexico, it will take a miracle for the Trinidad and Tobago team to earn a place in Russia.

“The first half we were very poor,” said Lawrence during the post-game media conference.

“It’s not what I expected. I don’t understand what happened to the boys. I don’t know if the occasion got to them but it wasn’t a first half that we expected.” He continued, “It’s no point giving away two goals and trying to get back in the second half.

We gave ourselves a mountain to climb.

“Every time that Honduras got into our box, we looked like we were going to concede.” With regular captain Kenwyne Jones out with a knee injury, goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams wore the armband. But Lawrence was displeased with the lack of leadership and inspiration on the field of play.

“In the first half, we were looking at the senior players to grab hold of the situation, calm things down and ensure we got a hold of the situation,” said the TT coach.

“It was just poor in the first 45 minutes.” Looking ahead to the Panama game he said, “We all need to have a look at ourselves and try and see if we can correct this quickly.” The game was played in front of a crowd estimated at a mere 5,000, showing there was no need for the temporary bleachers present, while the lights on the south-eastern pylon were non-functional.

This game was moved from the customary Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo as a means to having a sold-out crowd and better atmosphere which failed to materialise.

“Lawrence, however, made it clear that “the venue was not an issue. The performance of our team, that was an issue.” The ex-national defender also hinted at changes within the team, following the Panama fixture.

“At the moment we’ve got a squad to go into the next game.

When that is over, (the technical staff) will continue to look at the local players to see if there is any available to make the squad. I’ll continue to look at the foreign players, the players that have not represented Trinidad and Tobago but hold a Trinidad and Tobago passport because we need to improve, we need to start developing players to understand what we require of them.” Joevin’s younger brother Alvin was a half-time replacement for Aubrey David, but was sent off by referee Fernando Guerrero of Mexico for a hard tackle on midfielder Alfredo Mejia in the 57th.

Explaining the switch in personnel, the TT coach said, “(It) was a tactical substitution. I felt they were getting too much joy on that side so I brought Alvin on to see if he could stop (that).”

He turns 60 tomorrow, September 4.

Bisnath, founder of the San Fernando School of Arts Sports and Culture of Henry Street, San Fernando, is doing it the moko jumbie way. On September 10, which he has dubbed Moko Jumbie Day, Bisnath hopes to rally, among other moko jumbies, the hundreds of stilt walkers he has tutored for the last two decades to Skinner Park, San Fernando.

He has chosen this venue to create what, he hopes, will be history, as he will be attempting to better the Guinness Book of World Records’ entry for the largest gathering of moko jumbies in one place. The existing record is 959 stilt-walking students from 17 schools at Winkelhart Spijkenisse, Netherlands, on September 16, 2011.

Bisnath, however, is even more ambitious. Since 2017 is a milestone year for him, his aim is to have 2,017 moko jumbies on show– everyone dressed in national colours of red, white and black.

Early last month, he had just over the 700 mark but to go after the record he needed to get many more moko jumbies.

He invited all interested in being part of this history-making event, including families, clubs and social groups, for daily training in stilt walking for the big day on “second ground” at Skinner Park.

Bisnath said the excitement has quietly built up. He added that among those in training were two senior citizens, 70, and, 78, and he expected stilt walkers from the neighbouring islands, whom he has trained in the past, to return for the event.

For those coming to witness the largest gathering of moko jumbies in the country, Bisnath is asking that they walk with non-perishable food items to donate to the less fortunate.

He is also asking for school items such as copy books, pens and pencils.

Spectators will, for the first time, see him mount the stilts in public– he said his stilts would be built out of matchsticks “and matchsticks alone.” In an interview with Sunday Newsday, Bisnath said: “This is my way of saying thanks to God, family, friends and employer for the support over the years.” For the past 22 years, Bisnath has been changing lives not only in his community and environs but across the length and breath of TT and even the region through the art form of stilt walking. He has turned his home at Henry Street into a school and the street has become a training ground.

At any given time, students could be seen practising up and down the hills of San Fernando. Bisnath boasts of a presence of the art form in most public and private schools whether at the level of kindergarten, primary or secondary school.

His motto remains Say yes to life–Get high on stilts.

“Everybody wants to walk stilts, it’s like the latest craze,” Bisnath told Sunday Newsday as he went on to explain how popular the art has become.

“When a parent or a teacher brings a child to train, the adults themselves get involved and learn to walk.” Moko jumbies are part of most national celebrations. Bisnath said he worked with a number of local celebrities who were in love with the art form.

“It is not a grass-roots thing,” he added. “I often privately train the children of some of the nation’s leading personalities to walk on stilts. Moko jumbie is big.” Moko jumbies are in demand and he now trains as many as 100 stilt walkers in a day.

Training starts for children from as early as three years of age. One of his sons began walking on stilts at the age of 11 months. He is now 16 years and one of the leading stilt walkers in the country.

The San Fernando School of the Arts, Sports and Culture has a core of 40 strong and disciplined stilt walkers who are often called upon to fly the flag both home and abroad. He said discipline was key in the school as only the best of his students would be allowed to represent the organisation.

“Yes, my students have to be at the top of their game to be on the road,” Bisnath said. “I do not tolerate indiscipline.” On Moko Jumbie Day in Skinner Park, Bisnath will have the support of steelband, calypso and mas.

“Traditional mas is getting the support as we attempt to break the world record,” he said.

Bisnath has received the blessings of the San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello and the San Fernando City Council in his latest endeavour.

Regrello said, “As a hard-working San Fernandian, we are supporting him. He has been a soldier for the art form over the years and has kept San Fernando on the map.” Interested persons can contact 364-2706/750-3301 or email junior_ bisnath @yahoo.com Facebook: juniorbisnath/whatsapp

Unfortunately, in pointing out that there are things that represent the country and nation, such as the flag, national anthem the national bird, Deosaran inadvertently overlooked the individual and the citizen/s.

This is of extreme importance because if there are individuals/citizens who represent TT with distinction — Deosaran is himself indeed one of them — then the answer to the question is patriotism dead is quite obviously a resounding no.

Interestingly enough, however, your other columnist, Jamille Broome, in his extremely sarcastic “What it means to be ‘ah Trini’,” chose to focus on the behavioural side while Deosaran placed emphasis on the “symbolic.” I most respectfully advance to your readers that the greater hope for us having a more enlightened and purposed appreciation of the concepts of patriot and patriotism resides with us having a clear, focused, engaged and active appreciation of the achievements of our countrymen and women.

What do I mean by this? Let’s take for example the idea of the establishment of a maritime industry in TT .

Anyone with vision examining a world map would recognise the extremely valuable strategic maritime and even geopolitical location of TT , particularly in the context of the Central America/South America shipping lanes. (Raleigh clearly did not stop in La Brea by accident.) Yet, though some 44 years (1973 -2017) have elapsed since Harold and Kwailan La Borde circumnavigated the globe, not once but twice, on a self-made 40-foot ketch, we have failed to actualise that wellspring of patriotism and national pride — against such masterful accomplishments — so as to foster the requisite sense of industry, maritime purpose and destiny bounded in faith.

Today, there is nowhere on the horizon the La Borde line of barge, pirogue, schooner, ketch, boat, yacht or ship. This despite the fact that we clearly do indeed have the requisite expertise, as Harold La Borde himself so effectively demonstrated.

In the 15th century, with the prospects of reaching Asia by sea, those monarchs with vision called their best navigators, mathematicians, geographers, architects, scientists, weapons experts and shipbuilders together to launch enterprise. The rest is history.

(For us in TT the word enterprise unfortunately tends to be associated with crime.) When the people of TT rally they are capable of accomplishing great things but it all has to do with how we seek to conceptualise and contextualise the word patriot and, more importantly, how we seek to actualise such an understanding on the basis of who we are and the intrinsic value our accomplishments.

DAVID MOWLAH-BAKSH Vistabella

In east and west Trinidad, the festival is just over 25 years old, these areas having adopted the tradition later than south Trinidad where the Penal/Debe area has been celebrating it for well over one hundred years. It began as a farmer’s festival according to sources at the Suchit Trace Mandir in Penal.

Suchit Trace and the Ramai Trace Mandirs are two of the earliest known sites for the festival.

It was a time of drought. The then Puzzle Island, (now the site of the Suchit Trace temple), was inhabited by a few East Indians who had moved away from plantations in the early 1900s and established a small community.

The Elephant-Headed god (Gajanananda) was propitiated for relief from the drought. As the remover of obstacles Ganesh is the first to be worshipped by Hindus at the beginning of any task. Sources could not confirm where the tradition of visarjan (immersion) of the clay image had come from. It had always been a practice in their community that they have carried on for over a century.

The image of Ganesh is perhaps one of the best representations of the Trinidadian Hindu, in fact, the Trinidadian herself. The combination of man, animal and God representative of this hybridization of an identity that bestows us with the privilege of imagination for this in-betweenness of the diaspora grants us unbounded creativity.

Richard Rampersad, a young, upcoming local artist for instance has several drawings of this divine figure. When asked why this preoccupation he ascribes it to his attraction towards the hybrid, perhaps the reason for his love of the image of the god.

Ganesh is the divine scribe, another aspect of the divinity that makes him an appropriate representation of our diasporic condition.

He is symbolic of our fluid identities, an identity that allows us to re-tell our stories, to re-invent narratives.

“The re-telling of literature, has always been a part of Hindu tradition,” Raviji, founder and former leader of the Hindu Prachar Kendra, says. And Ganesh takes the oral narrative of the sage Vyas and enshrines it in the written text which he himself notates. He is chosen by the sage because of his intelligence and writes on the condition that the sage does not stop his narrative.

Writing a text dictated in the ancient Sanskrit language also required knowledge of the intricate grammatical rules and rhythm of the language.

Given that the Mahabharata is one of the longest epic poems in the world, also would have required a scribe bestowed with the patience to sit through the oral transmission of what is a highly complex narrative and the intelligence to follow not only the main flow but that of the many other narratives within the text. One story surrounding the broken tusk of Ganesh is related to this writing. During the writing of the epic, his pen wears out. In order that the flow of the writing continued unbroken, he breaks off one of his tusks and uses it as a pen.

These stories are all symbolic material for an interpretation of the importance of this divinity to a society like ours, for the creation of the Caribbean diaspora is in itself an epic narrative, stories within stories, layered and still evolving.

There is always scope, for our island is new and we are yet to build further narratives. Here, founded on societies steeped in oral traditions we have the facility to rework these and adapt them for our own uses.

For most Hindus, Ganesh is the first deity to be worshipped before any undertaking. The eleven-day festival dedicated to this divinity has grown phenomenally but, apart from the joys of community and the inevitable personal pride some take in the size of the image on display, it is also prudent to remember the symbolism inherent in Ganesh.

Not only does he represent the power of the intelligence, but he is also the power of creativity, persistence and the patience to narrate ourselves. For us, perhaps he is an appropriate symbol of the privileges of diaspora. The Ganesh Festival ends on Tuesday.

My condolences to the bereaved family. He died doing what he loved.

I remember making that same trek in 1979. I wish therefore to offer some timely advice: * Ensure the hiking guide is competent.

A member of the Hiking Guides Association.

Not just someone with a cutlass.

Everyone is an expert.

* Ensure the hike is suitable for all.

* Communicate with the police station in the area on arrival and departure.

* Be fit.

* Wear appropriate footwear and clothing. This is not a fashion show.

* Have a map of the area and compass.

* Wear a hat.

* Use a backpack. Have your hands free.

* Wear sunglasses.

* Take along extra food, water.

* Have rain gear and extra clothing.

* Take along matches, a torchlight and a whistle.

* Have a first aid kit and a qualified first aider.

* Have a knife or multipurpose tool.

* Stick together, this is not a race.

* Maintain regular checks on all personnel.

When things go well everyone wants to take the credit. When something goes wrong nobody is responsible.

We need a buddy system. Why and how was this brother able to slip away? We must ensure a similar accident never happens again. We all need to learn from this. My safety, your safety is our responsibility.

AV RAMPERSAD Princes Town