Three years ago, Nafeeza Khan decided that it was time for her to take care of herself and her special needs son and no longer depend on anyone.
Khan, 29, a Corentyne, Berbice resident, said that after she separated from her husband three years ago she sought a job at a store but quickly realised it was not the best thing for her, since it took time away from her son, who is 10, and deaf and mute.
Added to that, she said, the salary was not enough for her to pay rent, utility bills and purchase groceries. She then decided that she would start to make and sell food items. “It was a small start,” she said.
Khan was not employed outside of the home during her marriage, therefore the skills she could put to use were those she had in the kitchen. She was then blessed to meet President of the Humanitarian Mission Guyana Inc Suresh Sugrim, who offered to assist with utensils and other items. “He really gave me the push. He helped me to start my business… God sent him to me… He assist with the containers because I only had some and those things have to be imported and he helped me to get them,” she said.
After Sugrim’s donation, Khan expanded her business to a stall on the Williamsburg Public Road. “I’m happy that people enjoy eating my food,” she noted.
“The struggle that I went through, I become stronger and it help me to build my knowledge and decided that I won’t depend on anybody anymore and help myself.”
She advised others to “push through” despite what they may be going through. “As long you have health and strength push through because every struggle in life will make you stronger. You can get up and work don’t depend on anybody.” She further advised other single mothers to “believe in yourself with full confidence”.
According to the woman, she and her ex-husband share the responsibility for their child. “When he with me, I take care of him and when he go with him and his family, they take care of him, but we don’t like give each other anything.”
She said that her son was six months old when she started to notice that loud sounds did not wake him from his sleep. “It’s just certain things you notice,” she added.
When her son was three years old, she took him to a doctor in Georgetown where he was diagnosed, and a hearing aid was recommended. She was told that her son’s condition was genetic. Both she and her ex-husband have relatives who are deaf.
Khan could not afford to purchase a hearing aid to fit her son. “I buy one, but it was over big, and he use to hear lil bit, but he stop wear it because it use to pain his ear bad. But it very expensive,” she said.
“Me does feel really bad for him when he sit down and watch the other children who can hear, and he can’t.” She added that she would appreciate assistance in acquiring the right hearing aid for her son.
At present his school— the New Amsterdam Special Needs School—is closed due to Covid-19, and Khan said she is trying to teach her son. “I don’t really know much sign language but I can communicate with him so I am trying with him as much as I can.”
Khan is well known throughout the Corentyne as a kind and friendly food vendor.
