Rosanna Ramlal has spent most of her life fighting for survival. Ramlal, having suffered with polio from birth, is still struggling in her twilight years as life has taken a turn for the worst.
Her troubles started when her home at Betsy Street, La Romaine, burnt down mysteriously in a fire just two days before Christmas in 2007.
Ramlal and her husband, Ajim Mowlah, were married for 15 years, but they never had children. Shortly after the fire, he died from a stroke and since then, Ramlal, 62, has been living in a one-room shack with no proper door, no window and a gaping roof. Her bed and chair fits tightly in the crudely built shack, which was constructed by her neighbours the day after the fire.
There is no room inside the shack for a stove or anything else. Her few pieces of clothes hang in racks upon the plyboard wall. Every time it rains, everything gets soaked. Pointing to the roof where the galvanize had parted, Ramlal said she was fed up of living in squalor.
"When I was born, I had polio and I was 19 years old when I started to walk. I lived by my mother for all of my life at Pond Street before I met my husband and he brought me here to live," Ramlal said.
The land is owned by a real estate company and Ramlal pays $200 in rent per month. Her sole source of income is the $1,300 disability grant she receives from the Government. Ramlal said the money is barely enough to live. Most times by the middle of the month she is forced to beg for food.
"I try to make ends meet. I have good neighbours. I also go to the grocery out at Potato Trace and they give me a little credit. I take bread and sardines and maybe a Coke from them and when I get money I pay them a little," Ramlal added. Ramlal's home has no toilet.
"I have to do it in a bucket. I get water from the neighbour to bathe. I like to stay clean," Ramlal added. Even though her home has no running water or electricity, Ramlal said she wanted to stay in the spot where she shared a paradise life with her husband.
"This is where I married and this is where my husband put me. I want to stay here until I die," Ramlal said in a choked voice. She said the only happiness she ever shared was with Mowlah. "He was a short man but he was very good looking," she laughed. She said Mowlah suffered from heart disease because he was "big." She said when he underwent an operation at the San Fernando General Hospital she stayed with him day and night.
It was while they were at the hospital that their home was destroyed by the fire. No one was ever arrested but arson was suspected, Ramlal said. She explained that the land was the source of contention among family. Despite the conflict, Ramlal said she was hoping that she could find some peace and comfort before she died.
"I hope that someone could help me rebuild my house and I could have a proper bedroom, a toilet and a bathroom. It is hard living like this every day but I have no other choice," Ramlal said. She added that several people have visited her shack and expressed horror at the way she was living.
"People have promised to help me but so far nothing has happened. I am losing hope," Ramlal added. Mavis Hosein, who lives next to Ramlal, said she was sympathetic to her plight.
"We will chip in financially if people start to help her. If someone could help rebuild the house we will give electricity and water. She needs a proper house," Hosein added.
Anyone willing to assist Ramlal can contact her at 336-7180.