Crying for her 'baby'

All Sista wanted was her doll from off her bed. The congenitally disabled woman even cried for it, but a practical nurse at The Golden-Age Home in Vineyard Town would not give it to her.

Sista, as the workers at the home call her, has several stuffed toys on her bed. But it seemed she loved the blonde doll the most. It was still in the clear plastic bag it came in for safekeeping, a worker said.

Sista was on the floor of her dormitory, where she seemingly spends most of her days - half-naked at some intervals - and the doll was on the bed.

It was unclear why the worker, who said she was just sitting in for her colleagues until they returned to start their shift, did not want to give Sista the doll.

The resident has deformed hands and feet, as well as slurred speech. "Mi want mi baby, mi want mi baby," she muttered as she struggled to speak. An angry Sista even managed to string together some expletives.

Sista was warned by the worker to desist from spewing expletives. "Hey, gyal! You nuh hear fi stop it!" the attendant shouted.

Rde her like a donkey

When Sista refused to comply, the worker sat on her and rode her like a donkey, much to the amusement of another disabled female resident. "Ah dat you love?" the worker asked the other resident.

A persistent Sista challenged the worker. "You nuh have no right fi take away mi baby," she cried. Still, the worker would not budge. "Gallang! Go tek it dung, gyal. Go tek it dung, 'cause anyhow it come dung, it nah go up deh back. Anyhow it come dung tonight, tonight yah, it not going back up there. You get that inna you brain?" she yelled.

Sista spewed more expletives. "You waan me ride you again?" the worker threatened. A defiant Sista mutters more expletives. This time, her voice cracks and she breaks into crying. A single tear was seen running down her cheek as she lay on her back on the floor, topless. It was painful to watch.

All she wanted was her doll.

"Stop the noise nuh gyal," the worker insisted.

Our news team intervened. We asked the worker's permission, took the doll from Sista's bed, and gave it to her. Once she got the doll, she was all right. A look of calm rushed to her face as she caressed her 'baby' in the plastic bag. To her credit, the worker took the doll and reconnected one of the arms that had fallen out.

All Sista wanted was her doll. And, she finally got it.

• Impatient,overworked employees

An elderly woman with a full head of grey hair and a holy rosary suspended from her neck was seen creeping very slowly from one section of the urine-stained corridor trying to get to a room on Cluster D at The Golden-Age Home in Vineyard Town.

She was not the only naked resident seen by our news team during an undercover visit to the facility that houses hundreds of elderly and disabled persons.

The workers at the facility appear to be overworked and overwhelmed. And underpaid too, they argued. One worker said her monthly salary before tax was $35,000.

Cluster D, the section that houses those who are congenitally disabled, has six practical nurses assigned to take care of 50 residents, many of whom are disabled and cannot help themselves.

The attendants usually enlist the help of a few able-bodied residents to assist with some of the many duties, for example, removing soiled adult diapers and changing other wards.

After being changed ealier in the day, one disabled female resident was left on the floor until after 7:00 in the night. The news team heard her calling out for someone to take her off the cold tiles. No one responded.

The residents may live in a home, but they look like street people with soiled, tattered, and worn clothing.

Nevertheless, some residents like being at The Golden-Age Home. "Thank God we have water to bathe, and every now and then, like on a holiday, they carry us out," an elderly woman said.

However, she thinks the programme offerings at the home could be enhanced to make the stay worthwhile.

"For me as a blind (person), if somebody could come in and read for us some of the time, even for a half hour, somebody could come in and read to us what's going on, like in The Gleaner ... ," she said.