Four Westphalia families get new homes
FOUR families at Westphalia in rural St Andrew, who for several years lived in indigent conditions, were yesterday presented with keys to new homes by Food For The Poor (FFP).
One of the beneficiaries, Margaret Thomas, told the Observer of the deplorable conditions she, her four children, mother and four brothers had been forced to live under. “It was very bad, our previous house only had two rooms, and one of those rooms didn’t have a roof, so all 10 of us had to share one little room,” Thomas said. “Me and my family feel very good about getting this new house, especially now before Christmas,” said Thomas.
The four double unit houses, all fully furnished, were built by FFP in collaboration with the government’s Social & Economic Support Programme (SESP). FFP officer Pearline Barrett, one of the project’s initiators, said she first had been “shocked” to see the conditions the families had been forced to live under. “I was touched to see the conditions these people were living under, and I just knew we had to do something about it,” Barrett said. “We instantly sent a report to the Office of the Prime Minister, and the SESP did not resist to assist us with funds to put it together,” she added.
The building project, which started in November, totalled $1 million, and of that SESP assisted with $600,000. The rest came from private, overseas sponsors.
SESP representative, Ripton Stewart, explained that his agency was “very pleased” to have assisted Food For The Poor in improving the conditions for those below the poverty line. “The SESP has since the early 1990s been dedicated to assisting the most vulnerable people in our society,” Stewart told the Observer. ” I am proud and honoured to have been a part of this process. We must remember we’re not only building houses, we’re also establishing homes and families, which is an essential part of developing the local communities,” he added.
The Westphalia community is the highest settled local community in Jamaica, and is situated far up on the hillsides of the Blue Mountains.
“The most challenging part was actually the transport of the materials, as the roads up here are absolutely horrible. “Once we got all the materials up, it took us only four days to set up the four houses. When you come up here and see the conditions that people live under, you want to do something about it,” said George Dickens, one of the contractors.