By Dennie Quill, ContributorTHIS SUNDAY will be different for the 20 or so homeless people who live in and around Cross Roads. Believe it or not, these street people do have their special days.
For this group, Sunday is the day they need not rummage for food. Each week, they know that some time in the early afternoon an SUV will come along and the driver will hand them a cooked meal. These are meals lovingly prepared week after week. The menu varies: it could be curried chicken and rice, sometimes macaroni and corned beef. The meal is nicely packaged and delivered with a fork.
The SUV won't be seen this Sunday. It is one of the few occasions when the individual has to go overseas.
Sixteen years ago when he began this labour of love, there were only a few men wandering in the area. Today there are about 25 persons and new faces appear daily. It was most disturbing to learn last week that a woman had joined them. Sadly we see them all around us, grime-crusted, lost and forgotten human beings.
"Some of them are not mad. They are just destitute," I was told. The gathering includes an interesting mix: a retired policeman, a once-famous cricketer and even a French-speaking person.
NATION'S CONSCIENCE
A few years back the nation's conscience was pricked momentarily when there was a stealthy removal of Montego Bay's street people to St. Elizabeth in what now appears to have been an attempt to sanitise the Second City ahead of a major conference. We talked about it in sorrowful tones and in the blink of an eyelid we forgot about them and moved on.
Every major town now has its street people. They have no votes so not much attention is paid to them. But should we simply ignore them? Is that any way to build a modern society? We have just installed a new slate of Local Government politicians and they will now have to wrestle with the question of how to make their town better places in which to live. Let's watch to see whether any thought is given to helping our street people.
Sometimes it takes only one person to make a difference. Such is this case. Not only are these persons in Cross Roads fed, sometimes they are provided with soap and given an opportunity to have a bath. Occasionally they are given clothing and shoes. Without resources, the average person may find it easier to look the other way and continue along his or her way. I am aware that there are various organisations and groups who reach out to the less fortunate often in the glare of media. But are there many persons among us who could also reach out and make even an hour of one day more pleasant for our downtrodden brothers and sisters?
Noel Francis is motivated by compassion. He has got no media attention. He is not likely to appear among those who will receive a National Honour, but what a fantastic human being.
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist.
