Jodiann Campbell, a 31-year-old resident of London, England, was a picture of worry yesterday as she stood outside the Manchioneal All-Age School in Portland, one of several shelters set up in the eastern parish.
Campbell and her four-year-old son, Matthew, have been stuck in Jamaica for the past three weeks after their travel documents were allegedly stolen from her purse during a trip to downtown Kingston.
The two were supposed to be in the island for three weeks to visit Campbell’s mother and other relatives in Manchioneal.
But more than two weeks past their departure date, the mother yesterday found herself in the leaking shelter, pondering how to provide for her son a cooked meal as a hurricane bearing his name ploughs towards Jamaica.
“It’s awful! Now I’m thinking that my son needs a hot meal; where am I going to get a hot meal from? The electricity is going to go soon. What’s going to happen? And mosquitoes, what if something should break out? How are we going to cope?” bemoaned Campbell, as her son frolicked unperturbed among some 20 persons, children included, who turned in to the shelter early.
“I want to go home. I should be home, and now I’ve found myself in a shelter and the shelter is even leaking right above our heads. The water just keeps pouring down and it’s not a good experience at all,” said Campbell, who migrated from Jamaica 12 years ago.
Campbell said some weeks ago, she had taken a bus from Half-Way Tree in St Andrew and sat beside a woman. When she arrived downtown, she realised her and her son’s travel documents and other valuables were missing from her purse.
“They just picked it. I think it was a lady who picked it, really,” she said.
UNCERTAINTY
She also expressed uncertainty about what Hurricane Matthew will bring.
“I’m hearing all types of stories. People say it is going to rain, the sea is going to come over, everything is going to blow away, and you just don’t know what to expect,” she said, worried.
Yesterday, while Matthew soaked up the new experience, enjoying the attention because of his name, Campbell and her mother hoped the hurricane would not jeopardise an application to the British High Commission to allow them re-entry to London without their documents.
At the shelter, though, 64-year-old Joyce Kenton and others worried about a shortage of food, and their inability to track the hurricane, as they were without a television or radio.
In the nearby Long Road community in Portland, Paul Brown and about a dozen other men prepared for the hurricane by downing flasks of rum and chaser.
“We do what need to do already, man. The storm doesn’t really trouble we. It is people down at Manchioneal who usually get it the worst. We deh pon the high up here so,” he said.
Residents of Hector’s River, not far away, were far more concerned about their fate, however.
Throughout that community, hammers clanged on zinc sheets under a light drizzle.
“Right now, I pack up my things dem – everything in my house. I packed dem up already, and I cover dem so that if the roof flies off, they won’t wet up. Right now, I am just watching what is going on because I’m not staying here. I am taking away myself to the shelter,” said Gwendolyn Brown, making reference to the Happy Grove High School.
Late yesterday afternoon, Aron Grant, a security guard charged with overseeing that shelter, said that while the seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade classrooms have been made available for residents, none had turned up yet.
Who travel around with their passports any where? That woman sounds very naive. Always have photocopies of your passports, all she needs to do is go to the British embassy and let them deal with the matter, why she acting so helpless and clueless? There’s an air of ridiculousness about her, I ended up feeling more annoyed than empathetic with her.
Exactly, like 2 weeks you missed your flight and you nuh reach the British Embassy? Anytime I go to Jamaica I only walk with my DL. She really sound like she lose two screw or something, what she talking about her son don’t get hot meal? So where is her mother that she was visiting? Lwad.
Yeah, summen seem off wid har in some way. I travel internationally enough, and in truth I know I am supposed to register with the embassy in these countries in case of anything, although I never do, but I always have copies of the embassy address,telephone number and email address, just like I have photocopies of my passport. My passport number is memorized in case of anything, just like my bank card number and social. From di day in Kingston she realized the documents were missing, she put on hold what she had to do and present herself to the police as well as the UK embassy with immediate effect. She was already in Kingston, you have to report that immediately to ensure the passport is blocked.
Me still a wonder how di ooman pick her purse in di bus while they were both sitting, and how she able to move two travel documents completely undetected. She sound like an extremely naïve/sheltered person.
31, born pon an Island prone to storms and this bitch a act brand spanking new?
She a worry about hot meal? :ngakak
:ngakak :ngakak
Girl, you live bad with you people why you were traveling with so much things?
Kmt pon she
Being that she is 31 and lived in the UK for 12 years she would not have really remembered what it is like to deal with a storm.She would have 3yrs old or 4yrs old in Gilbert and would have missed the last two hurricanes.
Hurricanes are very scary especially in our poverty.
She also might have just gotten through with her papers and was not able to carry much for anyone.
Gilbert was the only hurricane in recent history?! Too bad fi she at 31 and can’t navigate through life without a hot meal or reporting lost documents. Jamaica “poverty” no more than anywhere else.
New Orleans condition did worst than Jamaica after Gilbert.
No more than anywhere fi real! Just last night I was online and seeing ppl living in cages in Hong Kong, no word of a lie, literally cages, all twelve ppl in one room all in wire cages, di average chicken coop a country bigger than the cage di ppl dem live inna. Is chu mi lazy mi never send di story to Met. Cause from me born me never see nobody a Jamaica a live in cages. In one photo mi see di toilet right next to di two burner stove, never have I seen anybody place setup a yawd where di shyting and di food preparation happen in di same space. Google poverty in Hong Kong or living in cages in Hong Kong. Poverty is in JA yes, just like any place on the globe, but even di poor in JA fi give thanks seh a JA dem poor and nuh other place.
2:19 pm facts. You speaking truth some ppl just have no heart you don’t know anyone situation all this woman money probably finish smh
Most ppl that visit Jamaica Cary they document with them wherever they go depending on the condition of where they staying at. Just because this woman walking with her document in bag don’t make it ok for someone to steal it . That’s the problem with that country too bloodclat thief
Bitch thieves are international. Jamaica unu have strength fah. People don’t walk around with their travel documents.
Tourist leave them in safes, rent a villa people stash them in the villa, family homes you stash them or have one person keep them. Passports are only for cambio if you have no other Jamaica documents.
If you have no abiding city and come from bad breed family I see why you think as you do…damn cruff.
Met few years back I went back home for a funeral and my documents and my child documents was stolen out of the family house I was staying . Yes a family member took it. I went to the American embessy and it took couple weeks for them to put us on a plane because police report had to be made and the embassy don’t just grant you to leave it take a little time and trust me a lot of running around but they did help us.
Ano 12:21 you sound wicked and hateful. I bet you can’t travel those dirty ways will never get you a visa
HEIGHTS A WICKEDNESS A THIEF IS A THIEF BUT THIS YOUNT LEFT AT A YOUNG AGE, SHE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE TO TRAVEL WITH HER DOCUMENTS WHILE VISITING, HOW PEOPLE COME TO CONCLUSION THAT SHE LIVE BAD WITH FAMILY, THIS IS A FACT A WOMAN WENT HOME FROM CANADA TO STAY WITH INLAWS A ALLMAN TOWN SEE YAH THE WOMAN PASSPORT WENT MISSING SHE GO CENTRAL DEM TEL HER DEM CANT DO NOTHING TILL SOMEONE A USE IT, THE WOMAN GO BUY A GALLON A KEROSENE AND THREATEN FI BUN DUNG THE HOUSE, A SO DEM FIND IT, THIS LADY MOTHER CALL THE IMMIGRATION PROGRAM TODAY AND THEY TELL HER SHE HAS TO APPLY ALL OVER AGAIN LIKE THE FIRST TIME, UNBELIEVABLE BUT REMEMBER THE MAN THAT GOT STUCK, NOW THE GOVERNMENT CHANGE AND THIS WOMAN WUSSA THAN MARGARET THATCHER
Why her mother had to make the call? At 31, why she can’t sort out her affairs on her own? What kind of immigration program if she has been there 12yrs? So all this time is just today dem contact embassy? No way my travel documents lost and mi nuh physically present myself at the embassy? Sorry, smaddy would have to look in my eyes and tell mi fi apply all over again. More questions than answers.
a popular entertainer brother died last year and him mother did go home to him funeral, imagine he tell her she want a shot over her things, dem stress out the woman granpickney, nephews and all send dem a shop dem lie bout the price a stuff, hire van for her to go country, when she talk to the driver dem pad the driver money they are malicious, and cunning HOW HIM FI SAY HIM MADDA WANT A SHOT, FCK….ER
The last time I went to JA I walked with my docs but my purse was a crossbody that I kept in front of me 24.7. Jamaica is nice but u have to be extremely careful & watchful!!! I still can’t get over how they think ppl pick up money in farrin.