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The un­solved mur­der of teenage foot­baller Mari­ah Seenath on Sep­tem­ber 20 is a painful re­minder that many un­der­priv­i­leged chil­dren in Trinidad and To­ba­go live un­seen among the priv­i­leged, their strug­gles ig­nored un­til tragedy strikes.

At the Debe Hin­du School, prin­ci­pal Usha Ram­per­sad has made it her mis­sion to en­sure no child un­der her care goes un­no­ticed. Her school is a mod­est com­pound that floods an­nu­al­ly be­cause it sits next to a riv­er on SS Erin Road in Debe. It serves over 400 chil­dren, many from low-in­come fam­i­lies where un­em­ploy­ment and so­cial is­sues run deep.

Speak­ing to Guardian Me­dia, Ram­per­sad said many of her stu­dents are “un­seen” by wider so­ci­ety.