"I broke down the wall of male domination when I entered the Ministry, not fearfully, for God was with me," claimed Rev Mary Naimool - the first ordained female Presbyterian minister in Trinidad and Tobago.

Rev Mary Naimool, now 80 years old, yet full of the vibrancy usually associated with youth, was ordained in 1968.

With a look of serenity - not as someone unaware of the difficulties of life but of someone who has experienced life and has learnt to live - Naimool recounted her struggles and joys as a woman in the Sixties entering the world of work, and more so as a woman of that time achieving excellence.

Now retired from the ministry, Naimool continues to give of her services at the Archibald Vocational Institute for Girls where she seeks to inculcate in each girl a sense of self-confidence.

Naimool came from a family of seven brothers, five sisters and was later joined by five cousins whose mother had died.

Naimool's own mother died when she was just nine years old. However, Naimool stated that she was well cared for by a loving father and elder siblings.

She received her primary school education at the Tunapuna Presbyterian School and was fortunate to continue her secondary school education at Naparima Girls' High School.

After graduating from secondary school, Naimool was appointed a teacher at San Juan Presbyterian School.

She was then transferred to Curepe Presbyterian and then to Tunapuna Presbyterian where she was appointed the official sports teacher.

In 1944 Naimool was selected to enter the Naparima Teachers' College.

"While there, certain incidents dampened my ambitions and at one time I was about to turn my back and return home," Naimool recalls.

Fortunately, she bore the strain and graduated with distinctions.

Naimool was appointed to teach at St Helena.

"I rode a bicycle from Tunapuna to St Helena - a distance of about 12 miles each day - and was never late for school," Naimool reminisced with a girlish gleam in her eyes.

Naimool was not just a school teacher, as her interests in extra-curricular activities were varied.

They included cricket, football, table tennis, badminton, Sunday school, youth group and leadership training courses.

"Mine was a busy life with little time to 'live'," Naimool explained.

It was at this period in her life that a young missionary, Mabel Brandow, whom her family had adopted, felt that she was called by God to urge Naimool into the full-time service of the church.

Naimool remembers asking: "Am I not doing enough?"

After much persuasion, Naimool finally accepted a scholarship at the United Church Training School, now the Centre for Christian Studies in Toronto.

Naimool remembers that her family was quite surprised and not too co-operative.

"They wondered what had come over me to leave my job and go do church work."

Naimool left Trinidad for studies in 1955.

In Toronto, adjusting to the new culture and the different weather system was a challenge. But Naimool was not daunted as she had already decided that this was her vocation.

Naimool returned to Trinidad in 1957 and was commissioned and appointed to serve in south Trinidad: Penal, Siparia, San Francique and La Romaine.

Later on, her work extended to all primary schools.

Her job included working with women, men, girls, boys, youths and the elderly, sharing a bit of God's message and endeavouring to encourage them to feel a sense of God's love and presence.

She later pursued further courses at several universities in Canada in Pastoral Theology and Christian Education where she emerged among the top three students.

In 1967 Naimool returned to Trinidad where she was appointed to serve at the Siparia Church.

At the close of the year, a delegation of men of the church asked her to receive ordination at the hands of the Presbyterian Church.

Naimool was ordained as the first female Presbyterian minister in Trinidad and Tobago on January 4, 1968.

The first pastoral region Naimool served in was Penal/Siparia.

Naimool explained that being the first woman minister was no barrier and in whichever region she served she felt a sense of deep and sincere welcome and bliss.

Naimool smiled with contentment as she explained that those who wished to oppose her could not do so with any level of satisfactory success because she was far more qualified than most men in the field and she had a gift of being outspoken.

One of the greatest experiences as a minister, she recalled, was sailing down a river in a dug-out boat rowed by two men to visit the sick.

Naimool received her Master of Divinity degree in 1970 at the University of Halifax, Canada.

In 1973 a need arose at the Archibald Vocational institute (AVI) so Naimool took up principalship in that area.

Naimool feels that the most important message she can pass on to the generations is that once they have a will, they should pursue it.

Naimool advises that in reaching for the highest heights one must never lose sight of the essential value of humility.

She urges Presbyterian ministers to treat the elders with care and respect.

It is Naimool's wish that more women be given positions of responsibility in the Presbyterian Church.

"Just imagine it took 21 years for the second female minister to be ordained," Naimool pointed out.

Reverend Joy Abdul followed in Naimool's footsteps 21 years later, becoming the second female Presbyterian minister in Trinidad and Tobago.

Abdul has the distinguished honour also of being the first locally trained Presbyterian minister in the country.

Naimool is proud of the women who serve in the Presbyterian Church.

She commended Abdul for taking up the challenge of serving as a Presbyterian minister where male dominance is quite apparent.

"I have no regrets, I press on now in these years, retired but faithful, richer and happier for having served Him," she staunchly declared.

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