AS a Jamaican youngster growing up in 1970s England, Lorlett Hudson did all the things she thought would guarantee her a good job in life.

She went through the education system, picking up a series of subjects at the General Certificate of Education level, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication, a postgraduate diploma in Professional Development and a diploma in Life Coaching along the way.

On graduating, she sent out applications for a job as a student counsellor, but met with little success. So she studied some more and tried even harder to get a good job.

But it wasn’t until she got herself a life coach/mentor that she began to realise what many frustrated underachievers in Britain and other countries perhaps still haven’t – formal academic qualifications are but one element of what it takes to make it in life.

“If you don’t understand the structures that make up the system, you’ll never break through to realising your true potential. Part of that breaking through process requires you to have a certain outlook on life, buffered by a certain know-how. It’s a whole other part, of the educational requirements,” Hudson told the Sunday Observer.

A thorough knowledge and understanding of ‘the other part’ is what she has used to build One Hand Can’t Clap. Set up in 2000, One Hand Can’t Clap – based on a local proverb – has positioned itself on the British Education market as a facilitator and enabler for underachievers anxious to hurdle the communication and other barriers in the way of their success.

Based on the idea that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, the company, which is headquartered in Leytonstone, East London, employs nine associates who add value to Hudson’s outfit. It’s an outfit that copped the Silver Capacity Building Award from the British Female Inventors and Inventors in 2005, and the National Wavemakers Award in 2006 for reintegrating disengaged students into mainstream education.

“It’s about illuminating the hidden curriculum (the part that they don’t teach in schools), collective responsibility, the secret to success, and survival in the circle of support. You’ll find it in many of the conventional wisdoms embodied in the oral tradition of our ancestors, for example, Jamaican proverbs and storytelling,” she said.

Consequently, Hudson has developed ‘Things Mama Used to Say’ – a deck of 52 colourful cards, featuring Jamaican proverbs in dialect on one side and their translations in standard English on the flip side. Through the carefully constructed deck, she captures a neat illustration of generations of Jamaican wisdom through a diet of local proverbs passed down from her grandmothers, Alberta Haughton and Ada Hudson.

“They laid the foundation that inspired me to be me,” said Hudson, who was born in 1956 to mother Maud Chambers and father Septimus Hudson, in Salters Hill.

At 13, she joined her mother in London, England and today lives in East London where she runs a breakfast club between the hours of 8:00 am and 9:00 am at several schools throughout the government’s extended hours programme, which was designed to combat late attendance. There, she reaches out to underachieving boys in particular.

“It’s all about bridging the intergenerational gap within our community. As a trainer and life skills coach, the role I play in their lives is very much like the role my grandmothers played in mine,” she said.

“I use the variety of proverbs in the deck to illustrate the Caribbean’s rich cultural history and its relevance and influence in modern life,” added Hudson, who was in Jamaica recently to capitalise on the opportunity to promote the product at Calabash, the annual literary festival in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth.

The cards, which retail at J$1,500, are now available in the island through Novelty Traders, which undertook the distribution in March.

Some proverbs from Hudson’s collection

De lawd wear pajamas but im nuh sleep.

Translation/Meaning: People will always get what is due to them. Be aware of your environment.

Nebba squeeze de tail of ah dawg fi see if im a sleep.

Translation/Meaning: Try not to upset someone by pushing their hot buttons. Don’t stir up trouble.

Ah nuh every shut eye ah sleep.

Translation/Meaning: Always be cautious when dealing with others. Don’t make assumptions.

Stranger nebba walk thru de back door.

Translation/Meaning: People will always pick on others inferior to themselves. Intimidation.

Nuh waste powder pon black bud.

Translation/Meaning: Don’t waste your time developing bad relationships. Don’t try to change people.