VISIT TO CHILDREN'S HOME.
December 17th, 2005

Great job Sherlon and all of the committee members who took time out of their busy schedules to plan this venture, I know it took many evenings to put this all together and it was a great effort for this time of year.

Many thanks to all the members & their families who took the time out on Saturday to erect the play park, and make it such a memorable event, it is indeed impressive and will be appreciated for many years by the children of the home.

Great job folks!....Paul

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All the hard work was paid off just by seeing the joy on those kids faces on that day, it was a wonderful experience spending time with them, i helped them get dressed, combed their hair, they also helped me inflate the balloons they really enjoyed it, being around them brought tears to my eyes, it was an experience i will never forget and i will go back on a regular basis to visit them ! We all should count our blessings! Thanks to everyone who made this event possible.......

SALLY

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Sunita Deen, reporting for TTORC News.

This event on Saturday proved to be an immense success. Despite the hard work and bad weather, TTORC proved that its ambitions reach further than its limitations as the members, both absent and present, loaned support in this venture.

First there was the problem of who will be chosen to be the Project Manager for the construction site, a role I think everyone was willing to be a part of. To see a bunch of approximately 16 Project Managers trying to erect one swing set and see-saw was enough to keep everyone in stitches all day.

Our Architect/Mechanical & Structural Engineer/Designer of the day was Mr. Dass, who neatly fabricated the swing set and see-saw to perfect international specifications.

After surveying the Site Boundaries, our Cadastrial and Setting Out Specialist, Frankie, advised our best course of action in placing the swing.

Kudos to Sheldon for being the Labour Foreman of our 9 Days Gang, trying to keep the workers enthusiastic in spite of the rain, and the timely arrival of Geoffrey, our Site Manager. I think that production picked up a notch when that “big man” arrived on site as workers started to shovel dirt like there was free 12,000 lbs. winches buried in the ground.

Our in-house Senior Structural Engineer, Gaugh, showed us how it was done by brilliantly leading us to read a spirit level properly.

Everyone heard Raffick’s mouth, who was the Cost Control Analyst/Quantity Surveyor/Team Motivator/Toyota Defender, as he “caught us” taking a five when the rain was falling (typical Trinis he said), as I think he expected us to don the raincoats in his jeep and continue digging the foundation for the play park.

Special mention to Lincoln, our Leading Concrete Ransome Operator, who proved that he could turn concrete faster than a mechanical Concrete Ransome with a turbo intercooling system and platinum plugs.

Amazement was in everyone’s faces as Dian picked up a shovel and got down in the dirty, showing us that women are indeed capable of anything, including being our Senior Concrete Technician.

Shivanand indeed rivalled a 320 Caterpillar Excavator Operator as he dug the foundation for the see-saw faster than the likes of an off-roader with a coupon for free jeep parts in the Bamboo.

The arrival of the Project Consultant, Sham, left us asking “Alluh tink he bring any food with him???”. Typical of Consultants, their presence is a strong requirement on any Project but their nutritional contribution is questionable.

You can also get a copy of this whole episode from Sherlon, who played the double role of Quality Assurance/Quality Control Manager and Clerk of Works, recording every minute of our sometimes embarrassing escapades on video.

The arrival of our Safety and Personal Protection Manager, Vinod, at the completion of the Project was god-sent as he would of stopped the job and sent everyone home because of lack of all PPE gear, except for our Labour Foreman in his lone hard hat, safety boots, workman’s gloves and visibly white T-shirt (and his hand on his hips most of the day!).

The Clients seemed pleased with the finished Project as they couldn’t seem to get enough of peeping through the windows in amazement of their new play park.

To see the joy and wonder on the children’s faces was enough to melt even the coldest of hearts, and believe it or not, I think everyone woke up on Sunday morning with not only sore shoulders and aching legs, but a subtle joy that TTORC made a difference in these children’s lives.

Thanks again for contributing to this worthy cause.

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(and of course the pics courtesy Vinod Ramoutar)