Mother of seven living on ‘capture land’ seeking assistance

Annmarie Williamson, a mother of seven, is hoping that she will get the opportunity to properly take care of her children and reside in better living conditions.

Dwelling on a piece of captured land in the bushes behind the Old Harbour Primary School for the past four years, she said an already big struggle has been made even harder since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. She lost her job as an early childhood teacher at the Old Harbour Glades Basic School. Williamson lives with four of her children and two grandchildren in a one-room shack she managed to build.

"It wasn't easy for me but my eldest daughter stepped in and helped finish it up so we can live and live for a while. When rain fall I have to be worried because when the rain blows this way, the water blows inside," she said. At nights Williamson said she has to be 'listening out' as last February someone tried to break in. In addition to a hole at the back of the dwelling, the roof also leaks. Her outside bathroom is also shabbily constructed and if nature calls, they have to brave it and go out in the dark.

A devout Christian, she said she relies on her faith to carry her through the hard times. When the pandemic started and children had to log on to online classes, her children could not as she could not afford Internet connection and had no devices for them. Thankfully, she said someone has blessed her with Internet, and her 11-year-old was 'blessed with a tablet' which all the children share.

"It's not easy to be a mother to fend for them. Sometimes you don't know where it is coming from because the fathers are not helping, it's just me alone stand as a mother," she said, adding that she has no idea where the fathers are. "Sometimes when they say 'Mommy I'm hungry', sometimes when I look a can't even find it to give them. But I thank God He didn't allow us to go to bed hungry at nights. It's not an easy road for me at this time."

Minister Heather White Davis McDonald, who highlighted Williamson's plight to the news team, said she is doing all she can to assist, but help is limited. She said that she was drawn to Williamson, who is a member of her church, One Reaching One Deliverance International Ministry, by her passion for the Lord.

"Where she is living is in the bush and when I look at this woman, she would come to church at nights and she would bring the whole of her entourage of kids behind her. Even though she might not have basic necessities available to her, she comes out to church," she said. McDonald said she knows many will judge Williamson harshly for having so many children, but she is asking them to look past that and think of the children who desperately need assistance.

"The children only have one tablet that they share. It is four of them going to school asking for tablets that they can do their schoolwork," she said. "They are living on capture land, soon they will be asked to leave the place. I am asking for a job for her if anyone can help use your compassion and help these children."