The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Thank you for affording me the space to recognise some real heroes and heroines. The proprietors and caregivers at homes for the elderly and orphans throughout the country… having visited several of these homes on a regular basis I am moved by the dedication and compassion of these caring persons.

Unfortunately a lot of us do not appreciate the work being done in these homes. Most of these homes are operated independently and funded by loved ones of the residents with minimal support from the government, In most cases the main contribution is the monthly pensions from NIB.

It is noted that it cost the government thousands of dollars a year for each prisoner that is behind bars.

We are talking about young healthy men and women. Can you imagine the cost for each elderly and fragile person in these homes, seniors that have to be looked after 24/7? Folks that have to be cared for as we do a newborn baby.

They have to be fed and given a bath three/four/five times a day, sometimes more because the majority of them are in sanitary undergarments.

While the majority of residents in these homes are placed there by relatives who love and care about them, but lack the means and ways required to take care of them.

These relatives make every effort to ensure their loved ones are placed in homes where they will be looked after around the clock. They spend quality time with them at every opportunity, bathing and feeding them daily.

Paying for their care while hurting to know they can’t do more. But in some cases there are folks who have been abandoned completely.

This is where NIB comes in. The truth be told the pearls most neglected are the ones whose relatives are in position to take care of them. I know some of us are thinking that some children turn their backs on parents because of the way they were treated while young. But are they taking into consideration the circumstances surrounding the situation. No sane parent sets out to deliberately to neglect their child.

Unfortunately some people are caught up in drugs and alcohol that catapults them into a downward spiral which causes them to lose control. Not only elderly are in these homes there are also orphans, some severely handicapped from birth who can do absolutely nothing for themselves. They too are left there by uncaring families. What about them, besides being born the way they are who did they hurt?

The emergency hostel for children, last time I visited had 38 children some handicapped. What about them?

I would like to pause right here and say thank you and congratulations to the many families who have not turned their backs on their elderly and handicapped loved ones and to the many donors that contributes on a regular basis in making lives better for folks in the homes. God bless you.

Every day on our streets you see disheveled persons begging a little charity and when they approach our car we roll up the glass. Has it ever occurred to us that by giving them a little of the change in your ashtray once in a while you are giving them hope and one day they might be able to repay you? Well maybe not them, but our Heavenly Father who said the least you do unto them you do unto me. Are we looking at the bigger picture? Every day, some youth is taken before the magistrate charged with various degrees of crime.

Parents spend sleepless nights worrying about where their child might be. Boys are sleeping in abandoned cars because they were locked out of their homes at night for staying out late. Many of them turn to gangs where they are welcomed.

“People don’t you understand the child needs a helping hand or some day he is going to grow up to be an angry young man.”

Teenage girls evicted from home because they got pregnant. What are to become of them? Roberta Flack talked about them in Trade Winds. “Young men of restless breed looking for a fight, young girls soon to become street walkers in the night. Children of rich and poor searching for the truth and if they don’t find i, God help tomorrow”.

The young man you refused to let into the house is now standing in front of the judge or dead.The pregnant girl is out selling her body for a hit. Her children the oldest four is left to look after his younger siblings three and two. The beggar you did not give a little spare change is armed and about to break into your home. What are you going to do? A sad fact is that there are many widows and orphans in The Bahamas who are left to fend for themselves. But what a lot of us have forgotten is that we are mandated by God to have an active role in providing for the underprivileged, it is our Christian duty, relatives or not.

James 1:27 says,”Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father is this:to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions.

Special thanks to Minister Butler at Unity House, Ms Ferguson at the Hostel, Deacon Sister Moxey at Pats home for the elderly, Reverend Kendal at Good Samaritan, Nurse Rodgers at Persis Rodgers at her home for the aged, Nurse Bain at A&A Comfort Care, Dr Iilonka at Rebecca House, the Ranfurly Home, and others for the wonderful job they are doing in caring for the elderly, the orphans and the underprivileged. They are the real heroes and heroines of our time.

TP

Nassau,

March 17, 2018.