Josiah and Christiana Victor sit at an old table on discarded chairs outside their humble home after school, feverishly trying to complete their homework before dark.
If not, the siblings would have to strain their eyes using an oil lamp as their home at the edge of a Rio Claro forest has no power.
It is a hard life for Josiah, 12, a student at the Rio Claro East Secondary School and Christiana, seven, a Poole Presbyterian Primary School pupil, who live with their mother, Crystal Mohammed, under severe poverty.
Old buckets and wood litter the yard, and there is no security as the galvanised sheets that make up the walls of their home do not reach the roof.
The children eat food that Mohammed cooks on a makeshift stove made out of a barrel, two concrete blocks and a metal grill.
With limited space inside, some of their clothes are outside. Josiah says he is working hard in school to become a fireman to help his family out of a life of struggle.
“I would be grateful to anyone who would try to help us to come to a better home and get a better place to do our homework. Anything we get, we will be thankful. I want to go to school and get my education to get a job and take care of my mother and sister, my siblings and everybody,” Josiah told Guardian Media.
Mohammed explained that she moved into the community after family problems became overbearing. Her other son, Joshua, attends school in Moruga, so he stays with other family members. She said when Josiah and Christiana return from school, she tries to sit with them to do their homework as early as possible.
There is no running water, so they fill buckets and walk long distances. Rainfall is something she looks forward to as it saves them a few trips down the road.
A villager provides ice and allows her to charge her phone, and she is asking any good samaritans out there to help with building materials for a new home, groceries and clothes. Despite the hardships, Mohammed believes being a mother to her children is the most important thing in her life.
“I have been trying out there for work. You know right now, all about, even the whole country, is slow. It has been hard, and anything I try: CEPEP work, URP, anything but out here is hard right now. I am still willing to try with my children because they are my life. My three children are my life,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed said she contacted a few councillors for help with the road and groceries, but no one was willing to assist.
Rio Claro resident Joly Garcia told Guardian Media he met the family during a Back to School drive in August to provide books.
Garcia said when his team saw the situation, they realised there was a dire need for essential items. He is appealing to the public for help.
“There are three simple things that we need to live, and they are just food, clothes and shelter, and this is what this family is lacking here right now,” Garcia said.
Anyone willing to help the family can contact them at 473-9589.
