Neisha and Stephen Butler have very little personal possession. They live in a hut in Hellshire, St Catherine, with two young children, ages two and six years.
For the Butlers, education represents the surest way out of their pitiful state. Their oldest daughter, Kemeisha Butler, eight, appeared to be representing this very well, picking up various academic prizes at her school.
But before she could get the chance to bloom and deliver on her potential, tragedy struck. The young child died at the Bustamante Hospital For Children on March 8, 2016. The cause of her death has not been established as an autopsy has proven inconclusive.
Now the Butlers who struggle to find food daily are distraught. They don’t even have money to bury their daughter. “To be poor is a crime,” Stephen said.
They spoke highly of their deceased daughter and said what hurt them the most was they tried everything possible and managed to get the child in school to become an achiever.
Yesterday, when our news team journeyed to the hut which the family of four call home, the grim look on their faces could tell something was odd.
“It not going so … you know why it not going so, because me hungry and stressed and mi never run lef dem,” said a grieving father.
Commonly referred to as ‘Gold Teeth’, Mr Butler stressed that his other daughters are going to rise above their current condition and make better of themselves and their family.
The other two daughters were not at home when THE STAR visited, and when quizzed about their whereabouts, their mother said they were at their grandparents. “The grandmother said a better them stay with her cause of the situation and they don’t want stress mek us do anything or them to be affected,” she said.
Mr Butler said the loss of his daughter has affected his ability to eat. “From she gone mi cant find mi gold teeth, mi nuh know weh it deh. Mi all a draw down and take drinking for it cause me woulda mad already enuh,” he said, adding that he was broken because all five of them used to sleep on one bed.
They told THE STAR they survive daily by only what people give to them. Stephen does fishing from time to time for subsistence, while Neisha, when required, cleans the beach.
The family told THE STAR that they are in dire need for assistance with the burial. They have shopped around and found a funeral package for $150,000, but are struggling to come up with the first dollar.
“We believe inna God. We pray every night we a go bed, he will provide,” said Stephen. If you would like to assist the Butlers, contact them at 856-5255.
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