Life Changing Stories
Dillon Dawes: Champion for a Cause
If the truth be told one never stops learning as learning is a continued process. Every day we learn something new. What do we do with this new knowledge however? Often times this knowledge has the power to change lives forever. Dillon Dawes is one such person who can give testimony to the power of knowledge to transform and change lives.
Dillon Dawes is a learner with the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning’s High School Equivalency Programme, HISEP. Dawes describes his life prior to his enrolment as just normal going through the everyday motions of working. He always had a passion to continue learning.
Dawes was introduced to the JFLL by a close friend of his who is a member of the Seventh day Adventist Church which he attends. “I always had a passion to continue learning regardless of the field so when I was introduced to the programme I saw it as an opportunity waiting for me.” Dawes said.
Dawes used to work as a skilled cold room foreman with Island Dairies Limited prior to enrolling. At present he is self-employed and pursuing a skill in plumbing. He has his eyes set on becoming a Guidance Counsellor or a social worker as working with children and people less fortunate has always been a passion of his. Dawes says that his involvement in the programme will help him in achieving this goal.
Dillon says having benefited from the JFLL’s HISEP programme is recommending it to others who might find themselves in a similar position like he was. “What’s their limit? The best way to achieve is to start a learning process over again or to continue learning,” Dawes advises.
Since his contact with the JFLL, Dawes has admitted to becoming hooked on reading. This he says opens up a new world of possibilities for him. “I am now hooked on reading and the world has opened to me.” Dawes having had his life changed forever through his contact with the JFLL is on a campaign to help others find what he describes as their ‘calling.’
Zurie Johnson [PR intern, 2008]
Cleopatra Francis: Paying it ‘Forward’
It was 1992 that Cleopatra got involved with JAMAL, from which the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning owes its genesis.
Dismal is how Miss Francis describes her life prior to her involvement with the institution. She credits the institution for having helped her to dramatically turned her life. “I knew what I wanted so when the opportunity came I took it and it turned my life around,” Francis says.
Miss Francis who resides on Pound Road in St. Thomas currently works with the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learner as a field officer within thee parish.
She credits her involvement with the program for taking her from unemployment to being not only employable but having a job.
Miss Francis is the mother of one. Her daughter is now 21 years old and is presently pursuing further studies after high school. As a result of her involvement in the programme Miss Francis was able to play a more involved role in her child’s education. “I was able to assist her even during high school.”
Francis encourages persons who are in a similar position to the one she had found herself in prior to her enrolment not to be fearful. “Don’t be afraid of anything. Know what you want. Be bold, go out there and get it. Don’t be intimidated by others. Some of the persons who may try to deter you, often times are persons who need the programme themselves.”
Zurie Johnson [PR Intern, 2008]
Una Jackson-Taylor: A lifetime of learning
70 year old, Una Jackson-Taylor is very much in the business of lifelong learning. Mrs. Taylor is currently a student of the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning’s Basic Literacy programme where she recently completed her exams for level four and is awaiting her results…and she is confident that she will do well.
After all, she is the 1997 JAMAL, All Island Quiz Competition champion. Mrs. Taylor relives the memories of her 1997 experience. “I came to the headquarters of JAMAL and competed against a boy and girl from St. Ann, we beat them and then went on to the finals at the Pegasus,” Mrs. Taylor recalls.
As a result of her victory, Una won a cash award of $19, 500 and an educational tour courtesy of Air Jamaica. For her educational tour she was flown to the US for a month. On her trip to the US, she visited museums across New York, Brooklyn and Miami as well as the Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn Bridge, Rockefeller Centre and the Statue of Liberty.
Mrs. Taylor is a resident of Rose Hill, Portland and says she got involved with the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning (then JAMAL) when the leader of her church, Pastor Burrell brought the program to the church. “It was a good thing. Pastor Burrell brought it (the JAMAL programme) to the church and asked members to join it. I wanted to go back to school; I never had the opportunity so when this opportunity came I grabbed it.”
The programme offered lessons in Mathematics, English, Social Studies and Composition. The classes were offered on weekdays and taught by Pastor Burrell as well as Mrs. Marlene Welsh. The classes still continue at the church today. “I am just giving God thanks for Pastor Burrell and Mrs. Welch. Pastor enlightens us so that we can learn more. She is a blessed soul,” Taylor says.
Mrs. Taylor says she cannot understand persons who look down on programmes offered by the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning as she has witnessed many of her colleagues from the JAMAL program go on to sit other examinations such as those offered by the Caribbean Examination Council, CXC and passed them.“Every day I thank God for Pastor and JAMAL. JAMAL gave me the opportunity to travel not that I wouldn’t travel but it made me travel sooner.”
Mrs. Taylor is actively involved in art and craft and produces several craft items for sale. She is an active member of her community’s senior citizens club for which she actively participates in craft competitions. Her work as won her several trophies and awards inclusive of Outstanding Achievement Awards from the National Senior Citizens Council in culinary, art and craft as well as track and field.
JFLL, learners in the parish of Portland stands the chance to benefit from Mrs. Taylor’s knowledge in craft. She will be teaching the learners in Portland how to make craft items inclusive of bags, table mats, napkin holders as well as other craft items. Mrs. Taylor is doing this as her way of giving back to a programme that she believes has given her much.
Mrs. Taylor does not regret enrolling with the JAMAL program, as it has taught her a lot including the importance of education which she has imparted to her nine children. One of whom is now deceased. One of her daughters having gained her masters degree now tutors at the University of the West Indies while another is currently serving others as a nurse. Mrs. Taylor beams when talking about her children and tells us that she is so proud of all her children who are all now working.
Zurie Johnson [PR Intern, 2008]
Fabian Lawes
Against the odds - From school dropout to budding engineer
Published: Tuesday | March 3, 2009
Andrew Wildes, Gleaner Writer
When Fabian Lawes came to the end of primary school at age 11, his grades were so dismal no high school would take him.
For the next three years, Lawes was out of school and nobody thought he would one day become anything successful.
Today, however, Lawes is a second-year student at the University of Technology (UTech), studying electrical technology, and is well on his way to becoming an electrical engineer. Considering his past, he is already a success.
So what made the difference? How did a man who failed at school from as early as the primary level go on to attain university status? What made the difference in Lawes' life between age 11 when he left primary school, and 21 when he entered the UTech?
In large measure, Lawes' success is as a result of the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL), formerly the Jamaica Movement for the Advancement of Literacy (JAMAL).
"I never really had any interest in schoolwork, I didn't really see any purpose for me to have an education, but after going to JAMAL and learning the reason, that has made me change," said Lawes.
The budding electrical engineer says he attributes as much as 70 per cent of his success to JAMAL.
"I remember a teacher had told me something that motivated me there. I really got the main motivation from there. That is where I started to do well. So because of that motivation, it set the foundation for me to excel," said Lawes.
For Lawes, there were solid benefits from attending JAMAL. One key factor that set the tone for his success was the change in environment. There, he met a mixture of younger and older persons at his level of education, who were also trying to make that important step.
Today, Fabian Lawes is on a path to success. His success, though, has come as a surprise to some, especially his family who knew of his struggles in the classroom.
"I believe especially my father is surprised based on my performance right now because he was the one giving me school money and paying my school fee and I was not excelling. And so I promised him I would make him feel proud," explained Lawes.
The JFLL can be contacted at 928-5181-6
Source: www.jamaica-gleaner.com [Retrieved July 11, 2009]
