August 12, 2024
The Prime Minister
Antigua and Barbuda
Hon Gaston Browne
Office of the Prime Minister
Queen Elizabeth Highway
St. John’s
Antigua
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Dear Honorable Prime Minister Browne:
It was with deep sadness I learnt of the sudden passing of your Mother Ms. Patricia “Patsy” Richards.
It is my hope it was well with her soul and once we walk in the precepts of God we will reunite on that Glorious Day.
From the Parker and Hallpike Families I extend sincere Condolences.
As you are well aware Sir, our Families have had quite a History from Sunday School and Church Services at the St. John’s Wesleyan Holiness Church on Bishopsgate Street where Blondell was my close friend to Diane and I being class mates and friends at the Princess Margaret Secondary School.
You may also be aware, my Mother, was also a Patient and my Brother a Resident at what was once the Mental Hospital later renamed Clarevue Psychiatric Hospital.
I was fairly young therefore never had an opportunity to visit my mother BUT
I can tearfully recall over the twenty (20) or more years my brother was there the many times I sat on a rotten wooden bench to ensure he ate and enjoyed almost all the food and snacks I had taken for him.
I can tearfully recall some of the names of the Residents who swarmed my car sharing their personal stories and from the goodness of my heart, would give them change for snacks and other treats.
I can tearfully recall as I drove out how I would cry hysterically knowing the condition my brother lived in and the emotional coaster I would be on days after each visit.
I can tearfully recall his stories of being packed in a room with men and forced to share or exchange items just for peace and safety.
I can tearfully recall requesting visits on the weekends so we could spend time together but he would sleep most of the visit as his body was filled with medication.
I *ENVISIONED* a garden water fountain at the gate with ducks and other birds gliding on warm summer days,
A beautiful stone garden with exotic flowers and birds chirping in heathy looking trees.
A swing for relaxation, reflection and meditation,
And therapeutic music in the Visitors Waiting Area along with nice furniture.
I *IMAGINED* being able to visit him in his own room, admire how well he was cared for and his personal belongings being safe.
A vegetable garden both men and women could share the responsibility of cultivating without harmful tools.
A basketball and tennis court,
A sound proof room for lessons in playing instruments,
A kitchen to host cooking and baking classes
And a Carpentry shed so those who showed signs of stability could learn the art.
I *DREAMT* of an Auditorium for camaraderie, quiet Birthday Celebrations, Comedy Movie Nights and a place where lives could be changed through Praise, Worship and the Word of God.
I *ANTICIPATED* one day God would provide for me thus allowing me to remodel the facility, making it a HOLISTIC WELLNESS CENTRE
Instead, GOD has blessed you by allowing you to be my dear Prime Minister and He also strategically positioned you as the Minister, responsible for the Finances of our fair state.
I am therefore humbling appealing to you Sir, before we both leave this earth, with the assistance of the Minister of Health to ensure the Facility is improved. Should any other Family member be Residents, they can enjoy a healthier, happier more comfortable environment.
On August 5, 2021 while in the care of my family my brother fell ill. An Ambulance was called and I later joined him at The Sir Lester Bird Medical Center. On August 7, I was forced to sign his Discharge Form on the premise the Doctors could find nothing wrong with him. On AUGUST 11, he died suddenly. That therefore makes today, three painful years since his passing.
It is my desire once the renovation of the facility is completed to provide a canopy and bench in Honor of my Brother.
The lyrics of our National Anthem written by your late uncle, Sir Novelle Hamilton Richards declare “RAISE the STANDARD, RAISE it BODLY answer now to duty’s call.”
It is my hope the improvement of the Clarevue Psychiatric Hospital will be on the Agenda and in the Budget for 2025.
Respectfully,
Thalia Parker-Baptiste
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Thalia save ur breath
No need to say more…
I hope he reads it . Mental health is real
If u can give them a place to heal away from home they will be heal.in JESUS name amen. I know u r a good man I know u
Can’t fix everthing. But whatever u can do u will do. Sir
Well, said Thalia!
Let’s keep the flames of Prayers alit on your requests.
Blessings
Heartbreaking story. We feel your pain Ms. Parker-Baptist. May God give you the strenght to overcome this experience and fill you with peace and confort. So many horrible situations we have read and heard about this “place”, difficult to believe that in this day and age nothing has been done in beautiful Antigua not to improve, but to completely turn around the core aspect of the humanitarian conditions and needs of citizens requiring the attention and services in a local equipped facility. If not the government, can the society at large come together and take upon the task of doing what is needed; here talking about the business community, the robust financial, insurance and other private sector undertakers in the country. The other idea is the cooperation and coordination of government together with the private sector and so many other players and brilliant minds, to built something to aid and make this lady’s dream become a reality for all the affected citizens. Mental health is a universal condition that affects at all levels i.e. poor, so called middle class, rich, young, youth, elderly, children, men and women; look at the broadness of its scope! It deserves better right here in our Antigua and Barbuda. This can be done! because… where there is a Will, there is a Way!
The condition of Clarevue Hospital speaks volumes as to how the Antiguan government sees/values the residents of this institution — particularly since the PM’s mother were at times, a resident there.
How shameful it is that letters have to be written to the Antiguan leader begging him to address the long standing deficiencies in a place that should have already elicited an immense amount of compassion.
If Gaston was really being sincere at his mother’s funeral he would put some government and personal resources into strengthening mental health treatment and support in Antigua and Barbuda. It is fairly lacking and remains in the 1930s
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