This is the sixth in a Sunday Observer series featuring stories told by inner-city men who have turned from a life of crime and are trying to steer young, at-risk males away from that destructive path. This story, however, features one young man who was not convicted of any crime and could have fallen into criminal behaviour, but chose not to.
WHEN Jermaine Nelson graduated from the Trench Town High School he had only managed to pass one Caribbean Examinations Council subject.
NELSON... I want to serve my country. I want to be a part of Jamaica’s forward movement.
ADAMS... Jermaine’s determination is admirable, he persevered against the odds. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)
The young man was without direction and could have easily fallen through the cracks like so many of the young men who hailed from his community of Zimbabwe in Arnett Gardens.
But, driven by the ambition to succeed and a desire to make a difference, Nelson pulled himself up by the boot straps and was appointed by his peers as the leader of the nine-man Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP)-sponsored Men With A Message team which travels the country giving motivational speeches to young males at risk of becoming menaces to society.
Nelson was introduced to the CSJP by Community Action Officer Denise Adams who encouraged him to enrol in the HEART/NTA general construction course. He has since completed the level one and two courses in the vocational skills training programme.
But for Nelson, that was just the beginning of a journey that now sees him enrolled at Northern Caribbean University.
"Mrs Adams motivated me and told me to do some CXC subjects. I had a friend who was going to NCU and he told me I could take subjects while attending university. I always wanted to go to university. I passed five more subjects at NCU and I am now fully matriculated. I started out from nothing and now I am heading somewhere," Nelson, who is in his second year of studying mathematics and engineering with minors in secondary education, told the Sunday Observer.
Nelson has already achieved what many youngsters who hail from inner-city communities only dream of, but he is still not satisfied.
The 24-year-old young man has a dream to serve his country in law enforcement.
"I plan to pursue a master's degree in forensic science so I can use this to assist the Force," he said, "I really want to become a police officer. I want to serve my country. I want to be a part of Jamaica's forward movement."
Unlike his peers in Men With A Message, Nelson never got involved in criminality. He has no police record but still manages to convey a message of peace to disenchanted and disillusioned young males at risk in his community and in schools.
He credits his father's positive influence as one of the major reasons why he has managed to steer clear of criminality and a negative lifestyle.
A proud Keith Nelson says despite raising his children in a depressed, crime-infested community, he always stressed the importance of education as a tool to escape the shackles of poverty.
"I believe in education and I always tell them find a book and read. I not only tell them that but I would sit and observe that they do it," he said.
When Nelson left school the community of Arnett Gardens was in the throes of a bloody feud between gangs fighting for turf and leadership rights. More than 300 persons were killed.
Nelson and other law-abiding citizens were under siege and could not venture into other zones within the community for fear of being killed because of where they lived.
"The most difficult time in my life was during the war. That was a time that almost got me out. I could not move around. I could only move around by joining the police band, and I cried peace," he said.
He was not yet a member of Men With A Message but was, nonetheless, committed to seeing an end to the bloodletting.
"I tried to reach out to my friends who got caught in the conflict. There was one who got killed. Even though I tried to reach him and failed, I just have to accept it because I tried to reach him and he made that choice," he said.
But all his efforts have not been in vain.
Some of the young men in Arnett Gardens who Nelson appealed to have heeded the call and are now pursuing degrees at tertiary institutions.
He is a respected figure in his community and has been called upon to settle differences 'on the corner' whenever he is home.
"Most of these young men, we went to school together from basic, to primary, to high school. They like to hang around me and they will listen to me because I am a fair person. I am not quick to anger. When somebody say 'war', I say peace," Nelson said.
His influence has stretched to the campus of the NCU where he works as a security guard when he is not in class.
"I mediate during conflicts at NCU. I spoke to a bully and got him to calm down and change his lifestyle," Nelson, who is on the verge of being appointed a student supervisor at NCU, said.
Nelson's achievements have his CSJP advisor beaming with pride.
"Jermaine's determination is admirable. He persevered against the odds. Jermaine is indeed a role model and I am happy that I was able to play an integral role in shaping the life of one of our future leaders," Adams told the Sunday Observer.
Nelson has a message for young men who think there is no hope because of their present economic and social position.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast," he said.
