'Delly' gets a new house

Kadesha 'Delly' McKenzie could move into her new house today, but any joy will be tempered by one of the most painful acts any parent could face - burying a child.

Today is the day that she will bury her five-year-old daughter, Tashanna Wallace, who died when a tree crashed through the roof of a house, pinning her in her bed last month, in Christian Pen, St Catherine.

When The Sunday Gleaner visited the family last week, workmen were scurrying to complete construction of a house donated by Food For The Poor for McKenzie to move in by today.

"Mi feel good and thank God fi who provide it," McKenzie said.

However, there was no joy on her face as she continues to grapple with the loss of her daughter.

still grieving

"Every time me member har. All when me eat suppen, a just she that come in front a me."

Ryan Peralto, chief executive officer of Food For The Poor, told The Sunday Gleaner that the house is being built to its specifications and is a 'double'.

He explained that while the floor plan design shows two bedrooms, a kitchenette and toilet, it is in fact a three-bedroom building, as a loft provides a third bedroom.

According to Peralto, by the time Prime Minister Bruce Golding called to suggest that some way be found to help the family, his organisation had already decided to offer assistance.

With McKenzie the only beneficiary in mind, a visit to the yard showed the need for at least four more houses, which Food For The Poor has committed to build.

Tashanna was killed in the bed from which her maternal grand-mother, Jerdene Muir, had just left to take a phone call.

Shortly afterwards, Muir's world was ripped apart when a large tree crashed into the house, killing the child and striking Muir on the shoulder.

"She get a pair of nice slippers and she say, 'Granny, yu know is it a wearing to church Saturday'," Muir shared with The Sunday Gleaner as she struggled to cope with the loss of a child who, despite her tender age, had already made an indelible mark on the woman she lovingly called her "goodas grandmother".

- C.S.