Mr. Santa is Bert Samuels. - Norman Grindley/Staff Photographer
Among the sexes, women have the more enduring reputation for impulsive generosity, many routinely sacrificing their 'last' cent to meet the needs of family and friends. To give the men their due, this week Outlook went in search of Mr. Santa Claus, that stalwart among men who is still willing to pay for the pleasure of his family's and friend's happiness and help the poor around him.
KINGSTON-BASED ATTORNEY-at- law Bert Samuels admits that his generous tendencies as an adult might have been influenced by his christian roots in childhood. His father, the Reverend Herbert Samuels, was a pastor of the New Testament Church of God.
The family lived in several parishes and in every one, his father was a model of giving.
"He had a passion for the poor," Bert recalls: "he was always called upon to help those who needed help.
"We lived in a low income area so the needs ranged from taking women in labour to the hospital to helping people with food and free advice. I grew up seeing that. The family of 10, looked after by a mother who was a housewife/dressmaker was relatively poor, but there was always enough to help others. This and the experience of poverty was to have a life-long impact on him.
Bert Samuels passed the common
entrance examinations at the same time
as his older brother. His parents could not afford to send them both to a new school at the same time. Bert had to return to primary school and take the examination a second time before the money could be found to send him to high school.
This situation, he recalls, "caused me to reflect on those who could not do that at all. It very painful for me."
Yet again, after fifth form, although he obtained the best passes in school, his father told him that he would have to work.
It was with the help of his mother and one school teacher "that I returned to sixth form".
This painful experience led to the vow which has directed his entire life.
"I realised that I was helped and that I should return the favour to others in the community, especially in education."
Cannot say no
When children are not able to go to school, Bert Samuels cannot say no. He has helped children in primary school, high school, prep school, and those in pursuit of their law degree.
He says, "I have a passion for helping with education because I realise that education is such a powerful tool for social mobility."
Denying children the opportunity to go to school, he said, is like denying them the chance to become the best they can be in life.
"If I buy a book and deny myself lunch it is more satisfying."
His generosity is not unfocused, as he is not likely to give away money to men on the street who are begging.
"I would hate to say that I have funded drug addiction. To give cash to people sometimes is risky. I prefer to make a direct purchase of whatever is needed, be it a computer, books, whatever. It is so nice to sit back and say I made a difference."
Samuels is the father of five children aged 14 to 24 and says that there is very little difference in the way he treats his offspring for whom he has full responsibility, and his neighbour's children.
"You cannot live in contrast to other," he said, noting that it is impossible for him to live the good life happily when a few doors down the road are children who are in need.
Currently, he is thinking of building a homework centre back in Kingston 8 Mannings Hill Road where he attended school. This, he said, will be a retreat for children of the area who live in one-room houses and have to be outside for long periods of time.
"I will do it alone," he says. "I do not wish for it to be funded by anyone else."
He, however, hopes that there will be volunteers of people "who are like-minded" just to supervise homework. Donations of used computers will not be turned away either.
Lower school
He said, "I recall that I used to do badly in lower school and it was connected to not doing my homework. Once homework is well done, a child will keep abreast of his school work." The homework centre, he said, will also focus on special studies in GSAT.
"Classes are overcrowded and God bless what teachers can do. Doing additional work with volunteers in a safe environment will help."
He is also planning to put in a computer room. All this he said, he will do because he also grew up in a wooden house and frequently did not have lunch money. But for the assistance of others, life would have been very different.
He is trying to recreate this difference in the lives of others.
Outlook Team
