Senior wants a new home

Manasa Donegal, a 62-year-old farmer who has had to deal with frequent water lock-offs in the Top Mountain district of the Kitson Town community, is pleading with the general public for help in building a new home to fulfil his Christmas wish.

Living on the land that was left to him by his father, Donegal has been living from hand-to-mouth as he hustles in the community, selling the little crops he grows.

“A here so me born and grow, so everybody inna the community know me,” he said, noting that when persons in the area can afford to assist him, they will purchase a few crops like pumpkin, green banana, yam and callaloo from him.

But the senior, who has been living alone on the land for more than 40 years, told The Gleaner recently that it has been very challenging to live in the one-room board-and- zinc shack he constructed many years ago.

This is so, as Donegal says the frequent rainfall swells the wood, causing his dwelling to break apart, leaving spaces between the walls for the rain to blow in. The holes in the zinc roofing does not provide much shelter, either, and forces Donegal to set containers on his floor to catch the rainwater, which he then utilises to cook or bathe.

With the help of a local Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor and a justice of the peace, letters were written on his behalf and mailed to Food For The Poor Jamaica in search for assistance to build his new home.

Donegal says no one has ever responded to his formal requests over the years.

His farm is now solely dependent on the rain, as he is without pipe-water. He has had to travel downhill to catch water at a standpipe in the community square.

He then has to brave the walk back uphill with his filled buckets.

Proven to not be lazy and dependent on the benevolence of people in the community, Donegal says, “If me get a likkle work, like a day work, me will go guh do it still,” as he seeks a means of earning a steady income.

However, he noted that “more time, you nah too get nuh work inna the country ya”.

As such, he has had to make do with a small kitchenette he built out of zinc and old wood, where he does his cooking on a coal stove, and uses kerosene lamps for his light source.

As Donegal is still seeking full-time employment, he continues to put his trust in God to carry him through life’s challenges.

“A God, you know. Him say we can do all things through Him, because a Him strengthen us and put life in us,” Donegal said, adding that he has been attending a local church for spiritual enrichment.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com

Persons who want to assist Manasa Donegal may contact him at 876-487-1442.