The Samaroos live in a small wooden home that barely withstands the elements. A brief but heavy isolated shower yesterday drenched the plywood that forms the floor, while the walls are made up of whatever bits of material that could be nailed together. Each step must be taken lightly and with caution. Water dripped from the ceiling and an outhouse stood below near the stilts that keep the structure up to street level. There was an initial reluctance followed by a look of shame that told us the inside was off-limits.
But it’s said that one child can lift an entire family out of poverty. That’s why when Jennifer Samaroo’s 11-year-old daughter passed for Asja Girls’ College in Charlieville, Chaguanas, it was a cause for celebration for everyone at their home.
“I felt a little shocked, I couldn’t really talk at the time because it is a really good school, and she really is a bright child,” Samaroo said while sitting in a hammock at her Brasso Venado home.
But there’s one problem that made their joy short-lived. One major issue that stands in the way of the child’s academic progress. And the state of the home reveals that reason to anyone who passes by.
The Samaroos simply cannot afford the expenses that come with secondary school education.
“We have to buy clothes, books and we have to study transportation costs, we don’t have that kind of money, it is very hard because he (Jennifer’s husband) not really working. He works in the garden for three days a week and I don’t work because I’m not well,” the 43-year-old mother of three said.
It was clear that she struggles to speak fluently.
When Guardian Media visited them yesterday, they had just returned from registration day at the school. There, they spent $500. We were told there’s now no more money to get the other necessities.
We asked the child’s mother if funds don’t come in, what are their options?
“She will have to stay home. It very, very hard,” Samaroo said with tears in her eyes.
“I want her to go to school and get an education, to be something, to have a better life.”
Samaroo looked away during the interview and several times muttered, “She’s a bright child, a really bright child.”
She said that her daughter wants to become a schoolteacher one day.
Time is ticking for this family to get the child ready for school in September. If anyone would like to assist with books, uniforms or to contribute whatever they can afford, they are asked to contact Nelisha at 715-7175.
