Minor missing and crying mothers asks for his return

The mother of a twelve year old boy is asking for your assistance in locating her runaway child. He has not returned home since last Friday and his family is desperate. News Five’s Jose Sanchez spoke to the mother who was recently in the frontlines of the B.M.L. protest.

Jose Sanchez, Reporting
Twelve year old Jamal Samuels has gone missing. According to his mother Helen Samuels, she hasn’t seen her boy since last week Friday morning.

Helen Samuels, Mother of Missing Boy
“Well ih gone dah school Friday and Friday evening I mi expect ah home but ih noh come home. So I noh know what dah di problem and thing.”

Jose Sanchez
“Has he gone missing before?”

Helen Samuels
“Well ih mi do it already and ih mi gone dah school di next day. But dis time yah I mi seh ih mi wah come home when ih do it but I see Saturday come, he no come home Sunday so I gone mek wah report dah di station.”

Jose Sanchez
“Was he in with a bad crowd? Where has he gone on the previous occasion?”

Helen Samuels
“I noh know bout di crowd weh ih heng wid because from school dah home. Which pah ih deh dah somewhere strict. Dat’s why ih mi done deh dah di boot camp by twenty-one miles and ih graduate from deh. So I tell ah when yoh come down yah ih wah be different because I noh want no problem.”

Helen Samuels first spoke to News Five while protesting as an employee of Belize Maintenance Limited who was sent home without pay when the company could not collect monies that were owed by the Belize City Council. Even then, her toil was clearly to support her family.

Helen Samuels (October 02, 2009)
“ “We come get an honest living. We put fi we pride behind we and push wheel barrow fi just feed fi we pickney dehn. You understand weh I di come from? And dehn tek advantage ah we. Dehn tek we fi granted out yah mein. We have to do something bout dat. I just hope dehn pay we di money in time. We need fi we money. Dat’s all we di ask fah, di money. Dat’s all we want nothing else, nothing more; we money cause everybody di suffah out yah. I di tell Zenaida she dah wah woman like we and ih got wah kid like we. Fi she pickney born wid gold spoon in ah ih mouth; fi we one no born wid no gold spoon in ih mouth. We have to labour out yah fi get fi we money and all we want dah wi money. Wi money fi everybody.”

She was steadfast in voice only a few weeks ago as she fought to support her family, but the thought of her child out in the elements for the past week is breaking her.

Helen Samuels
“All I di ask ah fah dah fi mek ih come home, come home. Everybody di worry fi ah, check. I just want ih come home, mek I know dat ih alive or something. All I am asking please come home.”

Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.