RESIDENTS of Alps, located in deep rural Trelawny, have welcomed the recent launch of the Ira V Brooks Memorial Foundation for Education, pointing to its benefits to the struggling farming community.

The official launch of the non-profit organisation at the Wire Fence New Testament Church of God in Trelawny earlier this month, came just weeks after the commencement of classes for needy Alps residents by the foundation.

“Now that this institution is here, I think it is going to be very beneficial, because there is some life being put back into the community, so people will no longer see it [Alps] as a dying community,” said Gloria Evans, one of the proud students.

She further explained how the classes are benefiting the community which has its fair share of problems.

“Quite a few female students had dropped out of high school due to pregnancy. Most of the kids who have gone to all- age schools stopped at grade nine, and the parents could not afford to send them to other schools, so a lot of them are there [Alps] attending classes,” explained Evans. “This area is not so much of a rich community. Most of the people who were here have migrated to Kingston or to greener pastures where they can find work or employment to better themselves. So, if they have kids where they are, they are not going to send them back to Alps. So, with the institution here [school] and the MP (member of Parliament for South Trelawny, Marrisa Dalrymple-Phillibert) pledging her help, I think it is going to be very beneficial.” At the official launch of the foundation, Dalrymple-Phillibert announced that at the start of the new school year in September, she would be giving full support to a needy student who attends the institution.

“I can say come September term, we pledge from our office (South Trelawny MP) and our CDF funds [Constituency Development Fund] to support one child who is chosen by the institution,” announced Dalrymple-Phillibert.

The first project under the Ira V Brooks Memorial Foundation for Education officially started on April 20 this year, with the registration of 23 students in the Alps community.

Orientation and assessment sessions were held on May 4, while classes began on May 7. Classes are presently being held in the evenings on Mondays and Thursdays at the Alps Primary School. The project is aimed at providing literacy and numeracy skills to young people who are deficient in these areas.

The school is presently working on having 10 students sit CXC Maths and English next year, while others are being prepared to sit other exams.

Dionne McFarlane, the secretary of the foundation, said the main objective of the initiative is to have these young people back in the mainstream of society.

“The need to stay in school and to keep studying is imperative, and the Ira V Brooks Foundation for Education is aiming to get these young people back in the mainstream of society on a path to success, stability and self-empowerment,” she argued.

Viola Brooks, a retired teacher and the widow of Rev Dr Ira Brooks who passed away last year, stressed that plans are afoot to expand the programme into other neighbouring South Trelawny communities, as well as Lucea in Hanover, where her husband pastored and founded the Lucea branch of Bethel Bible College, before retiring in 2008.

Bethel Bible College is the tertiary arm of the New Testament Church of God.

“At this time, we have this foundation for education that will not only help Southern Trelawny, but it will be going as wide as it can be to help young people across the nation,” said Brooks.