Life has always been hard for ‘Betty‘ (only name given), who is mentally disabled. Now believed to be about 70, the woman, who is a mother of at least six, is suspected to be suffering from diabetes, and cannot walk, speak or see well. Along with her poor mental and physical health, she and three of her children are now living in literal squalor.
Although they have a roof over their heads, their house, located amidst thick bushes on Dowding Street, Kitty is falling apart. Surprisingly the structure has electricity.
“They are living here like an animal,” says a concerned friend, who was a child when she met Betty and her family in Alberttown. The woman, who did not want her name to be published, said that she had lost track of Betty for nearly 15 years until she was reunited with her late last year. Shocked could hardly describe her state, she said, when she saw her walking along a city street. She has made at least two visits to the Ministry of Human Services for help but to no avail.
When Stabroek News visited their house, Betty and one of daughters, who cannot speak, were there. The wooden floor was bare and sunlight was streaming through countless holes in the roof. The kitchen area had been turned into a dumping ground for piles of work clothing and there was a large pile of orange socks. There was also an old kerosene stove and the area around it appeared to be burnt. In the bathroom more worn clothing could be seen, and there was an even larger pile of orange socks there. Old blinds were used to enclose a section of the lower flat, where one of the woman’s sons resides. There was an old bed frame without a mattress and bags of clothing.
The two women were in an unfurnished room and apart from three ragged chairs there was no furniture in the house. A shabbily dressed Betty was lying on the floor on a bed made out of cardboard and a small piece of foam, which she used as the pillow. There was a strong stench emanating from a corner of the room, where there was an old barrel, a covered enamel bucket and two covered pots sitting on top of some old newspapers. Betty appeared very weak and was unable to respond to her friend, who had accompanied the newspaper to the location.
The woman said that she has so far been unable to ascertain how Betty and her children eat, but she was told that people would give them used clothes to wear. She questioned how the building was receiving electricity, especially since none of the occupants could pay the bill. She pointed out that the meter is not old, although she thought that the wiring in the building was “bad.”
She said that it is frightening to know that cooking was being done in the house, which she said is a fire hazard. She added that because of the state of the structure, it could collapse at any time and pointed out that the two women may be unable to help themselves if such a situation were to occur.
‘Helpless’
She explained that when she was 12, she met Betty, who was already mentally disabled at the time. “I don’t know what happened before but since I was a child this is what has been happening,” said the woman, who is now 53. Betty was never violent and she said that the woman’s partner, who has died, was also mentally disabled. Together they had at least six children, two of whom have died. Two have the same condition as Betty, while the other two are “almost okay.” Based on her accounts, the family never received medical attention and she later lost contact with them.
The woman said that as far as she knew, Betty has no relatives except for her children. She added that after seeing her again last November, she questioned her about where she lived but “she would always turn away and go somewhere else.” She later met one of the woman’s daughters, who informed her that she was living at Dowding Street.
She said that a daughter who is one of the “okay” ones, has two children and lives in Station Street, Kitty, one corner away. Stabroek News was unable to make contact with her.
Betty’s friend said the daughter explained that her mother was occupying the house with one of her sisters and their two brothers. One of the woman’s sons would do the cooking.
When asked why the daughter had neglected her mother and siblings, the woman told Stabroek News that “she [the daughter] is also in a bad place… These children have their challenges too because to deal with this on a daily basis is not easy and they have grown up in this. This is all they know. They don’t know anything else.”
She added that she did have an address for the daughter but has been unable to locate her.
‘Whatever she
had to do…’
According to the woman, despite her challenges, Betty provided for her children. “She did whatever she had to do to feed them when they were living in Alberttown. She was exploited. She was used to clean people’s houses, yards… and it didn’t matter what she had to do to put food on the table,” she said. At that time, the woman said, Betty was only mentally ill and she has since “deteriorated significantly over the years to a point where she is helpless.”
She told Stabroek News that apart from the woman’s age and mental state, her health is cause for concern. She said that the daughter told her that Betty is a diabetic but she has been unable to ascertain if the woman is receiving treatment. One of her feet, she pointed out, is swollen to more than double its size.
“If you look at them you can see that they cannot help themselves,” said the woman, who appeared very emotional. She emphasised that the family needs urgent help and said Betty and her daughter are particularly vulnerable to abuse, among other things.
She called on the Ministry of Human Services and other relevant agencies to intervene. She noted that the women need to be taken out of the environment immediately, while adding that more needs to be done for persons in Betty’s situation. “At least find somewhere to put her, take her so that she would not have to be living like this… like an animal!” she said.
Asked why the community might have turned a blind eye to the family’s plight, the woman said, “I am not sure but if you look around you see mansions, you see virtually mansions.”
