More care needed for elderly, mentally ill

You may have seen her walking through Kingstown with a cutlass firmly tucked under her arm or you may have noticed her humble dwelling place, propped up on an embankment at the side of the highway at Lowmans, Barrouallie or Gordon Yard.

She goes by the moniker ‘Marmers’, and while you may have ignored her or dismissed her presence, this woman’s situation speaks to a wider problem in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG),{{more}} the plight of the elderly mentally ill.

SEARCHLIGHT spoke to Marmers last Wednesday in Barrouallie in an effort to find out who she really was and why she lived in a makeshift home, made of sticks, plastic and pieces of cloth.

Sitting in the doorway of the set-up which looked as if it would come tumbling down at any minute, the elderly woman said that her name was Eugena Williams and that she was 75 years old. SEARCHLIGHT made further checks and learned that her name is not Eugena Williams, but Eugena Gabriel.

“I have plenty children”, she said, “I want a house to live in,” she added, while pointing at her more than humble lodging. “I living here long time,” she stressed, opening the curtains and showing her sleeping quarters.

A passer-by who said that he was 35 and knew the lady all his life said that from his count she has occupied that particular spot for about seven years and before that had lived in similar conditions at Lowmans.

Marmers, munching on corn grains, said that she has stopped working, “I use to go bush sometimes,” and has no income, but survives on what she manages to get during the day. SEARCHLIGHT learned that the elderly woman does indeed have an income, as she gets EC$250 as part of the Government’s public assistance programme. She collects the money from the Family Affairs Division at Paul’s Avenue.

On Wednesday, she boasted of having cooked dumpling and rice, prepared in a pot which was held up by the front of an old fan cover, the cover propped up by three stones and fuelled by coals.

When asked of her origins and schooling, the elderly woman, who was incoherent at times, said that she was originally from Barrouallie and claimed to have attended an Anglican Primary School and the Bishop’s College Kingstown (BCK).

While the Anglican Primary School claim could be true, it is unlikely that she attended the BCK, as that school has only been in existence for 52 years.

The claim that she attended the BCK points directly to the issue of her apparent mental instability, an issue that affects many elderly, homeless persons here and goes untreated to a great extent.

Many persons who passed, including children, hailed the character who has, in the past, appeared somewhat of a scary sight while walking with her cutlass.

When asked where the cutlass was, she answered, “somewhere there, but I never have it to do nobody nothing. Is mines.”

It is not clear if Marmers gets help from any of her children, so like many elderly persons in the country, she continues to survive by whatever means she can on a daily basis as the rest of us go about our business.

Last Thursday, an employee at the Family Affairs Division said that Gabriel collects her money like clockwork. The civil servant, who did not wish to be named, revealed that Gabriel’s daughter had tried on a number of occasions to get the elderly woman to live with her at Lowmans, but Gabriel would usually leave her daughter’s home and refuse to return.

“She’s not neglected; her daughter tries, but she’s mentally unstable, so she refuses to stay,” the civil servant said.

A supervisor at the Ministry of National Mobilization said that in cases like these, there is little that they can do as they are not trained to deal with mental cases and as a result, persons like Gabriel are dealt with by the Ministry of Health and their mental health unit.

A nurse stationed at the Mental Health Centre says that if a person is observed in the community acting a certain way and one suspects mental health issues, that person can either be taken to the district doctor or the Accident and Emergency Department of the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH).

After any of these visits, according to the nurse, the doctor would decide whether or not that person would be placed on an outpatient programme, or if they would be admitted to the Mental Health Centre.

Marmers is just one of many such cases and according to senior nursing officer at the Mental Health Centre Sister Diana Bailey, more needs to be done for persons like Marmers.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, back in 2015, while speaking at the convention of the Unity Labour Party’s Youth Arm, urged the youths to assist in providing care for the elderly.

He noted that the latest census revealed that the number of elderly persons here has increased since 2001, so it’s vital that the young people assist in improving the quality of their lives. He has since spoken on the topic numerous times and has also introduced the Zero Hunger initiative, which is aimed at assisting the indigent.

It must also be noted that persons are living longer and in 2012, the number of persons above 60 was at 13,811 or 12.5 per cent of the population.