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Re: face of grief ...our children r suffering
It feels like no one cares Evanovitch - no one.
I'm sure I'm wrong but from the action taken, it just <span style="font-weight: bold">FEELS</span> like no one cares.
Last week my uncle was buried in St Mary.
One of the businesses he ran was bus. He ran school buses for the children so there's hardly a child <span style="font-weight: bold">IN </span>the Gayle area who didn't know him.
There were so many, many, many children at the funeral.
More than 1 school didn't keep so that children could go to the funeral. I remember looking at all the children even gathered around the grave SITE as the coffin was being lowered.
I couldn't help but wonder what this was doing to their psyche.
Imagine - day after day children are seeing people MURDERED around them; man, woman and child - and no justice or consequence comes of it.
<span style="font-style: italic">What does that tell them???</span> -
another face of our children's grief an longing
Damian Taylor (right) with his mother Icilda Notice and his two younger sisters at their home in Mahoe Hill, St Mary last week on a day he should be in school. (Photo: Lionel Rookwood)
NOT a single day goes by since September when 13-year-old Damian Taylor does not cry about not being able to attend school.
He had been looking forward to starting his first day at Castleton Junior High in St Mary, but to date his mother, Icilda Notice, has not been able to send him.
For although the current JLP administration has abolished tuition fees at the secondary level, Notice told the Observer that she simply cannot afford to buy his uniform, school shoes, books, bag and other essential school supplies.
Notice, who has five other children - ages 2 to 10 - has high hopes for Damian as she knows an education is what will take him out of the absolute poverty they now live in at a cottage at the abandoned Mahoe Hill All-Age School in St Mary.
"Everyday him de here and a cry and fret because him no get fi go school and me really want him fi go," Notice told the Observer.
Dressed in tattered clothes, the shy but intelligent teen told the Observer that he "longs" to be in school.
When asked what he missed most about school, he easily replied: "learning".
"I want to learn," he reiterated firmly.
"Me just want some khaki pants and white shirt and a school bag and school shoes fi him so me can go down the school go talk to them fi tek him now," Notice said.
Damian's tears and frustration are also driven by the fact that his two smaller sisters, ages five and three, are not in school.
The five-year-old girl appeared not to be socialised enough for her age as she would only smile when questions were posed to her. She was unresponsive and hid behind her mother.
The family is one of two that have been left living in the bushy terrain of Mahoe Hill after other residents moved out when a swing bridge - the only access to that community - collapsed.
Since then, Notice, her children and spouse have been living in the cottage of the former all-age school which closed when the community was abandoned. Now, Damian and his siblings are the only children living on that side of the river and they have been cut off from interaction with their peers.
It took the Observer a bumpy ride through the river bed on a tractor to get to the house, as the Wag Water River, with its wide bed, separates the family from the rest of the neighbouring Broadgate community.
Inside the sparsely furnished cottage, the family has no running water or electricity.
When the river is in spate they are trapped inside the house for days, sometimes without food.
Through rain or shine, the other children have to wade through deep water to get to the main road to attend school, putting on their shoes when they get to the other side.
But Damian told the Observer that he would gladly wade through waist-high water any day if it meant he would get to go to school.
"Me just want go to school," he said firmly.
A promise made by the Observer to highlight his plight in the hope of getting some assistance for him to get uniform and shoes for school caused the first smile to break on his young face.
His mother told the Observer that if Damian received the necessary items for school she would be very happy as it was not her desire to keep her son at home.
The National Works Agency (NWA) is in the process of erecting a bailey bridge to that community which should make life a bit easier for Damian when he starts school.
Unfortunately, the family will have nowhere to live then as the school will need the cottage they now occupy.
Unemployed with six children, Notice said she tried getting them on the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) to get Government assistance to send them to school, but her application could not be processed since she did not have birth certificates for some of the children.
However, one resident of neighbouring Broadgate told the Observer that it would be extremely difficult for the relevant authorities to know that the family was this desperate since no one would be willing to wade in the water to get to their home.
"Them really need to get some help to go to school because in a time like this children no suppose to de home and don't go to school, especially when them want to learn," the resident said and appealed for assistance on their behalf.
All 60 members of parliament were asked earlier this year to assist in identifying the additional 120,000 persons living below the poverty line who are to be placed on PATH. The member of parliament for the area is Tarn Peralto.Comment
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Re: another face of our children's grief an longing
what happened to the push to have children receive their birth certificates at the time of birth
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Re: another face of our children's grief an longing
Gen I'm convinced - convinced I tell you ... no one cares.
It's all about what they can get for themselves.
I can't believe the people we vote into office actually care about anything more than getting <span style="color: #FF0000"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-weight: bold">IN</span></span></span> to the office and holding on to their power.
If we're waiting on the government and powers that be in JA, to fulfill their promises ... provide opportunity for the people, we'll be waiting until the cows come home.Comment
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Re: another face of our children's grief an longing
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Yuri_</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gen I'm convinced - convinced I tell you ... no one cares.
It's all about what they can get for themselves.
I can't believe the people we vote into office actually care about anything more than getting <span style="color: #FF0000"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-weight: bold">IN</span></span></span> to the office and holding on to their power.
If we're waiting on the government and powers that be in JA, to fulfill their promises ... provide opportunity for the people, we'll be waiting until the cows come home. </div></div>
so Yuri , u want to join mi in reaching out to this family.
..i like how the mother has kept her kids so clean and tidy an put togedda considering her plight..plus the kids r cute ...i am reaching out to Ja to put me in touch wid har...
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Re: another face of our children's grief an longing
Gen - I don't think that 'push' would apply to any of these children.
I could be wrong, but - that initiative started January of 2007.
These were all born before.
I think that children born after Jan 1, 2007 get 1 free birth cert.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Gen</div><div class="ubbcode-body">what happened to the push to have children receive their birth certificates at the time of birth </div></div>
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Re: another face of our children's grief an longing
Gimmie allllllllll the info girl.
Lemme know what you need me to do.
I am <span style="font-weight: bold">THERE</span>!
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: evanovitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Yuri_</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gen I'm convinced - convinced I tell you ... no one cares.
It's all about what they can get for themselves.
I can't believe the people we vote into office actually care about anything more than getting <span style="color: #FF0000"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-weight: bold">IN</span></span></span> to the office and holding on to their power.
If we're waiting on the government and powers that be in JA, to fulfill their promises ... provide opportunity for the people, we'll be waiting until the cows come home. </div></div>
so Yuri , u want to join mi in reaching out to this family...i like how the mother has kept her kids so clean and tidy an put togedda considering her plight..plus the kids r cute ...i am reaching out to Ja to put me in touch wid har... </div></div>
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Re: another face of our children's grief an longing
1:26pm EST.
Someone on Perkins just wrote in about this story!!!
<span style="font-style: italic">(Evano - is that you)</span>
They're imploring the authorities to get involved and saying they hope that Holness is listening!!!
They're asking for Perkins to contact them so they can help the boy & the family!
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Re: another face of our children's grief an longing
am determined to follow thru on this...it is ridiculous plus is my neck of the woods in some form an shape...fi real...one one cocoa full baskit fi real....mek mi get bak wid u once i get bak an answer to mi missive...
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Re: another face of our children's grief an longing
Good on you girl. Eagerly wait to hear back from you.
The listener on Perkins decried the private sector and the minister of education.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: evanovitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body">am determined to follow thru on this...it is ridiculous plus is my neck of the woods in some form an shape...fi real...one one cocoa full baskit fi real....mek mi get bak wid u once i get bak an answer to mi missive... </div></div>
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Re: another face of our children's grief an longing
well di private sector n di govament is fi eva intertwined...u juss haffi look pon di lass names of people to see di links...Comment
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anodda child dies a horrible death in JA...land of one love
SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland:
Overwhelmed with grief, Ketura Bennett yesterday recalled the good times she shared with her son, Christopher Suckra, whose body was found hours earlier in cane fields at Blue Castles, near Georges Plain, in Westmoreland.
The boy had been sexually molested.
"He always says that he is going to stay with me and take care of me," a tearful Bennett told The Gleaner. "Anywhere I am going, he always wanted to come just to ensure that I am alright."
Found nude
Christopher, a seventh-grade student at Petersfield High School in the parish, was found nude with stab and chop wounds.
"If me feel sick, him get alcohol and rub me back and say, 'Mama me a go tek care a yuh'. Dem kill Chris and I don't know how me a go live it out," Bennett continued.
There has been a recent spate of attacks against the country's children, prompting the Government to respond with a $23-million allocation to facilitate an emergency response service for children. However, no date has yet beenannounced for the implementation of the three-digit, toll-free system.
The Banbury Wesleyan Holiness Church, where Christopher was a member, is offering counselling and prayers to the bereaved family.
"We are here trying to bring some amount of calm to the family," said Pastor Kevin Waite. "But it will take a while before Sister Bennett and her family get over this tragic situation."
Did not return home
The police report that Christopher left home for school about 10 a.m. on Wednesday on his bicycle. When he did not return home at his usual hour, his mother became concerned.
She made checks and discovered that her son did not arrive at school.
This prompted Bennett to form a search party with neighbours.
The mother's worst fear was realised about 1:30 a.m. yesterday when Christopher's body was found in a cane field with stab and chop wounds to the chest and head.
Investigators theorised that Christopher was attacked as he rode his bicycle along the cane road, dragged into the cane field, sodomised and then killed.
Seeking man of interest
Up to press time, the police were seeking a man of interest in the probe.
On September 28, the decapitated body of 11-year-old Ananda Dean was found in bushes in the community of Cyprus Hall, Belvedere, St Andrew.
Ananda was last seen alive on September 17 when she left the Swallowfield Primary School for home.
The police have insisted that there has not been an increase in the abduction and sexual assault of children, saying that there has only been more extensive media coverage of the incidents.Comment
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