ASTON Smith, a 60-year-old amputee farmer from Arlington, St Elizabeth, is expressing his gratitude and appreciation to Food for the Poor Jamaica for building him a new energy-efficient house.

An elated Smith has been singing praises to Food for the Poor Jamaica since he was notified that he is one of the 40 recipients who will receive keys to a new house under the Father Tony Village Project by Food for the Poor Jamaica.

The official handing over will take place on Wednesday, September 10 in Arlington.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer last week, Smith said that around 20 years ago, he was involved in an accident while assisting a friend to cut wood for the construction of an enclosure for cows.

As a tractor pulled pieces of wood from the field in which he was working, one piece jolted suddenly and landed on Smith’s right leg. He was hospitalised with a broken leg and eventually released. Sometime after, he started experiencing severe pain in his leg, which doctors diagnosed as poor circulation. They then encouraged him to remove his leg in an effort to preserve his life.

“I was hesitant because I didn’t want to lose my leg, but seeing no improvement after a month in hospital, the doctors said the leg had to go and I finally agreed,” Smith told the Sunday Observer at his home.

After losing his leg, Smith said he felt distraught, but decided that he did not want to be counted amongst the voluntarily unemployed Jamaicans. Therefore, he remained active in farming.

“From mi have health and strength that is good enough. It is better than doing nothing and I know that whatever mi plant, God will increase it and provide more and more,” Smith said.

Although hard-working and determined to achieve, Smith could not afford to build himself a house. He had been living in an old one- room wooden shack which he constructed on land given to him by a friend.

That shack was also a dwelling for roaches, rats and other rodents and had no electricity, no running water and no proper sanitation facility.

After talking with Smith, seeing how hard he laboured in the field and his unbearable living conditions, members of Food for the Poor decided to build him a house under their recent Father Tony Village Project.

“Although amputated, Smith is a hard-working farmer. Amidst his state, he is determined and contributes to nation building in many ways. His living conditions were not suitable for any human being to live in, so Food for the Poor had to help him,” Executive Director Food for the Poor Jamaica David Mair said.

“In addition to the house and furniture, we try to make every house given, as energy efficient as possible with energy-saving bulbs,” he said.

Smith told the Sunday Observer he was eternally grateful for the assistance given to him by Food for the Poor.

“The situation with my leg made it difficult to improve on what I had. I had to cook outside. There were rats and when it rained, it leaked and water settled on the floor and made me sick at times and I used to catch the flu,” Smith said.

“A God mek mi get di house. Words are not enough to tell you how I feel. I feel so good. Now, I am no longer in darkness as before. I use the solar lights in the evening and just sit on mi verandah and relax. I thank Food for the Poor very much,” Smith added.

The Father Tony Village Project came about based on a partnership with Food for the Poor and donations from Father Tony – a longstanding supporter of Food for the Poor Jamaica. Under the programme, 40 houses were built in recent months and will be officially handed over on September 10 to all beneficiaries.