Meals to go

Eight-year-old Wilkie Cumberbatch Primary School student Kayla Nugent is a perfect example of what it means to be a Samaritan.

Kayla’s good deed has also made her the most popular little girl in Barbados, after her mother Deborah Scott-Nugent posted a video of her giving breakfast to a destitute man, at his Storey Gap, Codrington, St Michael home which is in dire need of repair.

Eight-year-old Kayla Nugent (right) handing Adrian Skinner the breakfast she prepared for him this morning, as her mother Deborah Scott-Nugent looks on.

The video which was posted on March 8, has attracted over 160,000 views, and scores of comments from Barbadians locally and abroad who were impressed and pleased with Kayla’s good deed.

It has been a month since Kayla has been taking breakfast for 54-year-old Adrian David Skinner, a stop that she makes on her way to school.

The child makes it her duty to also take lunch for her new friend who is also known as Benjie on weekends.

“I like to feed Benjie. I just want to know if Benjie gets something to eat and if he is happy. And being kind is a good thing to do,” a shy and soft-spoken Kayla told Barbados TODAY when she made her routine stop at Skinner’s home this morning.

The man, who indicated that he was not much of a talker, said Kayla puts a smile on his face when he sees her on mornings.

“I glad for the breakfast and for the food. She make me feel happy,” Skinner said.

The kindhearted child met Skinner one morning when the car in which she was travelling on her way to school, stopped at the traffic lights, at the corner of Codrington and White Hall, St Michael, where Skinner spends a lot of time asking motorists and pedestrians for money.

“My daughter had to drop off something in White Hall and when we passed there he was asking for money and stuff. That morning she gave him her lunch and her snack money. After that, Kayla would make breakfast and pass and look for Benjie. One morning we didn’t see him and this child was in tears, so we had to ask some guys on the corner where this gentleman lives.

“So then we find out where he was and we came here and from then she has been preparing breakfast. She comes every day, from Monday to Sunday because she also wants to make sure that he gets dinner as well. The thing is that coming this way on mornings is a longer road to school, but Kayla makes sure we get here,” Scott-Nugent said.

The mother said she was extremely pleased with Kayla’s actions, since she recently went through a traumatic experience where their house was destroyed by fire on January 8 this year.

She was in the house at the time but was quickly removed by her mother.

The fire has led to Kayla and her family having to move to St Peter temporarily.

Scott-Nugent said she believes that Kayla is simply a special child.

“I honestly think she is an angel after being two pounds at birth and literally fighting for life. But here she is today to be a guardian angel to a stranger.”

All this mother asks is for some business or individual who has been touched by Kayla’s good deed, to lend a helping hand and assist the class 1 student with food items so that she can continue preparing meals for Skinner.

Scott-Nugent said the child was now asking questions regarding the dilapidated condition of Skinner’s house.

“In her own little way she has been asking why his home looked this way, and if we could help him with his house . . .”

An unemployed Skinner said he inherited the house from his deceased mother.

He said he does not have the resources to get it fixed, but indicated that he was opened to assistance from anyone who wanted to offer him help.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb