Yadel moulding young lives

Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer

OLD HARBOUR, St Catherine:

A small group of gleeful girls sat at the front of a house nestled on a hill in Bannister, Old Harbour. Adventurously, they peeled green and half-riped mangoes picked from a tree in the backyard. Sugar, their enhancer.

Further out in the yard, a playful few milled around, chit-chatting. Inside, others were doing homework, studying, snacking, passing time and even savouring the whiff of dinner being prepared in the nearby kitchen. For the most part, this is how the 24 youngsters living at Yadel Home for Girls pass their time.

"Up here is very nice. It's like your normal home," one of the residents for two and a half years told The Gleaner. "We have rules and regulations we have to abide by, but I am comfortable," says the all-age-school student who copped 12 As last term, as she charts a path to becoming a doctor.

Another, an aspiring registered nurse residing at the home for the past three years, is appreciative of the treatment given to her, and the opportunity to share with the other girls.

"The treatment here is good," the smiling teenager assures. "I play different games with the other girls like baseball, go to school, eat, watch TV, just like a real home," the student of a prominent high school says.

Safe haven

Yadel - 'the hand of God extended' - is the brainchild of Evon Blair, past national president of the Women's Ministry, New Testament Church of God in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. With the desire of providing a home for young girls across the island in need of care and protection, with the assistance of the church, she established the facility in February 2001, serving as director for eight years.

Since that time, the home has been a safe haven for the nation's vulnerable, helping to turn their lives around. The wards of the state, ages nine to 18, are placed at Yadel by the Child Development Agency (CDA) that, together with the church, forks out approximately $600,000 each month to pay staff and fulfil their needs.

"We want to ensure that the girls are comfortable and all their personal, social, spiritual, emotional and other needs are met," Patricia Brown, Yadel's director, told The Gleaner.

"We try to feed them as best as we can, that's very important to us, so providing food for them that's a big chunk of that money," Brown states. "If we can get some help from some companies or even individuals to provide like juices and biscuits, we would be really grateful."

Likewise, a good education, she says, is integral to their total development. Among the schools they attend are Tacius Golding, St Catherine, and Old Harbour high schools, Green Park Primary and Junior High, Spring Gardens All-Age and Davis Primary. But, while most are among the top performers at their respective institutions, Manager Kareen Mignott-Dixon says they need assistance to boost their educational potential.

"Most of them attend high schools. So we are in need of computers so that they can complete their assignments. We have Internet access here, but we need some more computers to facilitate them," she explains.

Mignott-Dixon adds, "We have a small library, but I think it would be nice to have some more reference books so they can do their research and assignments at home."

Areas of need

Additionally, there are other areas in which a helping hand can be extended to make the girls more comfortable.

"Right now, we are in need of a refrigerator, we have one but, because of the things we have to store, there is need for a bigger one," Mignott-Dixon discloses.

"On the other hand, we have counsellors, but if someone or a group can volunteer and come in and talk to them about the different challenges, that would be good," she points out.

One person who has been anchored at Yadel, since inception, to work with the youngsters through their every challenge is Teres Bradford, residential house mother.

"Sometimes it's good and bad, but I know prayer and my love for the girls have kept me here through the years with them," the soft-spoken mother of an 11-year-old son told The Gleaner.

Similarly, it's the relationship and the opportunity to impact the girls' lives that have kept Sharon Jones, cook, in her position for the past four years.

"So many of them, every one has a different personality, but I have a good relationship with almost all of them and for me, it's more than just being a cook," she said with a smile.

Nowhere to go

The girls are integrated with their family at age 18. However, there are those with nowhere to go.

"We can't turn them out on the streets. We couldn't do that," said the director. "We would like to build a big dorm that can hold maybe four bunks, a bathroom and a common area, just to house those who have no family when they get to that age. It's something that we have been thinking about very seriously, we are looking at approximately $1.3 million."

However, this cost can be minimised with assistance.

"If we get the material to do that, then that would lessen the cost because we have the manpower - our church has a lot of builders," Brown guarantees.

At the same time, she is encouraging people to adopt a girl.

"You don't necessarily have to take her into your homes at any time, but meet her, and talk with her from time to time," Brown urged.

rural@gleanerjm.com