Purpose-Discover Yourself Feat. Miss Anna Maria Mora

As she watched the steel birds dance in the sky, symbols of unspoken dreams and adventures that they were, she heard one of her students say,

“Miss, parents from rural communities do not know how to dream for their children. All they think their children are good to do, Miss, is to sell chive on the side of the road.”

She had asked her students to imagine where those planes were going and to imagine a life beyond the shores of Trinidad and Tobago, but it was evident that she had her work cut out for her. Contrast this moment with a time in her past when airplanes represented a personal dream of hers. Before she was an Educator, Counselling Psychologist, Past President of Trinidad and Tobago Association for Psychologists (TTAP), and the Founder of Mariama Children’s Museum & Teen Turf: the Counselling and Activity Center for Children and Adolescents, Miss Anna Maria Mora wanted to become a flight attendant with all the perceived trimmings. Her father who worked at British West Indian Airways (B.W.I.A) did not approve of that life for his first-born, and as the shreds of her application form fell to the ground so too did that aspiration. When asked if she regretted the way things turned out, her response was the same as her father’s when she expressed an interest in becoming a flight attendant, “No, not at all!” Be sure to buckle up for this read. This is a story that depicts how Miss Mora found her calling, demonstrates advocacy in action and shows how she continues to live out her purpose.

Does your purpose find you or do you find your purpose? The more I listened to Miss Mora the more I realized how many events coincided to bring her to where she is at now; from how she became an educator to how she became a Counselling Psychologist to opening her own youth center. Imagine going behind your father’s back and doing something he never approved of only for him to find out in the most direct way! Well, Miss Mora doesn’t have to imagine, her father was the very person that vetted her flight attendant job application. After that whole debacle, she enrolled at Mausica Teachers' Training College at just eighteen years old. She would go on to work at both the primary and secondary school levels. While at Sacred Heart Girls R.C. she pursued her first degree in Language and Literature at the University of the West Indies (U.W.I). Shortly after, while at Barataria Senior Secondary, she was chosen to be a part of the first contingent of trained Guidance Officers in Trinidad and Tobago. She was then sent to take up the role of Guidance Officer at Arima Comprehensive, which was an interesting experience, to say the least. While filling this role, she felt like more needed to be done for adolescents to be better understood. With this fuel to better serve young people, she applied to Columbia University and was pleasantly surprised when she got accepted. So off she went to pursue her Masters in Counseling Psychology. When she returned to Trinidad, she was sent back to Barataria Senior Comprehensive and got a bit frustrated with how dismissive the educational system and its rules were at times. What she did next was brave, scary, some may have even said she was crazy...but for her, some things were worth venturing into the unknown. She saw children falling by the wayside, being marginalized, treated unfairly by those in charge, children raising children, child abuse...and she had had enough. So she made a life-altering decision that would change, not only her life but the lives of thousands of young people.

There were many instances where Miss Mora was stirred to action, such as her first experience with child abuse, meeting a young man who was made to feel invisible and a case where a student’s future hung in the balance. It was at Sacred Heart Girls R.C. where she came across her first case of child abuse. Perhaps this event was a foreshadowing of the work she would do later on. She recalls one of her infants clenching her fist unusually tight. When she finally got her to open it she saw the ravages of a mother who ‘made an example’ of her daughter for bringing home the wrong change. The child’s mother had used a utensil to burn the child’s palm, which left her with both physical and emotional scars. Miss Mora didn’t say this but I could tell from her voice and the repetitious way in which she mentioned incidences like these being commonplace at that time- that she detested corporal punishment. The next story she mentioned was about a young man of African descent who was made to feel invisible by his peers, teachers and persons at home. When she first met him, she inquired about his name and how he was doing and maybe it was the shock of it all or maybe it was something else, but he did not respond to her. Miss Mora repeated herself to which he then responded. For the first time, he felt seen and became fond of Miss Mora. She later did some investigation and realized that the young man didn’t have people around him who treated him with the respect he deserved. The individual had been stereotyped because of how he looked and where he came from and basically made to feel less than. It is this same stereotyping that saw it fit to let a young man pay for his mistakes in a way that permanently altered his future. One of Miss Mora’s students was caught by the police shaking down a phone booth for coins. They turned him over to the school to dispense the relevant punishment. The rules that were implemented at the time were rigid. The child was to be expelled. Miss Mora tried her best to plead on the child’s behalf. She asked to work with him and help him with his studies but her request was denied. The father of the child expressed a lack of concern and said that he would send his son to the Youth Training Center (YTC), and so said, so done. Imagine how a singular event can change the whole trajectory of an individual’s life. This experience was enough to make Miss Mora intentionally and unapologetically step into the next chapter of her life. On that very day, she took up her bag and walked away from what others would deem a stable job; but symbolically she was walking into her purpose.

“Be the change you want to see.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Who would take care of the children: who got expelled, who went to Junior Secondary schools and had too much free time without supervision, because parents were not around? Miss Mora’s response to these questions was to establish Youth Educational Advancement (Y.E.A.) a Youth Center, where children would have a safe space to discover Trinidad and Tobago and discover themselves. Do you remember the young man from the introductory paragraph who mentioned rural parents having small dreams for their children? He was a part of this after-school program for many years. Miss Mora proudly reported that he now lives in China where he teaches English and Art. Imagine where he would be today if he was only allowed to dream the dreams of his immediate reference group. In 2005 there was a name change to Mariama Children’s Museum & Teen Turf. This Youth Center has been in existence for thirty years now and the lives of many other people have been transformed. Over the years, Mariama has partnered with well-known organizations to provide support to youth from rural communities. Additionally, Miss Mora has written many newspaper articles highlighting topical youth-related issues and has her very own newspaper supplement that speaks to the subject of Parenting. The passion that Miss Mora has for helping shape the lives of young people emanates so brightly in her speech, her actions and the support she has provided and continues to provide to them. She said with conviction,

“This is my purpose.”

She mentioned that her faith kept her grounded and that the things in her life that she thought would have ruined her, ended up being the very thing that made everything work out.

In the brief time spent with Miss Mora, she provided a treasure trove of nuggets. To go more in-depth would mean that the pages of a book would have to be filled because the contribution she has made to society is so rich. Miss Mora can be described as a pioneer, nurturer, an advocate, a beacon and lionhearted. Her story is so inspiring but what's more inspiring is her humility and her desire to serve. Her love for youth is evident in what she does and it's a remarkable thing to see. She has surely made great strides in carving out a legacy of hope, service and advocacy. And with that, I leave you with this resounding question, how do you wish to be remembered?