Latest update January 17th, 2025 6:30 AM
Filaria confines woman to indoors
Fifty one-year-old Bibi Ali resides in a dilapidated house at Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, with her 10-year-old great nephew, she is suffering from an extreme stage of filaria. The conditions under which they live is neither conducive for her, nor the 10-year-old child.
The unpainted house in which Ali and her great nephew dwell consist of spaces for windows however few are in place. The floor and roof contains numerous sizable holes. The house is also void of electricity and water.
Ali, who has been residing in that house since the year 1992, said that she previously paid $5,000 in monthly rent. However for the last few months she ceased paying any since some of the zinc sheets flew off. The woman said she was a vendor by profession; she sold vegetables in Bourda Market and said she got along “just fine”.
“In dem days I was not fat. Is since this thing catch meh and ah can’t move around I get this size.”
According to Ali, after she was infected with filaria in 1997 she was hospitalized for four months. Then in 2007 she was readmitted to the hospital and was supposed to have her leg amputated.
However, the woman alleged that her doctor told her that he cannot perform surgery on her since the approximate duration of surgery could have been as long as 17 hours and her heart could not have withstood the anesthetic for such long hours.
The woman said that in 2007 she had much more than her present weight but when she was hospitalized for the second time she was placed on a diet. Since then she watches what she eats.
Ali said she needs medical attention however she can’t leave the house since she cannot pass down the stairs.
According to the woman, her great nephew survives on public assistance of $4,900 a month and assistance from a stranger, whom she has never met. This individual sends $5,000 for her every month.
Ali added that she makes bush medicine for people who are in need of it and they pay her. The woman said that some of her neighbours also assist her. Ali told this publication that when she needs to cook, the child who has lived with her from birth, would bring the stove to her bedside. He would pass all the ingredients needed.
When she wants to be cleaned Ali sits on a bench and wipes her body. She urinates and defecates in a container and her nephew disposes of it in the latrine “He does do everything fah mah”.
The ten year old, despite all his responsibilities, still manages to be an A grade student. At his last end-of-term examination the child attained 95 per cent. The child’s mother resides in Barbados and wants to come home, but she has not yet accumulated enough money to do so.
The woman said that her only son is imprisoned and her other relatives have no means of taking care of her.
Ali alleged that her father who died on May 18 last, was the sole breadwinner of the family. She hadn’t a chance to go to her father’s funeral but her relatives brought the body in front her home so she got a glimpse of his remains.
When the child was asked how he feels about living with Ali his response was “All I want is to live in a house where the rain does not wet me in my sleep.”
However, he wishes for a better physical environment “Sometimes after I come home and do all I have to do; night comes before I can finish my homework.”
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