When Alan Maloney and his seven-year-old son leave the Kapok Hotel in Port-of-Spain today after spending Christmas there, they will most likely be returning to their burnt-out home in?Ste Madeleine. After reading a T&T?Guardian story about the father and son sleeping in a tent in the ruins, a Port-of-Spain businessman arranged for them to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the hotel.
They were expected to check out on Boxing Day, but another anonymous good samaritan paid to extend their stay. "The manager came yesterday and told me that somebody paid for two more days," Maloney said yesterday. In a telephone interview,?Maloney, 54, thanked the businessman and the other benefactor for their generosity.
"I appreciate everything they did for me and my son. I really did not want my son to wake up on?Christmas morning in that tent. Thank you all very much." Maloney, who repairs fridges and stoves for a living, said it was much harder for him now to go back to the tent, but he has little choice. "Maloney's money was also destroyed in the fire at his Manahambre Road home on November 30.
Unable to find the words to describe how he felt staying at the hotel, Maloney also thanked the staff for their kind treatment. "On Christmas morning they brought toys for my son and we had a wonderful meal. I know it had ham in it. I haven't seen my son so happy in a while."
However, Maloney said he felt sad knowing that they have to leave the hotel today. "After we leave here tomorrow we have nowhere to go." Maloney described himself as a loner. He said his family lives abroad and he is not close to them. He said Daniel's mother lives in El Dorado, but the child has lived with him since he was a year old. The last time Daniel saw his mother was in January.
Soca artiste Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez has been trying to find a place to rent for them, but her search has not yielded any results so far. The soca artiste has offered to pay two months' rent while Maloney tries to rebuild his home.
• Anyone willing to help can contact Maloney at 790-4190.