Trinidad and Tobago
Sister Christine Walcott
Welcome to Trinidad and Tobago where Dominican life and mission are alive and growing.
Our Sister Glenda Rodriguez, a native Trinidadian, had a dream of establishing a House of Discernment in Trinidad. Today, there are six professed native Trinidadian Dominicans of Sinsinawa who live in three local communities.
The Picadilly Street Community is located in St. Joseph, a small town resting at the foot of the Northern Range of Mountains, which can boast of being the first capital of Trinidad. The present capital is Port of Spain. Two Sisters share Dominican life at Picadilly Street, Sisters Gail Jagroop and Patty Rinn.
Sister Patty Rinn (left) and Sister Gail Jagroop
I am Sister Gail Jagroop. I am recently professed and I live in community here with Sr. Patty. I am employed with the Archdiocese of Port of Spain as a Vicariate Link Person. My role is to support and serve Vicars, Parish Priests and Parish Pastoral Teams as they implement their pastoral plans. This is a very challenging ministry but one in which I hope to bring my gifts and talents to the service of those with whom I will be working. I also make myself available to conduct retreats. This ministry comes more easily to me and I derive real satisfaction from planning and conducting them. Hopefully studying theology (MATS) in a blended program between the University of Dayton and CREDI in Trinidad is helping to ground everything I do. I must say it is good to be here! I feel blessed to be a Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa.
I am Sister Patty Rinn. For the past three years, I have been truly blessed to experience the graciousness of the Trinidadian people, their multicultural diversity and faith traditions, their rich heritage of music and art, and the endless beauty of the Caribbean, while sharing Dominican life and mission with six extraordinary women I am proud to call my Dominican Sisters - Gail, Lystra, Christina, Christine, Martin and Sabrina. I am also involved at St. Joseph Parish as a member of the Pastoral Council, Parish Implementation team, Baptismal team, RCIA, and Eucharistic ministers. When invited I am happy to do some catechetical instruction/liturgical celebrations with local school children in the St. Joseph area.
Together, we welcome women to come and experience Dominican community, prayer, study, and ministry as they discern life choices. We offer discernment retreats and continue to be in conversation with them as they search and discover God’s presence and the mystery of VOCATION in their lives.
Sister Christina Araujo (middle) and friends.
I am Sister Christina Araujo. Sr. Lystra Long and I live at Casa Maria Pilar - also known as Glenda’s House - on Petra Street in Woodbrook, a suburb of Port of Spain the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. I have been blessed to live community at this house since mid 2006, first with Mary Martin Joseph, then with Fran Koller and now with Lystra.
Ministry takes me downtown to East Port of Spain to the parish office of Holy Rosary where I coordinate the total Religious Education programme for the Holy Rosary and St. Martin de Porres communities as well as assisting the parish priest with other aspects of pastoral ministry as needed.
Holy Rosary is a beautiful church, a historical landmark in the city. For several years now it has been under restoration. This has been symbolic of the restoration work underway in the community itself.
Five minutes drive–or twenty minutes walk- east of Rosary Church is the church of St. Martin de Porres, with St. Catherine of Siena as secondary patron. In between and all around are the people, our people.
It is a real joy to minister here.
Sister Lystra Long (font, middle) and group of students
I am Sister Lystra Long OP, a campus minister at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, a public university with 18,000 students that also caters to students from the other islands in the Caribbean, as well as other countries.
I work at the UWI Catholic Chaplaincy (Newman Center) along with a Catherine of Siena Dominican Sister who is the chaplain, a diocesan priest and a core group of students. My main purpose is to hang out with, empower and assist where necessary in the student’s spiritual, psychological, and emotional development. One of the ways I do this is through spiritual direction. This is my third year in this ministry, and it has been a joy thus far working with the students and seeing their enthusiasm, faith, and commitment. It can also be very challenging at times, because many of our Catholic students do not have a working understanding of their faith and what it means to be Catholic. They are also misinformed by lecturers about their faith which further confuses them. I am tremendously blessed by the students and the journey that they are on. Additionally, at the university there is a three year degree system, with a four year work load. Therefore, many students are placed under excess stress to graduate within the three years. It spite of the difficulties that they face, I am encouraged and given hope through the students.
Sister Martin Joseph
Two other Sisters share Dominican life and minister in Toco, Sisters Martin Joseph and Christine Walcott. Martin is the administrator of the Catholic rural communities in Toco, Cumana, Matelot, Grande Riviere, Sans Souci, Salibea and Rampanalgas. Christine teaches remedial reading and math at the elementary school in Matelot, as well as mentors the young teachers there.