Stricken with poliomyelitis while still a toddler and confined to a wheelchair for the past 20-odd years, 57-year-old Pamela London’s life has been difficult, but domestic violence, ridicule and poverty have made it harsh and unfair on all fronts.
The house Food for the Poor built for London several years ago is falling apart and has no electricity supply. She has no access to her outdoor washroom and bathing facilities. The wooden ramp her son managed to ‘knock up’ for her to access the house is a hazard. She is receiving treatment for high blood pressure and has cataract in one of her eyes.
With her poor living conditions, health challenges and the fact that money and proper clothing are almost non-existent, London or ‘Pam’ as she is popularly called, has no choice but to live one day and a time. She often goes to bed stressed out over what would be her meal for the next day or how she will get the $5,000 she needs to travel from Coldigen, East Coast Demerara to the city for her doctor’s appointment.
Her son—the older of her two children—helps out a great deal but there is only so much he can do. London says that she feels she is “robbing” him of a better life, given that most of his meagre earnings go towards her care. Many times he is left without food to eat or transportation money to travel to work. When there is no money, he has no choice but to stay home. Her other child, a daughter, has her own family to care for.
London has been receiving support from Red Thread and is thankful for all that has been/is being done for her.
Diagnosed
London recalled that she was diagnosed with the disease at age two and her