A year ago, Deandra Clarke couldn’t imagine she would be one of 15 youths from inner-city communities in Kingston and Montego Bay whose lives would be changed by the Air Jamaica internship programme.

Today, the 20-year-old said she believes that the knowledge she gained from her experiences will propel her further than she had ever envisioned in her ambitions.

“The experience was actually good. It was a great stepping stone for us young people,” said Clarke, after a graduation ceremony held for the group at the Norman Manley International Airport last Tuesday.

“I could say that this is one of the best things that could happen to a young person, especially persons just leaving school or persons who don’t qualify for a job.”

Clarke, who is from the troubled community of Arnett Gardens, worked in the Human Resources, Finance Payable, and Communications departments of the airline as part of her internship. She told the Sunday Observer she is currently seeking enrolment at the University of Technology (UTech) or the University College of the Caribbean (UCC).

“I want to do a management degree, after which I want to go on to law,” Clarke noted.

The 15 young adults over the course of one year were exposed to working in the office environment, while taking on responsibilities and encountering the rigours of meeting deadlines. Each intern was assigned to mentors responsible for exposing them to Air Jamaica’s work ethic and the different areas of the company, while providing them with work experience.

The interns, ages 18 to 25, were selected from a batch of names submitted by the Kingston Restoration Company Limited and the Flankers Peace and Justice Centre. At the same time, they were afforded the opportunity to sit two Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) subjects, paid for by Air Jamaica.

Kadisha Elliston, 22, who lives close to the Tel-Aviv community, said she is confident she will be able to use the skill she has learnt to improve her life.

“My experience has been a wonderful experience, and I know whatever I have learnt I will bring it on to greater heights,” said Elliston, who worked in the Customer Service, Communications and Customer Relations departments.

“I have learnt how to deal with all the passenger complaints, and when I was working in customer service, I learnt how to greet and meet passengers,” she added, noting that she also learnt office skills.

“Everybody treated me like family, so I didn’t feel out of place or anything,” she said further.

Ryan Duffus said he is proud to have been a part of the programme, which has equipped him with skills he would not have been able to acquire otherwise.

“Not only were we here to prove ourselves, but to the greater community to show that the internship programme is educative, morally uplifting, inspirational and definitely not a waste of time and money for the company,” he said. “We want to give thanks to our mentors and (the) staff of Air Jamaica, who have impacted our lives (and) who continued to improve our skills by counselling, training using different work areas and showing us good work ethics.”

Lorenzo Demessa, technical record supervisor at Air Jamaica and one of the mentors in the programme, said the initiative is groundbreaking because of the training and guidance that it offers.

“You have risen to the expectations placed on you, and it was truly a satisfying learning experience,” he told the graduates. “It is our hope that wherever your individual futures carry you, you have at least realised your potentials are not limited, and that you are all able to perform at the highest standards in whatever field you may choose to be in.”