Eight months after this newspaper first reported on the rundown and unsafe conditions under which four senior citizens were living at the Chase’s Indigent Home in Robb Street, Georgetown, two of them are still struggling to manage as their situation worsens daily.
The women were the last four residents of the home which is on its last legs and has been in a terrible state for at least 20 of the 50 years of its existence. They had told this newspaper that while the home used to have a management committee, it had become defunct and was not replaced. The two elderly women still there are paying electricity bills out of their meagre old age pensions—so that at the very least they have lights at night—but they cannot afford to pay for anything else.
Meanwhile, most of what was of any value in the building, including a water pump, was stolen over the years as the home was subject to constant break-ins. Today, the building is in such a state that no thief would need to break in. All it would take is the removal of items such as bleach bottles that are tied across the gaping holes where windows once were. It would appear though that even the thieves have decided that it is not worth the effort at present and while this must be a relief to the duo still staying at the premises, it does not make their situation any less dangerous.
Sanitation-wise, the old women’s existence is a nightmare. The small yard is a virtual garbage dump and the women had complained earlier that drug addicts in the area would also relieve themselves there. There is no potable water owing to the loss of the pump and the women would usually request a nearby vendor or labourer to carry a five-gallon bottle or bucket of water upstairs for them. They have to “squeeze” from that to cook do laundry and their daily ablutions. Then there is the broken toilet, which does not flush.
No one should have to live in such a manner, least of all seniors, but they clearly cannot afford to do better and even amidst the filth profess their gratitude that they “at least have a roof” over their heads, albeit a leaky one.
It’s a crying shame that this home, which would have provided shelter for many indigent women in its heyday was allowed to fall into ruin. What’s worse is that it has been virtually ignored for the past ten years or more; its residents invisible and literally falling through the cracks. The old ladies told this newspaper that it was only after the first article appeared in March that they actually received visits from well-meaning individuals and organisations who promised to help them.
These visits saw two of the women placed in other homes. Of the two remaining, one—Ms Avril Gordon who is 70 years old—has been promised a place in a home that she was told was currently under repairs. The other, 79-year-old Ms Ann Vieira, is hoping to go and live with her family, but her daughter is having a difficult time completing the small home she is building in Sophia. And so they wait.
In the meanwhile, just a few days ago, the Government Information Agency quoted Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence as stating that neglect and abuse of the elderly was to be addressed shortly as government was aware of the challenges the elderly face in residential settings. She then went on to speak about the Commission for the Elderly being re-established. While this is necessary, it is unacceptable that two seniors are left to languish in the demeaning and disgusting conditions described above. Addressing their needs and closing and condemning the Chase home surely does not require the sitting of a commission, bureaucracy and paperwork. Ms Vieira’s daughter requires zinc sheets, windows and doors to secure the structure she is building so that her mother can move in. Ms Gordon needs a room in a home with available amenities. She is old but able bodied and therefore can mostly take care of herself; she does not need constant nursing care and therefore places like the Palms Home for the Geriatric would not suit. Both of these old women’s needs are doable and they should not spend a second longer than is absolutely necessary in the Chase home.
These columns had advocated before the building of condo-like subsidized apartments, or rooming houses for able-bodied seniors who might no longer be able to live alone, but are unsuitable candidates for the so-called old folks’ homes which restrict or totally remove their independence. While this, of necessity, would have to be a long-term project, it should be explored and soon. The signs are there globally that the ageing population is growing. We may find that it is the same here in Guyana when and if the population census results are published.
