By Cecelia Campbell-Livingston
Forty-two-year-old single mother of six, Melisa Gordon, is doing everything to keep food on the table and a roof over her and her children’s heads.
She now works part time in a pepper field in Suttons, Clarendon, burns coal, and does odd jobs such as washing clothes and cleaning houses to supplement her income.
It is not an easy road, but Gordon is determined to do all that she can to keep the wolf from the door where her family is concerned.
In an interview with Freedom Come Rain, Gordon said she feels time is running out as the house she is living in— the one she used to rent but has now been sold after the owner died—will have to now be vacated.
“I have started the foundation for a house but cannot afford to go any further as I just don’t have it,” she revealed.
Gordon said she had to go back to work weeks before she should after major surgery, as the alternative would have been to see her children—three boys and three girls—being unable to attend school and having nothing to eat.
Her story of hopelessness is not unique to the community, as she said a lot of young people there are facing the same challenges as the main source for them is farming, and with the challenges being faced with drought and the water situation, she said it makes it hard for them.
“I love farming and would love to go into it, but without water,” she points out, it is hard. Another challenge for them in the community, she informed, is the lack of electricity.
She shared that in the area where she works, closer to Turners, they have electricity, but going further into the community, residents there do not have any light.
“It is hard because you cannot purchase your meat in bulk as there is no refrigerator to store it,” she explains.
Gordon is just one of many Jamaicans who is battling poverty. The prevalence of poverty in 2021 was estimated at 16.7 per cent, a 5 per cent increase over 2019. The Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions showed that rural areas recorded the highest rate of poverty with 22.1 per cent, followed by other urban centres at 15.5 per cent and the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area, 10.4 per cent.
Gordon, who has faith that God will work things out, said she is not going to give up but will continue to do what she can, as hard as it is.
There are days when she feels so tired, as there seems to be no letup in the cycle of poverty, as she moves from one job to another in an effort to survive.
With the bills and expenses, there is nothing left over for her to purchase any building supplies. With the move hanging over her head, her one prayer is that help will come in time to ensure she and her children are not left out in the cold.
With three children on PATH (Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education) and the other three not on it, her challenge is that much harder.
She continues to fight even as she looks for divine intervention to navigate her way through.
You can contact Melisa Gordon at (876) 317-0010 if you are led to assist.