Dear Christine,
I HOPE my letter finds you and your team in the best of health. I have been in contact with you before and I am grateful for the help I have received from those persons who pitched in to help me and my children.
I am writing because I’m so stressed out and have no one to talk too. Everything that I have been working on to make my situation better does not seem to be working out and there is no end to it.
There are people who are still working very hard to help me get to a better place but every time a door opens, the next one closes right away. I know there is a lot of frustration along with that and I want to thank them from my heart for staying with me.
Christine, the house I am living in belongs to a retired couple living overseas. They told me that the house is too much for them to handle so they have put it up for sale.
From the time I realized that there is a big possibility that my children and I could end up on the streets I have not been able to sleep. My crying and worrying has started all over again.
There is a wonderful kind-hearted lady who took care of my bills and also helped me with food for the past months. My water bill started coming in for between $100 – almost $200, and she is trying her best to deal with them. I went to the Barbados Water Authority and told them what was going on with the bill. It only began since the meter was changed. They told me that it would have to be a problem with the plumbing at the house.
A gentleman who paid the bill for me sent a plumber to check for any leaks and there were none. The guy who reads meters came to the house and told me he realized there was a big jump in the meter.
He also checked for leaks and did not find any. So the person who is helping me is now stuck with a big water bill each month, and in her doing so, I have stopped asking or telling her there is no food in the house. It would not be fair to her right now.
We are foodless. I don’t even have gas in the house. I am going to tell the truth, I am so tired of my situation right now, I feel like giving up. I pray for me and my children every chance I get but nothing seems to work.
One of my kids has been at camp for the past weeks; she’s a member of the Barbados Cadet Corp. If not for her being there, I would have to be hearing one more person saying “mommy, I am hungry”.
She went for a college interview a few weeks ago and I am so afraid that when the time comes I would have to tell her that she cannot go.
My children should not have to suffer because of what has happened to me, which took me out of work. Believe me when I say that I’m so scared of how their lives will turn out if things don’t turn around for us soon.
I have no one to talk to that is why I am writing. It’s not good to be alone in this world and have no one to talk to.
– DB
Dear DB,
You seem to be dealing with quite a lot. Please speak to a member of your Constituency Council to see what assistance can be given. Perhaps you can also apply to the Welfare Department. In your situation you need long-term help and that may prove difficult for any one person to supply.
I am printing your letter therefore to see if people can offer assistance of any sort – especially in the area of food supplies. Hang in there!
– CHRISTINE