"We have to reach out to those who want a different way of life."Claude Mills, Staff Reporter
THERE IS a lost generation of souls in the Jamaican ghetto experience.
This has created a yawning generation gap between the old and the young, especially in inner-city communities whose recent history is dominated by the sort of macho street theatre that keeps the Corporate Area hospitals hopping and the morgues busy.
One community is tackling the problem through the efforts of an organisation with the fantastic name of the Tower Hill Progressive League, which is based in Tower Hill, Olympic Gardens.
"The young people, especially the young men, are missing in action through death, migration or other factors," says Victor Atkins, 36, vice president of the Tower Hill Progressive League. "We want to bridge the gap they left behind.
"...we realised there were few persons to take care of the elderly, and the children were also being ignored. So a nucleus of persons came together, and we formed a senior citizens club," said Mr. Atkins.
The senior citizens club is headed by a vibrant octogenarian, Enid Smith, who is a dyed-in-the-wool, baptised-in-the-blood Christian.
"We don't have much, but we have each other. We bring each other hope, God and joy," she said. "Some of our members, especially the shut-ins, we think about them a lot but we just can't help them. We often live from day to day, not knowing where the next meal is coming from...but we have each other."
Having identified some of the
problems, the Tower Hill Progressive League, a band of self-motivated individuals regularly visits elderly persons and shut-ins to take care of physical needs: providing food, and even grooming them if the need arises.
"Many of the elderly are feeble and can't help themselves. Every Thursday, they come to the community centre (on the grounds of the St. Paul's Anglican Church), they talk, read the Bible, and then we feed them. If they can't make it, we go to them," Mr. Atkins added.
Club members say they also involve children in caring for the elderly by having them entertain the seniors and performing simple tasks. Although handcuffed by anaemic funds, they pool their resources to host small treats where the children perform song and dance items for the amusement of the elderly.
"It doesn't take cash to care. We can use whatever resources we have to help each other," said Mr. Atkins. "If we recognise needs, we try to meet them. If we realise that a child is not going to school, we approach the principal and try to find a way around the problems."
Please see more in our Lifestyle section of this edition.
