Circular No 847 Extra

Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.

Caracas, 31 of January 2018 No. 847 extra

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Dear Friends,

Emails follow.

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On Jan 21, 2018, at 8:37 AM,

Gabriel Faria <gabefaria@yahoo.com> wrote:

I actually just tested it on my Bank of America app on my phone and I have 6 transfers per month free on my account. It can be done to any registered bank account in the US. So it might be free 

Regards

Gabe

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On Jan 21, 2018, at 7:59 AM,

ANTONI MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net> wrote:

Thanks, Gabe.....

Valuable information to know. 

A wire transfer costs significantly more,

George 

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On Sunday, January 21, 2018 5:57 AM,

Gabriel Faria <gabefaria@yahoo.com> wrote:

Guys, 

For persons living in the US and Canada an ACH (interbank) transfer or interac transfer in Canada can be done electronically from your computer and normally cost $1.50 for transfers up to $1,000.00 I believe.

These transfers can be done to someone’s else’s account who is willing to convert it in their Trinidad account it need not be mine.

Regards

Gabe

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On Jan 21, 2018, at 7:42 AM,

ANTONI MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net> wrote:

Thanks, Joe...

Will follow your guidance.

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On Saturday, January 20, 2018 4:14 PM,

Joseph Berment-McDowald <bermentmcdowald@yahoo.com> wrote:

Dear George,

We try to keep formality to a minimum.

The executive of the association generally accepts and supports all good ideas in the common interest (that reflect our mission and values and don't require us alone to find money to fund or expend effort them) from any Old Boy. 

I can say with confidence that any initiative like yours which you yourself are determined to champion is more than welcome.

Please be careful to let others know that this is only one of at least two ways that they can contribute and urge those of superior means to contribute as much as they can in advance, rather than restricting their contributions to the minimum.

In both instances what is important is that the contributions be regular and dependable, as far as possible.

The money for every project that we do has always been carefully and openly accounted for. We have never had any sort of scandal or impropriety.

You can take my word for it George: proceed !

If I receive any different instructions from the directors when we meet I'll get back to you immediately.

Sincerely,

JBM

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On Sat, 20 Jan 2018 at 5:37 p.m.,

George Mickiewicz <amickiew@att.net> wrote:

Thanks for your comments and concerns, Don.  

Looks like my initial message was not clear. Please allow me to clarify it

.....I am offering that small amounts will be mailed to Fr Harold as paper money so the ASAA will get actual dollar bills in hand to share with the oldboys in Venezuela.....US$ 1, 5, 10 and 20 dollar bills which will hopefully add up to hundreds, and perhaps thousands with God’s help. I am not talking about hundreds of dollars....much less thousands.....that will be donated by single individuals. 

Not sure if there are any oldboys who can contribute large sums on money over long periods of time. I am hoping and praying that hundreds of old boys will participate and give more frequently if the amounts are small over long periods of time as there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for the current crisis in Venezuela. Venezuelan economy is projected to worsen significantly this year.

In this proposal, Not a single dollar will be wired to anyone.....no banking involved.....just dollar bills via normal mail ....perhaps euros, pound sterling, pesos, etc too.....in relatively small denominations.......or whatever other currency holds high value and can be readily used in Venezuela today. If a go, will need Ladislao to let us know what other currencies, other than the US$, are practical and used in Venezuela today. 

At this point I will wait for the decision by the ASAA before communicating and expanding this effort beyond the 9 of us. Joe shared earlier that the ASAA will probably be meeting sometime in the next two weeks.  

Will personally proceed with the mail test to see if the $ get to Fr Harold....and not stolen in the mail transit from the USA to Trinidad.

Any other additive and value adding ideas or concerns are welcomed.  

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On Jan 20, 2018, at 2:43 PM,

Don Mitchell <idmitch@anguillanet.com> wrote:

Hi, Joe,

Thanks for arranging for the funds to be remitted from overseas to Gabe’s account, with copies to the Treasurer of the Association. I am sure Gabe will transfer the funds from his account to the project immediately when asked, and that the Treasurer is keeping track.  There can be no more transparent system that you could have arranged for the transfer of funds to this worthwhile project.

Each of us should transmit whatever funds we can afford, whether US$1,000 or US$5,000.  I spent half a morning arranging the transfer of my small donation. I would not be prepared to spend that amount of time for an amount of $20 or $50. That is the main obstacle to George’s proposal. Let us each give what we can, and go back to our normal daily chores without worrying about trust.

Get well soon,

Don

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From:  George Mickiewicz

Sent:  Saturday, January 20, 2018 3:27 PM

Subject A PROPOSAL/IDEA FOR YOUR NEXT ABBEY SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ( ASAA) MEETING

Thanks, Joe. 

The cost of wiring will be more expensive than the type of contributions I have in mind. I think that it will be easier to get 50 old boys to occasionally contribute $10 US or equivalent versus one person contributing $500US or equivalent. Multiplying those numbers by factors of 3, 4, 5.....can potentially increase the funding.

The ASAA’s challenge will be to provide transparency and some type of accounting to keep these contributions flowing in a world that does not trust these types of activities.

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On Jan 20, 2018, at 12:40 PM, Joseph Berment-McDowald <bermentmcdowald@yahoo.com> wrote:

If anyone wants to make a contribution now let me know and I will send you Gabriel Faria's US ($) account information.

Thank you,

Joe

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On Sat, 20 Jan 2018 at 12:44 p.m., Joseph Berment-McDowald

<bermentmcdowald@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hello George,

I just emailed you our WhatsApp chat history. In it you'll find all the information that you need and will facilitate you creative freedom in promoting the cause. Please be careful that individual identities go no further.

With kindest regards,

Joe

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On Sat, 20 Jan 2018 at 10:19 a.m.,

ANTONI MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net> wrote:

Hi Joe

Please send me a short summary of what and how the ASAA is helping our brothers in need in Venezuela. Need it for the experiment that I am going to try on my own as mentioned in my earlier note.

Thanks,

George

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On Saturday, January 20, 2018 7:43 AM,

ANTONI MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net> wrote:

Dear ASAA Brothers

May God continue to keep and bless you in your admirable work to assist our oldboys in Venezuela to survive in the current catastrophic economic environment in Venezuela. We are so proud and thankful for you. Please share this note with the other members of the ASAA that are not included in this note..thanks.

Have been praying to the Holy Spirit to provide all of us with the wisdom and the guidance of how best we can continue to help the ASAA in their challenges to get the dollars for those oldboys in need in Venezuela. This idea came from the Gospel story how Jesus was able to feed 5000 men and ???? women with just 7 loaves of bread and 7 fishes that a little boy had:

Asking our oldboys and our personal friends to send $ 1, 5, 10, 20 USA bills to Father Harold in Trinidad on a monthly basis if they are able and willing to do so.

Use cards to "hide" the money versus plain paper....an old trick that may no longer work with today's technology

Probably some of this will be stolen.... but ....even if half gets through....it will be that much more than the ASAA currently has.

If successful, it could potentially result in a steady stream of money for years to come from thousands around the world.

If it sounds hopeful and you want to try it...please send appropriate address and other guidance of how best to test it.

Are there any other denominations that will have value and assist the effort other than US$.....Canadian $, euro, pesos, etc.?

Recognize that this will create a potentially significant administrative challenge for FR Harold and he might not want to do it for other reasons to. In that case it can be addressed to Fr. Harold at someone else's address.....or administered by someone else....or some other way.

Others can build and improve upon this simple idea.

I am willing to assist the ASAA from here in USA in whatever way you believe that I can be value adding.

I will honour and respect your decision

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Dear Glen, Nigel, Kazim, Jorge and Michael

If the ASAA accepts this idea, would you be willing to join me in a test by sending one US$ 1, 5, 10 dollar bill or one equivalent bill of the money used in your country.....after we receive the ASAA's guidance.

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Dear All

I am going to try something else on my own and will let you know how it works out....probably by the end of February. I ask for your thoughts and prayers that it may succeed.

Blessings to you and yours....today and always,

George

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ANTONI MICKIEWICZ <amickiew@att.net>

Feb 17 at 7:29 AM

Muchisimas gracias, Jorge Iwaszkiewicz, for your generous $50 donation yesterday. 

So the total is up to US$500.

Sent $5 via Zelle to Gabriel Faria as a test per his request.  Once he confirms that he receives it, I will send the balance of the remaining $495 to his account.

To continue this valuable and charitable support, suggest that the ASAA issue a fund raising request to all our alumni via emails on a regional basis: Trinidad, Caribbean Islands, USA, Canada, South America, Central America, Europe, etc.  I would do it but I lack the credibility and, for some reason, am despised by some of our brothers.  Be glad to help in anyway that is needed and being able to do it.

With brotherly love,

George

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EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz,  kertesz11@yahoo.com,  if you would like to be in the circular’s mailing list or any old boy that you would like to include.

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Photos:

03SC2135SCOFAM, Salvador Coscarat family

03UN0015MSBEDI, pax invitation card

65UN0020CARACASREUNION, Reunion with Fr. Bernard

59LK0001ABYFLD

Circular No 847

Newsletter for alumni of The Abbey School, Mt. St. Benedict, Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.

Caracas, 27 of January 2018 No. 847

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Dear Friends,

I am including an article by Marc de Verteuil.  His short essay is interesting as it torches ideas and presents himself as a promising author, like Brian Goddard, remember him?

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My name is Marc de Verteuil and I’m working to establish a sanctuary giving sharks 100 per cent protection from fishing, consumption and trade.

Whenever somebody addresses me as “Mark”, if feels as if they are addressing somebody else. The "c" in Marc throws back to my French Creole ancestry. I think it is important to have historical markers.

I live in Goodwood Park. My parents got a divorce when I was seven, and I moved to the Netherlands with my mother and sister, Genevieve. I never adapted to feeling Dutch and moved back to Trinidad when I was 25. My home has always been here.

I remember saying goodbye to my best friend. I made an excuse of having a headache and went home. I often avoid awkward situations and conversations. I did it at seven, I do it at 41.

I’m undecided about having a family of my own. I’m still single at age 41, and I don’t know that will change anytime soon. My sister has three children, Sebastian, Jordan and Zoe. I don’t think I could love my own children any more than I love them. The world population is surging towards 9. 6 billion people by 2050. So, aside from being single, I also struggle with the morality of putting more children on this planet.

My grandfather on my father’s side became my surrogate father. Both my parents are alive. Both my parents are alive. But I “lost” my dad to mental illness a long time ago. He’s severely schizophrenic. My father saw his whole life fall apart. He lives with that pain and the bewilderment of his disease everyday. He misses his family. He is shunned by most people. The pain is unimaginable. When something like that happens in a family, it’s like throwing a bomb in a crowded room: everybody gets hurt. My grandfather had to see his son deteriorate. My mother saw the man she loved change in to something she could not understand, or live with. Her nurturing home was destroyed. My sister saw her parents, home and life torn apart. My dad was my best friend. I don't think anybody will ever fully recover.

My father lives in an old people's home, where the staff take fantastic care of him. I wish he could live with me, but he needs constant care. Sometimes I feel I have failed as a son. Just thinking about it, I get tears in my eyes. But that is part of the trauma. And it is not all bad. My sister's kids cuddle him, accepting Grandpa and loving him for who he is. So I know there is still something good about his life.

My mother's background is Protestant, my father comes from a Catholic family, so to avoid offending either side of the family I was never baptized. My Catholic grandfather thought no good could come from this, so he later admitted to secretly giving me a layman's baptism.

I'm an atheist. I have read most of the Bible and some of the Koran. Neither reading has convinced me that there is a god, or that the god described is just or unconditionally loving. The fact that there are many faiths is proof that the computer we call the human mind, has made faulty conclusions about its origin in the absence of correct data. One human mind being broadly similar to another, it is no surprise that they all came to similarly wrong beliefs.

There is no proof of an afterlife. It must be the grandest arrogance a human being can have to think that he or she is eternal. If there is an afterlife, then it is in the form of our DNA. And humans share 50% of DNA with bananas. Humanity would do itself, and all organisms, a favour and start to think of itself and all other living things as simply being different manifestations of "Life".

My favourite colour is red. But I like blue shirts.

Half the time, my car radio’s tuned in to BBC World Service. The other half, I switch from dancehall to Indie to pop to rock. Just because I use different terms for music doesn't mean I know which style fits what name. I'm just trying to sound like I know what I'm talking about.

If chipping down the road on Carnival Monday and Tuesday is dancing, then I dance.

It's a bad habit to read multiple books at once but I usually have two or three open at the same time. Two books I’d take to a deserted island would be "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", by William L. Shirer and "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien. I've read them many times since my teens.

I'm a vegetarian but I'd have to admit my favourite meal would be rib-eye steak. Rare, with garlic butter and white wine reduction. And super thin French fries.

On a reef in Indonesia, sharks were overfished. Without predators, the snapper population exploded. The snappers ate out the grazer fish like parrotfish. Without parrotfish the reef became overgrown with algae and started to die. Without sharks, the oceans will be less productive.

Sharks are apex predators and many species are hurtling towards extinction. A billion people around the world depend on the ocean for protein and income. So protecting sharks means protecting people.

On average, five people per year are killed by sharks. In the US alone, about 13 people per year are killed by vending machines. Cows, cars, bathtubs and ladders each kill more people than sharks.

There are sustainable shark-and-bake alternatives that taste just as good: flying fish, the invasive lionfish or even cheese. Shark is also full of mercury, making it an unhealthy choice

The best thing about establishing a shark sanctuary is that it gives Trinidadians a chance to view ourselves as responsible, protective, nurturing people guided by rationalism. And not our bellies, fears or general ignorance. Personally, I enjoy throwing a pebble in to the pond of our national self-awareness, and seeing the ripple grow into a wave. There is no bad part of a shark sanctuary. It is all good.

When I’m away from Trinidad, I miss the mountains, the food, the Jurassic Park North and East coast features. In a way I also miss the anarchy, even though that is probably our biggest downfall, our "organized chaos" keeps life interesting.

Sometimes people tell me, “Oh, you’re a rich white boy, you could afford to care about sharks, but poor people have to eat a food”. I tell them it’s the poor who are most vulnerable to environmental degradation. The depletion of fish stocks hits poor local fishermen first. The rich don’t care. They will buy farmed salmon imported from Alaska.

I once caught an intruder in my house, and I hit him repeatedly, but only to subdue him and protect myself. I was careful to not do him any permanent damage. I have caused damage by speaking hurtful words in anger. But I'm trying to work on that.

A Trini is a Nobel Prize-winning author, a Trini is also somebody implicated in a plot to bomb JFK airport. A man who uses his body to stop highway bulldozers. An island scholarship winner, a single mother with six children from six different fathers, a climate scientist with the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, a gangster, the couple trying to make ends meet selling doubles. There is no one prototype Trini.

Trinidad & Tobago, to me, means “home” and “pride”. I have a UK passport but I use my Trini passport whenever possible, just because it is more part of who I am.

 — with Marc Laurent de Verteuil.

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Nigel Boos <nigelboos@gmail.com>

To:Dr. Kenneth Ian Austin

Jan 26 at 6:33 PM

Thanks for the update, Ken.

I didn’t know Allan, but I did know Dr. “Nobby” Blanc. Could they have been related, perhaps?

So, another one bites the dust, as they say. Well, I can only express my sympathy to those who were close to him. I do not know who they are, but I’ll send this note to the few members of the Blanc family for whom I have email addresses, to let them know of my caring and prayers for the family and for Allan himself that he may quickly find his way into the Lord’s presence.

To all the OB’s who might have known Allan Blanc, this is just a wee word to you to ask for your prayers for his soul. May he and all the members of our Abbey School Old Boys community find peace forever in heaven in the company of Our Lord and God.

God bless us all.

Nigel

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On Jan 26, 2018, at 2:12 PM, Kenneth Austin <kentrini@aol.com> wrote:

Another old boy from my era, 1946-1954 passed away on Jan.18,2018.

I last saw him in June 2017 when I was in TnT for funeral of my brother-in-law.

They both lived in the same condo building.

Thanks for all the info which you circulate.

Ken Austin

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Published: 

Monday, January 15, 2018

BLANC, ALLAN “SONNY” passed away peacefully on Thursday 11th January,2018. Husband of Helen Blanc (néeTucker). Father of Richard, Trevor, Vicki and Gary. Father-in-law of Susan, Donna, James and Francine. Grandfather of Jason and Logan, Jacqueline and Kimberly, Phillip, Catherine and Richard, Mark, Jonathan and Laura. Brother of Helen Maingot (deceased) and Rosemary Lambkin. Funeral mass for the late Allan Sonny Blanc takes place at St. Finbars R. C.Church, Diego Martin on Monday 15th January, 2018 at 10:30 am, followed by private cremation. In lieu of flowers, a collection will be taken up for Hope Centre.

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George Mickiewicz

12 August 12:51

No idea

George Mickiewicz

12 August 12:52

Have you shared them with Ladislao Kertesz for future Circulars

Jorge Iwaszkiewicz

12 August 13:19

Not yet......need to scan them first...just found them

George Mickiewicz

12 August 13:20

Muchas gracias for your continued value adding contributions to the cause

George Mickiewicz

12 August 13:22

Bon

George Mickiewicz

12 August 07:35

Richard Arrindell –

A number of Arrindells attended our school, but Richard is not listed in our current database.

Did anyone know or remember him?

What I found to be very unique about Richard is that he witnessed and lived through a war in Vietnam.

Do not recall reading about any other "old boy" actually living through the hell of a living and breathing war. 

3rd division, 3rd battalion, 3rd platoon trini USA Marine

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EDITED by Ladislao Kertesz,  kertesz11@yahoo.com,  if you would like to be in the circular’s mailing list or any old boy that you would like to include.

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Photos:

87UN0008JUBILEUM p23

03DM2011DMIGMI,Don Mitchell and Gordon Mitchell

04LK0001HAHPLC, Hector Ahow

15LK1583REUNIONCARACAS, Reunion Caracas