‘Me know seh better a go come one day’ - Mother struggles to care for visually impaired daughter

Winsome Blair is wishing for only one thing for the coming new year; a Braille machine for her 11-year-old daughter, Destiny Morrison, who is partially blind.

Added to that, Blair says that ever since she lost what she called home to a fire in September 2018, she has been struggling to make ends meet.

Destiny attends the Salvation Army School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Blair told THE STAR that without a Braille machine of her own, her daughter is not able to operate at her optimum level, both at school and at home.

"She (Destiny) can see a little bit. She cannot write without a Braille. She needs the Braille to do her work at school, but at the school now, dem nuh have as much Braille. And then sometimes when she get homework, she caa do it because she nuh have nuh Braille at home," the concerned mother said.

She says her daughter was born with impaired vision.

"They (doctors) said her impaired vision was as a result of glaucoma. She affi deh pon a eye drops ... me caa run out of it and it kinda expensive. Me know seh better a go come one day. She was born that way and dem did take too long fi operate pon her eye," she said.

The Standpipe, St Andrew resident says she is currently in pursuit of a better paying job to drastically improve her condition.

Fire ravaged her home

She currently works at the University of the West Indies (UWI) as a janitor.

"Sometime me have it hard fi she go school even though me a look bout a likkle work ... I do some cleaning thing up by UWI, but that work now, it pay like $12,000 every two weeks," she said. "You see by the time the two weeks come and you done borrow, you don't have nothing in a yuh hand leave. But me still afi dweet because dem seh half a bread better than no bread at all."

Blair also recounted when the fire ravaged her home, leaving her with only the clothes on her back.

"That was last year September. Right now, me deh round the lane in a one likkle room. Me basically afi cook outside because me nuh have a kitchen. When the rainfall, the stove wet up. Me friend dem kinda bless me back with little things, but it nuh so wonderful. Me try fi mek me self comfortable," she said.

Persons who want to help Winsome Blair can contact her at 876-864-2881.