by Matt Barr

Sita Sewnarine

2,996 is a project put together by blogger Dale Roe to honor each victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks. 3,061 blogs are committed to posting tributes to each victim, and mattbarr.com's tribute is to Sita Sewnarine.

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."

Proverbs 18:10

Sita Sewnarine was a native of Guyana who moved to America with her family when she was 19. In 2001 she was 37 and a disaster recovery agent for Fiduciary Trust Company, which occupied the 90th and 94th through 97th floors of World Trade Center Tower Two.

The loves of Sita's life were her daughter, Victoria, who was five in 2001, and Jesus Christ. After a breakup with Vicky's father while Sita was pregnant, she found comfort in the Bethlehem Church of God in Christ in Jamaica, NY. She was publicly devoted to her faith and active in the church, including babysitting during Sunday school. She is remembered as a kind, positive, hopeful, generous Christian.

She doted on her daughter and despite long working hours made time to take Vicky to ballet and swimming classes. Sita dreamed of starting her own business so she could spend more time with Vicky. Vicky was "the flower of her life," according to a coworker. "Basically, everything she did, she did for the kid," a friend told Newsday.

Published remembrances are unanimous that Sita was a giving, loving person. "If you ever needed anything, you could always depend on her," her friend and brother in law said. "As true and pure as a heart can be, that is what Sita was," a friend and former coworker wrote.

Sita lived in the Richmond Hill neighborhood of Queens, which includes a large number of Guyanese and South American immigrants. Previously she lived on Pitkin Avenue, a few miles west in what in the 80s and 90s was a blighted area of Brooklyn, but which has been been brought back to life in recent years.

It is probable that Sita was among the unknown number of people who had begun to evacuate Tower Two after the first plane hit the North Tower, and then returned to their offices before United Airlines flight 175 hit. She was last seen in the lobby of the building, and was listed as missing for many months before she was confirmed dead. At least two announcements were made for workers in Tower Two to return to work, to protect them from falling debris outside.

Sita's death left a hole in the lives of everyone close to her, from a family that included 13 brothers and sisters and 23 nieces and nephews to friends, in-laws and coworkers.

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