Child Protection

KINGSTON, 3 November, 2011 – The brightly-coloured murals at the Eastern Peace Centre stand out vibrantly under the afternoon sunshine. It is strikingly quiet, until the sound of laughter emerges from a computer room where a group of boys are playing video games and browsing the web.

On a week day like this, in the world of their dreams, these young men would be hard at work. Instead, they spend their days visiting the Peace Centre or hanging out on the streets, wondering what will come of their lives if they don’t gain the skills and opportunities they need to be employed.

Nine of the boys, ranging in age from 18 to 21, gather outside to talk about their experiences in the Burgher Gully Project. The three-month UNICEF-supported initiative engaged 45 at-risk youth, from the poor and volatile community of Burgher Gully in Eastern Kingston, in daily structured activities at the Peace Centre. The youngest of these boys was 13 years old.

The boys – most of whom dropped out of school at age 13 – explain that they were trained in practical areas such as graphic design and bar-tending, and participated in interactive sessions on conflict resolution, anger management, relationship-building, child rights and income generation.

By getting them out of the community every day, Burgher Gully saved many of the boys and girls from being targeted for recruitment into neighbourhood gangs or other dangerous activities.

Twelve weeks later, a number of the participants have become gainfully employed or found ways to keep themselves busy and off the streets. But some of them are back to square one – biding their time, waiting for a golden opportunity that may never come. 

Frustration runs high most days. “We are tired of people making promises they can’t keep,” says 18 year-old Shavon, one of the most vocal in the group. “We go from one programme to the next, but what we need is to learn skills.”

During Burgher Gully, the participants were asked to create a life plan – to use a blank paper symbolizing their life and reflect on what they wished to attain in the future. Today, as they talk about their lives, the boys wonder out loud if they will ever achieve their ambitions. Most of them want to be farmers, engineers or music producers.

They don’t quite know where to start on the road to fulfilling their goals, or if they can trust in the government or development agencies to give them a hand. When twenty-one year-old Shawn reminds the group, “the first place you need to get help from is yourself”, the others agree.

Despite their troubles, the boys remain hopeful about their future. Life in a tough community has taught them skills of survival and resilience. They understand that their journey towards a better life will take time.

Across the globe, UNICEF is focusing more time and effort on children like the Burgher Gully  – children who are the most vulnerable and often the hardest to reach, who need to find a sustainable way out of poverty. The challenge is difficult. And for these boys, it is urgent – it cannot wait.