Fri | Mar 29, 2024
Race Against Time

Dad faces back-to-school crisis after goat thieves plunder herd

Published:Saturday | September 3, 2022 | 12:07 AMCecelia Campbell-Livingston/Gleaner Writer
Dezroy Elson, a father of three, says that so far he has only been able to purchase shoes in preparation for back to school in a week time.
Dezroy Elson desperately needs a source of income that will allow him to prepare his children for back-to-school.
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This is the final of a four-part series featuring families who are yet to meet the back-to-school requirements for their children.

 

Dezroy Elson of Diamond, Rock River, in Clarendon has taken a hard hit as he was left with only three of the 18 goats he was counting on selling to fund the back-to-school preparation for his three children.

A very despondent Elson said thieves took 12 of his goats during the summer and, the following week, stray dogs killed five, leaving him with just three – not yet ready to be sold.

For him, it was a big blow as he needed the earnings from the sale of the goats to balance the sometimes day’s work he gets on construction sites.

“It wicked yah man; mi a tell you sey it wicked. Mi nuh have no uniform. Di bwoy dem grow out a dem uniform and di gal …” he trailing off as he reflected on the preparations that have not yet been done to get his children ready for the reopening of school.

Elson said ,thankfully, he got a day’s work and purchased two pairs of shoes, and that’s as far as his preparation goes.

His eldest, a 16-year-old, attends Vere Technical High School and must take three taxis in the mornings to get to school. The other two, ages nine and seven, attend a school in the community – Simon Primary.

For Elson, his biggest challenge surrounds finding the bus fare and lunch money for his son.

“Dem need book and uniform and … well hear wha a gwaan, it wicked, cause, anyway yuh teck it, mi haffi try hustle,” he said, expressing hope that he can secure more construction work to make ends meet.

Elson doubts that his children will be able to attend school the first week, but he is hoping that everything will fall into place to make it happen.

When asked if the children’s mother, who lives with him, could offer any financial assistance, he said: “That’s a no-no. She don’t even have age paper.”

Elson said he previously worked as a bus conductor but, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, everything has gone downhill.

He added, however, that he no longer has any desire to work as a conductor, as he now has his eyes set on making it as a farmer, while juggling construction work on the side.

Elson said he desperately needs to ensure his children stay in school as he wants to give them a better future than what he has.

“Mi waan fi si di youth dem go a school cause, hear ya now, mi never get much learning. Mi just waan see ... dem brilliant enuh. Cause di odda day mi guh do the medical, a dem register demself ... dem tell doctor all di information, so dem nuh bad,” he said in praise of his younger children.

cecelia.livingston@gleanerjm.com