Father longing to see daughter again

Elvis ‘Peter’ Chambers, 66, is longing for the day he can see his oldest daughter again, a reunion he has spent years wishing for, but one that remains out of reach as he does not know where she is or whether she is alive.

Chambers, who lives in Jericho, Hanover, has not seen his daughter Shanice Chambers, who the family also call ‘Shuggy’, since she was a little girl.

“She lef’ when she was a little girl a go primary school. Dem mother did dead and a nuh like mi couldn’t keep the two a them, a just the fight weh mi get from people. Them (relatives) tek her and leave me with my son,” he claimed.

Decades later, the pain of that separation remains evident whenever Chambers speaks about his daughter. Asked whether he had tried to reach out to her, he let out a long sigh, the pause carrying the weight of years spent wondering about the child he has missed watching grow up.

“Mi long fi see her, mi nuh know if she alright or if she even have children. A mi first daughter and mi miss out pon a lot,” he said, referring to milestones such as birthdays.

For Chambers, the uncertainty appears to be among the hardest parts of their estrangement. While he has some knowledge of the circumstances of his other daughter, he has no such reassurance when it comes to Shanice.

“Mi have two daughters, the next one deh inna home because she can’t talk, she is not well. But I know where she is and mi know she alright. Mi nuh know what happen to Shuggy and mi woulda really want fi see her and know say she alright.”

As he gets older, the desire to have his children around him appears to have become even more important. His 18-year-old son, Jisaac Chambers, said his father speaks about his missing sister frequently, and the sadness is something he has come to recognise.

“Mi nuh ‘member her good but mi know mi have a sister. I want to get to know her because a mi grow up alone and never have a relationship with a sibling,” Jisaac said. The teenager said he understands that finding Shanice would mean a great deal to his father, who has carried the loss of that relationship for much of his life.

“Mi father talk ‘bout her all the time. Him a get elderly now, so you know him want him kids them around him. Him fret pon her because him miss her,” he said. Jisaac said his father continues to work despite his age, just switching his focus.

“Mi father still do him likkle thing. Him used to sell socks and hustle pon the road but now him just a do him little farming,” he added.

The teen believes finding his sister would also mean filling a gap in his own life. Although he has little memory of her, he wants the chance to build a relationship with a sibling he has known about but never truly known.

The family’s longing for a reunion is also evident to Chris Mitto, a resident who has lived in the community for more than 40 years and knows the Chambers family. Mitto confirmed that Shanice left when she was young, shortly after her mother died.

“The family come to bury the mother and make the decision to take her,” he said. Over the years, Mitto said Chambers has continued to speak about his daughter.

“The brother come around me a lot and every day him talk about her. You can see seh him really have a interest fi find her,” he said. “Even her picture him show me and recognise her. She look like her mother.”