Akennie Mc Leod never knew the warmth of a father’s love and grew up determined not to let his children feel that same void.
“I know what it’s like to grow up without a father, and I promised myself that my children would never go through that,” Mc Leod said, his voice heavy with emotion as he stood outside the galvanized and plywood structure he calls home in Beckles Trace, Esperance Village, San Fernando.
Now a father of six, Mc Leod does all he can to uphold that promise. Alongside his wife, Linda Lima, he raises their children in a makeshift dwelling constructed from rusting galvanised sheets and salvaged materials.
More than 15 years ago, he started a concrete structure, but with work hard to come by, it was never finished.
Inside the galvanized section, the children sleep on beds raised over rotting plywood. There is no television, no proper furniture, and when the rain falls, there is no dry space.
“When rain falling, that is the hardest time,” he said. “Outside wet, inside wet. I feel like the roof go fly off. I worry about that,” he admitted.
Mc Leod said it took a lot of courage to step out and ask for help but he was tired of meeting closed doors and needed security for his family.
“I does try to work hard to make ends meet, to see about my family and try to make sure they get an education. That is the priority,” he explained. “But every door I knock, it feel like it shutting on me.”
With few job opportunities, Mc Leod has turned to small-scale farming and rearing chickens just to keep food on the table.
“Sometimes I wait for weeks to get a little job,” he said.
His wife said she longs to open a business of her own one day.
“I cook really well but I cannot cook to sell if we live in this condition,” she said.
Still, she does what she can to hold things together.
“It kind of hard living here with six children,” Lima said. “Sometimes we get wet. Right now, the baby have the cold, he just get up and walk outside in the damp. I have to wrap him up and pray he don’t get worse.”
The couple’s children range in age from two to 17. Five are in school, but getting them there is a daily challenge.
“If we have the money to send them, they go. If not, they stay home,” she said with tears running down her face.
“Sometimes two or three weeks pass and they don’t go school. But they like school. They want to learn.”
Mc Leod and Lima say they are not begging for handouts—they are asking for opportunity. A job. Some help to complete the home. A chance to give their children a future.
They say if someone donates second hand material, Mc Leod will use it to complete his unfinished home.
“We just want a chance,” Mc Leod said. “If I get a job and some materials, I could finish this house. I don’t want to depend on nobody.”
The couple expressed deep gratitude to Mc Leod’s mother, Joanne, and their neighbour, Mr Milton, who help them in small ways—sharing meals, offering encouragement, or helping watch the children.
“They keep us from falling apart,” said Lima. “But it’s getting harder.”
With his voice cracking, Mc Leod added: “All I want is to be able to stand up as a man for my family.”
Anyone who wishes to support the Mc Leod family can contact them directly at 364-7967 or make a donation to Akennie Mc Leod at First Citizens Bank, La Romain, Account Number: 3077643
