GRANGE HILL, Westmoreland — It was an especially touching moment for Grange Hill High School at its graduation ceremony two Fridays ago as a mother and son graduated from the National Unattached Youth Programme (NUYP).

Aneshia Brown, mother of four, and her 19-year-old son, Orlando Barrett, both of Grange Hill, successfully completed a hospitality course which included housekeeping, waitering, cooking and bartending.

Under the NUYP and the Career Advancement Programme (CAP), 39 young people were presented with diplomas from Grange Hill High and certificates of qualification from HEART Trust/NSTA. Another 28 students from the school also graduated.

“It was really touching because people didn’t even believe that these were some of the little things that we do, and it is impacting lives. We are deliberately targeting the family to see if we can bring back some sense of order in the community,” stated Errol Stewart, principal of Grange Hill High School.

He was speaking with the Jamaica Observer West following the ceremony.

The NUYP initiative was implemented following the May 2018 Grange Hill massacre which claimed the lives of seven people, including a minor, and the injury of several others.

Brown told the Observer West that she got pregnant at a young age with Orlando.

“My husband is not a person who would push me to further my education. And you know, you sit down and just have kids…,” she shared.

She said shortly after her husband migrated, she heard about the NUYP initiative, which was “just introduced” at the school.

Brown said she told her son, who was not working, about the programme.

“So, mi talk to my son because him never finished school because he was giving me some trouble and mi did have to send him guh a Copse [Place of Safety for boys in Hanover]. So mi just go and look about [register] the two of us,” said Brown.

The mother and son were enrolled in the nine-month programme in November of 2018.

But while pursuing the course, both mother and son had their fair share of financial challenges.

Brown, who was unemployed, had to seek permission from the school to sell bag juices while attending classes, in an effort to provide for her family.

And her son, who was injured while attending a college in Hanover, is yet to recover from the injuries, which severely affect his mobility.

“I feel a way to see him a walk in pain and we have to get him pain medicine and all these things because sometimes when the time get cold, mi have to get him pain medicine because his body come in like it want lockdown because him have sickle cell,” said Brown, referring to her son’s medical condition.

Orlando, however, expressed gratitude for the programme, and is hoping to land a job soon.

His mother had high praises for the programme.

“It was a good experience and we thank the government because they did a good thing, because a nuff people on the road that did not get to finish school, and this is a big thing for them, as they don’t have to go into gangs guh do what they [are] not supposed to do,” she argued.

Stewart was also elated.

“If we are able to get mother working, son working, there is some stability right there. So we will be going after families, man and woman and children. So that is the approach,” he stressed.

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang, who was the guest speaker at the graduation, said there are plans to expand the programme.

“We are going to work with the school over the next few months to expand the programme and see to what extent we can bring more of the young males into the programme. But more critically, to upgrade the academic quality of the students coming into Grange High,” stated Dr Chang.