FORMER Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (Cepep) workers are struggling to survive, much less send their children to school on September 8, after being fired from their jobs by the government in June.

On June 27, all Cepep contractors were handed termination letters leaving an estimated 360 contractors and more than 10,500 workers unemployed.

Natasha John of Morvant said she was pregnant with her third child at the time of her termination. She was due in September but when he went to the maternity clinic at Port of Spain General Hospital for her usual check-up in July, she was warded.

She was told her blood pressure was too high and her baby was distressed so, on July 11, she underwent an emergency c-section. She spent two weeks in the hospital and her new daughter, who was two pounds and six ounces, spent 37 days in the neonatal intensive care unit.

"That's the first time I ever had pressure problems. I thought I wasn't studying nothing but I guess I was."

Her partner was also working Cepep and lost his job. She said he got "a little day work now and then" and was looking for a job but brought supplies for the baby when he could. Her family also helped her financially and with basic groceries when possible.

She was unable to work after the c-section since the doctors told her she could not drive or lift anything heavy. She also had postpartum depression and had to travel to visit her baby in the hospital every day to ensure she was eating and putting on size.

John, 40, added that although she was paid for July, she spent most of that money getting too and from the hospital.

She also had two other daughters ages 12 and 16, the younger entering Form One and the older Form Four.

She used to get a public assistance cheque for her 16-year-old but it was stopped in February so she re-applied for it in June. It was recently reinstated and she got a cheque, back-payed from February, from the Ministry of the People, Social Development and Family Services, which she used to get books, sneakers and uniforms for her daughters.

She also applied for a food card and a school grant but she had yet to be contacted by the ministry.

"By the grace of God I made it through yes. For the first time in my life since I leave school I have no income, but I'm still here with plenty faith and prayers. I just glad for the little help and will make sure I make it work."

Former foreman Cindy-Ann Purcell told Newsday she too was in a difficult financial position, and was not sure if she would even be able to send her ten-year-old daughter, who had special needs, to school on September 8.

The Beetham Gardens mother said her daughter grew out of her uniforms and sneakers. New ones were needed but she did not like "harassing" anyone for help, yet she may have no choice but to ask.

"Pressure going on. Pressure! I went by Social Welfare for a food card but nobody call me up to now. And her father is a waste of time. He not helping because me and he separate two years now."

Thankfully, she got help with schoolbooks from her daughter's running club.

Purcell said the only other of her four children in school was her 25-year-old son who was studying for a business degree in the United States. She used to help him with his finances but could no longer do so.

"I will try my best for my children. I am a provider. But it will take time."

Former Cepep labourer Sharon Paul of Laventille said many of the women who worked with the programme had similar stories. She said she was sick with stress over her financial situation and could only imagine how distressed those with children felt.

"I am so sick because of the stress it has caused me. It's the most terrible thing I have experienced, work-wise. It is something that, if you're not strong, it would send you crazy."

Paul, who worked at Cepep for 11 years, said she was friends with many women in the programme and, even though people looked down on their jobs, it put food on their table, sent their children to school, and bought clothing and other necessities.

"At the end of the day, as small as the salary was, we made it go a long way. That was the bread we had to live on. It provided."

She said many parents had spoken to her about the opening of the school year and they did not know where to turn because many of them were rejected for grants by the Social Welfare Division.

She said she had been going to the Salvation Army's food bank for basic groceries because she could not afford them as they were so expensive. As a result, she tried applying for a food card, but she was told she was not entitled to it because, as a former Cepep worker, she got two salary payments. And many other former workers were told the same and were also denied school and other grants.

"There are parents who have kids who are asthmatic or who need medication. What is happening to these kids? How do they want these parents to survive with these young kids? How? How do you expect a family to function with no breadwinner? It is hard!

"And there are bills in between that. Some of us pay a small rent, have to contribute to light bills and stuff like that. Where is this coming from?"

Paul was upset no one was offering them any assistance, if not for the adults then for sake of the children.