Family’s 26-year wait for electricity ends with act of kindness

Ten days after Guardian Media highlighted the plight of a family of five in need of electricity at their home, Andriana Noor and her husband, Joseph Mulchansingh, say their struggles with solar power units and candles are now over.

The Random Kindness Crew (RKC), a group comprising office and field workers and friends from T&TEC, visited the family’s two-bedroom home at First Street, Duncan Village, Union Hall, yesterday, with electrical supplies and installed the necessary equipment.

For more than 26 years, Noor said, the family had been living without electricity due to personal issues.

She said she initially moved into the home with her husband and remained passive to maintain peace, but after starting a family, she realised the need for a proper electricity supply.

Noor said having electricity in the home was a great feeling after so many years without it, and she was grateful that her wish had finally become a reality.

“Is plenty fight down and all kind of things going on in the back here. Is back and forth, back and forth, and because you don’t want to be in bacchanal, and now I have my children, I have to get myself stabilised; they are 13, five and three years old,” Noor said.

Mulchansingh, who survives on a $2,000 disability grant, said he was happy to see that “there are still people with God in them.”

Noor, a domestic worker, said she was looking forward to improving her home now that electricity would be available.

“Better is going to be done. Once it have electricity, I have plenty plans because I want to build up my house and do better things. No more solar and no more candles, and no more fire, and we could live comfortably,” she said.

Among those who joined the team was T&TEC maintenance technician and RKC founder/member Lex Tom.

Tom said he formed the group in 2017, but it experienced setbacks when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. He said it was only in 2023 that the group was able to resume its outreach efforts fully.

Since then, RKC has assisted 25 families, including those in eastern and southern Trinidad.

He said the work done for Noor and Mulchansingh’s family, including labour, materials and installation, was provided free of charge. He estimated that the materials alone would have cost about $15,000, while an additional $2,000 was spent on school supplies.

“This is our 25th charitable event; we’ve done homes in the East and Southern distribution, anywhere we can go to make some family happy, we organise and stretch ourselves to the borders of the country,” Tom said.

RKC crew member and T&TEC employee Sheldon Lal said the group learnt about the family’s situation through the media report.

He said members visited the home to assess the legal requirements, and after everything was cleared, they proceeded with the installation of the electrical lines.

Lal said the electricity supply had already been made available, but the home could not be connected until the required inspections and paperwork were completed.

“The supply was made available, but she is not connected, simply because the electrical inspectorate would have to come in after we completed the wiring, which would be done today, and they would do the inspection, issue a certificate and then she would bring it to T&TEC where the necessary paperwork would be done and then a crew would come and connect it,” Lal said.

He added that once the process was completed, the family should have electricity within two to three days.

Tom said Chief Inspector Kevin Baboolal would conduct a site visit and arrange for the inspection by the inspectorate.