A Charmer called Charimr

AS TOLD TO BC PIRES

My name is Charimr Spencer and I volunteer with the Salvation Army for the Christmas.

I get asked about the spelling of my first name often. My parents deliberately left out the ‘a’ in Charimar. So I am Charimr. People say it’s unique especially for the spelling etc. I don’t mind it.

I’m from Arima side. I lived in La Horquetta, Malabar, different parts. I grew up with nice folks. I stay in Cumuto but at this time I stay in San Juan.

I came from a small family. My immediate family. I’m single. I’m 19 years old. I’m not a clubbing kind of guy. So I don’t feel the negative side of looking younger. I currently study at the University of Trinidad and Tobago.

Both my parents are Jamaican. I was born in Jamaica but grew up in Trinidad and I’m more Trinidadian than Jamaican. I’ve never been back to Jamaica. I tried to listen to dancehall and it was nice but it’s not my kind of music. I listen to gospel, calypso, soca. I don’t listen to only church music. I listen to a mixture of alternative music, pop, indy a good amount. Different genres. But not dancehall.

I went to Arima Boys Government and El Dorado East Secondary. And then I finished secondary school in St Lucia. My whole family moved to St Lucia for four years because of my father’s employment.

I say I’m shy but I’m not sure I am. Whenever asked to do something publicly, initially, I feel a little fear. But I’ve been doing things publicly from as early as age seven. I play the trap set, the drums, and you do that in front of people. At secondary school in St Lucia I played the piano in the choir and we performed in front of people. I feel a bit anxious before anything I have to do, play a football match, anything, and I take that as being shy. But I really think it’s anxiety.

I played cricket for my primary school. I started playing U-15, I think, zonal cricket, Eastern zone. I started football in St Lucia but covid came and I had to stop. But it’s something I really want to take serious. I played for a club B1 FC in St Lucia. I think opportunities would come easier here. I play for the UTT men’s team. I want to play professionally.

I don’t like school but it needs to be done so I will do it for the amount of time that I have to. At UTT, I’m studying criminology and public safety.

I was raised in a Christian faith and believe in a powerful God capable of intervention in our lives. I believe the suffering in the world is the work of the enemy [who] gives some people temporary satisfaction to make them become slaves to him.

I do believe God is the all-powerful creator and guardian of the universe who will make everything right in the end. If BC Pires asks, “So why doesn’t he just defeat the enemy?” – I don’t actually know the answer. It would actually make our lives simple.

I guess God wants us to experience life with all the suffering. We learn lessons every day. Nobody likes pain and suffering but it builds character. So we must go through it. Because we wouldn’t be who we are without a little pain. If you go to the gym, you not going to get muscles without feeling pain in your arms.

I have many gay and bisexual friends. I’m not against it. I don’t hate against my friends, they are nice people. It’s just their lifestyle that’s different from what [some allegedly Christian] doctrine teaches. So I’m not personally bothered.

I want to be a lawyer. It’s more for family wise, they wanted me to go into that field. I wanted to do kinesiology because I like sports/body everything. But law seems better to go into. [Maybe] afterwards I’ll jump into kinesiology. It has to be done. This is my first year.

I would like to probably pursue my masters in law and then go into the field. Because I’m not to sure if I can go straight into being a lawyer from doing criminology.

I don’t necessarily read but right now I’m trying to read Rich Dad Poor Dad. So it’s a habit I’m trying to build. I read as a child, Hardy Boys and many different fiction books.To Kill A Mockingbird was good.

In St. Lucia, my family made some friends and they happened to be a part of the Salvation Army. So, when this time of year came around, I signed up for the volunteer thing. And now that I’m back in Trinidad I mean why not? I’ve worked two weeks. My last day is probably Christmas Eve.

The job is I ask people for funds for the Salvation Army. I ring a bell and I ask. Sometimes I’m vocal and sometimes I just use the bell. There are a good amount of people that give but also a good amount of people that don’t. So it’s hard to say how many people give. I would say less people give than don’t give. You’ll get 20 people passing before one give. Some give really, really good and others give what they can. I’ve seen people say they’ll come back and they keep up to their word and come back and give.

All I actually do is stand and ring the bell and ask for donations. And I get yes or no. Or “Let me see what I have in the car.” More people walk away than give.

I don’t know exactly how many cents in the dollar actually go towards the work. But I believe the majority of it will go. But I’m not sure. [Editor’s note: 80 per cent.]

No, BC Pires, I don’t tell strangers “Jesus wants your money.” I’d be more like, “Hi, good day would you like to make a donation to the Salvation Army?”

The best part about it is meeting people. Sometimes you meet some people and you just have a nice time talking with people. No, I don’t regret meeting you, BC Pires. The bad part is the hours. I’m here from 9 am to 6 pm. Everyday. I get lunch money.

The crime is bad. I don’t see a lot of crime happening in front of me. But I hear about it on the news.

I haven’t voted before and I don’t think I’ll vote. The whole red/yellow thing isn’t very interesting to me.

Trini is the life of the party. Anywhere a Trinidadian goes is vibes, is fun. Anywhere in the world, once people hear you’re from Trinidad, somebody wants to be your friend. “Lemme hear yuh accent!”

Trinidad and Tobago is home. More so than Jamaica and St Lucia, this is where I grew up. I made most of my friends here. I have family here that isn’t even related to me but I call them family because I’m that close to them.

Read the full version of this feature on Friday evening at www.BCPires.com