Dear Editor,
I would be very grateful if you can publish this letter so that someone in the Ministry of Human Services can be made aware of the plight of Mr Abrams. Maybe they can provide him with some sort of assistance. Mr Abrams is an invalid, having suffered a stroke affecting the left side of his body. He is 71 years of age, born on January 16, 1940 in Buxton. He told me that he got this stroke in 1997 while working in the interior. His only relatives are a sister who lives in Buxton and a daughter who lives in Bartica. He seems to have been exiled here at Kairuni for the last ten years or so and no one visits him. He is living alone in an old shack that someone abandoned and gave him.
He moves around very slowly with the aid of walking stick to perform his daily chores. A friend of his takes care of his old age pension and buys him his little stock of food. His other problem is that he suffers from dizziness, and a few days ago he told me he fell on the track and was unable to raise himself up.
After over an hour he was rescued by a rare passer-by. From where his shack is situated to the Kairuni school is roughly a quarter of a mile.
I personally think that he needs to be in a nursing home, or some similar place where he can be more comfortable. He definitely cannot cook a proper meal for himself. He cannot sweep or wash is clothes also. Clean water is also unavailable.
He is definitely suffering. He looks very sick indeed.
Yours faithfully,
Gregory Klass
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to the Ministry of Human Services.
