Jamaicans in California making impact on youth education in Westmoreland
Grange Hill Primary beneficiary sets goal to tackle teenage pregnancy concerns in community
WESTERN BUREAU:
The Jamaica Awareness Association of California (JAAC) is making an impact on the lives of Jamaican youths through a transformative scholarship programme of which high-school bound 11-year-old Enyameikie Daley is the latest recipient.
Worth US$3,500 (J$540,500), the six-year scholarship will provide support to Daley, who is now wrapping up her final few months at Grange Hill Primary School in Westmoreland. It will cover her secondary school years, which will commence in September.
The scholarship was unveiled and presented to the student during a ceremony at her school on Tuesday. It forms part of JAAC’s 24th medical and educational mission to Jamaica.
“The first instalment payment of this scholarship will be awarded in August [2024]. The second instalment payment will be awarded in January [2025], and that will also require that your grades will have to be presented and you must maintain grades of A and Bs,” said Patrick Williams, president of JAAC.
The JAAC is a group of Jamaicans who are living in California who have come together, pooling their resources to stage yearly health and education missions to Jamaica.
Since its inception 37 years ago, JAAC, which is a non-profit charity organisation that operates under the revenue code of 501 (c) 3 through its medical and educational teams, has made contributions in Jamaica by creating computer labs, donating laptops, tablets, iPads, and other much-needed school supplies, in as well as establishing advanced medical services and training students and professionals.
Targets talented at-risk youth
According to Williams, JAAC’s contribution to the health and education systems in Jamaica is designed to enhance opportunities for talented, economically at-risk young people and to help them pursue their education.
He said the group is excited to be able to provide this scholarship to a student of Grange Hill Primary School in helping to make life easier for students with great potential, but could do well with additional support.
Williams revealled that the scholarship opportunity, at this time, is only on offer at Grange Hill Primary, the alma mater of Dennis Hawthorne, managing director of Dennis Shipping, who has greatly assisted JAAC in shipping its donations into Jamaica in a seamless manner at affordable cost.
Daley expressed her delight at receiving the scholarship and noted that her mother, a single parent, will be extremely happy.
“Receiving this scholarship means that I have performed very well and I want to continue to work harder because in the years to come I want to be able to do even better when I get to high school,” said Daley, who has her eyes fixed on a place at The Manning’s School.
She told The Gleaner that she plans to attend college where she can develop her skills to become an entrepreneur in the global jewellery industry, which was valued at US$353.26 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.7 per cent from 2024 to 2030.
Daley revealed that it was her well written essay on the impact of teenage pregnancy, unemployment, crime and violence in her community that gave her the edge over three other students who competed for the scholarship, backed up by her ability to convince the panel of judges on how these issues can be corrected.
“Growing up I have been through many incidents of crime and violence. People who I knew died because of crime and violence, so when I grow up I want to help to prevent those things from happening,” she revealed.
“My mother will be very happy to know that I received this scholarship,” Daley told The Gleaner.
According to Daley, who is now a member of her school’s Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Club and who also served as a prefect, helping to prevent teenage pregnancy will be one of the areas she looks forward to provide assistance in giving back to her community when she grows up and establishes her business.
“For teenage pregnancy, when I become an entrepreneur, I can help the schools to teach their students about the dangers of teenage pregnancy and how to prevent it,” Daley said.
Mom grateful
Daley’s mother, Amanda Biggs, was just as excited as her daughter, upon hearing that her tuition and textbook costs will be covered for the next six years.
“Oh my God! I am so happy for my first-born. She deserves it,” Biggs said, as she screamed in excitement at the news that her daughter had won the scholarship.
“Coming from a single mother, I am very grateful and I am feeling good because she works very hard,” Biggs told The Gleaner when contacted.
She stated that while it has not been easy rearing her two children, Enyameikie, being the elder, spared no effort in ensuring that her children are cared for amid life’s challenges.
Biggs, who works in the hardware industry in Negril, Westmoreland, described her daughter’s work ethic in dealing with her education as unbelievable, pointing out that she doesn’t have to tell her to do her school work. She noted that her daughter would stay up at odd hours just reading over her notes and ensuring that her projects are completed on time.
Clayton Smith, principal of Grange Hill Primary, said he was pleased with JAAC’s benevolence to his 100-year-old institution and for granting a scholarship to one of his students.
“I am very happy that Enyameikie has done so well. I thought that any one of them could have been the recipient. It’s unfortunate that it’s only one scholarship because all four of them were brilliant,” Smith said.
He added that the scholarship will be a significant breakthrough for Enyameikie’s mother when making back-to-school preparations for her high school journey.