Camal's Home
For the Homeless and Battered Women and Children – A Friend of St. Francis

Camal’s Home for the Homeless and Battered Women and Children located at Albion Front is another partner of St. Francis Community Developers.

The Home has been in existence since the early 1990s when peace counsellor Carmen Kissoon returned to Guyana from Canada, after 33 years, to serve her community. The former social worker and dietitian at a correctional centre has a history of charitable work in Berbice. Prior to returning to live in Guyana, she would visit each summer. On these visits, she would secure the services of overseas-based doctors and nurses to render assistance to local communities, and would also ship containers of supplies for the less fortunate. School furniture, which was also shipped, would be presented to schools from Skeldon to Georgetown, Mrs. Kissoon recounted.

But on one of their visits to their hometown, Mrs. Kissoon and her husband were very disheartened at the number of children they saw begging in the streets and the many young women who were “prostituting themselves… going to Suriname, hanging around the wharves and so on.

“When I saw and heard all these things, it hit me hard. I said this is not the Guyana I left, and I decided to some back to do this,” she said. She bought the house and land and opened the Home which she now describes as her “baby”, and very “close and dear to my heart.”

Listed as a `Friend of St. Francis’, the Home has the capacity for 50 persons and currently offers refuge to about 45 women and children whose existence is based on a common problem, shared goals and duties, and an outlook that goes way beyond their current circumstances. Residents of the Camal Home are integrally involved in each other’s existence, providing the material and psychological support so critical for survival.

Self-help

The Home is run though volunteer work. There are no paid staff members. The women who seek shelter there would assist Mrs. Kissoon with the daily chores. Her six children and members of her extended family also render support. The young girls who live at Camal’s Home would help with the smaller ones.

“When they come from school, they help out. These kids are very helpful because we teach them that way. They would pick up the laundry, fold them, pack them; help to sweep the house …"

According to Mrs. Kissoon, a certain regimen is loosely followed during the course of the day. “In the mornings they wake at six and they clean up. The little ones, who are in Primary School, have their own chores. They would clean up the yard - pick the leaves, the papers, etc. The older girls would clean the bedrooms, so everyone has their own chores. The big ladies light the fire and make the tea. We cook by fire because we can’t afford the gas. We always have bread or biscuit for breakfast because we can’t afford roti; it’s too time-consuming,” Mrs. Kissoon said. Breakfast is over by 7:00 hrs. From 7:00 to 7:30 hrs, the kids have their baths. The young girls would be there to assist with toweling the little ones dry, rubbing lotion on their skin and helping them into their uniforms. Mrs. Kissoon herself would take charge of combing everyone’s hair. By 8:00 hrs, they leave for school. They return for lunch then leave again for the second afternoon school session.

“When we see the kids happy, we are happy,” she said of the tireless `unpaid’ work that is done on a daily basis. “When you see a smile on their faces … when you see them all lined up there waiting for transportation to go to school, you feel so nice, they look so good, and they don’t give me any trouble.”

The Home receives food supplies for its residents from Food for the Poor channelled through the St. Francis Community Developers. A fridge, freezer, food items, clothes and medical supplies were secured by the SFCD for this unique Shelter for women in distress and abandoned children. Members of the public and other benefactors provide other support for the Home. Government offers a $100 000 subvention each year for the Home’s upkeep.

In spite of the limitations cash-wise, Mrs. Kissoon’s vision is to acquire a plot of land on which homes would be constructed to serve as “halfway points between Camal and the outer world”. Residents at these homes, she said, can remain there for a minimum of two years, and during this period of adjustment, they would work and save to provide for themselves.

An advisor to the SFCD, Mrs. Kissoon has been a partner of St. Francis since she returned home. In addition to serving as a link between the Home and Food for the Poor, and between those in need of shelter and Camal, SFCD also offers advice from time to time to Mrs. Kissoon.

“We connect very closely - myself, the staff at St. Francis and Alex (Foster, SFCD President). If there is any need for something, I can call on them. If Alex has a case, and he is counselling someone and he feels that the person should not return to their home, he would make contact with me and I would take them in,” Mrs. Kissoon said.

This symbiotic relationship has served to fulfill the goals of both the SFCD and the Camal Home to provide charity to Berbicians and to raise their standards of living.

Camal’s Home for the Homeless and Battered Women and Children,
Albion Front
Corentyne, Berbice,
Guyana.

Tel: +592
Tel: +592
Email: click here