Living in an inner-city community especially in Kingston is no paradise. As a young person who lives in an inner-city area of Kingston, I have to go through the hardship of studying, sleeping and eating surrounded by gunshots.

Just imagine being in your kitchen preparing your daily meal and hearing approximately 23 gunshots outside your gate! The first three are usually not so frightening but the others that follow are heart-wrenching. It is as if your heart stops for a second or two, you want to run but your feet deny you the chance.

Then, a moment of silence floods the area that surrounds you. Then there is the cry of sorrow. The wailing and weeping never suspend their deafening echoes in the community. "A nedda yute dead!" When will it stop? When will we stop digging graves for our loved ones, especially our young people? It needs to stop! The murder spree must come to an end.

There is fear, there is doubt but the majority of young people where I live try to deal with the situation as best they can. And yes, many fall victim to the lure of the gun and the hype associated with being in a gang, but thankfully not the majority.

We have to be strong, our parents and guardians need to be strong, it is a vicious and unkind cycle that we live in but we are not giving up, we are trying to break the cycle by studying to enhance ourselves and by living a clean and drug-free life.

Feeding the multitude

DANGEROUS PETS

Pepper Pot