Consequences of stressors on childhood's development

POVERTY, POVERTY, and POVERTY

Many years ago one of my favorite calypso artists of the Caribbean, the mighty Shadow, sang “Poverty is hell!”  As a young girl I didn’t care to think of the meaning of the song, but as I grew older I have seen people living in that hell. Some people explained the    meaning of the song as lack of hope but I saw it as lack of resources for family and their children.

 Joey, a thirteen year old boy is the first of nine children in a family who struggled for years to make ends meet.  Lack of food, clothes, medical care, lack of clean water, and the only thing that had them going was the farine a staple made with cassava roots. At times Joey could not go to school because he had to care for his siblings as his mother went out to make the day’s work.  Many times when things were rough Joey would go to the neighbor’s house and beg for food to feed the younger siblings. Sometimes he was successful, other times he would be shamed away.  I remember seeing Joey sitting with both hands under his chin and tears running down his cheeks.  Poor thing!

 It was in 1980 one year after the Grenada Revolution, things seemed a little above the clouds for Joey. The government provided crops to villages and Joey and his mother decided to invest in planting corn, and peas.  They took advantage of the free food supplies like; butter, low fat milk, flour, brown sugar and white rice.  Joey an times had to cook and he prepared just enough for them to eat. He puts the food on the outside fire side using dried sticks and an old burnt pan, and waited close by the fire until the food was cooked. Sometimes they had one meal for the day and the smaller siblings would be fed milk with farine when there was milk, or bush tea, while the others would eat green mangoes in salt or ripe mangoes and golden apple.  

Mango tree with fruit used as a meal

Used dried sticks to make the fire for cooking

 Life for Joey became tougher when his mother got ill. Joey never went back to school. He harvested the corn and peas and sold it. He worked for the neighbor cutting the grass and helping to feed the animals.  As years went by Joey’s siblings became more independent and so when the government introduced the program C. P. E. or center for popular education, Joey took the opportunity and went back to the adult classes.  He was successful in his classes and thus was able to get employment to help take care of his mother and his siblings.

Corn field 

  

  

    Donkey

  

 Kinds of animals Joey looked after to earn money to help take care of his mother and siblings.

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