Some incredible women featured in 2009
Gina Rey Forrest: Telling it like it is
In January this year we met poet and freelance photographer Gina Rey Forrest, a woman with no qualms about speaking her mind, something she has done through the three books she has published over the past seven years. The 43-year-old started writing from age 10, but she did not publish her first book, Hot Sweet Chocolate until 2001.
Her second book No Lube: Telling it like it is looks at the trauma faced by young girls who have been exposed to sex too early, and the harsh realities of children who become victims of sexual predators.
She says by writing, she was forced to open up her life to the public and to discuss her own experience as someone who was raped on two separate occasions, by two different men.
Her aim was not to become the poster child for abuse, but instead to deliver a message of positivity to those who are hurting because of a terrible ordeal which she believes is becoming far too prevalent in Jamaica. It is for this reason that she spoke about her own experience and suggested solutions to deal with sexual predators when she went before the Joint Select Committee during the drafting of the Offences Against the Persons Act in Parliament last year.
Marjorie Hylton’s Promise
Profiled in May, Marjorie Hylton told how extremely proud she was of her 45 children, so much so that just talking about them brought tears to her eyes. Hylton is the founder and principal of the Promise Learning Centre in St Andrew, which for the past 16 years, has been a place of refuge for autistic children. The school is the only one of its kind in Jamaica and was borne from her desire to provide a nurturing environment for children with special needs. “I wanted to do something more than just ordinary teaching and I thought teaching special-needs children would give me that fulfilment, and it certainly has,” Hylton said. Today, being able to witness her students’ achievement is the only form of enticement Hylton needs. Her students’ level of disability range from mild to severe. “We don’t operate at a profit. We go with this thing because of the passion, the commitment we have and the dedication. It is not a money thing. When month-end comes, we don’t take home a paycheque, we make sure that everybody gets something which means that we don’t get any,” Hylton said.
Claney Barnett: Facing Haile Selassie’s challenges head on
Despite being raised by a no-nonsense mother, April’s feature Claney Barnett remembered being so mischievous as a child that she had to be lashed regularly by her three aunts who were teachers. As such, she was bent on avoiding the teaching profession altogether, instead setting her sights on becoming a pharmaceutical chemist. Those dreams were shattered, however, when it became obvious that her father’s paltry salary could not fund this ambition. So it was with a sense of reluctance that she enrolled at the Mico Teacher’s College in 1970.
But as she sat contentedly behind her desk at the Haile Selassie High School, the retiring principal said she was happy with the path her life has taken. She feels she has been able to impact and shape more lives than she would have been able to, had she chosen another profession. She has been able to improve the school’s physical environment, increase students’ participation in cultural activities, and improve the social life for the students.
Along with her 37-member staff, she worked assiduously to shape the minds of the students and to maximise their talents so they could reach their fullest potential.
As such, Haile Selassie students boast tremendous success in the creative arts and are known for their smashing performance in Badminton. The school has also become the training ground for persons interested in the sport, thereby transforming the inner-city community, as people come from near and far to play and learn the game.
…And one incredible dad, Bernard Brown
WHEN All Woman visited Bernard Brown in June, he was sitting at his keyboard in the far corner of his St Thomas living room, singing a song he composed for his three-year-old son Seantez.
It’s a room — save for one piece of living room suite and a desk holding the keyboard and a computer — that’s void of furniture simply to accommodate the child’s frantic behaviour.
Seantez is autistic, a condition his father has come to terms with since he was diagnosed in August last year. It’s a condition he embraces with patience and a heart full of love.
“I love my son. He is my company! He comes first in my life! I treat him with affection everyday,” Brown said reaching for the child. “I have to show him love and let him feel special all the time.”
Brown said over a year ago, the child’s mother and himself ended their relationship. Since then, he has shouldered the responsibility of caring for the child single-handedly, a task he admits is not easy at times, but one that he is prepared to see through to the end.
Caring for a child with autism is especially challenging for the single father who is a police officer stationed in St Thomas and who works odd hours.
Brown said prior to August last year, he would constantly take his son to doctors in an effort to find out why, even at two-years-old, the child would not talk. He was introduced to Dr Maureen Samms-Vaughn at the University Hospital, who diagnosed the child with autism.
“I never heard of autism before that and wondered what it was. She gave me a book on the condition to read and I went on the Internet. When I saw what it really was, I started to cry,” he said. “I read that two out of three kids diagnosed with autism are mentally impaired. Having an only child and not knowing if I will get another one, I cried because I wondered if he would be in the two’s.”
But, he said, he quickly took control of his emotions and decided to tackle the situation. Brown strongly feels that if his child is given the right care, he will reach a far way.
Brown said he wants to encourage fathers with a child or children with disabilities to stand up as a man and shoulder the responsibility.
