Lady Hochoy Home Receives $100,000 Donation From China Trinidad and Tobago Chamber
“God has been really good to us.”
Those words of gratitude came from Corpus Christi Carmelite Sister Bertill Dean, after the Lady Hochoy Home in Cocorite received a $100,000 donation from the China-Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce on Saturday.
Serving as a safe haven for children and adults with intellectual disabilities since 1961, the Lady Hochoy Home in Cocorite received the donation from Heng Chiang Lei Chang, ABC Scrap Solution, Kam Wo Du, ShanShan Chen and Kylin Trading Company.
According to Sister Bertill, the Christmas donation will be put to good use.
« The laundry. The laundry equipment. We have big laundry equipment, and they are going out. So, that, for one. And then we need to get a big stove, oven for the kitchen. That has gone out, and we haven’t been able to repair that. And the laundry equipment – repair, repair, repair, repair – it needs to be replaced. That will certainly help. »
Since 2013, following the visit of the wife of the President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, the home has received donations of medical supplies, a minibus and a school bus.
Sister Bertill said the consistent monetary support from the China-Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce continues to breathe life into the legacy of Lady Thelma Hochoy, wife of the late Governor-General, Sir Solomon Hochoy.
« Mrs. Miles was her name. When she came, she asked Lady Hochoy, ‘Where do you have children with intellectual disabilities?’ In those days they were called retarded children. And Lady said, ‘Well, I really don’t know.’ So, she went looking around, and when she looked around, they were at St. Ann’s and the House of Refuge in St. James. And when she see the situation they were in, she wasn’t too pleased. So, she went to her husband and said, ‘You know, dear, I would like to do something for these children more than just taking something. I want to get a home for them.' »
Today, their outreach has expanded to five organisations bearing the Lady Hochoy name.
« The youngest right now is five years, four years old, and the eldest person is seventy-two. It’s transgenerational. And what I find interesting is that those little ones who come in learn from the older ones. Lady Hochoy Special School, Lady Hochoy Vocational Centre, Lady Hochoy Special School North, Special School South, Special School Penal. All is Lady Hochoy Homes. Lady Hochoy has left a legacy, eh? »
With the continued support of the Chinese community, the Catholic Church, governmental institutions and citizens, the vision of Lady Hochoy for a more inclusive society, where those with intellectual disabilities are loved and supported, lives on.
Sister Bertill said: « The public has been very generous to us. Like this Christmas, as usual, there are lunches and all kinds of things. And yesterday, we had a sit-down lunch for the residents. All dressed up in their finery and they sat and had lunch. And the police steelband played for them. »
