Tameka Hill: Youth advocate

AS a little girl Tameka Hill recalls being very shy and reserved, but this little girl is all grown up and now speaks with authority as an advocate for Jamaica’s youth, bringing to light the issues affecting them.

The 27-year-old was appointed as one of the country’s youth ambassadors by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen in 2011 and is currently the chief of mission on human trafficking.

Her advocacy for not only youths, but for women as well, has garnered her much attention, and last month she was awarded the Commonwealth Commemorative Scholarship for writings on women in leadership from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

“I am the spokesperson for human trafficking on behalf of the young people and my duty as a youth ambassador is that I represent the country’s youth at the national and international level. So whenever issues relating to this arise, I am the person they call to speak on behalf of young people,” said the petite advocate whose soft-spoken voice belies the passion she feels for the nation’s youths.

Among those things she had lobbied for was the establishment of a trafficking in persons shelter which has since been established by the government. She also has a public education initiative in partnership with Soroptimist International, which sees her going into secondary schools to speak to students about human trafficking.

Hill has had years of experience in lobbying for youths. Being the youngest daughter of a pastor and a deacon meant that she was heavily involved in youth activities at church, which in some way helped to reduce her childhood inhibitions about speaking out.

“I think that even just being a public speaker and having the opportunity to speak to people from all different walks of life and all over the country and the world, has been due to having gone to church and being in Sunday School and having to be a youth president and having different opportunities to lead in the church,” the Clarendon native said.

In addition to this, the youngest of five children said her family has always sought ways to encourage her in her endeavours.

“So even for the smallest thing that you achieve, they make it such a big deal that you always want to do more,” she said. When she enrolled at the University of the West Indies to pursue her degree in media and communications, she received even more support from individuals such as actress and communications specialist Dahlia Harris and noted broadcaster Tony Laing, who died earlier this year. Both felt she had what it took to enter the Miss Clarendon Festival Queen Competition and win.

Though not fully convinced, she was buoyed by the support of these cultural icons, and took the bait. As they had predicted, she was crowned the festival queen for the parish.

“I didn’t know much about the competition, but I thought it would be good to do a competition that didn’t focus necessarily on the way you look, but more on how you can serve other people, and I do believe in service and giving back to other people,” she said.

Becoming the Miss Clarendon Festival Queen took her on a journey that saw her serving people with different personalities, but she enjoyed the ride.

“That seemed like such a long time, but at the end of the day it was a very good experience, because that was when I really started representing other people and speaking on behalf of those who do not have a voice for themselves,” she shared.

Among other things, she started a programme called the Fire House that was geared towards shaping the talents of youths living in inner-city communities located in Clarendon, St Catherine and Kingston.

“I entered them in cheerleading competitions, sports competitions and all different areas, and they felt quite empowered and we started seeing a change in them,” she said.

Her work did not go unnoticed and she was nominated for the Prime Minister’s Youth Award in 2009. That nomination brought with it many connections and through networking, she learnt about the Youth Ambassador programme. She applied and after being assessed, she was appointed as one of the country’s youth ambassadors.

Her post has allowed her to visit other countries, where she has had the opportunity to meet several other young advocates and speak on behalf of Jamaica’s youths. Her most memorable experience to date, however, was attending a Commonwealth Youth Conference in South Africa earlier this year.

“That was an absolutely beautiful experience because I had never been there before and I got the opportunity to go and speak. They had 500 delegates there, and to know that I was representing Jamaica felt very good,” she beamed. Like a star-struck teenager, she continued: “Just being in the town where Nelson Mandela was born and knowing that this is where we are from as black people, was just a very empowering experience.”

The experience has further intensified Hill’s ambition to one day become a UN ambassador or a diplomat. The Clarendon College past student, who sang, danced and acted her way out of her shyness throughout her high school years, said she is now ready to take youth issues to a larger audience.

“As a child, I was somewhat shy and even now, people may see me and think that I am shy, but I am not shy anymore,” she said with confidence.