Speeches Shim
“When I talk about my past I get really sad,” says 19-year-old mother of two Shameka Campbell as the tears run down her cheeks. She recalls how, at the age of 10, her mother died and she had no father to care for her. Left alone, she was handed off to family members and friends.
In the isolated, serene hills of St. James on Jamaica’s west end sits the quaint little school of Retrieve Primary. The school hosts a total of approximately 120 students from grades 1 to 6. But until 2010, only 30 students attended the school.
A hybrid training facility and social enterprise is perhaps the only one of its kind on the island of Jamaica. Here, busy young men in blue jumpsuits are learning skills that will help them to build successful businesses and overcome economic disadvantages.
Thirty-eight-year-old Jennifer, a hairdresser and single mother of four, has been HIV-positive for 14 years. While she is now a strong activist and advocate for the HIV community, this was not always the case. In 1999, when she first learned of her positive status, she feared the stigma that the virus carried with it and, more importantly, the impact that it would have on her children’s lives and futures.
Twelve-year-old Orlando Scarlette sounds out each word and reads his book with confidence. You can see the big, bright smile on his face. He is proud of himself because he can read.
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