A ray of hope has come to five children in Brickfield who have never been to school and could not read or write. The children, who live with their parents in a squatters’ settlement off Kali Temple Street in Brickfield, do not have birth certificates required for their acceptance into schools.
Between the ages of six and 15, they are now being taught to read, write and do Mathematics by social worker Christine Mathura. Mathura, who was attached to the Ministry of Education, said when her contract ended in July last year she took up a job as manager of the Life Hope Centre.
Gweneth Stuart, secretary of the centre, works closely with Mathura. The centre was set up in Brickfield, a predominantly Hindu, former sugar cane community, by Pastor Clifford Shameerudeen of the Seventh-Day Adventist church to provide avenues for the villagers’ development in all aspects of life.
“I started a preschool at the centre and held classes four days a week,” Mathura told the T&T Guardian.
Mathura, 48, a mother and grandmother, said she works at the centre four days a week from 11 am to 7 pm.
“I started the children off with the alphabet and taught them to write the letters. In six months, the 11-year-old could write the alphabet and can now read.
“The eldest, 15, was also doing very well in Maths and wanted to read and learn. But he stopped attending classes to learn the car repairs trade.”
Mathura said another government social worker, who has been assigned to the family, has been trying to secure the children’s birth certificates, but they cannot be released without the mother’s consent. The children’s mother works with the State’s Cepep programme.
The Life Hope Centre has also assisted the family in constructing a bathroom. Mathura said she has found other children in Brickfield proper who, although in school, also have reading challenges.
“These are children who are in Standards Four and Five. We set up a home work centre, a computer class and a CXC Maths class. We pay a tutor to come and teach young people preparing for exams,” she said.
The Life Hope Centre plans to introduce an adult literacy class in Brickfield too. A significant number of people suffering with diabetes and hypertension in Brickfield have also been benefiting from a health programme offered by the centre.
Mathura said, however, that she did not identify poverty as a problem in the area, even though most of the women are employed in Cepep and the men in off and on construction work.
“People here know how to survive.” She said their health problems could have something to do with their diet. And alcoholism.
“We have doctors come in and attend to them and have cooking classes.
“With government assistance, we got 40 diabetes testing devices for them and plan to start an alcoholic rehabilitation programme soon. We also offer counselling to those who need it,” Mathura said.
The centre has already started a fitness class and the women are delighted.
“They say they are feeling much better since they started exercising.”
Mathura said she has found working with the Life Hope Centre very fulfilling.
“I felt God allowed my contract to end so I could come and work with the villagers here,” she said.
“I was involved in the food card programme at the ministry and was limited in the kind of rehabilitation work I wanted to do.
“The original idea behind the food card programme was to teach recipients how to eventually go and catch a fish and wean them off state dependency. There were plans, but they never really came through.
“As a result, clients became dependent on the State and did not develop skills to find sustainable employment.”
Mathura said she now feels rewarded when villagers tell her the Life Hope Centre has brought something good to Brickfield.
“They are very willing to learn and develop. I love them. They have become a part of my life.”