Waking up every day is a struggle for 57-year-old Leslyn Thompson, because she never imagined she would become a “burden” to her only child. For this reason alone she wishes that the nights were longer.
At one time Thompson worked hard to maintain herself, but things took a drastic turn last April 30 when she was physically assaulted by the brother of the woman she worked with in the Mazaruni as a cook and a shop attendant. The assault resulted in her left hand being broken and it is now difficult for her to take care of herself – even to give herself a bath.
“Is my daughter does have to bathe me; she have to cook for me and wash my clothes, is does really be hard,” Thompson told the Sunday Stabroek in a recent interview. The woman said the cast on her hand was recently removed but the doctor was forced to replace it because the arm had not healed.
“The doctor tell me that I does tek the hand out the sling and have it hang down and that is why it not healed properly. I use to tek it out and try to bathe my skin and so, because I don’t want to burden my daughter,” the woman admitted.
This newspaper had detailed the woman’s story recently and how she was treated by her employer, Vanessa De Costa, following the incident, which saw the man allegedly lashing her on the hand with a drinks case. The woman is yet to receive any satisfaction from the justice system as the man has not been arrested, and she feels very frustrated.
The matter was reported to the police at Bartica and she said last month she returned to the area along with two police officers, but the man was nowhere to be found. She explained that while her former employer’s shop is on the landing, De Costa’s brother works deep in the backdam and the policemen were unable to find the location. They left their telephone numbers for the man to make contact and for him to visit the station, but Thompson said there has been no development since.
Following the publication of the story De Costa paid Thompson $25,500 which was owed her. De Costa had given her some gold to sell in lieu of cash, but she had calculated it at a higher price than Thompson managed to sell it for. De Costa and other relatives had visited the Brickdam office of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) and met its President Simona Broomes. And while she had made several allegations against her former employee, she opted to pay the woman the money she was owed.
That money has since been spent and Thompson said she survives on whatever little her daughter can give her. She may be facing eviction as this month would be the third month since she has been unable to pay her rent. While she said her landlady is “understanding” she is not sure how much longer she can afford to live free in the apartment.
“I does feel so frustrated that some days is all kind a things does come in my head; it ain’t easy,” the woman said almost in tears.
Speaking about the plight of the woman Broomes said she feels very helpless as the woman visits her office and calls her regularly, lamenting her situation but there is not much more she can do. She noted that she facilitated the woman being paid the money she was owed and is in regular contact with the police in the hope that the man would be arrested, but apart from that her hands are tied.
The woman had visited the Ministry of Labour but was told that because she was not injured on the job and the matter was a criminal one, there was nothing the ministry could do to help her get compensation.
Broomes noted that De Costa should have ensured that her brother turned himself over to the police since she is aware that the matter was reported. She should bring him in and let the courts decide on his innocence or guilt, Broomes said.
“This woman is suffering, and it is just another incident that shows how women in the interior are being treated, and it’s as if nobody cares,” the GWMO president said, even though she acknowledged that the police had acted in this case.
She mentioned the cases of one woman being injured in the eye with a spoon by a miner and another being burnt on her legs and in neither instance were the perpetrators brought to justice.
Thompson worked in the interior for three years for various persons as a cook, but the job with De Costa was the first time she had worked in a shop. Before that she worked as a cook at mining camps. She had thought her job with De Costa would be similar, but it was only after she began the journey that De Costa informed her that she would be working in a shop.
For nine months she worked very hard seldom getting rest, and in the end the $140,000 per month she was paid was not worth it.
“Sometimes when I get up in the morning I working from morning tell next morning. I have to cook food, make tamarind balls and all kinds of things and fry fish and chip every time a customer order. I use to have to sell in the shop… so sometimes is from the heat to the cold freezer to sell drinks,” Thompson had related to this newspaper.
She had also spoken of an incident where she was cuffed in the mouth by another brother of her employer. Back then the woman had begged her not to report the incident and had indicated that she would ensure her brother compensated her. But she was never compensated.
She had also detailed another horrifying experience when a drunken cousin of the woman, who was also mentally ill, had broken into her room and tried to force himself on her. The woman was forced to jump through a window and run to the employer for assistance.
“All of this I went through and I had said when this time was up I would leave, because it was too much; the work was too hard,” she had said.
She had recalled that when she decided to work in the interior she wanted to experience its peace, “and get more time to read my bible and get closer to God.” At the shop she got no time for herself and it was never peaceful.
