RHON­DOR DOWLAT

T he vi­brant en­er­gy of Trinidad and To­ba­go’s Car­ni­val is set to come alive in South Flori­da on March 15, with the high­ly an­tic­i­pat­ed Ole Mas event—an au­then­tic cel­e­bra­tion of cre­ativ­i­ty, cul­ture, and Caribbean tra­di­tion.

At the heart of this ini­tia­tive is Cindy Sa­roop Mc­Neal, pres­i­dent of the Trinidad and To­ba­go Di­as­po­ra of South Flori­da, Inc. This non-prof­it or­gan­i­sa­tion con­tin­ues to bring Caribbean na­tion­als to­geth­er while pre­serv­ing their rich cul­tur­al her­itage.

“I want peo­ple to ex­pe­ri­ence the joy and free­dom of our Car­ni­val,” Mc­Neal said.

“Ole mas is about get­ting cre­ative, mak­ing your cos­tumes, and bring­ing the essence of tra­di­tion­al mas to our com­mu­ni­ty here in South Flori­da.”

The event promis­es to be a vi­brant mix of colour­ful cos­tumes, in­fec­tious so­ca mu­sic, and the unique spir­it of T&T’s icon­ic fes­ti­val. It will give at­ten­dees a taste of home while unit­ing Caribbean na­tion­als from across the re­gion.

Mc­Neal is quick to em­pha­sise that her or­gan­i­sa­tion is a ful­ly in­de­pen­dent non-prof­it, sep­a­rate from the Trinidad and To­ba­go Di­as­po­ra in Trinidad. Along with her hus­band Michael Poon (vice pres­i­dent), and broth­er Randy Ram­narace (sec­re­tary), Mc­Neal en­sures that all funds raised go di­rect­ly back in­to host­ing fu­ture com­mu­ni­ty events and sup­port­ing lo­cal caus­es.

“This is all out-of-pock­et and through do­na­tions,” Mc­Neal stressed.

“We do it for the love of our cul­ture and to give back to our com­mu­ni­ty, re­gard­less of race or back­ground.”

Mc­Neal’s jour­ney in the di­as­po­ra com­mu­ni­ty be­gan through her vol­un­teer work with the late Ka­mal Ab­dool, a re­spect­ed fig­ure in the T&T com­mu­ni­ty in South Flori­da. What start­ed as help­ing with shop­ping and bar­tend­ing at events, soon blos­somed in­to a deep­er in­volve­ment that shaped her vi­sion.

When Ab­dool’s daugh­ter, Nave­da Has­san, stepped down from lead­ing the orig­i­nal di­as­po­ra group, Mc­Neal seized the op­por­tu­ni­ty to cre­ate her or­gan­i­sa­tion, en­sur­ing that the cul­tur­al flame con­tin­ued to burn bright­ly.

“I knew we need­ed to keep the com­mu­ni­ty con­nect­ed,” she re­called.

“That’s why I reg­is­tered the Trinidad and To­ba­go Di­as­po­ra of South Flori­da, Inc—to con­tin­ue what Mr Ab­dool start­ed and to ex­pand it across South Flori­da.”

Since then, Mc­Neal’s events have at­tract­ed peo­ple from Or­lan­do, Port St Lu­cie, Broward, and Mi­a­mi, cre­at­ing a vi­brant net­work of Caribbean na­tion­als who share a com­mon love for their cul­ture.

Mc­Neal’s or­gan­i­sa­tion is about more than just host­ing par­ties; it’s about build­ing a com­mu­ni­ty that sup­ports each oth­er. From en­cour­ag­ing small busi­ness­es to show­case their prod­ucts at events, to or­gan­is­ing give­aways and fundrais­ing ini­tia­tives, Mc­Neal’s work is deeply root­ed in ser­vice.

“I want to give small busi­ness own­ers a plat­form,” she said. “If you’re just start­ing, come set up and pro­mote your busi­ness. Let the com­mu­ni­ty see what you have to of­fer.”

Her pas­sion for giv­ing back is ev­i­dent in her long his­to­ry of com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice, hav­ing worked with or­gan­i­sa­tions like March of Dimes, Unit­ed Way, and the Friends and Fam­i­ly Club in Palm Beach.

“All the pro­ceeds from our events go right back in­to the or­gan­i­sa­tion,” Mc­Neal em­pha­sised. “We’re here to serve, not to prof­it.”

While Mc­Neal leads the charge, her fam­i­ly plays an in­te­gral role in every event. Her chil­dren, Mikkel, 15, and Christi­na, 11, along with her niece Ri­han­na, 15, are the first faces at­ten­dees see at every event, help­ing with meet-and-greets, set up, and en­sur­ing every­thing runs smooth­ly.

“They’re my biggest helpers,” Mc­Neal said proud­ly. “You’ll al­ways see them at the front, wel­com­ing every­one with a smile.”

She cred­its her jour­ney to the en­cour­age­ment she has re­ceived from many peo­ple she met along the way, par­tic­u­lar­ly through the in­flu­ence of Ka­mal Ab­dool.

“I’ve met so many amaz­ing peo­ple be­cause of him, and their sup­port keeps me go­ing,” she said.

For Mc­Neal, keep­ing Caribbean tra­di­tions alive is a per­son­al mis­sion. She mi­grat­ed to the US in 1989, and knows first­hand how easy it is to lose touch with one’s roots.

“We miss Car­ni­val, Eid, Di­vali, Christ­mas—every­thing that makes our cul­ture spe­cial,” she said. “I want to make sure our chil­dren know these tra­di­tions, even if they’re grow­ing up in the US.”

Her re­cent events, in­clud­ing a suc­cess­ful back-in-time par­ty in Ju­ly 2024 and a fes­tive Christ­mas event in De­cem­ber, have drawn at­ten­dees from across the US and even from Trinidad, cre­at­ing spaces where peo­ple can re­con­nect with their her­itage.

When she’s not or­gan­is­ing events, Mc­Neal in­dulges in her pas­sion for bak­ing, de­light­ing at­ten­dees with her Tri­ni Black Rum Fruit Cakes, Co­conut Sweet­bread, and ponche de crème at her Christ­mas event.

Her mot­to is: “I do not see colours un­til you show them to me,” which re­flects her be­lief in uni­ty and in­clu­siv­i­ty, val­ues that are at the core of every event she hosts.