Trinidad & Tobago the Jaws of Evil

By Lucenda Phelps

This book is for the benefit of individuals who are planning their retirement with the hopes of returning to the warm country of their birth before having done a trial relocation. The events noted in this book are the experiences of a retired widow, which will help others make a more informed decision without having to live through the heart-ache and loss of most of your retirement savings. The truth is often denied and hard to accept, so documents and pictures were provided to support the facts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664166424

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Copyright © 2021 by Lucenda Phelps.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 04/07/2021

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Testimonial

Dedication

In the Twenty-first Century

Chapter 1 The Way It Was

Chapter 2 Taking a Sabbatical

Chapter 3 Mortgage Process

Chapter 4 A New Start in Georgia

Chapter 5 Carnival 2008

Chapter 6 Final Retirement

Chapter 7 Becoming a Renter

Chapter 8 Damages to Mercedes

Chapter 9 Rental Eviction

Chapter 10 Condo Rental

Chapter 11 House Hunting

Chapter 12 Renovations

Chapter 13 House Warming

Chapter 14 Trespassing on Land

Chapter 15 Dry Season

Chapter 16 Devine Intervention

Chapter 17 Elections for Prime Minister

Chapter 18 Landscaping on the Island

Chapter 19 Car Accidents on the Island

Chapter 20 Court Case against Carnival Designer

Chapter 21 The Beaches

Chapter 22 Crime on the Island

Chapter 23 Medical Facilities & Services

Chapter 24 House for Sale

Chapter 25 Twenty-First Century Banking

Chapter 26 Chaos & Determination

Chapter 27 No Drug Dealer/Smuggler

Chapter 28 The Conversion

Chapter 29 Second Relocation to Georgia

Foreword

This book was written for the benefit of fellow Foreign Nationals, who had migrated from their smaller country, and had lived and worked most of their adult lives in larger foreign countries in pursuit of a better life and higher education, along with the future hopes of returning to their birth-country or some other warmer country to live out their golden retirement years… and in some cases, the opportunity to enjoy the serenity of a more laid-back lifestyle. This is my true life-experience as a Retired Foreign National, who had migrated from my birth Caribbean island of Trinidad to the United States at the age of twenty, and had returned to my birth-country for a sabbatical at the age of thirty-six, and again in 2008, after I had retired from corporate America. However, after I had retired and had lived the first five years of my retirement in my birth-island, I realized, that I had made an extremely risky, costly and unhealthy choice for my golden years. And, while I was able to correct my ill-decision, and return to the US and started over in 2014, I also had acknowledged the fact, that many other Retired Foreign Nationals might not have the additional means or the support to relocate for a second time during their retired years, or even return to the country from which they had retired. Most likely, those individuals would then have no choice, but to continue living out their golden years in a transformed homeland or other country, which had regretfully deteriorated and fallen into the hands of The Jaws of Evil over the years that they had been living abroad. While I had no intensions of cushioning my financial loss by returning to Corporate America after my return to the US, with God’s Grace and many Blessings along with a very tight budget, I was able to secure a comfortable second retirement home in the US, where the country’s infrastructure and other support systems are available for the welfare of the citizens. The truth is mostly offensive, difficult to accept, and too often denied, so I have provided my readers with a few pictures and other documents to authenticate my experiences in my smaller birth-country during my sabbatical in early nineteen-eighty, and again for almost six years after I had retired from Corporate America in 2008. Hopefully, my story will allow my readers to be better prepared, and gain some insight into what unfortunate changes do exist in the twenty-first century in some smaller countries, which they had not visited over the many years that they had lived abroad.

Testimonial

My name is Matilda Bissong. I am originally from Cameroon in West Africa. I met the author about twenty years ago in Douglasville, Georgia. We attended the same Church. I remember being very afraid of her- she appeared to be very serious. Her husband, on the other hand, appeared to be very calm and personable. I was a Home Health Nurse at that time, but now I am an Anesthesiologist. One day, I was assigned to see a patient who had end stage cancer. I later found out that it was her husband! My heart broke, as I thought to myself oh the nice one! I remembered being terrified of being in her house! That was only until I actually met her face to face. I found out that I had just been blessed with one of the best friends I would have in the world. She is a friend indeed! She is a highly intelligent and elegant lady…very classy in her ways, and very much my mentor-my hero! I have been with her in good and in bad times, and through it all, she carried herself with courage and poise! She is one of the most selfless and generous people I know. She will do anything for her friends, and she has lots of them! Currently, she is comfortably retired-a testament of how responsible she has lived her life! She is a very religious and spiritual person, and this is the core of her personality! In a nutshell, she is an epitome of a millennial woman…strong, beautiful, determine and much more! I have always looked up to her, and I continue to do so. I thank God for placing her in my life, for she has been a wonderful source of inspiration and strength for me and my family.

Matilda Bissong,

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my mother, who is responsible for who I am in this life. My mother was a great teacher of self-sacrifice, dedication, truth, and above all, the meaning of bearing our daily crosses even as members of this human species. She was a woman of humility, grace and dignity. She never once complained or grumbled about anything, and was always ready to share what little she had with others in need – a true example of Jesus’ teachings. She was not a CPA, but after having revisited my family’s financial situation, my mother had exercised great managerial and budgeting skills in our household, so that we were never in need or disarray. She also ensured that my six siblings and I had received a good Catholic Education (which was privately paid for in those days) before we left home for life abroad. While the words I love you was not a part of my mother’s vocabulary, she had always showed her love in various other ways. Nevertheless, my childhood experiences while growing up with six other siblings had taught me the very important life-skill of being honest and truthful at all times, and the additional importance to verbalize ones’ feelings.

In the Twenty-first Century

Chapter 1

The Way It Was

In the nineteen sixties, my birth Caribbean island was classified as one of the most prosperous Islands of Paradise, and many residents from the other Caribbean Islands had migrated to my homeland in search of a better life. My birth-island was known for its rich resources, its festive carnival culture and its spectacular tropical beauty, which was complimented by the loving, nurturing and its multinational people. Salaries were relatively low back then, along with an overall low cost-of-living – and yet the islanders were a content and happy people. My birth-land was also frequently referred to as the Mother Island for most of the other Caribbean Islands. My home-island had experienced several Oil Booms over the years, and the face of the Island was transformed with several large corporate buildings, housing, schools and Stadiums.

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Unfortunately, the island’s good fortune had negatively impacted the overall integrity within the island, including that of the ruling government, who had allegedly mismanaged and pocketed some unknown portion of the country’s revenue that was generated from the various oil booms, other natural resources, and business and personal taxable incomes. Greed and criminal activity became commonplace throughout the island, and the average citizen became very creative in their ways to share in some of the country’s wealth.

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Caribbean Tranquility:

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Some citizens were so determined to share in the country’s flowing wealth during the oil-boom years, that they had transformed their residential homes and public sidewalks into unregistered, non-tax paying and unhealthy business operations, while the government had allegedly ignored the fact that those quiet residential areas were then commercialized, which had invited constant traffic and a noise nuisance to many neighborhoods even today. It was also alleged, that the island’s Treasury Department had accumulated over thirty-eight billion dollars in reserve during the various oil-booms. Hypothetically, that revenue could have allowed the average one point two million citizens the luxury of becoming and living the lives of millionaires, which was logically their inherited right as citizens. On the contrary, it was alleged, that the ruling government had pocketed and badly appropriated most of that Revenue.

In the mid nineteen sixties, the island had experienced an exodus of families and young adults, who had migrated to other larger countries in search of a better life and higher education. And, in some cases, young children were left behind to be raised by their grand-parents. Those young children were later referred to as The Barrel-Children, because their parents had overstayed their Visitor’s Visas, and they had elected to continue living abroad illegally, which had then jeopardized their chances of ever being approved for another Visitor’s Visa. Those parents had later resorted to Proxy Parenting of their young children, by periodically shipping a barrel or two with food and clothing items back to those children in their home-land. And, Since these grandparents did not have the youthful energy that is normally required to raise young children, those young ones mostly grew-up un-disciplined and out of control, as they got away with the everyday infractions that would have normally required some form of firm attention or even a corporal punishment that a more youthful parent would have applied. Ultimately, those kids did not only grow up to be disrespectful to their enabled grandparents, but their refusal to attend school on a regular basis led to an increase in school drop-outs. Those youths were nevertheless determined to have whatever they desired in life, even though they did not have the adequate qualifications to work for it. Their wants in life later led them into lives of vicious crime and other illegal activities throughout the island. Other individuals were so desperate to migrate to other countries, that Store-away Migration became very popular. Unfortunately, some of them were caught and detained by the foreign authorities, and after a court hearing and a brief detainment in jail abroad, they were deported back to their home-land.

It was alleged that several of the smaller Islands had requested and were granted large loans from the government of my island, but unfortunately, it was alleged, that most of those large outstanding loans were not satisfied, because of the authorities’ failure to include some of the most basic Loan Security Clauses and Repayment Terms. In the years that followed, the alleged accusations became evident throughout my home-island, in so much, that government workers had begun to experience lay-offs and late salary payments. And, with the continued alleged mismanagement and misappropriation of the country’s Revenue, the country was publicly led to declare bankruptcy in the mid nineteen eighty. But, in spite of the many economic and social hardships and changes that had occurred over the years that followed, the island’s festival of Carnival had remained one of the greatest and most colorful festivals in the world. While the carnival costumes of yesteryear had mainly portrayed various historic renditions, which were reasonably priced, and had covered most of the individual’s body, today most costumes are skimpy, and are mostly made of feathers, shimmery fabrics and beads, and they also cost thousands of dollars per costume. Nevertheless, both the local and international carnival-lovers remain very faithful to the festival, which is a great source of revenue for the island, as well as a natural form of exercise and stress reliever.

Crime in my home-island in the eighties and nineties was mostly based on one’s involvement. The islanders took pleasure in helping each other, as well as their foreign visitors, who had experienced a high level of hospitality as they explored and enjoyed the beauties and festivities of the island. A sense of security was felt by the presence of uniformed policemen at street corners and at various checkpoints on the nation’s highways. Drivers had even cautioned their fellow drivers, by flashing their headlights to warn them of any upcoming check-points. An ambulance was available to the citizens in case of a road accident or medical emergency. Hospitals were equipped to address health emergencies, and patients did not have to share a bed or bring their own bed linens during their stay at a hospital. Expectant mothers were able to leave the hospitals with their long-awaited bundle/s of joy. Patients were given the correct medications and operations, and doctors were academically qualified, and had performed the correct surgeries. Teachers took pride in their students’ academic development and success, as well as children were children who respected their elders. And, while my family had the opportunity to migrate to the USA, as a young woman in my late teens, I was fascinated at the idea to relocate to one of the larger world-leading countries with many opportunities, but I was also saddened to leave my friends and my beloved tropical Island.

Chapter 2

Taking a Sabbatical

Eighteen years had passed since I had migrated to the USA. I had married my high school sweetheart, and God’s generosity and merciful blessings had unceasingly filled our lives, including that of our three sons, in so much, that we had decided to take a sabbatical from work and life in the fast lane and take a sabbatical in my birth-island for a few relaxing years, and to allow our three sons the opportunity to experience a slower pace of life, while they enjoyed the tropical beaches and other benefits of a Caribbean life.

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Caribbean Serenity Captured by American Artist Bath

In preparation for our sabbatical, my husband had gone to night school for a few years, after which he had acquired his State Certified Degree in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology, which was and still is a great necessity in any Caribbean climate. I later resigned my job as the Assistant to the Vice-President of the International Department at a large New York Bank, and my husband had also resigned his job as a Supervisor of one of the larger Book Companies in New York. We then sold our house in Queens New York, and the final preparations were made for our physical move to my birth-island. We made the decision to purchase a house in my birth-island after our second house hunting trip there. My husband had opened his Air Conditioning and Refrigeration business in the city, and I had volunteered as a Religious Educator at one of the Government Secondary School as well as at my Church.

At that time, my mother was alive and lived in my birth-island, but all of my siblings had earlier migrated and were living abroad. Unfortunately, I had many ups and downs while growing up with my siblings, so as an adult, it was not out of the ordinary for me not to share the details of my personal adult life and future plans to take a sabbatical. However, one of my older siblings had eventually became aware of my family’s upcoming plans, and before one was able to say Jack Robinson as the Caribbean saying goes, one of my older sibling had given up her job and her apartment in New York, and had moved back to our birth-island with her two sons. She then had settled her family into our mother’s home. Little did she know, that it was not my intention to move back into our mother’s home, nor was she aware of the fact, that my husband and I had previously made a couple of house-hunting trips to our birth-island prior to our actual move.

While our mother had become accustom to a tranquil and happy retirement lifestyle after she had raised seven children of her own, my older sibling and her two sons became comfortable squatters in our mother’s home. She did not provide housekeeping, nor did she contribute to the expenses for the upkeep of the home. She not only made full use of our mother’s housekeeper’s services and other amenities, but the daily meals which the housekeeper had prepared on our mother’s behalf, then became the meals for her and her two sons. Our mother’s health and well-being were then left to the generosity and humanity of her neighboring friends. That period was an extremely tumultuous and traumatic period in our mother’s life. In addition, my older sibling’s promiscuity had led her to entertain her male friends, whom she knew very little about in our mother’s home, and with little respect for her young sons or her mother. While most people in the smaller islands felt safe enough not to lock their doors, there were times when my older sibling’s estranged male visitors would open our mother’s front door and walk right in, as they bypassed our mother without saying a single word to her. My sibling also did not care what the neighbors thought of her actions, which brought great shame and embarrassment to our mother and her neighboring friends. Our mother’s personal rights and privacy in her own home were gradually relinquished, which eventually caused her to confine herself to her bedroom. Our mother’s unhealthy seclusion then led me to temporarily move her into my home, after my husband and I had settled in a house in the country-side. Even though we were several miles away from our mother’s home in the city, the situation had caused me to visit our mother frequently, and on several occasions, it was necessary for me to address my sibling’s outrageous behavior and abusive control of our elderly mother. Obviously, that had caused my presence at our mother’s house to become a hindrance to my sibling’s freeloading lifestyle and constant abusive of our mother.

As I drove up to my mother’s house one day, I had witnessed my sibling-as she stood over our mother, who was seated in her rocking-chair in the gallery. My sibling was screaming down at our mother, while her finger violently waved within inches of her face. I cannot state that our mother was previously struck before I had arrived, but I got out of my car, and I immediately addressed the issue, which became quite physical, and the police was called. Coincidentally, the policeman was alleged to have been one of my sibling’s male friends, who had concluded, that the situation was a domestic issue, and he left my mother’s residence without taking any action, or ordering my sibling to leave the property, since she was not the registered legal owner or tenant at the property. That incident did not stop my sibling’s continuous abusive behavior towards our mother, so I gave my mother the option to move in with my family for a while. During the time that my mother had lived with us, my words of comfort and consolation were insufficient to comfort her, or remove her grieving tears. After I had shared and experienced enough of my mother’s heartbreak, I had decided to hire a lawyer, and eviction proceedings were filed against my sibling. Surprisingly enough, during the initial visit with the new lawyer, he had disclosed, that my mother’s case was pretty common in my home-island, and he further added, that he had worked with several other cases, where parents were becoming victims of their own adult children, and those grown children had pretentiously moved back into their parents’ homes, and after they had lived there for a while, they then placed their parents in elderly living facilities, where they had later abandoned them. After having lived abroad for over a decade at that time, I had no idea that such a change had taken place in my small home-island of hospitality and loving care for your neighbor and each other, and especially towards ones’ parents. Nevertheless, it took my mother and me several months of travel back and forth from the country-side to the City’s Court before we were able to get our first hearing.

During one of the hearings, my sibling’s defense for moving back into our mother’s home was that our mother had forced her to sell her house in the USA and move back to our home-island, in order to live in her house and take care of her. Nevertheless, our mother had also previously lived in the USA for several years, and had returned to the