Vernado Walcott needs a new lease on life
When I just came here, I didn’t have anything to do, so I was just on the road every day. I used to do welding at high school and I would like to continue so I can get a certificate and go learn a trade and make some money to take care of myself.
MAY PEN, Clarendon: SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD VERNADO Walcott is trying hard to reintegrate himself into the society he once knew before he was carted off to a place of safety in Westmoreland. The Clifton Boys’ Home is where he spent the last six years because of some challenges at home.
“At Clifton, one of the ladies on staff took care of me like a mother would look after her child; she made me feel wanted. We went to school outside and went home in the evenings,” Walcott told Family and Religion, adding that he wasn’t able to sit the external exams because he had no one to pay for the subjects.
“In July, my mother called Clifton and told them she wanted me to come back home, so my staff mom packed my stuff and sent me on my way and when I came to Clarendon, my mother came to meet me.”
“When I just came here, I didn’t have anything to do, so I was just on the road every day. I used to do welding at high school and I would like to continue so I can get a certificate and go learn a trade and make some money to take care of myself,” he told Family and Religion. He says he would like to enrol in the HEART programme and perfect the skill since he already has basic knowledge in that area.
MOTHER PROVIDES BASICS
Currently, his mother provides the basic amenities for his living, but he has hopes of getting into a skills-training programme so he can turn his life around.
“Mi just need a likkle help to at least complete level one in the welding programme and probably move on to level two,” he pleaded, noting that if anyone could offer him a part-time job to make some money and hone his skills in the meantime, he would be grateful.
“To other young people who really don’t have a family, don’t give up, you can learn a skill and get a job and further yourself,” he said.