Flood of Misery Pt 2

Hundreds of youth in hard core Jamaica neighbourhood see hope in information technology at ‘The Container Project’ ‘….We are not animalistic as some people make us out to be’

“I wish this world would sink and drown again,
So that we build another Noah’s ark 
And send another little dove to find what we have lost in floods misery”
(Martin Carter)

With crime and violence perceived to be the main factors isolating the small Jamaican ghetto community of Web Lane, located in Palmer’s Cross, May Pen in the Parish of Clarendon, a new generation of young men and women, who were positively influenced by ‘The Container Project’, are seeking to reverse the stigma that has stagnated their community for years.

The project, which was established about five years ago, is operated out of a specially converted 40-foot shipping container, and is now a full-fledged multimedia centre with more than 15 internet ready computers that provide simplified access to all forms of information technology to especially young people in Palmers Cross.  

Its primary focus is to make all forms of information technology available to underprivileged and other young people in an effort to channel their talents towards income generating initiatives.
 ‘The Container Project’ in Jamaica is the brain child of Mervin Jarman. Mervin does not see himself as a community leader but feels that such a project is a civic responsibility because the community lacks leadership. There are not a lot of organized events and concentrated effort towards developing young people in Palmers Cross, he observed.

“I was fortunate to have been able to leave the community and live in London for some time which exposed me to a lot of things mainly multimedia production; so, I decided that since the community can’t physically go to London then I should take some of that exposure and bring it back here, hence The Container Project,” Mervin noted.

“While in London, I started working with technology as a media artist. This exposure has enhanced my lifestyle and outlook and this skill can do a lot for the youths hanging out on the corner without hope for betterment. Their situation now is the same situation I grew up in some 30 years ago when I was a youngster. It was the same kind of hopelessness and desperation and thinking what the next step is; thinking how are we going to move out of this.”

Mervin feels that residents of Web Lane have to become proactive if they want to improve themselves; so he and others are trying to use the Container Project to cultivate leaders who can take on the responsibility of developing themselves and the community at the same time.

The Container Project has been in operation for about five years now. The community consists of about 6,000 people and there are about 300 young people who have actually signed up and completed computer training. These courses have been certified by the HeartTrust / National Training Agency in Jamaica.

The next step is to get them employed so that they can become ‘self sustaining’ despite the fact that this is a challenging task because the community has been stigmatized. “This is a hardcore community…a straight ghetto community and because of that people are going outside to seek employment,” Mervin explained.

“It is like you come from Web Lane, sorry, you have to find some alternative to that and that devalues you because if I have to tell somebody that I come from somewhere else before I get a job, then I am lying about my own identity and that does not give me an appreciation about anything and I would not do a good job.”
                                                                       
Consequently, the young people are exploring ways in which they can remove the stigma by creating small businesses and providing employment for themselves by offering services to others from outside of the community.

The objective is to do high quality productions such as greeting cards, flyers, music tracks, posters, business cards among other things at The Container, offering a better service than their competitors in other communities so that “customers would have no other alternative than to come “to us” and they will see that we are not as animalistic as they make out to be.”

This has been proven on several occasions as visitors from other parts of the island and from overseas have all had fantastic experiences in Web Lane - the same community that people speak about or have heard about on the radio and on television.

In an effort to reopen the community to other neighbourhoods, the Container Project has launched a series of social initiatives such as netball competitions, fun days, cook outs and video shows at weekends all aimed at attracting young people from other places to interact with their peers there so that confidence is rebuilt and the stigma is slowly but surely lifted from Web Lane.

In a recent interview with Caribbean Youth Vibes a number of residents of Palmers Cross shared their view and concerns on issues affecting them.
Here are their stories.

Kemal*, a young resident of Web Lane laments “nothing a go on”, is still confident that the neighbourhood can be rebuilt through sporting events and other forms of social interaction. “I like to play football and I play for one of the local teams…all we need to do is come together and things can get good again.”

Vin* is a footballer who prefers to remain in the community. “I outsmarted everybody and passed my exams. I also played in two under-20 Football World Cup tournaments. I have played football in Brazil, France, Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Mexico and other countries. I used to be paid $25,000 a month to play football then it moved to$30,000. Nuff of them want to be like me and they use me as a role model. However, I realize that if I get my leg broken or suffer a serious injury then I would not be able to play football again. So I went back to school and earned a degree from the GC Foster College in Spanish Town and now I am a Physical Education teacher. I always try to advise the youth to do the right thing; that is why I have chosen to remain in my community.”

Kim* is an aspiring music selector who has shown great ingenuity by single handedly assembling his own music set from just about anything he could put his hand on. “I used vehicle tape decks, computer hard drives, CD players, old speakers and other things. My set is used to provide entertainment at our fun day and other social events hosted by The Container Project.”
“On the social side, one of the problems affecting us here is crime such as robberies, violence and killings, but I am trying to cope with my music”.

Tasha* a seemingly well liked individual is one of many residents of what is known as Grave Yard, located down a bushy trail behind the container. According to Tasha, “nothing nah go on…jobs are hard to get. I have three CXC subjects and still can’t get a job. I have worked as a casher and I can do other things. At the moment I am doing some hair dressing. Whenever I get clients or the boys would come to me and pay me to plait their hair.”

Dave “Right now the community has a whole heap of problems. A whole heap of people round here don’t like me. They just see me and say I am bad influence and I don’t do anything good. I want to be a responsible person, take care of my family. Right now work is hard to get. If I move out of the community I might get a better chance. The politicians come for their own reason. Only the container project helps people. At least you can learn something.”

Palmer’s Cross currently suffers from a high level of single parenting and as a result many young men are without any kind of parental guidance so they form what is called a social mob where you have a lot of guys bonding together; they don’t have that social network at home so they have to find it elsewhere, but they are not gangs.

The other situation is that if another group of people from somewhere else sees one of them alone he could be shot, so bonding is a form of self preservation. According to Mervin, “we also try to emphasise that they should not travel alone but should do so in groups of three of four so that at least one of them would live to tell the tale should something happen.

“If you are the owner of an establishment and you see five young men come up and one of them asks you for a job you will not hire him because you would feel intimidated. However, the reality is that you cannot walk alone because if some other guys see you and have a problem with you they might shoot you.”

Palmer’s Cross has become a forbidden place where people who were born here do not want to come back which Mervin describes as cowardice and not wanting to take responsibility for a situation that they have helped to create. “If we had taken matters in hand earlier we would not have been in that situation right now”.

“So for me to say I can’t bother with them is not right because who is going to bother…I am from here. This is where I belong. I can go anywhere else in the world and be comfortable, but this is really home. If I don’t take care of my home and sweep it out who is going to sweep it out for me.”

The other problem the youngsters face is those who are able to get jobs have to find a balance. How do they deal with their readjustment to working life without making it seem as though they are ‘dissing’ the people who are here still and have not been as successful.

They have a job and can’t hangout with the guys and that also creates another kind of stigma in that it I am working the next thing to do is to get another place to live because the colleagues would refuse to visit you.

“The container is my little contribution to the community.”