One room, 13 children
Grandmother pleads for assistance
JACQUELINE DAWKINS, who resides in Smithville, Clarendon – a community which sits between Frankfield and the Thompson Town area – wants nothing more than a comfortable roof over her head to house herself, her four children, a niece, and eight grandchildren.
In an interview with The Gleaner, Dawkins said that it is a challenge surviving on the small profit she makes from selling at the market, as well as the contributions she receives almost every three weeks from her daughters to help with the care of their children.
Dawkins said that she ended up with her daughters’ children (one has five and the other three) because they found it difficult to pay rent and afford a babysitter at the same time, so they left their offspring with her.
Dawkins’ niece, a third-former at Lennon High School, is the one she refers to as “special”.
“Her father is dead and I have no idea where her mother is. Right now, it’s a problem because I need to look about her birth certificate and I don’t know where to start,” she said.
Dawkins added that she is over her head with caring for her niece, as she has not paid any school fee for her since she started attending high school.
“They almost never admitted her to school this new term. They called me in and said that if it’s even to pay off for one of the years, I should try and do that,” Dawkins said.
PRIORITISING
But for her, it is not as simple as that, as every cent she earns, priority must be given to keeping food on the table and clothes on their backs.
Describing her living accommodation as “one big room” made from plyboard, Dawkins said that what she needs more than anything is a more comfortable living accommodation.
She said that three years ago, there was a glimmer of hope when she submitted documents to Food For The Poor to receive a house, but since then, she has not heard from them.
“Right now, that’s my most urgent need and for my niece’s school fee to be cleared off at Lennon High,” shared Dawkins.
The youngest child in Dawkins’ care is two years old and the oldest is 14.