EMPLOYEES?AND?VENDORS?at the Eagle Hall Market are crying out for assistance for a disabled woman who frequents there on a daily basis.
Marcia White, who is unable to walk and crawls on her hands and knees, spends several hours at the St Michael market and is dependent on the kindness of vendors for meals.
Dressed in tattered clothes – even the socks on her feet are filled with holes – she spends the majority of her time huddled in one of the caged lockers, tightly holding a number of dirty bags containing her few possessions.
If approached by strangers she usually becomes aggressive and verbally abusive.
Vendors say that White lives in Bridgefield, St Thomas.
She crawls from her home every morning to catch the 5 a.m. bus to Bridgetown where she gets off at the market and stays until 8 p.m; sometimes later.
A vendor who has some insight into White’s background explained that she grew up in the Nightingale Home.
“She was living in the home and she was well taken care of but she cuss out everybody in the home and went by her family in St Thomas to live.”
An official at the market said White had been there for several years but he would like her to leave for good.
“She gets here early on mornings even before I do. She is very, very stubborn and we cannot speak to her. If they don’t get her from down here, something bad is going to happen,” he said.
Another vendor pointed out that White had received lots of governmental assistance.
“She was given a house by the Government with caretakers but she cuss them and moved out. A lot of people have come out here to try to help her but all she does is cuss them. Something is wrong with her head and she needs to be institutionalized. She should not be staying inside the market,” said the upset vendor.
Another woman said she was concerned about White’s personal safety, especially at night. “Last week Friday she fell into the gutter and while she was trying to crawl out, a bus almost ran her over because the driver did not see her. It was very scary,” the vendor said.
Over in Bridgefield, Phyllis Codrington, who allows White to stay at her home, said she was also concerned about the situation.
“She was living at a woman but the woman put her out and my niece brought her here about a year ago. We use to bathe her, feed her and wash her clothes but she just stopped bathing and she is wearing the same clothes which are full of holes.
“She leaves here early on mornings when outside is still dark, catches the first bus and comes back late at night on the last bus. I am very concerned because she is crawling on her hands and knees and somebody may think she is a dog and hit her. She needs help.”
Joseph Cummins said he knew White when she was a child.
“She grew up in Glendale Home where I was the watchman and she use to cuss the Mother and throw rocks at the home, so they sent her to Nightingale Home. One day I went there and saw her and I ask her if she behaving and she took up two rocks to lick me down. All she does is cuss people and pelt rocks at them but she grow up in Government care so she should not be on the streets like that,” he said.
Codrington said she was given a telephone number to a woman who she was informed was White’s mother.
“I called her a day and told her that her daughter needed help and she cuss me and told me she did not have a daughter and put down the phone in my ears,” Codrington added. “Day and night Marcia is crawling in the road on her hands and feet like an animal. She really needs help. If she was under Government care from the time she was a child, Government should be looking after her.”
