Rita Margot Rooks

“This is your home. You want to take care of it because you want it to last for a long time.”

(Excerpt from an interview with Anne Marie Rooks - Rental Property Owner/Manager)
Trinidad and Tobago

My mother was very organized. She was very clear about certain rules especially about housework. At the age of 10 yrs old, she made sure we understood the importance of and appreciation for doing housework and taking care of our house. She often said to me, “This is your home. You want to take care of it because you want it to last for a long time.” She made sure that my sister and I understood the importance of making our home a safe haven. She taught us how to keep it safe, how to keep it clean, how to repair things when things got broken. From my mom, I learned the simple equation for home safety and proper maintenance.

Our weekends were important for supporting her. She did understand about teams and creating teamwork because she knew how to delegate tasks. So on the weekends we had our assignments. We were assigned to do certain chores, and then we were free for the rest of the day to play. I remember how important it was to her that we learned we had responsibilities at such a young age. It started with cleaning our room. Then as we got older the responsibility expanded to cleaning the living room and kitchen, until it became the whole house and entire property. It was a home that we lived in and we all pitched in together to maintain it.

My father passed at age 55, this was year 1981. My mother developed colon cancer and she died in 2001. My sister and I inherited the land my parents owned. Because of how the property was cared for, my sister and I get to enjoy the passive income we receive from it. When we took over the management of the property it was easy and natural because we’ve been taught to do it all along. And to this day, as property managers we enjoy keeping it well maintained.

Mummy’s advice planted a seed that grew in my heart about taking care of home. Through her advice and role modeling, I clearly see how it is my responsibility to do so. Since 2012 my personal interest and responsibility in taking care of what I consider ‘home’ expanded to huge acres of land in Trinidad and Tobago. I am now actively involved in advocacy work specifically on people’s wellness and permaculture. It is a bigger way I contribute to ‘taking care of home’. I am committed to helping develop agricultural ecosystems that are sustainable, self-sufficient, and safe. And our team’s outcomes include the reforestation of about 90% of a 61 acre parcel of land, educating farmers about regenerative practices, enabling them to create their fertilizer so they can live in a toxin free environment, and ultimately live a healthy life. I now have a bigger context of keeping the home safe, repair what is broken, and possibly save lives in the process.

In addition to this, my mom showed me what loyalty and generosity truly looked like. She was loyal to her friends and family and she was very generous in countless ways. Whenever her friends needed her, she was there. She had such a big heart. I saw her being generous with her time, energy, resources whenever they needed her. I find that I am the same for people as well. I am very generous with my time especially for this advocacy work I’m doing. We spend a lot of hours developing relationships, researching, working on plans to forward our cause. And all of this comes from being of service. Another area where being generous naturally shows up for me is volunteering to be a driver in case anybody in the group/neighborhood needs a ride. Somehow getting people safe to and from destination matters to me. I happily provide the transportation and been doing so since I learned how to drive and had access to a car and that has been a long time ago!