Jamaicans rally around blind elderly couple living in stark poverty
IT’S OFTEN said that the truest test of love is during times of crises, and with seniors at high risk for adverse COVID-19 health outcomes, a number of Jamaicans have been stepping up to assist elderly persons during the pandemic.
Last Saturday, several persons responded in the kindest of gestures, pouring thousands of dollars into purchasing food and toiletries for a blind common-law couple, Leslie Brown and Inez Colbourne, of Ellerslie Pen in St Catherine, who were featured in that day’s publication of The Gleaner.
“I never know so many good people left in Jamaica,” the couple’s grandson, Tony Grant, said as donations started flowing within hours of the story being published. “We are very thankful.”
Businesswoman, humanitarian and philanthropist Lorraine Clunie said that when she learned of the couple’s situation, she was moved to help.
“I read the story and I was moved to act. I said to myself, ‘Let me do something to help’, and I went shopping and bought some stuff for them,” she told The Gleaner.
“We all know we have two Jamaicas: the haves and the have-nots. The gap has closed a little, the disparity is a little better, but this COVID-19 has shown that many people are still having things bad. This elderly couple is an example of that, but I’m sure good Jamaicans will help further,” she said.
She was not alone as others also pitched in to assist the family, who also got several other pledges from Jamaicans at home and abroad.
David Shoucair, Food For The Poor Jamaica’s director of distribution logistics, presented two bags of food items to the family.
He acknowledged that even though there has been some level of relief, the couple was in need of further assistance, especially Leslie, a 64-year-old former Spanish Town Health Centre worker, who is now bedridden after one of his legs was amputated.
“You have to remember that 25 years ago, we built these houses [in Ellerslie Pen], and remember this area does not have formal titles, and the way things are, [people are] not permitted to build any new houses unless titles are involved,” Shoucair said.
He reasoned that given the legal ramifications, it is “really a shame when you come to a home like this and you know you can do a rebuild or do some improvements, but you are not in a position to”.
Shoucair added: “It is not an easy thing for anyone to accept. Not even us. That’s where partnerships with government and private entities become very important, and being charity-based, we are looking forward to that relationship.”