Stories from Mango Valley, Jamaica

Life is hard for the people of Mango Valley. They live with discouraging poverty and there is little hope for improved conditions without your help. Sticky mud floors, disease-ridden pests, and overcrowded conditions are normal here. Strong faith is what keeps these people motivated.

Food For The Poor can provide homes for them. Through your donations, families can look forward to the day when they can move into sturdy houses that provide safe shelter. The children can grow up feeling safe and protected and the parents can worry less about their futures.

These are the stories of Jamaican families that are in great need of the help that you can provide. As you read about them, please bear in mind that the cost to build a home for them is a mere $2,600 and that any donation amount that you give will help Food For The Poor realize our goal to provide with hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Cavern Suzette Bennett

Cavern shared her story as she nursed a toothache so sensitive the wind against her cheek caused pain. She greeted us in her kitchen — a leaky mud-floored room that lacks any type of modern convenience. She hopes to someday live in a sturdy, dry house but, for now, this is the day-to-day reality for her.

Cavern Nugent

Cavern turns to her local church for help for her family. The help is bittersweet, however, since she doesn’t even have proper clothing or shoes in order to attend church services. She has faith that God will help her family, but the daily struggle is sometimes more than she can bear.

Doreen Nugent

Doreen lies awake at night listening to the rain drop into the various buckets she has scattered throughout the one-room shack that is home to her family of four. “My home is not comfortable, but I have to try and make it as comfortable as possible,” she says.

Desrene Tugman and Shawna Ellis

Desrene is a single mother of nine living in damp and deplorable conditions in a crumbling, two-room shack. She supports her family by working at various odd jobs. She shares her home with her twenty-one-year-old daughter Shawna, and two grandchildren. Despite her grim circumstances, her faith is unshaken.

Verona and Osmond Nugent

“He does provide for us,” says Verona. She and her husband, Osmond, live in a shack in the mud, with their 11 children. The children received some schooling but they find steady jobs hard to find. Nonetheless, Verona says, “Little by little, we are trying to come up.”

Pastor Cinderella Anderson

As a local spiritual counselor, Pastor Anderson gets fulfillment from seeing the families around her receive the aid sent to them. “I am really happy that you are able to assist in any way you can.”

Pastor Michael Laing

“Our heart goes out to you for rescuing our children. They are the men and women of tomorrow,” Pastor Laing says. The wasted land saddens him; it is fertile and could bear fruits and vegetables, if the people just had the tools.

Pastor Paul Hemmings

The seeds that were planted spring forth life. Pastor Hemmings partners with Food For The Poor to bring hope to living in despair. Radio donations have put smiles on faces. “People can now see love in action — see God in action,” he says.