Cry for help

“We are all we have.”
These words from a 16-year-old girl sum up the abject poverty she experiences with an 18-year-old brother as they try to play the roles of mother and father to three siblings aged 6, 8 and 11 in a dilapidated house in Christ Church.
The tragic loss of their father, the family’s sole breadwinner, to a gunman’s bullet four years ago, has been compounded by the illness of their mother.
According to reports, she tried keeping the family together, but the emotional strain took its toll and she is now a patient at the Psychiatric Hospital.
Almost five weeks ago she was readmitted to the Black Rock institution leaving the children without any parental supervision, food and basic necessities for the coming school term.
When the MIDWEEK NATION visited their home yesterday there was clear evidence of destitution.
The house leaks. The flooring is weak, especially in the kitchen. The furniture is very worn and the doors of the house are not secure.
While the children are aware that they need help they are also concerned about being separated from each other because, as the 16-year-old girl repeatedly said, “we are all we have”.