Keloney Gayle, 30, is now at the end of her rope and just looking for a miracle. A mother of eight children whose ages range from one to 15 years old, she is now ‘kotching’ at her uncle’s home in Sugar Lane, Bodles, St Catherine.

Gayle anticipates the disparaging comments that might come because she has so many children she cannot care for.

But she said that she was driven by a desperate need for love and care that she didn’t get from her parents.

Gayle was raped at age nine by someone who abused her trust. She said that her mother didn’t protect or show any interest in her.

After living with her father for a short time, Gayle started fending for herself at age 14 bouncing around on the street. It was during this phase that she first got pregnant.

“He (the man) offered me love, something I was desperately seeking,” she said, admitting she did not realise it was the wrong kind of love.

She said that many of her babyfathers also abused her.

She eventually found the love she was looking for through accepting Christ as her Savior and being a part of the Miracle Tabernacle Free Town Church of God of Prophecy in Clarendon.

Gayle admitted that old habits die hard, but she said that she is a work in progress.

But just when she thought her life was coming together, the shack in which she was living in the Toby area of Clarendon was burnt to the ground, forcing her to stay with her uncle.

“He told me I have to come out, but I have no place to go. I have no land to even ask Food For the Poor to assist me. My children need clothes, food, and help to keep them in school,” she said.

Gayle said that there are days when she breaks down and ends up snapping at her children, especially when they tell her that they are hungry.

“I feel bad to look into their hungry eyes, knowing that I am hungry too,” she confessed. Some days she can’t afford to send them to school as she just doesn’t have the money.

Gayle said that she is trying her best to be the mother they need a better one than the one she had. but being barely literate, there is not much she can do.

“Right now, I have to help myself before I can help them. so I would love to get the chance to learn a proper skill, and if I can get a job I can manage, then I would be grateful,” she said.

Her immediate needs now, though, are getting her children clothes and food. She also doesn’t want them to miss any more school days.

Anyone wishing to assist Gayle may contact the Free Town Church of God of Prophecy Outreach Foundation at 824-5610.