Garrett Barker
PERCHED ON a low stool with his hands clasped over his knees, Garrett Barker is as motionless as a statue.
He is thinking.
Dancing around in the back of his mind, says the 17-year-old, is the possibility that he could have already been dead -- killed by the police or gunmen. After all, a number of the young men in Jones Town, the inner-city community where he lives with his mother, younger brother and sister, have had their lives cut short by the hands of violence.
The tall, lanky teenager reckons that his life has been spared because God has a purpose for him. He doesn't know what that purpose is, but he knows it has to be fulfilled.
"I could have died before, but he kept my life for a special reason."
A devout Christian since the age of 16, Garrett has walked through a minefield of temptations within his community, yet for the most part has managed to stay out of the path of evil. He has had to rely on his faith to keep him focused when friends have invited him to do wrong.
Sitting in the small library at the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) on Hope Road, he recalls approaches from childhood friends offering him the opportunity to run with a gun.
He turns them down -- again, and again and again.
He volunteers no more than the most basic information on these encounters, saying he does not like to talk about them.
He is often bombarded with questions from friends at school about his ability to be a Christian and live in a community as tough as Jones Town. But for Garrett there is no problem. "All you have to do is to work with the people," he says. With a sheepish look in his eyes he says his method of getting along in his community is to demonstrate sound values through his actions -- respecting older folks and staying out of company that can lead him into trouble.
Garrett recently graduated from the YMCA School. He went there two years ago after years of getting poor grades at St. Anne's All-Age.
He says being at the YMCA has helped him to turn the corner with his academic performance. He recently took the Technical Entrance Test and if he is successful, could either go to St. Andrew Technical High or Kingston Technical High School.
His dream, he says, is to become a mechanic. When he has the time, he usually hangs out at the St. Andrew Technical mechanic shop where he tries to pick up as much information as possible about the workings of the motor vehicle.
He also has a passion for reading though his reclusive behaviour and methods of staying out of trouble has earned him the tag 'Mama's boy' from some young men in his neighbourhood.
That doesn't bother him though. "When they say that, I just say 'being a mama's boy is not a bad thing.'"
Garrett says one of his main goals is to prevent his 14-year-old brother and 12-year-old sister from getting into trouble. He says he tries to counsel them to do the right things and to live a Christian life. He doesn't want them to end up contributing to social problems of the community and the society.
"I'm trying to let them not be part of the problem but part of the solution."
-- V.D.
-- Dennis Coke Photo
