Reprioritise poverty alleviation

For over four decades, Rhonda Mary Maingot has been a beacon of hope and service in Trinidad and Tobago. As the co-founder and directress of the Living Water Community, Maingot has dedicated her life to addressing social issues and advancing spiritual growth in the Caribbean nation.

Her tireless efforts were recently recognised with the International Women’s Forum TT Inaugural Inspirational Legacy Award, adding to her previous accolades, including the Hummingbird Gold Medal for Community Service.

In an interview on Altos, Maingot reflected on the changes she has witnessed in Trinidad and Tobago since co-founding the Living Water Community in 1975, just one year before the country achieved Republican status. She noted both positive and negative developments over the past 45 years.

“When we look at the country, we see a lot of good things and a lot of not-so-good things,” Maingot observed. She highlighted that while the standard of living has generally improved, the distribution of wealth has become more uneven.

“The poor were there, but not in the amount that we see the poor today. The numbers that we see. There was a big middle class of society but that has shrunk a lot, and we have many more poor people.”

Maingot praised the increased attention to social welfare by successive governments, noting that “each government that has come is more and more concerned about having that social net and trying to do something.” However, she said that current efforts are still inadequate to address the scale of poverty in the country.

The growth of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) was another positive development Maingot pointed out. “We had very few in the early days, so they have a lot more NGOs, a lot more people helping, a lot more giving to build a society than we had in those days,” she said.

Hungry man is an angry man

Despite these efforts, Maingot expressed concern about the persistent and growing poverty. When asked about potential solutions, she underscored the importance of education reform, particularly for marginalised communities. She also highlighted the need to strengthen family structures, which she believes have weakened compared to previous decades.

Maingot made a powerful statement about the link between poverty and social unrest: “A hungry man is an angry man. We have a lot of hungry people in our country, so they just give up, and they choose crime and violence and whatever it is.”

She called for a reprioritisation of poverty alleviation in national policy, arguing that it should be higher on the government’s agenda given its profound impact on society.

When asked about her personal motivation after 45 years of service, Maingot’s response was unequivocal: “Only God…. He’s driven me for the 45 years, and it’s just the power of God in my life.” She expressed deep gratitude for divine guidance and the support of her community.

The interview also touched on the Living Water Community’s involvement with the Medjugorje pilgrimage site, which Maingot enthusiastically described as “such a blessed place” following recent Vatican recognition of its spiritual significance.

Regarding her recent award and its importance to NGOs, Maingot humbly stated, “I guess it’s always humbling to receive an award, which I always say is God’s work. All we do, all we try to do is God’s work.” She hopes that such recognition encourages others to engage in community service and supports the efforts of existing NGOs.

Maingot also addressed the challenges faced by the migrant community in Trinidad and Tobago, describing the work as “very depressing sometimes because there’s so little we can do to help the migrants.” She highlighted the lack of access to medical care for many migrants and called for greater community involvement in supporting this vulnerable population.

Assisted generation using Claude.ai