A GIFT OF LOVE - Struggling couple gets comfy place to lay their heads

Carlton Francis and his common-law-wife Petrolina Blair found it "more convenient" to sleep at Coronation Market in downtown Kingston than their home at Lucky Valley district, Linstead, St Catherine.

The shack that they have called home for more than a decade was nearly uninhabitable. As the tears streamed down his face, Francis said they have experienced nothing short of a harsh and rough life.

"We don't have a comfortable place in deh. The room leak because it nuh good. The place wet up a lot when rain fall because it blow in from everywhere. Not even a good bed we nuh have in there. We cook and sleep in there a night time," Francis said.

But all that changed yesterday when Boom Energy Drink and Food For The Poor stepped up and built the couple a one-bedroom board house with bathroom and kitchen facilities.

The couple's house, which took little more than six hours to be constructed, is equipped with water storage tanks to facilitate sustainable hygiene and sanitation practices. There is also solar-powered equipment to assist with electricity.

"Mi glad for it because mi a 62 and mi never live in a good house yet. For the first time mi a guh do this and mi really give thanks for it," said Francis, who hustles as a handcart man in downtown Kingston.

Both Blair and Francis earn their bread in Coronation Market where they often sleep as their present home does not provide adequate cover from the elements. Blair is battling several conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure and occasional memory loss. She is also deaf. Francis is an amputee, having lost one of his arms in an accident 39 years ago while he was working on a truck. The couple see the donation of the house as a manifestation of true love and care for some of society's most vulnerable.

"Mi suffer a lot and is the first time somebody a guh help mi. Mi inna the market fi years a push cart and a pick up rubbish just to take care of mi and har," Francis said.

"Sometimes we will leave on a Friday and come back on a Monday. Sometimes we stay all a two week inna the market because a in deh mi make the bread and sometimes it more convenient than where we lived. Right now if she should a drop down in the house, mi can't carry nobody in deh, " he said.

The couple, both 62, have been together for 18 years and shared a son, who passed away years ago. Francis stood beside the love of his life and cried as he expressed the love that they share.

"Mi love her. Mi lose mi hand and a she wash and cook for me. A she do everything. She have heart problem and other sickness so mi can't left her. Mi have to go everywhere she deh because she deaf too. Mi love har," he said.

Marsha Burrell-Rose, development and marketing manager at Food For The Poor, said that the house represents a Valentine's Day gift to Francis and Blair.

"Our houses are wrapped with love. We just want them to be as comfortable as possible, and it's with love from the donors' love to us and we pass it on to the recipients," she said.