Newsletter for the Alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.
Caracas, 16 of October 2010 No.467
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends,
In this issue I am asking you to make an effort to help our friend Kazim Abasali in his effort to keep the WEB page, not only with articles but with financial support, specially the yearly expenses.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...6 Oct 2010
From: kazim abasali
Hi Ladislao,
Thank you for your response.
I wish your trip to TT to be a fruitful one.
And I look forward to working more closely with you to support you.
Blessings to you and your family dear friend......
Kazim
--------------------------------------------.
On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 8:47 AM,
ladislao kertesz <kertesz12@yahoo.com> wrote:
Dear Kazim,
I have not answered sooner, but I have read your letters.
Thank you for your comments,
I shall be travelling tomorrow to TT and with all the preparations and all, I have not had time to write you as I should.
As I told you long time ago, all efforts are appreciated and we should cooperate with each other.
But, each of us should continue with our "pet hobby" that is, do as we feel and cooperate with the ALUMNI.
Until the Association is not ready, with some finances, to hire a permanent person, maybe Chris??, it is difficult to consolidate the gains in a routine manner.
I shall be more extensive in a future mailing, and promise to comment on you mailings, but this is to let you know that I have received your emails.
God bless
Ladislao
------------------------------------------------.
From: kazim abasali <kazim.asaatt@gmail.com>
Sent: Tue, October 5, 2010 10:40:07 AM
Hi Ladislao,
Hope all is well.
This email is to let you know that I too agree with Don that you are, and have been the one person keeping this Abbey group alive, by the sharing of emails in your circulars.
And I want to continue to support you as much as I can, for the website was created with this in mind.
When I met Don in Trinidad, he made certain to let me know to give my support to what you were already doing as well as Nigel.
No one can take from what is already established by you, by your dedication and hard work over the many, many years.
And you stand so very tall above the rest of us for keeping this group together for such a very long time.
And so my work with you and Don and Nigel is to support you in all that I do.
I will be working on the photos by having them identified as you did, and adding names and dates as best as we can as Don told me do.
As I incorporate things I will keep you informed of what is happening.
The Mt. St. Benedict Abbey group formed on Facebook is also to get more photos and information from the boys to add to the work you are already doing.
For instance, naming persons on the photos by means of tagging.
This will make it easier for us to identify boys in the photos and add to the website.
In addition, while I was in Trinidad, I visited with Winston Kerry many times, and he was instrumental in sharing with me scores of photos from the Mount days and also of reunions.
I will look into my files and send you the big files to add to the circulars.
And any support I can further give you please let me know.
I am here to support the work you do, and the website is a credit to what you do and have already done.
Finally, after experiencing some data loss with my old computer and hard drive, I purchased a new system and I am transferring files, photos, etc.
I am now able to concentrate on the website and support you more.
Continue to take care, blessings to you and your family.....
Kazim
------------------------------------------------------------------.
My last 2 years of my life
From: kazim abasali kazim.asaatt@gmail.com
Hi my dear Abbey Alumni,
I am sharing some thoughts with you concerning my life and the common bond we share as Mount boys.
I went to Mt. St, Benedict Abbey School for 2 years from 1970 to 1972 to repeat Ordinary Levels Examinations.
The prior 5 years I had attended Holy Cross College in Arima where I was born and grew up.
Mount life is one I will always remember in my heart and surely did indeed have a lasting effect on me as I am sure it has for you too.
The great memories with my schoolmates and teachers and priests, I give thanks still today for the ways they shaped my life.
And the spiritual lessons I learnt then as a young man was the foundation for me as I journeyed through life after I left our Mount home.
In 2008, I had to return to Trinidad for sure.
The closest family I grew up with in Arima was in crisis.
The Gomes family suffered 2 deaths in the same week in different parts of the world. The Gomes family is known internationally for sports – Larry Gomes served in the West Indies as a dependable batsman in the WI glory days with Richards, Lloyd, Greenidge, Holding, Roberts, “Big Bird” Garner, just to name a few.
His other older brother Sheldon, who also represented Trinidad and the WI, became a sports coach for the Abbey while I attended there in the early 70's.
Well, to sum it up, the oldest brother Lester of the Gomes family, (with whom I had a special bond because of the game of tennis which I dearly loved), was in ill health in Arima, Trinidad, where he lived.
Lester was a tennis champion, and later on coached clubs and organisations.
One of the sisters and younger in the family, lay dying in Canada where she resided, with brain cancer and so the Gomes family from Trinidad, including the mother of the family, travelled to Canada to be at her death bed and sharing final time with her.
Well back in Trinidad later that same week, Lester got a seizure and died suddenly.
So the Gomes family that travelled to Canada to be with Colleen in her final moments had to travel back to Trinidad abruptly for Lester's burial.
When they returned to Trinidad, and made arrangements of Lester's final service and resting, word came to them that Colleen had passed on.
So after Lester's funeral, the family returned once more to Canada to lay Colleen to rest there as she had children who resided there.
We shared a very strong bond that we had as children growing up and I wanted to support this family.
You see back in 2001, one of my older brothers passed away suddenly from a heart condition.
And I remembered during my grieving period the tremendous support we got from the Gomes family.
So, I knew I had to give my own support to this family, especially their mom who I felt was courageous and I so wanted to share time with her and her family to somehow cushion the blows they experienced.
So I decided to stay on and spend my first Christmas in Trinidad since I moved to the US in 18 years.
What coincided with the Gomes tragedy was that the Mount was having a reunion and so I made the commitment to be there in some of the activities to reconnect and reminisce of the time I had as a Mount boy.
To walk the building and grounds as I did growing up as a boy was something I longed for many years in my adult life.
It was 'holy ground' to me and to visit my Mount home again was indeed so much a gift to me even under the unpleasant conditions with this visit to my homeland.
I got to visit the Abbey School and Church grounds with a mass and a walk down memory lane, and a family day in Mayaro at Kelvin Khan's beach house the next day which was a Sunday.
I did not attend the dinner, because I had gotten a ride back home to Arima with Franklin Kerry and he carried me to his home and there was a birthday celebration for his grand-daughter that same evening and night.
Franklin became a close friend to me after this and I now enjoy a close friendship with Winston, his twin brother who I remembered playing tennis in the days of Lester Gomes my friend.
Since I had just recently started the website for our Mount Alumni, a great bond ensued with others.
I got to meet with Don Mitchell for the first time who encouraged me to continue my efforts with the website to support the tremendous work Ladislao and Nigel were currently doing and have made our Alumni so much vibrant.
This visit to Trinidad was a blessing to me, to meet and share and bond with my Mount brothers.
I am so grateful for the time I shared with those I met and my classmates as well.
It was indeed truly wonderful for me to meet with the Present Mount Alumni Association officers most of whom I knew personally when I attended school at Mount.
While in Trinidad, and I had decided to stay on for Christmas, I was invited to attend Alumni Association meetings with the officers, which I did, so I could better serve the group with their agendas and passion.
A meeting was being organised with Ladislao, as a visit was being arranged for him in Trinidad.
I was so much looking forward to meeting with Ladislao to share my personal gratitude to him for all he had done and continue to do for our Mount Boys over the many years.
I thought of it as a humbling experience to me to meet him.
However, although I waited as long as I possibly could for the meeting with him, my time in Trinidad was drawing to a close, as I only have a Green Card status, and my 6 months away from the US was not something I wanted to play with, something my family had sacrificed so much over the years for me.
So, as Ladislao visit materialised much later than I expected, I was sad that I did not get to meet him and share things with him concerning continuing serving our Mount boys with this common bond of love we have for our school.
In addition, I did not share this reason of my US Green Status with the Mount Boys and especially Ladislao.
I sincerely apologise to Ladislao and all concerned for this oversight on my part.
I believe this was a missed opportunity that I was so looking forward to, and my hope and prayer is that one day soon I do get to meet with Ladislao and Nigel as I so enjoyed the meeting with Don and subsequent communications by email with him.
On my return to New York, I had to assist my mom with moving as the lease with her apartment in New York was now ending with her landowners for over 10 years.
The last couple years I decided to live with my mom since she was having health issues, in and out of hospital, and so I wanted to give my support to her as best as I could.
She was now 84 years and the stress with the moving experience was having an effect on her fragile heart.
She resisted the necessary move for at that age she felt comfortable with 'her home' there.
It was indeed a very difficult period for her and me.
I tried my best and wished today I could have done more.
With a ticket in her hand to move to Florida with a sister of mine who came to take her in a few days, I left her in New York and returned to Phoenix, Arizona which I consider my home.
Sadly, 3 days later after I left her she passed away.
I had to return to New York right away as my family flew in from the entire world for arrangements and services in New York, and then we took her body to Trinidad her long-for home as her final resting place.
Again, I was back in Trinidad under circumstances I much rather was different.
I stayed on in Trinidad as my other family members to bond and support one another.
I decided to spend the Christmas holidays and our family had 2 reunions in Trinidad, while I was there.
One was my younger brother and sister's birthday, they are twins.
It was arranged before my mom's passing, so we decided to make it happen to support each other more and we also had a reunion in a beach home leading up to Toco, a month or so later.
Also, I attended a Holy Cross College Alumni Annual Meeting, where I was privileged to meet Dr. Bernand Tappin, a former HCC Principal, who happens to be a Mount Boy also.
A couple photos I shared with our Mount Boys in Ladislao's past circulars.
My travel back to New York was to acquire my new Trinidad passport, and now there is more moving with other members of my family.
As you may realize life has many twist and turns, and we deal with them as best as we can.
I am now getting my new Trinidad passport that has taken me so long.
However, I am grateful for the help I got in acquiring it as others experience longer waiting periods.
Next on my list is my American citizenship, and the fees are now US $1,000.
Having said all this, what is important to note and share with you, is that I suffer from claustrophobia, (the fear of closed spaces, like airplanes).
When my brother died in 2001, I felt it for the first time, although it was subdued, However, when my most beloved girlfriend died in 2003, it became really terrible and my travelling on planes over the years with these unpleasant events has been a roller coaster ride for me to say the least.
I have had to comfort or sedate myself with drugs, prayers, therapy, hypnosis, and other things to make all these trips, which I was not eager to do.
You can imagine my mindset when my mom passed and I had to return to New York from Phoenix, Arizona.
Luckily for me I have a dear friend in Phoenix, who works in a major medical hospital there, and she gave me some drugs to sedate me and knock me off if I did not get an aisle seat as I begged for as I entered the plane.
You know, I am now travelling in the New York subway as I have to travel to get my Trinidad passport in Manhattan.
I now use alternative treatment like acupressure and an enormous amount of prayers, affirmations and hypnotic therapy.
I am conquering my fears. I have to, in order to live in this world.
My problems in life are insignificant, compared to countless others, like those children who suffered in the tsunami that lost their homes and family.
What about Kitty Marcus who was torn apart from her family and her homeland to be with us at the Mount?
What about the priests and brothers who taught us and gave up family, friends, and home, to teach, educate, and disciple us to be steadfast, and to be courageous, and face life no matter what?
Their lives should teach us from their sacrifices and commitment and love.
I am so thankful and appreciative of the schooling I got from Mt. St. Benedict, Abbey School.
In 1972, on the 2nd year at the Mount, my dad who was a director of the then BWIA, passed away.
I knew then as I know now, of a brotherhood that still to this day I cherish so close to my heart.
My home then was Mt. St. Benedict and with my dad's passing, all I had was my Mount brothers as this was my home at the time, and I carried on and forged ahead.
Today, wherever we are, we still have a bond of sorts with our Brothers from the Mount.
We continue to share our lives with information, events, photos, of our passage through life with our emails to Ladislao.
It is always so heart-warming to see family photos, reunions with the boys and their family all over the world.
And all this is made possible by those who serve us so much.
It is truly a labour of love.
It involves so much time, energy, commitment and dedication. I am truly and deeply thankful to Ladislao, Nigel, Don and all others who contribute to our Circulars, Blogs and Database.
Your efforts - I want you to know, from the depths of my heart, is so very much appreciated.
I am indeed thankful for your hard work over these years.
And I know I speak on behalf of the boys who share this love with you as we journey through life sharing our stories on different sides of the world.
Many years ago in Trinidad I learned how to receive love and know true love - it is when we serve.
Before I came to the US, I served in Arima, Trinidad as a community worker, something I took upon myself as a Christian.
Faith without works is dead.
So to profess our faith, we have to make it active, and so I decided there and then to be my brother's keeper.
And I went about it literally and undertook to take care of the homeless, the hungry and forgotten.
I worked under the Santa Rosa Catholic Church, The St. Vincent de Paul and the Lions Club, just to name a few.
I experienced great joy, such as I could never explain and felt the love of Christ in my life maybe a twinkling of what Mother Theresa and other such souls experienced.
I always want to experience such a love and joy so I always look for ways to serve.
And my efforts in our Mt. St. Benedict Alumni website is such a small token of service I try to humbly provide our Mount boys.
My prayer and hope is that I can somehow provide some form of up-liftmen and inspiration to others by what I contribute.
I am always inspired and heart-warmed by your life stories.
And I too, eagerly look forward to each and every circular, blog and database sharing from Ladislao, Nigel and Don and others.
In my journey of life, I seek to find ways to serve and support my fellowman, be it with our Mount Boys Alumni; and my other pass college Alumni, Holy Cross College; be it my home community in Arima where I grew up; be in Phoenix, Arizona where I call home and I joined with my close friends there and raised about $100,000 US for The Hunger Project to support world communities by teaching others to be self-reliant.
There is nothing such as a donor and a beneficiary.
We all brothers and sisters in this world.
We support one another, for we do not know when we will have need of each other with life's many battles.
And I continue my own campaign to serve our world in my life's work through my artistic talents called “Empower with Art”
Recently I had to invest in newer computer systems as I had issues with my computers and hard drive.
Some data was damaged.
Also I fell out of the loop somewhat with my mom's passing, for which I apologize for not attending to the website as I should have.
I am now able to return to doing my website work once more.
Kindly do visit and share with others if you feel drawn to, as I have made some updates with Kitty's recent passing.
Lastly, I apologize for this very long sharing.
I did this so that you all can have a better picture of who I am, and get to know me better as a brother, and I look forward to getting to know you better as well.
I am also trying to overcome life situations as best as I can.
I thank each and every one of you in all the ways you serve in your homes, communities and our world, and your life's work to humanity as well,
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring your love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there's doubt, true faith in you.
Chorus:
Oh, Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there's sadness, ever joy.
Chorus:
Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we're born to eternal life.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
From: Glen Mckoy
Thank you for the update of Winston Ing,
I think he wore glasses, dark long hair with a part on the left side, I could be wrong; anyhow, another brother has been found, good news.
We need a photo, best regards
Glen.
-------------------------------------------------------------.
Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 23:14:05 -0700
Nigel and Glen:
Another prodigal mount boy is back in the fold..
He left for Canada around 74 or 75.regards,
Krishna
-----------------------------------------------------------------.
From: winston323@aol.com
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2010 02:34:23 -0400
Hi Krishna,
To a big surprise, I found your name while goggling and has read quite a few of your circulars posted on the web, Dated May 9, 2008
I see that you still remember me, would like to get in touch if possible.
Don’t know where you are now but with the internet, it’s not that far away.
Regards
Winston Ing Shing
------------------------------------------------------------.
Now to the photos.
Ladislao Kertesz at kertesz11@yahoo.com,
------------------------------------------------------------
Photos:
10LK3397LANDSLIDE, Photo showing the damage done by the rain.
10LK3394LKEGRP, Anand Rampersadsingh, Ladislao Kertesz Jimmy Samaroo and Alexander Garth
09SC0011GRP, Fr. Boos, Bernard Stone and Jerry Bain
08face2008abasali, Kazim Abasali
No comments:
Post a Comment