Welcome to #RedwallNews, the show that's more useful than
the president of Trinidad and Tobago.
Across the nation, Covid-19 cases continue to
multiply faster than rabbits. Yet the parties continue. There are rumours of
parties, families gathering in large numbers and bars closing their doors with
customers inside. So people could watch cricket. WTF? Even among families, the
regulations allow a maximum of 5 people. Honestly, I thought the number was 10.
So, Mommy, Daddy, if you all are reading this: please don't check me.
Transport Minister Rohan Cinnamon says one of his top
priorities is working with WASA (WASA) to fix potholes.
What's up with the government's failure to pay grants?
There're problems with the salary relief grant and this matter of 50 million
dollars owed to hotels and guesthouses in Tobago. Now, Hotel School or TITTI is
closing down permanently. The closure is linked to two things: the pandemic;
and the government's apparent failure to honour grants owed to the
organisation. Over 13 million dollars, which, by the way, was approved in
national budgets for the fiscal years 2017, 2018, and 2019
Colm Imbert returns as the Minister of Finance. And Budget
day is just around the corner. Trust me: Go and buy your Vaseline.
Tim Gopeesingh has tested positive for Covid-19.
The incoming minister of education is talking about looking
at the Concordat and the SEA exam. Good luck, Minister.
The PNM is calling on Vandana Mohit, the new elected
Chaguanas East MP, to apologise for a Facebook Post that's since been deleted.
Here it is:
I can show you because people had the presence of mind to
screenshot the post:
Vandana, with all due respect, Ma'am, as a past mayor and
future MP, that was a terribly stupid thing to say.
And don't tell me you don't know what you were thinking,
because I know you had time to think about it. You see, on Facebook, when you
were creating that post, the background, which "looks" like a drawing
of the coronavirus, isn't on the first page. You have to click to see more
options looking for it. And! you had to go back to the post and press enter to
get Karma on a new line.
What's equally disappointing is the 63 likes, loves, and
laughing faces. You're telling me that you don't have one PNM friend; one PNM
friend to click the angry face?
And why you even bring Karma into this?
Poor Ravi B. You probably confused him when he read that post.
Today, we're talking about two things: the government of Trinidad
and Tobago’s use of technology; and Grants. Not Hugh Grant or General Grant. I
mean relief grants, particularly the salary relief grant and the grant promised
to hotels and guesthouses in Tobago.
I should warn you that when I wrote this episode of
#RedWallNews I did so with a growing bitterness in my heart. Because when it
comes to IT and software systems that work well, the government keeps dropping
the ball. I'm a programmer. I know how fast and easy it is for one programmer or
a team of skilled programmers to build software systems that work, evolve as
needed and, like Janelle Penny Commissiong, get better with age.
I should also remind you that I have no political
affiliations. I have never voted. I support a unified Trinidad and Tobago, which means that I
support neither PNM nor UNC.
Let's get started.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the government is like that friend
you lend money to but when it's time to pay back you could never find them.
Yeah, Nick, I'm talking about you. Where's my hundred dollars that you borrowed on Friday, 27th July 1990? You said you were going Port of Spain; and I never saw you after that.
In early August, the prime minister said, the last lockdown
cost billions. How much billions are we talking about, exactly? 5, 10, 50?
I always assume the best in people so I'm pretty certain the
government is spending these billions sensibly. In other words, the money is
going into the right pockets, the pockets of the people who need the money the
most. What's baffling is that in the newspapers and on social media there are
people complaining about not receiving grants. (Who knows; maybe they're
mischievous UNC trolls.)
It doesn't end there. In Tobago, we have the Business
Chamber calling on the incoming government to urgently begin disbursing the $50
million grant promised to hoteliers and guesthouse operators months ago, in
March.
March. That is a long time ago. Consider staff, suppliers,
farmers, fishermen, the people who need the money the most.
Mr Prime Minister, Sir, as I write this do you know what
just crossed my mind? That time Sandals pulled out of Tobago. A blessing or a
curse?
Based on what we're reading in the news why does it appear
that money is taking so long to get into the hands of the people who really
need it?
Is it because in Trinidad and Tobago, the state, it seems,
has a knack for building really stupid Information Systems? I mean, who
implements a system to accept requests for salary grants via email? Sorry, how
could I forget all about you NIB. At what point did you all realise that one
email address to serve all of Trinidad and Tobago was a terrible idea? I
imagine your IT department called a meeting. Young programmers, ancient bosses,
around a wooden conference table that somehow makes everyone feel more
important than they are. The young programmer's cautiously saying:
"Boss, this system is madman thing, we have thousands
of requests in one email address. I have a suggestion."
"What's that?"
"The country has good programmers. Let us build a
dedicated system to effectively manage the process. The system could even help
decrease fraudulent claims. Improve transparency etc."
The boss smiles and says:
"That, young woman, is a terrible idea. What we really
need to do is set up four email addresses. One for north, south, east and west
Trinidad. Tobago's small so they'll get one email address."
Another big smile and the boss says:
"That way we will have less emails in every email
address."
Listen, whether or not NIB has an "IT system" that
the public doesn't know about, it should be obvious by now that the thing ain't
wo'king.
When it comes to sound IT systems, the Ministry of Education
is another failure. For months (maybe years) they've been working on developing
a school transport app to improve the payment process to maxi taxi
concessionaires.There's talk about RFID
tags and all that jazz, tracking students' movement in and out of vehicles.
Where are the results? Can you imagine how relieved the programmers at the
Ministry of Education are that schools are closed. I could hear them saying,
"Yeah, boy we getaway."
It may not be so, but it seems that more often than not the
government (PNM and UNC) fails miserably when it comes to implementing sensible
software solutions. And I imagine these are costly failures. Failures that cost taxpayers millions, if not billions.
So, forgive me for not being excited when the PNM announced
a Ministry of Technologies and Records to bring about modernisation in record-
keeping. This should have happened years ago, but, I'm practicing optimism, so
I look forward to it. Hopefully by 2025 we'll be voting online.
Oh. A quick reminder that cyber threats are against the law.
The police has a cybercrime unit, monitoring social media. And it is apparently
effective:
I’ll end with a quote attributed to Commissioner of Police
Gary Griffith, a man I regard as a man of few words:
"The good thing about social media is sometimes people
like to talk too much and when they talk too much it gives us enough information
in our law enforcement bank. We're seeing a number of different comments being
made. People are very emotional, some exuberance, some frustrated and because
of that they have started making very irresponsible, reckless comments that can
cause crime to be committed or try to incite violence and that is where the
police will get involved."
It documents my weight loss journey from Sat 15 Aug 2020 - Sun 15 Nov 2020.
I'm sick and tired of being overweight. The aches, the pains, my clothes don't fit right, and I look like my children's grandpa.
So here's the deal. I'm going to commit to a healthier lifestyle. Over the next three months, God willing, I'm going to make an especially huge effort to eat better, exercise and do whatever needs to be done. No cheating like I've done in the past. You can watch those videos on my YouTube Channel.
If you want to follow my weight loss journey, over the next three months I'll be posting updates on Facebook and YouTube. Whether it's pictures, videos, stories, a sentence, a paragraph or two. Follow the hashtag #FatGuyGottaTry
Today is Saturday, 15th August, 2020. I don't have a scale but I'm pretty sure I'm over 260 pounds.
Sun, 16 Aug 2020
I'm aiming for five hours of cardio a week. And two days of strength training. Yesterday and today I went walking for about 45 minutes. I also downloaded an app called Tabata Timer. It's basically an alarm clock that allows you to set interval rest and workout periods for a given length of time. The defaults were too much for me, so I dialed it back to 15 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest for 15 minutes. Got a good sweat. My knees and shins hurt.
When it comes to eating, I'm going for intermittent fasting. Everyday, I'll eat in an 8 hour window and fast for 16 hours. I think eating between noon and 8:00 PM suits me best. So I'll try that at first, change it if necessary. I'm eating clean, trying my best to avoid flour, beer and sugary drinks. Water only.
Mon, 17 Aug 2020
Woke up 0530, intending to exercise. Didn't. Instead I programmed until 1130. It was tough, stopping to workout, but I did. Yesterday, a friend recommended that during my workouts I listened to upbeat music or a motivational speaker, maybe Les Brown. So I listened to Les Brown. A bit distracting at first but damn, it worked and inspired me in different ways. To push through (20 sets of 10 body weight squats) and do something that I haven't done before which is offer programming classes for free. I'm scared, of course, but the results look favorable. If you're interested in taking part in the poll, it runs until the 31st August 2020 on my Facebook page. And here's that Les Brown video (Thanks for the recommendation, Shad):
The SEA exam. It's a
secondary school placement exam that some say is as relevant as Pastor Cuffie's
hairstyle.
Placement is based on
merit, choice of schools and gender.
Each school has cut-off
scores, which is an established score used to filter out unqualified candidates
Apparently, these
scores change from year to year.
So, based on an
unofficial document from 2008, the cut-off scores for El Dorado West Secondary
was 55 - 85%.
And the cut-off
scores for Hillview College and St Joseph's CORNVENT were 90 to 99%.
Every year, an
average 17,000 children as young as Eleven, write the SEA exam.
And, every year,
parents and other educated people call for the exam to be abolished, citing the
negative impacts it has on children: depression, self-harm, in some cases
physical and mental abuse.
Parents suffer too.
Nothing (and I mean
nothing) is quite as embarrassing as when your child passes for their last
choice.
Parents console
themselves by saying things like
"He didn't pass
for Presentation College, eh, but at least he put his best foot forward."
And when the other
parents ask if you're going to let Johnny repeat the exam, you're too
embarrassed to tell them that this is the actually the second time the little
ass passed for La Romaine Secondary.
Today, even scholars
who aced SEA or Common Entrance call for its abolishment.
Everyone, it seems,
hates it.
From time to time,
serious issues regarding race, inequality and allegations of favouritism and
cheating come up.
Yet, we're in 2019
and the exam is still around.
It like the PNM and
the UNC. They're here to stay. No matter how hard you try to get rid of them.
Like everything else
I think the SEA exam has positives and negatives.
Let's start with the
positives.
SEA or Common
Entrance results quickly help you establish how bright or duncy someone.
For example, when I
wrote Common Entrance, my four choices were St George's College, Tunapuna
Secondary, St Joseph's CORNVENT and El Dorado Secondary. My parents didn't
interfere. They should have. But they didn't. The only thing they asked me was:
"What about
Hillview College?"
And I said, "Nah
that school have too much man."
Long story short, I
didn't pass for CORNVENT.
I passed for my last
choice which, back then, made me the dungiest child in the family.
But all that changed.
Time passed. I worked
hard.
And, years later, my
cousin Cupid failed Common Entrance twice.
So, to this day, he's
the dunciest person in our family.
In fact, he still
works in a gas station.
Yes; The Common
Entrance Curse is real.
Everyone knows that
if you fail Common Entrance the only place you can work is a gas station.
It's on the
application form. You have to tick it off. I failed Common Entrance twice.
SEA or Common
Entrance helps you figure out how old someone is. If someone says "Common
Entrance", you know they were born before 1989. So, if she wrote
"SEA" and you wrote "Common Entrance", chances are, she's
too young for you.
This episode isn't an
argument for or against the SEA exam.
It isn't about
alternatives like zoning or alternative education systems.
This episode is a
look back at the evolution of the secondary placement exam and the role of
politics and religion in education.
We want to find out
if, historically, secondary school placement exams have led to social and
ethnic problems.
Before SEA, there was
the Common Entrance Exam and before that the College Exhibition Exam.
As far back as 1835
there were denominational primary and single-sex secondary schools.
St. Mary's College
St. Joseph's CORNVENT
Naparima Girls
Presentation College.
ASJA Boys and Girls.
Vishnu Boys' Hindu
College
Because these
denominational performed consistently in various spheres they developed a
reputation.
They became first
choice schools. The prestige schools.
Since colonial times,
secondary education was highly valued.
It had to be good
right? It came from England. White man thing.
But, before 1960,
places in schools were restricted.
Limited space, high
demand and stiff competition meant some method of selection was required.
Records from back
then highlight negative consequences:
Segregation.
Bright students in
one class.
The duncy head ones
in another.
Extra lessons. Before
and after school. During lunch. During holidays.
Focus on the
examination versus the full syllabus.
Heavy books. Heavy
bags.
Children with bent
backs.
Sounds familiar,
right?
Despite criticisms,
the system survived. It evolved into Common Entrance.
For political mileage,
the government did something in 1960 that would inadvertently fuel division and
discord.
They signed an
agreement called the Concordat of 1960.
A Concordat is not a
plane. That's the Concorde.
A Concordat is an
agreement or treaty, especially one between the Vatican and a secular
government.
For some reason the
word Concordat reminds me of video games.
Understanding the
Concordat requires a little bit of backstory.
Trinidad's first
prime minister, Eric Williams wanted a secondary education for all and promised
changes, sweeping changes that would affect denominational schools.
The government had
two good reasons for wanting to curb religious interests.
One: to merge the
diverse population into a functioning state and not separate children along
religious lines.
And two: the
government wanted to give equal opportunity to all.
Yet (according to one
article) the religious schools are more blessed.
They cater to
higher-income students, receive government subsidies and are more successful
than state schools in raising private funds.
But the different
religious interests, led by and perhaps inspired by the Catholic Church, saw
these changes as a threat to their followers, communities and the coins in the
collection plate.
So, the religious
bodies pushed back more than Farmer Nappy's hairline.
The government,
fearing the impact the Catholic Church could have on an upcoming election
signed the Concordat, which also bought the government time to organise a
state-run school system.
Ahhh! I now know why
the word Concordat reminds me of video games.
Has someone ever asked
you if you’ve ever played this game or that game, and you're like:
"Yeahhhhhhhhh I
concordat already."
Now, The Concordat
opened previously closed doors for school children, because, based on the agreement
denominational schools would accept 80% of students based on their performance
in the Common Entrance Exam.
The Concordat also
assures the preservation of the character of the denominational schools.
To this day, The
State assists denominational schools: paying teachers, supplying textbooks,
providing security etc
And It gives
denominational schools, the right to:
veto
or reject books (which is reasonable, right?)h
handpick
20% of their annual intake regardless of a student's performance (which, rumour
has it, works well for rich people with duncy children.)
reject
teachers.
In 2018, a Hindu
school prevented a Muslim trainee teacher from wearing her hijab.
So, while Section 4
of Trinidad's constitution upholds a citizen's right to religious expression, the
Concordat gives denominational schools the right to
reject teachers based
on moral or religious grounds (which is reasonable, right Sat?)
Politicians talk
about reviewing the document.
In the 1970s, the
government built a number of Junior Secondary Schools to address the shortage
of school places.
To accommodate even
more students, they implemented a two-shift system.
More schools meant
more votes.
Former Prime Minister
Basdeo Panday vowed to get rid of the Common Entrance exam. This is back in
1998, 12 years before his former minister of education, Kamla Persad-Bissessar
got rid of him.
In the UNC's 2002
manifesto, current opposition leader, Mrs Persad-Bissessar boasts about three
things:
The
abolition of the common entrance.
The
introduction of the SEA exam AND universal secondary education.
To
facilitate Education for All, the UNC built 29 new secondary schools.
More schools. More
votes.
Education went from
being a privilege to being a right.
Pass or fail, every
student progressed into secondary school.
Because every student
was guaranteed a place, the exam was no longer about placement.
It was about who got
into a prestige school.
In 2014, ALTA's
founder, Paula Lucie-Smith, described the abolition of the common entrance exam
and the introduction of universal secondary education as a disastrous decision
that placed hundreds of non-readers in secondary schools. Students who had not
mastered the primary curriculum were expected to do a secondary curriculum.
Research links delinquency
and violence with illiteracy.
In an article 'Anger
pervades our secondary schools' she writes 'Politics should not dictate
education policies'.
So, let me get this
straight. No politics. No religion.
In 2012, to develop
well-rounded students, a Continuous Assessment Programme was introduced. The
component was structured in a way to ensure students didn't fall below the 30
percent bracket, which happens to an average 2,500 students every year.
Believe it or not
there are cases where some students scored 0 in the SEA exam, which means they
didn't even sign the exam paper. Because, everyone knows, you get one mark for
writing your name.
On April 1st, 2016, the
current minister of education, Anthony Garcia scrapped the continuous
assessment component.
Why not scrap the
exam?
And why announce news
like this on All Fools Day?
And, have you ever
realised that if you squint, Anthony Garcia looks like Whoopi Goldberg?
The inner workings of
SEA student placement are ordinarily hidden from public view. It's a blackhole,
dark and incomprehensible like the bags under Gary Griffith's eyes. Despite
decades of exams, there's limited data in the public domain.
For good reason,
perhaps.
It's sensitive data
about children.
There is however one
downside.
People are afraid of
what they don't understand.
Naturally the lack of
data and transparency lends itself to speculation about the placement process.
Among citizens and leading
thinkers.
In 2018, a detailed
database of Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) results were accidentally
published online.
Remember the
Concordat? The 80% rule. And 20% rule that allows the school to place students
as they see fit?
Analysis of the
leaked data showed that in some instances denominational schools assigned as
many as 33% of students out of sequence.
Which might explain
the duncy head Indian boy or Catholic girl sitting next to you.
The Ministry’s Chief
Education Officer described the research as flawed.
But, the can of worms
had already been reopened.
Girls are
outperforming boys because research shows that girls are better at solving and
creating problems.
Statistics show that
Students from Goodwood Gardens, West Moorings and Bayshore are more likely to
pass for their first choice when compared to students from Carenage and La
Horquetta.
One researcher, in a
quest to understand the racial effects of the 20% rule, used SEA results
published in the Express newspaper and Indian names as a proxy for the race of
children. That doesn't make any sense. It sounds like it does but it doesn't.
That's like saying every Indian is a Hindu or every one named Ali is a Muslim
or every one named Sauce is a doubles man.
Whether or not you
reject the research, it shows an astronomical high placement of children with
Indian names in prestige schools, whether those schools are Hindu,
Presbyterian, Catholic, or Government.
In 2011, 14 students
from one class in a Chaguanas school placed in the top 100 SEA students.
Allegations of
cheating surfaced.
In an letter
published online and attributed to Dr Selwyn Cudjoe, he wrote to then Minister
of Education, Dr Tim Gopeesingh, asking him to examine the situation to find
out whether anything untoward happened because, according to a leading maths
man, unless the teacher was the most brilliant teacher and unless these 14
students were the most brilliant in the world, the chances were one trillion to
one that such a result was possible.
The letter never
raises the issue of race, but, it's quite likely that based on the location,
Chaguanas, and the surnames Cudjoe and Gopeesingh, a lot of assumptions can be
made.
And these assumptions
can divide Trinidad into two camps.
“The Africans are
jealous of the Indians.”
“Them Indian and them
could really thief you know.”
In 1988, Cro Cro,
a Calypsonian, sang about corruption in Common Entrance.
Indian successes.
Africans in junior
secondary schools.
References to
cheating, favouritism.
Gender gaps. Racial
achievement gaps.
Every year, the top
students on the front page.
A news story here and
there about one-or-two Beetham students who defied the odds.
Will these problems
end if we abolish the SEA exam?
Or dismantle the
Concordat?
Or will the trends
continue?
Competition over
cooperation?
Maybe you're watching
this video in the distant future.
It's 2060.
Rumour has it that
people still change their surnames and religions to get their children into
prestige schools. There're even rumours of boys who had a sex-change and now
attend all-girls schools.
Some people think that Talking about
suicide is a bad idea and can be interpreted as encouragement. Yeah. For some
people, talking about suicide is like talking about sex education, teenage
pregnancy or Colm Imbert.
They rather not.
But we need to Talk.
Not about Colm Imbert. About suicide.
Because factors like depression and
mental health issues are real.
And suicides can be prevented.
Growing up I thought someone had to be
crazy or stupid to kill themselves. I thought people who attempted suicide were
looking for attention. I thought only men killed themselves. Indian men. If an
African man did it there was only one explanation: he had Indian in him. I thought people who drank Gramoxone did
it because they had grass in their belly.
Then I grew up. And Life was suddenly
more challenging.
On two occasions I've thought about
suicide. Once in 2010. And once in... Kim, what year we get married again?
In Trinidad, suicide and attempted suicide are criminal offences.
So is murder. And naked children. And
washing cars in public. And smoking weed. But that isn't stopping anyone.
The
intentional killing of oneself is evidence of two things. personal breakdown
and the deterioration of the society. Suicide is more likely to occur during
periods of crisis. Because of this suicide is used as an indicator of the
mental health status of a population.
In
the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago has the third highest suicide rate. Guyana,
the land of chicken curry, is first on the list.
In 2018, when it came to suicide,
Trinidad ranked 36th highest nation in the world. 14.6 suicides for every
100,000 people.
A deteriorated society puts people at
risk of increased suicide. Pause for a second and consider Trinidad.
There's violence, divorce, bullying,
health problems, teenage pregnancy, inappropriate media reporting, the harmful
use of alcohol, financial problems, depression, horn, poor SEA results.
Between 2005 and 2012, approximately
727 people officially died by suicide. That's roughly 100 people every
year.
One research paper lists 667 victims
of suicide from 2013 to 2016. For every suicide, 20 attempts have been made.
Every year, at each regional health
authority in Trinidad and Tobago, there are 1,000 admissions related to
self-harm or suicide.
In Trinidad (and Tobago) there 5
regional health authorities. So that's 5,000 self-harm and suicide-related
admissions.
Suicide does not have one particular
cause.
And it doesn't affect one particular
race.
It's an individual thing.
There are warning signs you should
know. The warning signs fall into three categories: Physical, Conversational
and Behavioural such as:
Disinterest in appearance,
uncontrolled anger, frequent conversations about death and suicide,
self-harming, the desire for revenge, acting reckless or engaging in risky
activities – seemingly without thinking - feeling trapped, increased alcohol or
drug use, anxiety, agitation, insomnia.
If someone is talking about being
dead, or how much their own death would make people happy there's a high
probability that person is contemplating suicide.
Extreme moods swings.
If someone goes from depressed to
suddenly ok or happy that could be an indication that the person has found a
solution in suicide.
Suicide doesn't discriminate by age,
gender or geographic location.
In 2007, a global school survey
revealed that 21% of females and 14% of males had seriously considered
suicide.17% had a definite plan.
Of the 667 suicides from 2013 to 2016:
79% of the victims were male.
Based on the same research, Indians or
Indo-Trinidadians are more likely to commit suicide. They accounted for 65% of
victims. That doesn't mean that Afro-Trinidadians are safe. Afro-Trinidadians
are three more times likely to be killed in a homicide.
34 % of the deaths occurred in South
West Trinidad.
Let's talk about Gramoxone, or
according to some Trinis Gramaxone.
From 2013 to 2016, More than 70
percent of suicides were due to drinking pesticides or other poisons.
Globally the World Health Organisation
has talked about safer access to pesticides and weedicides like Gramoxone.
Safer access can reduce impulsive suicides.
Locally, experts have called for
stronger regulation or an outright ban. A 1997 study showed that of 105 deaths
almost 80 per cent of deaths were due to paraquat or Gramoxone.
Which makes sense because, In
Trinidad, buying poison it as easy as buying rope
In 2018, the question of banning Gramoxone
came up in Parliament.
The question is, though, if poisons
are banned would suicides decrease? Because in recent times suicide by hanging
and the use of firearms have increased. Certainly, banning the sale of rope
isn't feasible.
Media Houses also have an important
role when reporting suicide.
Because research links media coverage
of suicide and increases in suicidal behaviour.Copycat suicides are a real thing.
On
the Ministry of Health's website journalists can find 11 best practices for
responsible suicide reporting.
For example:
Describing details about the method or
location are a no-no.
So is including words, photographs or
videos that may be painful to loved ones.
Never say a method is quick, easy,
painless or certain to result in death.
Avoid referring to a person as
suicidal or mentally ill
Above all, end with a message of hope.
The
scary thing is that all the media houses in Trinidad and Tobago at one time or
another, are guilty of irresponsible reporting.
When
it comes to suicide, the answers do not lie exclusively with the government or
media houses.
You and I also have an important role.
To look out for one another.
To ask a question if you recognise
worrisome physical, conversational and behavioural signs in a loved one or a
co-worker or a stranger.
Ask.
And listen. Because listening saves lives.
Let the person contemplating suicide
talk.
Be patient.
Don't be judgmental.
Put down your phone.
Do
not argue with a person contemplating suicide. Avoid saying things like:
“You have so much to live for”;
“Look on the bright side”;
“Great is the PNM.”
If
you're having dark thoughts and feel all alone, services like Lifeline can
help. Lifeline is a confidential service that befriends the despairing and
suicidal. They listen 24 hours, every day. (Wow a service that listens 24/7. My
wife will love that.)
If
you need help, call 800-5588, 231--2824. 220 3636.
If
you don't have any money in your phone, that's okay.
Lifeline's main aim is to be available
24 hours every day to people passing through a crisis and in imminent danger of
taking their own life.
This requires funding. Lifeline
earns no money and generally their work is the last and least funded because it
concentrates on perpetrators of violence.
If you're interested in becoming a
volunteer or donating to Lifeline’s work, please visit their website at
lifelinett.com.
