CARIMAC Times 2016: The JREAM Edition Journalists Reviving Awareness of what Matters | Page 64

Jean Scott, supervisor at St. Monica’s, said there
are two chefs employed to the home. The chefs
have the responsibility to create a menu for the
week based on the food that is available.
On some mornings, I witnessed the combination
of tinned mackerel and white hard dough bread
or frankfurters mixed with beans, being served
for breakfast. Also festival and callaloo with fried
dumplings were served to residents. On other days,
there were no vegetables to balance the starchheavy meals.
A 2010 study conducted by the United States National
Library of Medicine (NLM) found that “despite
high prevalence rates among geriatric patients,
malnutrition and nutrition-related problems are
rarely recognised and treated.”
Rafael Wright was given his share of a cold mackerel
sandwich, and his disapproval was evident.

“A weh yuh get this yah from ah come gi me?” Wright
asked with knitted brows.
“No sah, ah must outa road yuh tek up dis an’ ah
come gi me.”
Since the residents at the facility are homeless
and abandoned, the operator of the home does
not receive any assistance from their relatives. As
a r esult, providing regular nutritious meals is one
of the greater challenges of the facility.
“Our food comes from donations from different
sponsors... The rest, like callaloo, would come from
our garden,” Scott informed.
Ravon Brooks has been a chef at St. Monica’s for one
and a half years. He prepares whatever is available
and it is shared among staff members and residents,
some of whom are hypertensive and/or diabetic.

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