Jamaican sprint star and former World 100m champion, Yohan Blake has again committed to donating a house to a needy Jamaican through Food For The Poor (FFP).
He made the announcement recently at the launch of FFP Jamaica’s 5K Run/Walk which was held at The Spanish Court Hotel in St Andrew. Funds raised from the road race, which will be held on May 7 in Kingston, will be used to provide housing for a needy family.
This is not the first time Blake has committed to donating a home in partnership with the charity organisation. For FFP Jamaica’s inaugural 2015 5K Run/Walk, he donated funds to provide a house for Sophia Afflick, a hyperthyroidism patient who used to live in a chicken coop with two of her five children.
“I support Food For The Poor with all my heart. I built a house for a family in need because, more than anything else, I want to help people to live better and we’ll have more fulfilling lives in our society. Having a house to call your home provides a sense of pride and dignity. I promise that as long as I am able to help another person, I will. God has been good to me, and He has blessed me beyond measure. As long as I keep Him at the center of my life, I will bless others,” Blake said in a recent interview.
Afflick is extremely grateful to Blake foundation YB Afraid for donating the funds which gave her a home in Commodore, Portland. Prior to Yohan and FFP Jamaica’s intervention, she was homeless and prayed for a Samaritan to rescue her.
“When I used to live in Portland, I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in 2010. I fell in a serious case of depression. I wanted to lay down everyday and I felt like committing suicide and I never wanted to be around my children. I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism at Princess Margaret Hospital in St Thomas and my sister was living in that parish, so I decided that it was best to move there for treatment,” Afflick said as she recalled her past experience during a recent interview.
Afflick moved into the two-bedroom house her sister occupied with two of her children and her sister’s children, and her sister’s grandchildren. This, she says, was very uncomfortable.
“Sometimes I sleep on di sofa so that mi two daughters could share a bed with my sister’s children. It was really stressing for us. We needed our own space,” she further stated.
After a while, Afflick and her sister started experiencing conflicts and she was asked to leave.
“There was an abandoned fowl coop in the yard and things became so desperate that I decided to fix it up as best as I could and live in it. We neva have no furniture. All I had was two baskets with clothes fi me and di children with one small table and a second hand mattress. That’s all we had, but we felt safe and we had more peace of mind,” Afflick said.
However, moving into the chicken coop had its challenges as well. She had to use a tarpaulin to cover the sides of the coop to prevent rain and wind from entering.
“The coop was leaking really bad and termite-infested. Di fowls in di yard always wanted to come inside. In fact, we used to find eggs inside. Somebody did tell mi that I could get cardboard from the big dump in Morant Bay, and I remember going there one day, and mi wait pan di trucks to come in and den mi tie up some of the empty boxes, and tek dem home to cover di holes on di coop so di breeze and rain wouldn’t soak through as much,” Afflick said.
Her eldest daughter became frustrated and went back to Portland to live with her father. Then the relationship with her sister worsened to the point where she was forced to move out of the coop. She then moved into a “one-room” near her sister’s house, before going back to Portland, where she made a makeshift room from sticks, a tarpaulin and zinc. The cold weather took a toll on her health and she prayed for a change.
With funds provided by Yohan Blake through his foundation YB Afraid, Food For The Poor decided to give this single mother a new two-bedroom house in August 2015.
“Food For The Poor call mi and told mi I was getting a new house. I couldn’t believe it. Finally, me and mi children could get back together. When mi get di call mi did happy, but a when mi see di materials coming in and mi house going up, it was another joyful thing for me. Then when mi get the keys in my hand, it was like mi just wake up out of a nightmare. Mi couldn’t stop crying. Then mi 16-year-old daughter come back home to live wid us. I was so happy. In fact, mi even start feel much better with my health. It’s almost like mi forget that I had the health problems,” she said.
Referring to Food For The Poor and Yohan Blake, Ms. Afflick said, “Because of them, I am no longer a victim. To see mi two children coming home from school in the evenings is the best ting for me. I never dreamed that I would move out of this situation so quickly. Where I was, I didn’t know that things would turn around for me. Maybe I would have died, but I am a survivor today because of Yohan Blake and Food For The Poor,” she added.
Afflick’s words of gratitude to Yohan Blake and FFP Jamaica were, “This is such a blessing. If you only know. You have saved the life of me an mi children dem. I love you all. Words can’t tell what you have done for us!”
http://www.loopjamaica.com/content/yohan-blake-builds-house-needy-family-food-poor
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