When Norma Ming-Burke left Cuba to teach in Jamaica, she expected to face some challenges. What she did not expect, however, was to be hit in the eye by a huge stone.

Now, she is demanding that she be compensated for her injuries and for the expenses incurred.

The 56-year-old, who moved to the island six years ago, has been teaching Spanish at the Seaforth High School in St Thomas since. What happened to her last Wednesday, however, was not part of her plan.

Very big hit

It all began after a student Ming-Burke was helping got into a confrontation with other students. She explained, "I was marking names and checking homework and I called up a girl to check her work. Some students gathered at the door and were teasing the girl. One of them came into the class and slapped the girl."

She said she told the students, mostly boys, to leave and threatened to call the security guard. They ran off laughing. Then, the unimaginable happened. "Two minutes later, the stone came. I was just doing my work and the stone came in. A big stone, like a river stone. That blow was so hard, in my mind I believed I was killed. The impact was so hard, my glasses just shattered into little pieces. It was a very big hit. The pain was so hard that in my inside, I said, 'God, I am dead'," she recalled.

Students attempted to take Ming-Burke to the staffroom, but she fell unconscious. She was taken to the hospital where she stayed until Friday. The pain, Ming-Burke said, was excruciating and she was worried that she would lose her vision. Luckily however, there was no immediate damage. She is concerned about long-term damage that might show up later.

She said, "I remember I held on to my eye cause I thought I lose it. When I went to the hospital, my pressure was high and there was dirt from the stone and pieces of glass in my eye. Because of the blow to my head, they did an X- ray, but there was no brain damage."

Shattered glasses

Ming-Burke was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where pieces of her shattered glasses were washed out. Almost a week later, her eye is still inflamed and she still feels some pain.

The incident has left Ming-Burke traumatised and forced her to spend several thousand dollars to get herself treated. She used all her health insurance to pay for treatment and will have to buy a new pair of glasses. The ones that were destroyed were fairly new.

She said, "I am just afraid. From dis happen, I am very nervous. I just have that fear. I don't know when that stone will come again. The eye that was hit was my better eye."

Although badly affected by the incident, Ming-Burke is still determined to stay in the island and teach. She said, "I love my students. I was just thinking why did this have to happen. Nobody deserves this."

She said the school was conducting an investigation, but said no student had been held in connection with the incident. Many students denied seeing anything. She believes that she should be assisted in some way by the authorities.

"I think I should receive some help. Now, I have to buy new glasses, I used up all my Blue Cross and that still wasn't enough. The school said they're working on it and everyone is worried about me. But now, I am not feeling well, every day my head is hurting me. I am very sad. It is hard. It just makes me feel homesick. I will remember this all my life."

While Ming-Burke is hoping that the school will lobby for some assistance on her behalf, efforts to contact the principal were futile. The vice-principal, however, said she was not in a position to give information on the incident. She said to call next week when the principal would return.

Efforts to contact the president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association were unsuccessful.