‘Why did my parents forsake me?’

A 17-year-old boy is searching for answers, guidance, and assistance to turn his life around after a series of unfortunate events saw him moving in and out of five children’s homes without a solid plan for his future. The recent high school graduate said he does not have a relationship with his parents, with both reportedly choosing not to play an active role in his life when he was just a few months old. He is being raised by his paternal grandmother who, he said, struggles to make ends meet and wants help to get him on the right track. The young man shared that while in primary school he was bullied daily because he seemingly did not have any parents. He said he grew frustrated with the bullies and decided to fight back. During an altercation he said he accidentally damaged the car of a staff member of the institution. He said attempts were made to contact his parents and grandmother, but they were unsuccessful. He ended up in State care. “I went to five boys’ homes. I went to one in Clarendon, St Mary, Kingston, Spanish Town and Old Harbour [both in St Catherine]. The first three homes were nice, because I had friends there and people didn’t do anything to me, but the last home I didn’t like it because they started to molest me,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “I was sleeping in my dorm and this boy molested me. They held me down in my sleep. It was five boys who did that to me...I was very scared,” he recounted, his voice filled with sadness. He said the incident was reported to a staff member, who contacted his case worker. The young man said he was taken from that home and provided counselling. Another attempt was made to contact his grandmother, who eventually agreed to take him back in her care. He said financial struggles were heightened when the house they were living in was destroyed by fire, leaving them with little to nothing to recover. “I lost most of my clothes and things that I had. It was a rental house, so we had to find somewhere else to live,” recalled the 17-year-old. He said they eventually found a new place to stay but lost a lot of things that they still need to replace, such as clothes and other household items. Now out of high school, the 17-year-old said he is seeking assistance to turn his life around. However, his greatest wish is to have a relationship with his parents, especially his mother. “Every day I get up I just feel sad, and I don’t know why. I don’t know why I didn’t get to meet my mother...When I get up and I see a parent with a son or daughter, I always say to myself, ‘Why did my parents forsake me?’ because I never do them anything. Whenever I see children with their mother, I just start to cry and just feel sadness. I cry every single day,” he told the Sunday Observer. The 17-year-old said he is still in contact with a counsellor who encourages him that better days are ahead, but he is still left with more questions than answers about why his life had to be this way. “I would be happy if I had a relationship with them. I just want a relationship with my mom. People always trouble me that I don’t have any mother,” he said. Now a high school graduate, he is uncertain about where life will take him, and needs some guidance and assistance. “I would love to get some help to get my driver’s licence and maybe some clothes, because I want to get a job and go to work. I also want to go to school. I was thinking of applying to HEART [Human Employment and Resource Training/National Service Training Agency Trust] and learn a skill, but I need some help. “I need support, because I’m going to be 18 soon and I want to learn how to drive and stuff so that I can take care of myself. I just want support,” he said. His grandmother said that, over the years, she has tried her best, but with ageing and a lack of resources there is only so much she can do. “I get help from my sisters, but that is it. Otherwise, it’s just him and me alone,” she said. She added that the situation is made worse by the fact that she is often left with questions she cannot answer. “Almost every day him get up and ask me what happened with his parents, and if somebody did something to run them away. I don’t know the answer. His mother just left him with me, and his father is not around,” she said. She, too, pleaded for assistance for her grandson, wanting him to have a better future than his past. “I would love it if him can get some assistance to go to HEART and learn a skill. He needs clothes and other things, too,” she pleaded.