AS a child of Jamaica’s inner city, Dwayne Francis knows how susceptible ‘area youth’ are to peer pressure. While attending St George’s College, he said he developed a sense of self-worth and determination to succeed.

At 34, Francis is project manager at St Patrick’s Rangers, a non-government organisation (NGO) that operates out of working-class Seaview Gardens.

Founded in 2009, the ‘Rangers’ comprise volunteers who assist residents in their communities during the hurricane season. These are some of Jamaica’s most economically challenged areas: Olympic Garden, Waterhouse, Payne Avenue, Seaview Garden, Seivwright Garden, Callaloo Mews, Riverton Meadows, Drewsland, New Haven, Waltham Gardens and Greenwich Farm.

Though all of them have parliamentary representation, they have infrastructure problems and are immune to flooding, even when there is mild rainfall. With training from groups like the Jamaica Red Cross, Jamaica Fire Brigade, Jamaica Defence Force, and Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC), the Rangers monitor their communities whenever there is a storm or hurricane.

Francis has been with St Patrick’s Rangers for seven years. While they provide yeoman service, he is concerned the organisation does not get the wide scale support and recognition it deserves. 

“We want persons to know more about us and the work we do. That would help us attract more donors, which would help get more workers,” he told the Jamaica Observer in an interview. 

There are currently 180 youth volunteers in St Patrick’s Rangers. They are aged between 16 to 26 and belong to Youth Emergency Action Committees (YEAC).

Many of them join through Francis and his team’s interaction with community youth groups. Once recruited, they are trained in various forms of disaster preparedness, including map reading, first aid, and search and response.

Because of its NGO status, funding for this training comes mainly from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Initially the St Patrick’s Rangers had two full-time workers; now they have eight.

Francis was raised in the Waltham Park community of Kingston, a gritty area prone to violence. He is an aspiring singer recording songs with producer Dean Fraser when he joined St Patrick’s Rangers.

Along with his alma mater, he credits them for his sense of responsibility.

“My life has changed dramatically due to the involvement with St Patrick’s Rangers because of the youths we engage on a daily basis. Seeing the transformation, like a flower blooming, is a wonderful experience,” he said.

One of the fresh buds blooming at St Patrick’s Rangers is Akeli Stampp, a 22-year-old from Riverton Meadows and former head boy of St Andrew Technical High School.

Stamp is featured in a new promotional video highlighting the Rangers’ objectives and their achievements in communities like Riverton, location of Jamaica’s largest landfill, which has been stigmatised as a ‘dungle’ for decades.  “I’m proud to wear the blue shirt (St Patrick’s Rangers) because wherever people see me they know that I’m part of something productive,” he says in the video.

There were many wayward youth in marginalised communities across Jamaica in 1973 when the year-old government of Prime Minister Michael Manley established the National Youth Service (NYS), to get them involved in national discourse.

The NYS and HEART — another Government initiative launched by Prime Minister Edward Seaga in 1981 — still live up to their mandate of youth empowerment. Most of the St Patrick’s Rangers’ financial support comes from USAID through the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance and Catholic Relief Services.

Francis believes the Members of Parliament in constituencies where the St Patrick’s Rangers have a presence must play a role in recruitment and raising funds for programmes.

“I really think they should because we have seen positives while engaging these youngsters, as the Rangers provide for them an identity along with much-needed skills for survival and livelihood,” he said. “Success stories amount from Rangers going back to school, to Rangers being employed, some graduating from college, as well as some simply improving character-wise and becoming respectful individuals within their community.”