Kamilah Morrison: the philanthropist

IF you peruse her résumé, you will see that her objective is ‘to be a role model to others’, and she’s doing just that.

IF you peruse her résumé, you will see that her objective is ‘to be a role model to others’, and she’s doing just that.

Kamilah Morrison, 35, told All Woman that each day, she looks forward to touching the lives of others by motivating someone whenever possible.

From a tender age, Morrison said she developed a passion for charity work, particularly those charities that have to do with children and education, as these are areas that will determine the growth of a country and the future of generations to come.

Moreover, being raised in a family with a philanthropic nature, Morrison was surrounded by positive influences and has never got weary of giving back.

“My parents were always looking to help someone, give someone a ride, or just trying to help them. It was that type of environment where I grew up and so I saw these acts around me and adopted them,” she said.

Subsequently, when Morrison, who’s also friendly and always smiling, started secondary school at Immaculate Conception High at age 10, it was no surprise that she enjoyed volunteering through the school’s campus ministries, which saw her visiting children’s homes and infirmaries to offer her services.

“This instilled good values in me and into who I am today. It’s a part of me, so now when I see someone out there who wants help, I just help them,” she said.

And so, once she left Immaculate, her drive to assist grew even stronger, and she fulfilled her childhood dream of being a teacher.

“I wanted to be a teacher and when I left Immaculate I was 15 and couldn’t start university because I was too young. So I waited out a year and taught voluntarily at Immaculate while going to Commercial Six. After that I also did three months of voluntary teaching at Unity Prep. This was amazing and unexplainable just because I was able to teach, encourage those children and watch them grow,” she said.

But when she started university, her work had to be put on pause in order to pursue her degree in computer science and management studies.

However, they say old habits die hard and as a young adult, Morrison informally adopted four little girls.

“In my 20s I heard of the little girls in my community. Their father worked a lot and their mother would just leave them with their grandmother, who couldn’t manage. It bothered me, so I decided to visit them and found that I kept going. Eventually I would take them on weekends and help them with their homework and give them the encouragement they needed, and push them,” she said.

Stemming from this, Morrison made it her duty to seek out people in her community who didn’t have a positive influence in their lives, and she assisted them until they were able to stand alone.

It was then that she met another little girl through her older brother.

“When I met her I realised she wasn’t going to school, so I offered to pay her school fees and get her some of her books. But when I did that I also realised she couldn’t read, so I had to get her assistance there too. When you don’t have someone to help you attain your goals it’s easy for you to lose sight and focus. Once I touch one life, that will probably change someone else’s life,” she explained.

After the passing of her grandmother last year, Morrison decided to go further and look into other areas of assisting people.

“She was big on giving back. When she died it really affected me, so I connected with her church to see if I could continue the work she would have been doing,” she said.

As a result, Morrison decided to enter the Ms Jamaica United Nations pageant in February, as it focused on charity and youth empowerment, which would give her the chance to do what she loves on a larger scale.

“I realised I needed to enter the competition because you have a voice not only in your country, but outside. It gives me a voice to be that difference for the voiceless,” she said.

Morrison, who eventually emerged the winner of the pageant, will compete on the international stage on July 9, but for her, being able to get involved in more charities has been a high point of her journey thus far.

“I’ve been able to do a book drive, I’m currently doing a spelling bee competition, we’ve done a clothes drive, and there’s also a reading camp that I’m involved with coming up in July. Through this I’m able to meet people doing the same thing, so it helps me to focus and gives me more of a network to get out there. I don’t see myself as bigger than anyone — we are equals — but the title makes people listen to you, and this helps you create the environment to make a difference in people’s lives,” she said.

Morrison also spends a lot of time at the Jamaica Christian Boys’ Home, where she has adopted two boys and assists them with their homework and other necessities. She’s also involved in her community group — Young Achievers for Action.

Also a dancer and manager for the group Hyah Style, Morrison, who works as a sales executive, was once a wedding coordinator who is fluent in Spanish and holds certification in the language from the University of the West Indies and Instituto Venezolano.

“With Spanish it’s very hard now, as I’m not speaking it on a regular basis. But I used to read Spanish newspapers, watch Spanish TV and do everything in the language,” she said.

She also loves surfing the net, reading, spending time with her family, and believes that it is a golden rule to live each day as if it is your last.

“In doing this, I try to find one thing I can do that day to encourage someone or make their day a positive one.”