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There is a popular Jamaican saying, bad luck is worse than obeah, and Yvette Sterling does not know which one to attribute to her predicament.

Three of her children have been murdered in separate incidents, and three houses she occupied have been burnt down.

"It has been very rough and hard because I lost everything. I have to be starting over all the time. Oh God Almighty, mi still feel it. Them tek mi daughter and kill her and kill me son the same place in Maxfield weh them kill the first one. I can't ask God why that happen, I am just waiting until He tells me what happen because He is going to tell me," she said.

Sterling's problems started 15 years ago when her son, Ricardo Atkinson, was shot and killed on Maxfield Avenue, Kingston.

"Three years later, dem gun down mi daughter and her boyfriend in Portmore. Last year, when mi son go look for his son in Maxfield, them shot him and kill him," the 62-year-old mother of seven said.

To her knowledge, she said her children were not involved in anything and their deaths have taken a toll on her.

Pain is unbearable

"When each of them die, mi feel like I wasn't here. That pain is unbearable to lose three children. Mi just sit down sometimes and a stare outa space; sometimes I don't know myself," she said.

In addition to losing three children to violence, Sterling has had to start over three times after three fires.

Her four-bedroom house was first burnt out in 2007. Then, she resided on Gem Road, which is located off Maxfield Avenue in St Andrew.

Bad luck struck again after she relocated to Cockburn Pen, as in 2011, fire destroyed that house. She returned to Maxfield Avenue, and in 2012, her house caught fire yet again.

The cause of the first fire was ruled as arson, meaning that it was deliberately set.

She said she is not sure why her family is being targeted because she has not done anything wrong.

Meanwhile, Sterling and 10 other family members now occupy a two-bedroom house in the Corporate Area.

"It wicked man, it wicked. People have to give me what I have so far like bed and sheets. Sometimes I don't know how they (grandchildren) go to school. A God one can answer that question," she said.

With the new school year drawing close, Sterling said that she would like some help to get her grandchildren go back to school.

"I am honestly not interested in money. If they can help with back-to-school stuff and school uniform, that would mean so much to me," she said.

Anyone who is interested in helping Sterling and her family may call her at 876-809-3321