‘The sufferation is over’
Lime Walk family elated at receiving new home
Published:Saturday | June 4, 2022 | 12:10 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
“The sufferation is over,” Lelieta Morgan, the first daughter of 58-year-old Beverly Toban, proclaimed as her mother joined the list as one of the recipients of a home through the Government’s New Social Housing Programme on Friday.
At the handing over ceremony of the $5.5-million, three-bedroom house in Lime Walk District in Bog Walk, St Catherine, several residents were overcome with emotion as the keys were placed in Toban’s hands.
It was a gift well-deserved for the mother of 10 – five sons and five daughters – who also has 16 grandchildren.
“I am excited. I’m happy knowing that it’s the first time I’m owning a home for myself. I couldn’t make it [happen], but the prime minister and the MP (member of parliament) make it possible for me and so I have to thank them and I am delighted,” Toban said.
She told The Gleaner of she many hardships she had to endure over the years, saying that at one point she had to suffer abuse in a house at which she lived.
“I get many abuse, but I still did have to hold it ‘cause me nuh have nowhere for myself, but now that I get somewhere for myself, I’m so happy!” she exclaimed.
Toban recalled days when the many holes in the roof meant she had to set containers to catch rainwater during adverse weather events.
The family also had to use an outdoor pit toilet and had to pay close attention to where they stepped inside the dilapidated home because the wood flooring was rotting away.
The family will be happier in their new home, she said, adding that it will be share with eight children and grandchildren because they will have the kind of openness and privacy that she previously did not have.
Hard-working woman
Morgan said that her mom is a hard-working woman, who would do anything to provide for her family, although she did not have much.
She recalled Toban walking many miles to take her children to school and fetch water for the household while tending to her farming duties and cutting up wood to make meals outdoors.
Despite the struggles growing up, which caused them to at times miss school, Morgan said that they would still enjoy being among family.
Morgan was elated to see her mother to now be able to live more comfortably after seeing the home in all its glory. The new dwelling is located closer to her own home and will allow her to see her mother more frequently.
“She has done enough, so it’s our time [as her children] to take care of her now because growing up and seeing my mother walk a long distance fi go burn coal and plant cassava and those things, it’s time for her to sit down and just enjoy her kids and her grandkids,” she added.
In her remarks, St Catherine North Central MP Natalie Neita Garvey stated that owning a home provides a family with generational wealth and value because it is a piece of property that can be passed down to children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
This accomplishment would mean the world to anyone who can claim the property as their own, she said, adding that it would encourage the youth to stay off the streets as she noted that “when there is discomfort [in the home], they feel more comfortable on the streets”.