Andrea Downer, Gleaner Writer
Mrs. Valerie Jackson-Daley cooks up a storm at The Lord's Place, downtown Kingston. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
MRS. VALERIE Jackson-Daley is not an economist, but she has a unique theory about why there are so many people in Jamaica who are suffering.
"People do not believe in giving and sharing anymore, in earlier times people used to be selfless, now everything is for a fee, nobody does favours for others anymore," she stated with conviction. At 51 years old, she could be considered an authority on the subject, as she has spent more than half of her life in service to others, without being compensated.
Those who know her say she is a hero. Although she is not one of Jamaica's seven National Heroes, whose exploits we are regaled with every year when Heroes Day comes around, they say she is a hero in her own right.
Mrs. Jackson-Daley says she does not like to see people hungry, so along with the odds and ends that every woman cannot do without, she travels with a constant supply of food in her handbag to give to anyone she passes on the street, who seems to be genuinely hungry and in need. People describe Mrs. Jackson-Daley, as an exceptional person and they marvel at her ability to give and keep on giving.
AWESOME GENEROSITY
Although she has 56 siblings, Mrs. Jackson-Daley said that is not the reason she has such a big heart, she has a simple philosophy that explains why she gives and keep giving.
"One of my mottos is, if I can help somebody along life's road, then my living will not be in vain," she explained, a smile playing around her lips.
Mrs. Carol Anthony, Inspector for the Poor, at the Poor Relief Department where Mrs. Jackson-Daley has been a volunteer for about 30 years, is in awe of Mrs. Jackson-Daley's generosity.
"Some of us are put on this earth to accomplish a mission, I think helping others is her mission. She not only helps us here at the Poor Relief Depart-ment but she helps poor people regardless of where they are from."
Father Richard, Ho Lung, Founder and Head of Missionaries for the Poor, refers to her as "the salt of the earth." "She is a wonderful, marvellous Jamaican woman who has no self pity. Even when she is going through her own trials, she finds time for others," he stated with firm conviction.
HARD, DEDICATED WORKER
Mrs. Barbara Roache-Clarke, former deputy director of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Manage-ment (ODPEM), where Mrs. Jackson-Daley has been a volunteer for approximately 17 years, described her as a hard worker who is very dedicated and loyal. She said Mrs. Jackson-Daley works in the Welfare Division and during disasters she overseas emergency shelters.
"She is very resourceful, very kind and giving and she likes to work with people," Mrs. Roache-Clarke said.
"I just love to help those who are less fortunate," stated Mrs. Jackson-Daley. She said she believes she developed a love and the tolerance for taking care of those who are less fortunate when she had to take care of her grandmother for several years until her death. She also nursed her mother who lived with her until she also died. She said both her mother and grandmother suffered from Alzheimer's disease and their forgetfulness made the task of taking care of them very difficult, but she coped.
She has three children and she says the youngest child, who is 15 years old, assists her in her volunteer work.
"She is right beside me on Saturdays, when I am looking after the porridge, and any weekend when I cannot make it, she is able to prepare the porridge and share it by herself," she stated proudly. She says her brothers and sisters are also very supportive and one of her sisters, who owns a boat, sometimes donates fish for the meals that are prepared for the Poor Relief Department's Street People Feeding Programme. She said two women who sell in the Coronation Market, donates some of the ingredients for the hominy corn porridge.
"Some of us were not very close when we were growing up, because not all of us were for the same mother, but as we grew older, we became closer," she stated. She said her father was known throughout Kingston as 'Charley Mattress', not because of the many children he fathered but because he owned a mattress manu-facturing business. She said he was also a fisherman and whenever he came in with his catch, he would give the smaller fish to people who could not afford to buy.
"That kind of thing does not happen anymore," she lamented. She says Jamaica today is a totally different place from what existed when she was growing up.
AIMING TO PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION
"Kingston has changed tremendously, downtown used to be a safe place to live and play. I used to look forward to going to The Ward Theatre and Victoria Pier for concerts. In those days, if you offered someone money for doing something for you they would be upset, today, if you cannot pay someone, it is hardly likely that they will assist you," she stated. "It has become a different world."
She hopes that one day soon she will be able to buy a bus and donate it to The Missionaries for the Poor. She said now the organisation has to hire transportation to take the residents on excursions. She also hopes that she will own a home for elderly people to live in. This is a dream that she was denied when her mother was ill. "I wanted to have a home, where she and her friends could live together so she could have company," she explained.
"But I would like to own a home like that so that when I am old my friends and I can spend our last days together.
The work that she has done has not gone unnoticed, as she has received a number of awards and commendations from ODPEM and Inspector of the Poor.
Mrs. Jackson-Daley walks with a noticeable limp, a slight disability that she has had since she fractured her hip when she was 11 years old. She said she has had three corrective surgeries and now her spine is curved and her back hurts her sometimes. She said she has been told that she needs an operation, which has to be done in Cuba and Venezuela.
"I have never investigated it, but I would like to get the operation done if it is possible, if it is only to ease the pain."
But her personal pain does not prevent her from trying to ease the suffering of others.
