This critical piece of equipment is used to analyse the physical and chemical characteristics of particles in a fluid such as blood.

It will enhance the ability of the medical staff to diagnose and treat cancer in children and adults, significantly affecting the overall diagnosis and survival rate of cancer patients, said a media release.

This RBC Fund was launched in 2009 and focuses on assisting in the treatment and care of children 16 years and under diagnosed with cancer. Assistance is available to children living in Caribbean countries where RBC operates.

Since its inception more than 100 children have benefited from diagnosis and treatment made possible via the fund.

Funding comes from public donations as well as employee and company fund-raising activities, the most significant of which is the annual RBC Race for the Kids, said a media release.

Last held on October 2, 2016, this benchmark event was supported by over 1,500 members of the public and RBC employees, led by the bank’s managing director Darryl White.

Hopelessness, despair, distress, pain and defeatism are some of the more common forms of influence of desperation for many. Life today is extremely challenging, and as I have said repeatedly lack of strong coping mechanisms and personal resilience, usually result in poor decision-making and sometimes fatality depending on the extent of the situation.

Wisdom offers each of us a particular level of IQ that allows us to learn from the experiences of others, but some of my clients have expressed regret in making decisions out of desperation to satisfy some unfortunate demands that confronted them at unguarded moments.

They may have been criticised and/or ostracised, but as the old saying goes “who is in the kitchen feels the heat.” Though our society is gravely affected by various types of hostility, we must find a way to continue to be either our brother’s or sister’s keeper which would minimise desperate occurrences.

When one engages in actions out of desperation, the outcome of such actions at times, can be extremely painful, and as some have indicated, the pain is not worthy of repeating; therefore it is best to include some ammunition tools in your daily life pot to ensure that you are always prepared to deal with challenges spontaneously and effectively. Start by accepting life for what it is, let go of the past, and have faith in yourself and your future.

Remove the lenses of fear which can blind you if you allow them to.

Journalling is an incredible tool that strengthens your life’s journey through the use of positive quotes and reminders; seek to engrave short positive messages and quotes on items used on a daily basis such as your coffee mug, your dinner plate, your cutlery and even your blanket. I can assure you that this concept is extremely powerful as you are constantly reminded of your worth as a wholesome human being, and you are also empowered in becoming the best that you can be. Journalling is also an excellent support system in ensuring consistency in renewed efforts; you also need to monitor your progress, self-reflect and learn from past mistakes.

Avoid creating relationships whether intimate or otherwise that contain toxins sufficient to poison your psyche and would ultimately prevent you from moving forward. Also when your life is transitioning, it is important to maintain a circle of individuals including close family members and friends willing to offer support and assistance to ensure that your navigation is successful.

Creating a space and pause between a chaotic environment and your own personal territory is critical to one’s survival; if this is not done, commitments would not be fulfilled, and ultimately goals remain unachieved.

Sandrine Rattan is a communications/ branding consultant, author and president of the International Women’s Resource Network (IWRN) Contact: thecorporatesuitett@ gmail.com or intlwomensresourcenetwork@ gmail.com

Both Nicholas Smith and Joshua Samuel netted hattricks, Jaden McKree got a double while Jaden Perryman and Marc Wharfe scored one goal each.

Smith started the rout in the 2nd minute and added further goals in the 41st and 46th.

Samuel’s goals came in the 31st, 38th and 46th and McKree found the net in the 19th and 33rd while Perryman got his as early as the 7th minute and Wharfe in the 27th.

Under-15 Division results: CROWN TRACE FC (5) Jamal Barbour 2, Ivan Dos Santos Tevin Ashton, Malik Robinson vs TUNAPUNA TITANS (0); MARABELLA FAMILY CRISIS CENTRE (1) Noah Simmons vs CENTRAL SOCCER WORLD (1) Kendell Alexander.

Under 17 Division: TODDS ROAD UNITED (3) vs MAGUAYA UNITED (0) -Default; CAP OFF YOUTHS FC (1) Jelani Calliste vs STE MADELINE STRIKERS (0); CROWN TRACE FC (3) Jabari Bannister 2, Jirel Meloney vs TUNAPUNA TITANS (0); CENTRAL SOCCER WORLD (3) vs GASPARILLO YOUTHS FC (0) -Default.

Under 20 Division: NEW SETTLEMENT SPORTS CLUB (3) Christopher Samlal, Jadon Walcott, Runako Lezama vs ROYSTONIA YOUTH FC (0); EDINBURGO 500 (2) N’Kosi McQuuen, Brandon Samuel vs TRINCITY NATIONALS (2) Sherwin Williams 2; CENTRAL SOCCER WORLD (3) Eliah King 2, Theophilus Bourne , vs GASPARILLO YOUTHS FC (1) Akeel Phillip; SKHY FC (2) Keyshawn Villafanna, Tevin Lessey vs PRINCESS TOWN SPORTS ACADEMY (0); CROWN TRACE FC (7)

And it will take place at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on March 7 The games were inaugurated in 1987 when Mrs Marcelle Dolly and Lennox Toussaint were the Milo representatives.

Then, only 13 schools competed for honours.

But this year. 22 schools have indicated their willingness to strive for honours.

And Diamond Vale Government will be seeking their 30th title, having won every year they competed.

Prior to the games, however, there will be a Milo Sports Quiz at which Elijah Weekes of Diamond Vale Government topped the semi-finals with maximum 40 points. In a close contest, Makeda Edwards of Diego Martin Government finished runner-up with 39 points, Filling third place was Ijah Vincent also of Diego Martin Government with 38 points while Anastas Cashie of La Puerta Government was fourth with 37 ? points.

The final of this quiz will be held on March 3 EducationMinister Anthony Garcia and Sports Minister darryl Smith ar among government officials invited to the games billed as “The End of an Era”.

The 23-year-old Browne qualified for the UCI World Championships in Hong Kong in April on the basis of his seventh-place finish overall in the World Cup standings.

Browne did not advance to the major finals at Los Angeles and had to battle in the minor (seventh- 12th places) finals. However, he suffered a crash and had to settle for joint 11th spot.

Earlier on Sunday, in the preliminary round, Browne came second in heat three to book a spot in the semis.

Last week in Colombia, Browne wrote his name into the history books after finishing in the highest position by a TT cyclist in the Keirin at a UCI World Cup. Browne’s landmark 5th place, also saw him becoming TT ’s first cyclist to qualify for the 1-6 Final of a Men’s Keirin at a UCI World Cup.

At the mecca for track cycling in South America, Santiago de Cali in Colombia, Browne lined up against former World Keirin champions Francois Pervis (FRA) and Shane Perkins (AUS), former World Cup Keirin Champion – Fabian Puerta (COL), Tomas Babek (CZE) and Tomoyuki Kawabata (JPN). The pocket rocket was able to seal fifth (5th) place overall with the hometown favourite, Fabian Puerta taking first ahead of Pervis and Babek.

Also picked are several up and coming stars including Darren Samlal, who along with Mohammed were key members of the South Zone team which beat Central last Wednesday in the final of the Shell sponsored inter zone tournament.

Others expected to benefit greatly from the tour are Jalen Agard, Nicholas Ali, Isiah Gomez, Justin Ramsumair, Rodney Beharry, Christian Bernard, Vanir Maharaj, Brandon Samaroo, Kellon London, Adam Umraw and Arjuna Sukhu, who resides in Canada.

The development tour is an initiative of First Citizens Clarke Road United which is in its sixth year and features members of its highly-regarded youth programme.

The club, based in a rural district in south Trinidad has been contributing significantly to the holistic development of its community in various ways.

However, cricket has emerged as the activity for which it is best known with the club’s home at Wilson Road, Penal now the preferred venue of Presentation College, San Fernando and other schools in the area, for cricket, school sports and other related activities.

Jyd Goolie, a ICC World Under- 19 Championship winner with the West Indies last year and promising player Anderson Phillip are two of the recent graduates of the club’s youth development efforts whose selection on the national cricket team is among a long list of the club’s successes.

The youth team is scheduled to play five matches on their tour which ends March 1. The matches are against Enmore Sports Club, Everest CC, Maltenoes CC, Albion CC and Rose Hall CC Manager of the touring team is Chandradath Mahabir with former national off spinner Mukesh Persad as its coach.

Some parents have accompanied the group.

Shallun Bobb, Ryan Augustine and Kelvon Charles got the other strikes for Trinidad and Tobago while Rohan Reid registered a hat-trick for the Jamaica outfit.

Hislop, a former TT men’s team defender and member of the national team who featured in the 2001 FIFA Under-17 World Championships here in the twin-island republic, opened the scoring in the seventh minute.

The scoreboard read 1-0 at the end of the first, of the three, 12-minute periods.

Both teams traded goals in the second period with Reid equalising for Jamaica in the 15th minute.

But Appoo fired TT ahead in the 16th and Bobb netted a spectacular volley after flicking the ball over his marker’s head in the 18th.

Reid reduced the deficit to 3-2 with a free-kick in the 20th but Woodley headed his team’s fourth goal seconds afterwards.

Reid completed his hat-trick in the 21st while moments later Appoo netted his second item for TT .

The TT squad, who lead 5-3 at the end of the second period, scored four unanswered goals in the last 12 minutes, courtesy of Hislop (29th), Augustine (30th), Woodley (33rd) and Charles (34th). On Saturday, TT lost their fifth place playoff match 5-2 to Bahamas who got a brace from their captain Gavin Christie.

In a low-key opening, a bobble in the sand denied Christie the chance to open the scoring with six minutes on the board.

Neither side could find a breakthrough before the interval, Trinidad goalkeeper Zane Coker keeping a long-range Kyle Williams strike at bay early in the second frame.

But the deadlock was eventually broken when Gary Joseph calmly slipped the ball past Coker one-on-one.

And the lead was doubled when Christie prodded in his side’s second from close range.

With the hosts in control going into the latter stages of the game, skipper Christie registered again when he won a 50-50 challenge with goalkeeper Victor Thomas and finished into an open net.

Trinidad threw everything at Bahamas but were hit by a Justin St. Fleur sucker punch when the in-form forward clipped in his side’s fourth following a swift throw from goalkeeper Torin Ferguson.

Jesse Bailey did get Trinidad on the board while Lemuel Lyons also slotted home a penalty but it proved too little, too late, as Joseph’s penalty wrapped up proceedings en route to a meeting with USA for fifth place.

In other action on Sunday, the United States pipped hosts Bahamas 4-2 in the fifth-placed match while El Salvador hammered Guadeloupe 7-2 in the bronze medal fixture.

And, in the final, Panama whipped 2015 champions Mexico 4-2 for their first-ever CONCACAF Beach Soccer crown.

Both Panama and Mexico, as well as hosts Bahamas, will represent CONCACAF at the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in April and May.

“I am going to call him (Sparrow) tonight (Sunday). I am sure he is following the story already,” an elated Liverpool, 76, told reporters at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, shortly after winning the prestigious competition for a ninth time with an overall score of 429 points.

For his history-breaking feat, Liverpool, a Professor of Calypso Arts at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, won a hefty pay packet of $700,000.

Singing Learn From Arithmetic, a telling, cleverly-written commentary on child marriage, Liverpool revealed he had contemplated staying away from the competition but Sparrow encouraged him to participate.

“Sparrow told me to go ahead and do it. I was trying to stay out but Sparrow told me to go ahead and do the ninth because the young fellas would have won it, if I don’t. So, it is a good feeling,” he said of the victory.

The veteran bard, who began singing calypso in 1967, won the Humming Bird Medal Silver at the independence Awards in 1976 for his contribution to calypso.

He is also recognised as a historian, researcher and cultural activist.

Liverpool said the victory was doubly significant as it coincided with his 50th year in the artform.

“This is my 50th year in calypso and it is a real epoch win for me because after 50 years to be among the youths and still leading them and winning them, it is a good feeling.” Placing second with a score of 423 points was former monarch Karene Asche with Caught In The Whirlwind, a nostalgic presentation about the way TT used to be before it plunged into decay through crime, violence, corruption and immorality. She received $400,000.

Heather Mac Intosh came in third with Games, an almost bitter take of the controversy that surrounded Thema Williams rejection as TT’s representative in gymnastics at last year’s Olympic Games in Brazil. Mac Intosh got 416 points and received $200,000.

Mac Intosh’s presentation, which featured several young girls performing flips and other routines on mats, culminated with a surprise appearance by Williams on stage. The crowd roared.

Fourth place went to Terri Lyons, who gave a spirited performance to The Phrase, which addressed the injustices plaguing African peoples.

Lyons, who got 415 points, was along a slew of finalists who used props to enhance their presentations.

Among the others were sixth place finisher and last year’s monarch Devon Seale with I, Carmona, Kurt Allen “The Last Badjohn of Calypso” with My Corn Tree and Main Witness by National Calypso Queen Sasha- Ann Moses.

Moses and Allen placed 14th and 13th, respectively, im the competition.

The 17-member line-up – the largest in a monarch competition – featured a mixture of youth and experience. It included several past monarchs and a few first-timers on the “Big Stage.” One such newcomer, attorney Rondell Donawa, grabbed the fifth spot, ahead of seasoned monarch finalists Seale, Weston Rawlins (Cro Cro), Roderick Gordon (Chuck) and Victoria Cooper.

The dapper-looking Donawa sang Lip Service, a song about TT citizens’ penchant for “talk with no action.” For the most part, the offerings, through just one round of calypsoes, dealt largely with social ills plaguing the country – crime, domestic abuse, corruption and other injustices. There also was a sprinkling of nation-building tunes.

But the night belonged to Liverpool, who, singing in position 17, came into the finals as an overwhelming favourite to take the crown.

Dressed as a graduate student, complete with red cape and matching mortar board, Liverpool had the audience lapping up his every word as he dissected the controversial child marriage issue, including the stance of the Hindu community.

The song’s tag line, “So, Sat Maharaj, 75 cyah go into 14,” sent the crowd wild.

Surrounded by his manager, family members and supporters, Liverpool told reporters the tune was simply a manifestation of what the artform is supposed to be.

“Calypso is not just about the moon and the stars. It is about the craft and issues,” he said.

“The thought process was just that I thought about the issue and because of the event, I thought how best could I sell this to the public and I looked for the best way to entertain them, let them laugh a little, but at the same time, see the seriousness of thee issue.” Liverpool, one of the stalwarts at the Kalypso Revue, also responded to concerns that he was the sole member of the tent to advance to Sunday’s final from last week’s Calypso Fiesta, Skinner Park, San Fernando.

“This show’s that our tent was the best tent. We feel very hard about the harsh judging but it shows us that we have one of the best tents in Trinidad,” he said, alluding to his victory.

On threats by the Revue to quit being a member of the representing Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation over what it considered to be bias in the judging process for major competitions, Liverpool said: “It is not TUCO to blame too much but the judges.” The calypsonian said judges needed proper training.

“What we have to do is train the judges because judges have to be literate and just understand the artform. So, I don’t blame TUCO too much. You just have to select judges who understand the artform.” Liverpool said the jury was still out on whether he would seek a tenth monarch title in next year’s competition.

OFFICIAL STANDINGS

1) CHALKDUST (Dr Hollis Liverpool)
2) KARENE ASCHE
3) HEATHER MAC INTOSH
4) TERRI LYONS
5) RONDELL DONAWA
6) DEVON SEALE
7) CHUCK GORDON (Roderick Gordon)
8) VICTORIA COOPER-RAHIM
(Queen Victoria)
9) LADY GYPSY (Lynette Steele)
10) ALL ROUNDER (Anthony Hendrickson)
11) CRO CRO (Weston Rawlins)
12) GYPSY (Winston Peters)
13) KURT ALLEN
14) SASHA-ANN MOSES
15) FYA EMPRESS (Lornette
Nedd-Reid
16) MEGUELLA SIMON
17) LADY ADANNA (Marsha Davis-
Clifton)

Thousands of of locals and foreigners alike are in for a massive post-Carnival disappointment as the expected last lap of Carnival will not be presented.

In an interview with Newsday during the final of the Small Band category of the National Panorama competition on Thursday at Skinner Park, San Fernando, Pan Trinbago’s president Keith Diaz said, “We have no money so we cannot do anything about that show. Normally we use the gate receipts from Panorama to put on the Champs in Steel.

“The National Carnival Commission (NCC) has all the money from Panorama. Champs is a Pan Trinbago presentation. We book the artistes, but I am not doing anything that will put the organisation in a bad light. I cannot commit to artistes and then turn around and tell them I cannot pay them for their performances. Artistes are already calling Pan Trinbago about the show.” Diaz said Pan Trinbago is the only organisation which gives the winners in mas, pan and calypso/ soca a chance to show off their winning costumes and performances.

“We showcase the juniors and seniors in all their glory. The show is a true spectacle to the visitors but that does not seem possible this year.” Asked about finances for the show over the years Diaz said, “We used the gate receipts, some sponsorship and the ministry also helped. “Former ministers Marlene McDonald gave us, Joan Yuille-Williams gave us, Gypsy (Winston Peters) and even Lincoln Douglas contributed to the production of Champs of Steel Plus.

“But this minister is not interested in helping culture, she only studying to mash up everything.

“The minister not observing that 90 percent of pan players are the youths of this nation, pan keeping them off the streets and away from crime.”

Joseph told Newsday yesterday that since the first incident occurred four years ago, she had been appealing to the authorities to put something in place to ensure it did not happen again.

But the appeals seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

“I don’t know if they are waiting for someone to die because of this, but the authorities have to deal with this,” said Joseph yesterday when Newsday visited the area.

“My house is in a very dangerous spot.” Newsday was told that at about 10.25 am on Sunday, the driver of a white Nissan B14 was traversing along Hillview Extension #1, on Factory Road, Diego Martin. Just then, it is alleged that the brakes on the vehicle gave out and the car rolled down the hill and stopped at the bottom of a precipice. Unfortunately for Joseph and her family, her house was at the bottom of that precipice.

Her son, Anthony, was sleeping in his room when the car crashed. The vehicle smashed into his bedroom wall.

“Boy, I just heard the noise, and I felt something hit my head,” Anthony said.

“When I heard that, I just jumped out of my sleep and ran out of the room. It was only after I realised that it was a car that now crashed into my bedroom wall.” Joseph’s house is located at the bottom of a precipice along a steep and narrow road.

She explained yesterday that drivers who are not accustomed to navigating the steep and narrow road usually come into difficulty when turning the corner above their home. As a result, the family would usually see vehicles teetering at the top of the precipice about to fall. Joseph also said that the first time that a vehicle crashed into their house, it was a panel van, and it smashed into her bedroom.

Since the first accident four years ago, Jones has been pleading with the Diego Martin Corporation to put up a barrier on the road. It had not been put up. Councillor for the area, Kathy Christopher, promised that there would be a barrier erected soon.

The family was told that about two or three weeks ago, measurements for the barrier were made, but they were not given a specific date as to when it would be constructed.