British man who fled boarding school dedicates life to transforming youth in Jamaica
Published:Friday | June 10, 2022 | 12:06 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
At 17 years old, David Campbell, a British native who ran away from boarding school to Jamaica, was in search of a spiritual compass for his life.
He did not know that the decision would be transformative, allowing him to impact the lives of vulnerable children in inner-city communities for over 20 years.
Campbell, the founder of Fusion Jamaica, was recently inducted as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2022.
“It’s very humbling. I really had no expectations that I would receive this award,” he told The Gleaner in an interview on Monday.
He recounted that he saved the money for his airfare, went to the airport after school and booked a ticket.
“I prayed my first prayer in the airport, and then ended up in Jamaica the next day,” he recalled of the 1994 experience.
It took Campbell several days to learn how to make a call at Jamintel in downtown Kingston to England to inform his parents of his whereabouts.
His father was very shocked, and Campbell recalled that he told him two things: he was torn and felt like he would drag him by the ear and bring him back to England in school, where he should be; and he has made his bed, so he should lie in it.
His father permitted him to choose the second option on one condition, that he would return home for Christmas.
Initially, he worked as a volunteer for the Mustard Seed Communities, where he helped to care for disabled children.
Campbell returned to England for a few years, but found that he could not stay away from Jamaica.
He came back in 1999, which is when he began engaging the youth in sporting activities and after-school programmes through a local church. That is where he observed that the young guys responded well to his coupling-of-life principles and the game of basketball.
“I started to have a dilemma. We had this good input once a week, but what happens to them the rest of the time? I remember vividly seeing one young guy who came along to us in one of our basketball programmes. He was about 14 and this set of guys in a gang walked passed, looked at him and nodded. He was in the line-up for a basketball drill and he jumped out and followed them down the road,” Campbell recalled, adding that the youngster was shot a few moments later, but survived.
In 2003, he came across an Australian charity named Fusion, which had over 50 years of experience in the development of a highly effective method of working in tough communities with at-risk young people.
Campbell found that there were many similarities between their approach and what he had already been doing.
APPROACH
As he studied their methodology, he became convinced that their approach could strengthen his programme in west Kingston, so he began to use their methodology in 2004 and two years later, founded Fusion Jamaica as a charity.
The charity’s mission is to help young people and communities discover their God-given purpose and pursue it with integrity.
Fusion works in Trench Town, Rose Town, Tivoli Gardens, Majesty Gardens and Maverley, providing assistance through youth sports clubs, after-school programmes, youth and family day trips, mentorship programmes, parenting support, reading programmes and major community celebrations that bring each of these communities together at least twice a year.
In a testimonial written four years ago, a now 30-year-old male from Trench Town said he owes much to Campbell, whom he has known for over a decade.
“I grew up in one bedroom that housed five. Growing up, I never had much hopes of being successful, but David gave me exposure, gave me leadership roles and speaking roles that boosted my belief that I could be more. So I kept readjusting my position so that I could make use of opportunities,” he said.
The student later pursued a degree in philosophy at The University of the West Indies and is gainfully employed in the field of customer service.
He is currently studying marketing at the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Fusion Jamaica is financed mainly through private donors. However, Campbell admitted that he has never planned an event knowing with certainty where the money will come from, and that he has never cancelled an event because of a lack of funds.
“God has provided every time, and there is faith in the work I do,” he said.
The founder shared that Jamaica is a beautiful country, but many children in the inner city are not privileged to explore it.
Fusion Jamaica plans regular trips to various attractions across the country, sometimes bringing together children from rival communities with a view to building better relationships.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Campbell and his team of volunteers distributed food packages and supermarket vouchers to children and their families, as well as the elderly; and as schools began to reopen, they also provided back-to-school vouchers.
Campbell said seeing the appreciation from children and the wider community makes the work he does rewarding, even more so when he comes across programme participants who were once at risk but are now employed or pursuing higher education.
“I love the Lord, and Jamaica has been a huge part of teaching me a lot about life,” Campbell told The Gleaner.