Seven-year-old Stephon Boodoo has never set foot inside a classroom. While other children his age run, play, and learn, Boodoo cannot speak clearly or move freely. A growing lump on his head, suspected to be a tumour, casts a shadow over his already challenging life.
Living in a rusted galvanized, and plywood house on Thomas Ross Road, Sisters Road, New Grant, his parents—Shazara Mohammed, a housewife, and Sheldon Ryan Boodoo, a labourer—struggle to care for their four children, aged two, four, seven, and eight. They share the ramshackle structure with Stephon’s grandmother, Shaffina Mohammed.
Speaking to Guardian Media, Mohammed said life has been difficult as Stephon is not in school, cannot speak fluently, and is still not potty-trained.
“He is not normal, not like my other children. Sometimes when he hears a loud noise, he falls to the ground and shakes up his body,” Mohammed explained. She said, “He can’t say when he wants to use the toilet. If I take off his pampers, he will soil himself.”
Mohammed admitted she has not had a proper medical assessment for her son.
“Sometimes he just stands up and cries for no reason. I think his head or back must be hurting. When he eats, he bawls for no reason. Other times, he watches himself and laughs hard, and we all laugh along because it’s all we can do,” she said with eyes downcast.
Mohammed said the lump on Stephon’s head could be a tumour, but she hasn’t received a clear diagnosis.
“We joined the San Fernando General Hospital clinic, and they gave me dates for a scan, but we had no money to go, so I missed the dates. I still don’t know what’s causing it,” she admitted.
But the family’s struggles extend far beyond Boodoo’s physical ailments. Their home is falling apart and has become a hazard for the children.
“When it rains, we get wet. We have to shift from corner to corner on the bed, but everything gets drenched,” she said.
This was evidenced when the rain began falling during the interview. Water gushed through the holes in the roof, filling a barrel placed underneath. Surface water from the road flowed down the track, gushing under a shed near the plywood shack, which was precariously perched without proper steps. Mice scurried in the house, hiding beneath clothing.
To get inside, Mohammed and her children have to walk on loose bricks, often falling and injuring themselves, as the rotted platform offers no support.
Mohammed said they started rebuilding a house next door using donated funds, but the project has stalled, and the house remains incomplete. They continue to live behind the galvanized gates leading to the shack, which hides the squalor. She said they desperately prayed for help to finish the house so that Stephon and his siblings could one day find comfort.
“We need a door, glass for the windows, and a proper toilet,” Mohammed said. Currently, the children defecate in a bucket placed under a toilet seat, as they cannot always walk through the bushy track to reach the outhouse.
“People may be surprised, but we cannot do any better. I’m begging someone to please help us finish our little place so we can move out of here because it is so dangerous for our little ones,” Mohammed revealed.
She said she also wanted medical help for Stephon, as well as, an opportunity to send him to a special needs school.
“I want to know what’s wrong so I can give him a chance at life, just like my other three children. I want him to go to school,” she said.
Her mother, Shaffina, said Mohammed and her family were renting in Penal, but when Shaffina got sick, she asked her daughter to return home. She also appealed for help to complete the house.
Chairman of the Princes Town Regional Corporation, Gowrie Roopnarine, who has been assisting the family with hampers, called on the Ministry of Social Development to intervene and provide a disability grant for Stephon. Princes Town MP Barry Padarath also said he would speak to Minister of Social Development Donna Cox to assist the child and the family.
Anyone wanting to assist the family can call 366-5430 or 339-0179. Donations can be made to Shaffina Mohammed, First Citizens Bank, High Street Princes Town, Account # 1409909.
