Ten-year-old Leroy Moore stands on the landing of the dilapidated building he calls home. (Ken Moore photo)
Lying flat in the middle of the road and screaming at the top of her little lungs, four-year-old Demi Moore was being ignored by Alberttown residents a few weeks ago when this reporter stopped to speak to her.
It turned out that Moore was upset that her older siblings had prevented her from attending a Vacation Bible School (VBS) session at a nearby church.
It also turned out that she and her brothers are allowed to roam the Alberttown area begging for food and money.
Named after the famous American actress, Demi's precarious existence is a far cry from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
Her plight and that of Leroy, 10, Brandon, 9, and Anthony, 7, is another sad tale of how some of the country's vulnerable children are forced to survive.
The unusable toilet in the overgrown yard. (Ken Moore photo)
Their Lot 8, First Street, Alberttown home can barely be described as a house since years of deterioration have reduced it to a shell. There are no windows, nor are there any interior walls; and there are gaping holes in the roof meaning no protection from the sun, rain or cold nights. There is also no washroom. Their possessions are a few dirty pieces of clothing thrown on the floor, some hanging on the wall, two grubby mattresses and the only utensil in the kitchen is a dirty pot and an oil bottle perched on a table.
Neighbours said the children roam the streets almost every day begging for food and money and at other times bathe in the nearby trenches and play games in the street. There is no running water in the yard.
But they are not orphans. They live with their father Desmond Moore, a minibus conductor, who leaves in the morning and returns late at night.
Their mother, Claire Ramdat, lives elsewhere and would visit the children during the day sometimes taking food for them.
Despite their desperate circumstances they are known to the Probation and Family Welfare Department of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security.
Ramdat told Stabroek News that some time ago, the children had been temporarily placed in a home, but their father had gone and removed them. Since then, no one from that department has moved to help. The older children were once placed at the St Ambrose Primary School and a benevolent neighbour had provided school clothes, but after a few weeks they stopped going.
When contacted, a senior probation officer confirmed to this newspaper that the matter has been engaging the attention of the department.
But the officer also berated this newspaper, "for always carrying the photographs of vulnerable children," on its front pages. "You guys don't know what mental impact this could have on such children." When it was pointed out that the children are already being mentally affected by their existence, the officer replied that this newspaper was exploiting them.
The officer said child protection is everybody's business adding that community members were not doing enough to assist vulnerable children.
"Poverty is not a crime, not because they are poor they have to be running around. A person can live in a rundown house, but it does not mean they have to leave their children unprotected..." the officer stated.
The children's 29-year-old mother said she was once married to their father but is now divorced and living with someone else. She has a daughter for her new partner and they are living with his mother. According to the woman, she usually kept Demi and the younger boy at her home but was forced to leave them in Alberttown for a while because of the death of her grandfather.
However, neighbours report that Demi is often on the streets with her brothers, haggling with them over the proceeds of her begging.
Asked why she left her children to live under such circumstances, Ramdat said they could not stay at her new address. She recalled that at one time the children were living with her, but their father visited the home in the night and "behaved bad". Since then her reputed husband has refused to have them at the home.
The woman said it was at that point that they were placed in a home, only for their father to take them out.
"I would come and see dem and I would cook and wash fuh dem, but to tell you the truth I can't take care of dem and I would glad if deh could stay in a home," the woman said.
Neighbours say the children often go hungry and on the day Stabroek News visited they said they had not eaten for the day even though it was after 1 pm.
"We blame the mother mostly because the father has to work and no one is there to look after them when he is not there. But then again look at the conditions under which they living. These children don't even wear clean clothes some days and they always saying they hungry. I don't know what to say and I don't understand how their parents could allow it..." one woman said.
"The thing is not the first time these children in the media, one time deh on Evening News and is then they start going to school for a while but after that they back to the same thing. But we want the welfare and probation to do something. These children on the road the whole day begging and it is not good. This is a little girl and people could do her anything. Many days she does not bathe and her hair is not combed..." another woman said.
They reported that sometimes the children's parents are around and yet they are still allowed to roam the streets.
"Mommy don't live with we, and we does go on the road and play marble and suh," the eldest of the four said.
On that day little Anthony had taken his own initiative and attended VBS with some neighbourhood children but had prevented his sister from accompanying him.
"We wan fo go in a home..." said the child.
Stabroek News once again contacted the probation department and upon the advice of the officer, the mother was sent to the ministry. She reported that she was told to take the children along with their father to the ministry last Tuesday with the intention of them being placed in a home. However, up to yesterday this newspaper observed the boys roaming the street and neighbours reported that her mother had taken Demi away a few days earlier.
When contacted the probation officer told this newspaper that a home had been identified for the children. However, because they do not have birth certificates and clinic cards they have not been placed. She reported that the children's parents with the ministry's help are attempting to get the necessary documents. She also reported that the father of the children appears to be hostile but has been warned that after the children are placed in the home he could not take them out and if he does he would face the law.
In the meantime the children are still wandering the streets living day to day with an uncertain future.