Sheila’s inner-city mission

It started out as a hobby but now it has become her whole world. Four years ago when Sheila Graham got together with fellow performers, Winston ‘Bello’ Bell and Owen ‘Blacka’ Ellis to do a play with a group of young people, she had no idea that it would develop into the popular and life-transforming Area Youth Foundation, AYF. She told All Woman that the whole thing started on a Sunday morning when she saw a play by Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka called Beatification of Area Boy.

“It was about an area don in Lagos who was transformed by love from being a don into being a benefactor. In that case it was actually a boy who was the don, thus the name. But I read it and thought this would be perfect for Jamaica we should do this here,” the vibrant and energetic Sheila said. Through a series of ‘coincidences’ she was able to contact the author to get his permission to stage it in Jamaica and he agreed on the condition that he could direct the play.

“I had worked with Bello and Blacka on numerous occasions before, so I immediately called them and said you have to help me with this,” she related.

The idea was to stage the play at the Ward Theatre in downtown Kingston, and use persons from the surrounding areas. Almost 100 young people turned up for auditions but less than half were selected to go on stage.

“It was supposed to be a one off summer production but after it was finished the kids kept turning up at the church wanting to do more. We were also getting requests for a repeat of the show so we decided to continue,” Sheila said. Now AYF has evolved into a non-profit, non-partisan organisation, which provides urban youth mostly from ghetto areas with social and life skills through arts-based educational programmes. More than just a performing agency as many might know of it, AYF also tries to train and channel young talent into productive employment.

Sheila, who has devoted the last four years of her life to the AYF, spoke on behalf of co-founders Bello and Blacka, on the effect that the recent upsurge of violence in West Kingston would have on the group.

“It has taken four years of sacrifice to get where we are now and in one weekend it could have all been blown,” a visibly angry Sheila said.

She explained that many of the members of the AYF came from volatile and rival communities in West Kingston such as Rema, Tivoli, Denham Town and Trench Town.

“AYF has done a tremendous job in bridging the political and tribal rivalry between the kids of these areas. Initially when we started meeting at St Andrew Scotts Kirk United Church in downtown Kingston, the kids would not talk to each other.

“They would stand in their different groups and it was only when we started breaking the ice with some fun activities that they began to unwind. Normally, a guy from Tivoli does not associate with another from Denham Town but through AYF that started to happen,” she explained.

Initially, she said AYF members had gotten threats because they were interacting with persons from rival communities and were seen as ‘informers’ a dreaded term for traitor in the local jargon.

“Many of them have risked their lives to come because despite the threats in the early days, they kept coming. We had to send them home in groups and despite that, two of the girls were raped on their way home,” she said.

She spoke of many evenings when the group would meet and rehearse only to hear gunshots in the background from neighbouring communities. Depending on the volume and intensity of the situations, a decision would be taken about how long to rehearse.

She explained that many of the kids were poor achievers in the normal school system but were being offered a different option through the arts.

“Through music and drama etc, they are able to release their creativity and this gives them a sense of purpose. It shows them that there are options apart from the gun,” she explained.

She was quite proud of the number of ghetto boys that were a part of the programme.

“The only requirements for entry are interest and commitment to work. We train them and empower them with life skills key among which we include conflict resolutions,” Graham said.

The group has been enjoying considerable popularity recently with their involvement in the local film, Third World Cop, participation in numerous commercials, performance for Prince Charles on his visit last year and in June an outstanding performance in England.

“It happened when a British theatre company, The Carib Theatre Company visited us. After meeting our young people they were excited about our work and decided to go back to England to do something similar in a section of London with a very high immigrant population,” Graham said.

Later the Metropolitan Police also became interested in AYF’s work and they were invited to perform over there.

“Everywhere we went in England, we mash it up and as a result, we are getting a lot of offers to do a variety of things,” an obviously enthused Graham said.

In addition, many members of AYF have also gotten jobs in the media and with performing companies.

In sharp contrast to her enthusiasm for the project however is her anger at the violence in West Kingston which she said has been having a very negative effect on some of the group members.

Scheduled rehearsal, group meetings and performances at local shows had to be cancelled because many key group members were hostages in their communities.

“I have had to find places of safety for two of the boys who called me in dire circumstances. One of them was threatened that he would not live beyond the weekend, (July 9th), and I had to tell him to try and get out and I would see if I could help him,” she said.

According to her he had no one no family to turn to. Another whom she had kept in contact with when his community was under heavy gunfire over the weekend had been shot at but managed to escape the community without injuries.

“He did not want to leave his mother and sister but he told me that when he heard that the gunmen were going house to house to rope out all the young men to help in the war, he decided that he had to leave. He did not want to be a part of that,” she said.

As a result he had to dodge the bullets being traded by the gunmen and police to make a break for it.

“Right now the morale is low in the group. I am trying to motivate them for rehearsal but they are not sure if they can. I am angry because we can find money to buy guns and ammunition but we can’t find money to develop the talents of our young people instead we use them for cannon fodder,” she said.

Graham was however, optimistic that the foundation would achieve its dream of being self sustaining as well as having a multi-purpose building which would continue to tap into and train young talent.

Her experiences over life, she said, has prepared her for the work she does now with area youth. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Literature and a Masters in Drama. She worked for ten years as the Caribbean coordinator on Culture to the Organisation of American States. Raising two boys also developed her parenting skills which helped a lot with those in AYF.

“I lost one of my sons in 1995 and that was a very traumatic experience for me but I had a strong support group – especially spiritual that helped me through. It gave me a new perspective on life though,” she said.

From then, she said, she made a pledge to God to serve more in the areas that he wanted and pretty soon AYF came along.

“I love what I do and I am not afraid to drive into Tivoli or Rema when we go for rehearsals,” said Graham, who is from a middle class background. “The most rewarding thing is to see the transformation of these youngsters from the hostility when you just start working with them to elements of trust and hope.”

According to one AYF member, Donald, Sheila is like a mother to him.

“Working with her is like working with a mom. She understands us and knows when you have problems. She is easy to talk to and she doesn’t boss you around,” he said.

Yet, he stressed she could be tough on them at times, to get them to produce. Donald has also teamed with another AYF member Omaal to produce one of the Top Ten songs of this year’s Popular Song competiton – an achievement Graham strongly supports.

As project director, she has to deal with fund raising and administration so that AYF can achieve its creative potential. For now she admits to being a bit stymied by the disruption caused by the West Kingston flare-up, but she says she will wait until the kids are settled and pick up the pieces.