AS TOLD TO BC PIRES

My name is Pamela Cedeno, and I waiting for God to come and help me, because they say God helps those who help themselves, and I’ve been doing that all my life.

I’m from Mt Pleasant, Arima, born and grow.

We went to live in town for a while, came back Arima and never left after that. I love Arima.

My mom is a Indian and my father is more Trini-Spanish.

I have family who was part of the parang long-time. I never get the chance to sing parang, but I dance very well.

I was like a tomboy growing up, always try to do everything for myself.

I have three kids, two girls, one boy.

It was a joy when my first grandchild came into this world. He’s my eyeball, Kevon, aged ten years.

Then Zhara, eight, Zacharia, seven, Annalee, six and Liam, two.

Right now, going on two years now, I’m a single person. Single mom. Single grandmother.

I went Arima Girls’ RC Primary, Nelson Street Girls’ RC when we were in town, then Mt Hope, then Arima Senior Comprehensive.

I don’t know if school was something I liked, but I did enjoy it.

I came out with just three passes.

But I don’t have any regrets. I enjoyed every bit of school, from primary to junior and senior.

I was raised Catholic but right now I’m proud to be a Spiritual Baptist.

When I got older, I went to other churches and educate myself about other faiths before I decided what I wanted to be.

I couldn’t hurt my children. So I did ask myself how God could hurt his.

But God lives in inside of us when we have faith in ourselves and our decisions.

I ain’t go lie: I’s have my doubts.

Plenty people say it ent good to question God. But I say why have a God when we cannot ask a question?

Some of us just play dumb and go by what religion teach them. But I want to ask questions.

I did a little store work when I finished school. Here and there. Little cleaning. Work CEPEP. Woman’s programme. I did a course.

And I went in Miami and live over there for six years. That was nice.

Nothing come easy, it always have a rough part, but you have to know how to ride waves when you going in a boat. When you reach land, now, you decide if it going to be easy or rough.

I enjoy the work I do now, even though it involves people who have health problems, people suffering and thing.

It is hard but you can’t let patients see you’re sad. Because it shows them that something is wrong.

So you have to hold that faith, put a smile and overcome it. Treat them good, give them words of wisdom, pray for them.

I had the sense that I had to do things for myself from an early age.

Leaving senior comprehensive, we coming out from motherhood and fatherhood. The Bible say you have to fly away from the nest, and the onliest way I could fly away from my mom’ home was to start working from early, start doing things for myself.

Since the age of 18, I’m on my own.

It’s a difficult thing to be on your own in this world.

But somehow, I does get the strength. Is not to say I’m not human and I don’t have feelings – but I do get the strength.

Sometime