Sitting in the living room of his humble home in La Canoa, Santa Cruz, 15-year-old Ajay Aberdeen might seem like your typical teenager, but he has a deep sense of purpose and a tireless work ethic which separates him from his peers. Aberdeen rose to fame after a video of him detailing his inspirational story as a neighbourhood vendor surfaced on Facebook. He is now seen as a role model, by social media users.

Newsday visited Aberdeen recently just as he received a group of British tourists – Jason Chapelle, Benedict Brown and Gianfranco Kong – who said they were moved by his story and wanted to donate pimentos and cash to help start his own garden.

Despite hisrecent popularity, Aberdeen insists he is still a normal teenager and wishes to help other youths find their passion and pursue their own dreams. He says while the life of a teenage entrepreneur can be a difficult one, it is worth the effort.

“Working in the garden and then going out to sell on the weekends is a lot of hard work. and I need to be awake pretty early because of how much work I’ve had to do. But in the long run it’s definitely worth it. There’s something satisfying about knowing you can provide for yourself and in an honest way too.”

Aberdeen says he took an interest in agriculture at the age of ten, after visiting his uncle Wendell Aberdeen’s garden on weekends and helping with the crops. Before long, uncle and nephew were working alongside each other in the field and selling their goods on weekends in front of Uncle Beddoe’s Supermarket at the La Canoa Junction on weekends.

He says while he was met with some apprehension from his peers because of his trade, he remained focused on his work and believes that in the end, hard work and perseverance are the only keys to success.

“Yes, I’ve been teased from some of my friends when they found out about my work, but I didn’t pay it any mind. In the end I was working for my own money, buying my own sneakers and books. You can’t get better than that,” Aberdeen says with a smile.

His mother Lystra Aberdeen told Newsday while she was apprehensive about her son’s recent increase in popularity, she was supportive and believed he could be a positive role model to other youths in the community.

She shared hisexperience with gun violence.

“He had a friend who he used to lime with and he shot and killed himself while playing with a gun. They were very close. and I think that experience put everything in perspective for him. He (Ajay) is a regular child, with his own flaws. but he’s very inquisitive and he does everything he can to succeed. He’s a role model to the other children.”

While Ajay is sceptical about this title of role model and insists he is just a regular teenager, he feels better knowing some youths may have benefited from his message of hard work before success, and says several of his peers have already come to him seeking advice.

“Its been amazing. Some of my friends who laughed at me before are now coming forward for me to help them find their own passions. I’m just happy I could help.”

AN air of calm returned to the Devil’s Woodyard yesterday, the day after the mud volcano at Hindustan Road in New Grant, on the outskirts of Princes Town, erupted twice in five hours.

There were no more reports of visible volcanic activity.

On Tuesday, the first eruption occurred at 4.20 am followed by a minor one at 8.52 am.

To maintain public safety and security, two temporary shelters at the Hindustan Community Complex and Hindustan Community Centre were opened to accommodate any displaced villagers if the need arose.

Villagers, however, opted to stay in their homes, saying the eruption was a normal occurrence.

“Not a single person left the village, “said Doodastil Pooranlal.

“I have become tired of being frightened. I am not afraid any more because I know what it gives. I believe it reached where it is going. We will have no more explosions for the next 15 to 20 years.”

Pooranlal, 60, recalled that the volcano erupted at the end of 1960, 1970 and in 1995.

“The one in 1995 seemed to be the more dangerous one, because it had damaged roads, a shed, the entrance to the volcano, and there were cracks in neighbouring properties,” he said.

No homes were directly affected by the geological activity this week.

At about 3 am on Tuesday, Pooranlal said, he heard gas escaping from the mud volcano, a sign that it was about to erupt. He said it sounded like gunshots or trees falling. He went outside with his torchlight, but saw nothing. An hour and 20 minutes later, the mud volcano exploded.

“Social media is saying that the mud was hot. It was cold like ice. I felt it the morning,” he said.

Another resident, Premchand Boochoon, 57, said villagers have experience with the eruptions and so evacuation “is out of the question until further notice.”

Like other residents, he said the eruption in 1995 was bigger than this year’s. “It is a normal thing. Just the young villagers might be scared.

Days after the eruptions, everything goes back to normal.

“From my house I saw a huge mountain went up into the air and fell back down,” he said.

Despite receiving no new reports of overnight activities, officials from different organisations revisited the site yesterday to do further research. They included the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, the Geological Society (GSTT), the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre and the Princes Town Regional Corporation (PTRC).

In a media release the ODPM said the GSTT and the EMA are observing the geological activity at the site. The Rural Development Company and the Local Government Ministry, through the PTRC, it said, were leading the management and co-ordination of the response.

The PTRC did a damage assessment and needs analysis of the area yesterday which confirmed structural damage to the corporation’s infrastructure on site.

Speaking with Newsday at the site, engineering seismologist Ilias Papadopoulos of the Seismic Research Centre said there was no telling whether anything more would happen.

“It is too early to tell. Nothing has changed from yesterday to today,” he said.

He said the ODPM would be keeping the media informed on any further developments.

The ODPM retracted its original statement on the role of the centre in monitoring the geological activity. The centre has a professional interest in observing the geological phenomenon but did not do assessments to rate the flammability level of the site as low. Neither did the centre do continuous assessments of the site or declare the site dormant, the ODPM said.

Meanwhile the ODPM is advising citizens and tourists to avoid visiting the area. Despite the warning, visitors went to get a first-hand view of the aftermath of the eruption.

People with any questions or concerns can contact its Customer Care Centre at 511 or visit the website at www.odpm.gov.tt. Supt Rohan Pardasie and other Southern Division police visited the site.

YVONNE WEBB

WHO gave instructions to prematurely stop the Carnival in the southern city, two hours before the merry monarch ended on Tuesday night? That’s the question San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello wants answered.

He said Snr Supt Zamsheed Mohammed, who assured there would be no interference in the festival unless there was a potential threat, said it wasn’t him.

However, Mohammed told the Newsday the police had to use their discretion and order a shutdown because of several fights on Cipero Street and information that the perpetrators were heading to Coffee Street to carry out similar acts.

Regrello said he was manhandled and assaulted by a junior police officer in plain clothes who also threatened to arrest him, when he stood his ground as the officer tried to stop CAL Skiffle from performing at a competition on Coffee Street, around 10 pm on Tuesday night.

He said this was disrespect to the national instrument and the art form and wondered why, with all of the violent incidents which took place in the capital city, no police officer dared to enter any steelband or stop the mas in Port of Spain.

“The steelbands don’t give trouble. We don’t have violence in steelbands. The disrespect we met last night as a steelband carry us back to 1940s when they used to slaughter steelband men and jail them for nothing.”

Regrello also called on the police to apologise to citizens, who were intimidated by officers in tactical gear.

“The police owe the city corporation and the people of San Fernando an apology for the atrocity. This going on for seven or eight years and it is time we put a stop to this.”

Regrello said the police action was unjustified and left the community livid, as there was no clear or present danger at the time of the incident.

He said police had been been prematurely shutting down the Carnival for the past seven or eight years in San Fernando and this was hampering the mas.

On J’Ouvert morning, one man was killed and another wounded in a shooting incident.

“What that is doing, those decisions taken by the police, is hampering Carnival bands in San Fernando. Bandleaders are now thinking twice about investing in San Fernando and masqueraders are rethinking their commitment to play. The mas is being affected and we have an issue with that,” Regrello said at a news conference at the San Fernando City Hall yesterday.

“Our position on this is that we are not sure, in terms of the authority of the police, as to where they stand in this action. As far as we know, the President proclaims Carnival, and Carnival starts at 4 am on J’Ouvert morning, and ends at midnight on Carnival Tuesday evening, unless something happens untoward that can create a risk to the lives of citizens.”

The corporation’s corporate secretary Amanda Ranghell said the police contravened their powers because there was no clear or imminent threat to the safety of citizens or the peaceful running of the Carnival celebrations.

Regrello said he understood long after that there was a stabbing incident on Cipero Street that night, but he was not consulted or informed about what was going on.

“Well, the police must do their work. If there are hot spots then curtail that area and supervise that area. You don’t have to shut down the entire city for that.”

Ranghell said because the police did not inform the mayor of their plan of action, he was placed in a very delicate and embarrassing position.

“The question remains why he was not notified immediately or sought prior clarification before that act was taken. More importantly, who would have given that directive?” the attorney asked.

Regrello said while he wants to maintain the goodwill he has with the police, and does not want to go the route of legal action, he will be weighing his legal options, as he was manhandled by one of the officers who assaulted him and threatened to arrest him.

“This is not only a disrespect to me, but the way they went about it. If I was not the Mayor of San Fernando I would have been arrested on Tuesday night.”

*Just In**

RICHARDSON DHALAI

RC Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon has challenged members of the Catholic faith to put down their cell phones and reconnect with God for two hours each day during the Lenten season.

He was addressing the midday Ash Wednesday Mass at the Pro-Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church, Harris Promenade, San Fernando yesterday. This was Gordon’s first official sermon at the Church since he was installed as archbishop.“This time of Lent is a time to make God most important in our life and it starts with our prayer,” he said, adding, “This Lent I am asking you to pray, take up something from prayer, give up something and give away something.

“This is the discipline of Lent. We spend so much time wrapped up in ourselves. The Gospel is basically saying no self-promotion. No self-promotion means we could give up promoting ourselves on social media.”

Gordon said this would also include posting “selfies of ourselves” engaged in the various acts of Lent such as fasting and giving of alms.

“We could even give up WhatsApp. Or what if we were to fast from the phone for two hours every day, eh, that possible? Put down the phone and don’t touch it for two hours every day.

“The cell phones, oh boy, people shaking already, withdrawal symptoms already, just the thought of no cell phones for two hours, people breaking out in hives,” he said, as the large congregation, which spilled out into the side entrances of the church, laughed.He said this also included not attending post-Carnival activities, as the Lenten season was a time of repentance, and not asking for forgiveness for sins which were committed on a daily basis.

Among those receiving ashes were pupils from the San Fernando Boys’ RC Primary School and St Gabriel’s Primary School.