- Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
One of the women of Frazer's Content serving porridge to elderly persons and shut-ins.
Rasbert Turner, Sunday Gleaner Writer
ABOUT 36 elderly and shut-in persons of Frazer's Content, two miles out of Spanish Town in St. Catherine, are feeling happier these days.
They have every reason to be. Eight women from the community, total strangers to them, have formed The Frazer's Content Feeding Programme to ensure that they live better lives.
When The Sunday Gleaner visited the community last Tuesday, Norma Barrett, a founding member, Carmen Reid, vice-president, Sophia Miller, Carol Reid, Dacia Wright, Karen Johnson, Sylvia Reid and Kathleen Reid were busy handing out meals to some of the elderly. The meal included peanut porridge prepared in a large pot which was still sitting atop a coal stove fashioned from the discarded rim of a motor car's tyre.
Modest, but no obstacle to the determination of these 'good Samaritans'.
According to Carmen Reid, the 42-year-old vice-president of the group, their aim is to give tangible service to the community by caring for its elders who are often abandoned.
"We (the group) decided that the old people needed our love and that it was only honourable to assist them. So for us, although it is voluntary it's a real privilege to care for them, as their loved ones have left them alone. It is while caring for them that we realise how far a little love can go."
Miss Reid said that the group started the caring programme in October last year feeding 12 persons but the number has grown to 36, the youngest being Steve Collins, 21, who is paralysed and bedridden. The eldest is Cinderella O'Connor.
Miss O'Connor, 73, wept as she spoke of how the women had reached out to her in her time of need.
"I am blessed to have these people to help me. For over a year now I was sick, unable to work, and it is not every day, however, I am thankful for the three days a week that they cook and offer me."
Apart from providing meals for the people who have now become their charge, the women clean the houses of the elderly, comb their hair and bathe those who cannot help themselves. Those who need to go to the doctor are taken there most times to Dr. Kenneth Baugh. They are especially grateful for this as, they said, Dr. Baugh sees them free of charge.
However, they said they have to foot the bill for medication and it is in this light that the group said that they needed support.
"To keep this afloat, we need a sturdy gas stove to cater properly for these people, and also a bicycle would be good to deliver food to them, as some of these persons are living at a far distance, and it's hard to walk," remarked Norma Barrett.
To ensure that they can continue to help the needy, the women have been organising fund-raising efforts like bottle, tin and coin drives. By way of donation of coconuts they have baked and sold products including drops and gizzadas.
They said that they have written several letters to various organisations seeking help but the letters have returned to them unopened.
They declare, however, that their work will continue.
Currently, they prepare food on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They, however, express the desire that if they are helped, then they will be able move it to a daily routine, which they feel will work better for the persons under their care.
Recently the group received two wheelchairs from a businessman for which they say they are thankful, and are hoping that other persons will come on board to make it a worthy cause.
So who are these women?
They were all born in the Frazer's Content community. They have families of their own but have worked out how to balance their time between their own families and the people who are now their extended family.
A similar group, they said, existed before theirs which consisted of some of the very people they are now helping. But that group faded in 2001. They said the plight of the elderly in the community spurred them into action.
They have high regards for Alvin Beckford, councillor for the area, and Lloyd Peak, a 56-year-old businessman who they say were instrumental in making the programme come alive.
Mr. Peak also allows them to do the cooking on his premises.
His reason? "What they are doing is a godly deed," he told The Sunday Gleaner.
VOLUNTEERS
Norma Barrett, 30, mother of four children, Christian, labourer. Sophia Reid Miller, 40, dressmaker, married with four children. Carol Reid, 38, unemployed, mother of three.Kathleen Reid, 50, mother of three. Darcia Wright, 35, mother of three, married.Carmen Reid, 42, unemployed with two children.Sylvia Reid, 33, practical nurse, married with two children. Karen Johnson, 28, practical nurse and a mother of two.
