RAD­HI­CA DE SIL­VA

rad­hi­ca.sookraj@guardian.co.tt

Days af­ter their strug­gle was high­light­ed, the Baal fam­i­ly of Pe­nal are fi­nal­ly get­ting some as­sis­tance from the Min­istry of So­cial De­vel­op­ment.

A so­cial work­er based at the Min­istry’s Port -of-Spain of­fice vis­it­ed the fam­i­ly yes­ter­day and in­ter­viewed Seema Baal, 21, and her moth­er Reena Ma­habir.

Once the in­ves­ti­ga­tions are com­plete, the fam­i­ly may qual­i­fy for pub­lic as­sis­tance grants.

Speak­ing to Guardian Me­dia yes­ter­day, Ma­habir said she was hap­py for the lit­tle help they re­ceived so far. She said af­ter the sto­ry was aired, some­one vis­it­ed and dropped off some gro­ceries for them.

She said her hus­band Ra­j­nath Baal and an­oth­er rel­a­tive planned to dig a trench to be­gin cast­ing a foun­da­tion for a new home.

“We have to get a lit­tle steel to do it but my broth­er said he will come and check us and by this week­end they can start,” she added.

She al­so said the teach­ers at the Mo­hess Road Hin­du School promised to con­tin­ue as­sist­ing her chil­dren.

“They told me that they will send work for them and I will go and drop off what they do week­ly,” she added. 

Seema, who was laid off when the COVID-19 re­stric­tions kicked in last March, said she was hop­ing to get a job so she could as­sist her par­ents with car­ing for her nine sib­lings.

“I feel ap­pre­ci­at­ed that I will be get­ting a job so I can help out the home sit­u­a­tion and bring some things for my par­ents and sib­lings,” she said.

Since the sto­ry was aired promis­es were made by Good Samar­i­tans to as­sist the fam­i­ly. They have al­ready re­ceived some ply­board, ce­ment, gal­va­nized sheets and purl­ing to fix the house. 

Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary of the Sanatan Dhar­ma Ma­ha Sab­ha Vi­jay Ma­haraj told Guardian Me­dia yes­ter­day that he has or­gan­ised to send ten ham­pers to the fam­i­ly which will be stored at the Mo­hess Road Hin­du School and giv­en to them week­ly. 

Any­one want­i­ng to as­sist fur­ther can con­tact the fam­i­ly at 319- 1807/ 274-2153.