Washerwoman Merlene Donaldson relaxes at home after a day's toil on the shallow shores of the Plantain Garden River in St Thomas. - Photos by Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Travelling from the mountainsides towards the coast, Jamaica's many rivers, all 120, impact profoundly on people's lives and livelihoods. But, as we cover their beds with debris, construct houses in their paths and harness their resources, are we placing them at peril?

IF YOU are from Airy Castle in St Thomas, chances are you have seen Merlene Donaldson sitting on the banks of the sprawling Plantain Garden River, labouring over a large pan of clothes.

You might also know that nine times out of 10, the clothes she is washing do not belong to her.

Known by all as the washerwoman for the district, Donaldson is one of numerous residents living in several communities in the parish who depend on the Plantain Garden River for their sustenance.

A trek a day ...

Since there's no piped water in the homes, residents depend on the community standpipe or the river for their water.

For Donaldson, this means a daily trek to the stream to do the community's laundry.

"Mi wash from Monday to Friday - the whole week mi a wash," she told The Gleaner.

Because she lives a few miles from the river, Donaldson is forced to load her wash pan (or two) of clothes on a taxi each day to take to the river.

"Mi just load up the pan dem and pay $70 fi go and when mi done wash and a come back with the clothes, mi pay $70 to come over," she says.

Donaldson said though the rewards for her labour are sometimes small, she is extremely thankful for every cent as she has been able to send her daughter through school from the money she makes.

Support from the community

According to Donaldson, the arrangement between her and the residents is one based on trust, as many times the work is there but they do not pay immediately.

"Mi charge $1,000 a pan and most times mi wash all two bath pan a day, but most times them ask you fi do the work but it tek days to get the money."

But Donaldson doesn't mind the arrangement, as she says the residents have never failed to live up to their end of the bargain.

"We are a close community down here and everybody know each other and we live good," she said.

And the residents are grateful too not just for Donaldson's patience, but also for her skills.

Most of the persons The Gleaner spoke to in the small community lauded Donaldson's washing skills, claiming that she was the best washer around 'town'.

The Plantain Garden River in St Thomas curves gracefully. In its upper reaches, residents depend on its constant flow for domestic activities.

"She can wash pretty well," a plump woman with a slight American accent told the newspaper. "She's been washing for me for years."

Donaldson claimed she has been able to hone her skills over the years as she started washing for her 11 brothers and sisters when she was just a little girl.

"Mi mother have 12 a wi and yuh have to call it that I was the mother for all of them 'cause I was the oldest one," she says.

"So when mi mother gone a market, ah mi haffi do the washing. As a little girl, you would si mi sit down round a big pan a clothes, nobody believe that a mi a wash so much clothes," she recalled, with a proud grin.

She said despite her small income, she tries to remain positive and even when there are no clothes to wash, the industrious 49-year-old tries to find something else to do.

"Anything likkle thing mi get fi do, mi will do it. Mi is a woman that don't really sit down and depend on people, mi try to hustle for myself. Mi iron, wash, anything, I will do it."

Donaldson declared that she "can't be picky" because she now takes care of her five-year-old granddaughter.

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com