Thanks Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation

MAURICIO HARRISON, is from the Lakes Pen community in St Catherine. He describes his childhood years as normal, in the sense that he had access to basic resources, and was given the opportunity to a good education by his parents.

“I have parents that are firm believers in having an education and being educated, hence I would never miss a day of school, even when I was sick. I attended church, where I would play musical instruments, and I was involved in my community’s football programme, where I played for the team for two consecutive years,” Harrison said.

Harrison is a beneficiary of the Grace & Staff Community Development Foundation who has been receiving assistance with school tuition. He was also a Jamaica Cultural Development Commission awardee through the foundation’s Photography Club.

“I am not from a family with a very strong financial background, so you can just imagine the significance of that monetary contribution to someone like me, who is willing and ready to work hard to achieve something,” Harrison said.

Current, a student of the Caribbean Maritime University, Harrison is grateful for the support of his parents and the encouragement and motivation he received during his early years.

He is currently a final-year student pursuing a bachelor’s degree marine engineering. As part of his study, Harrison has had the opportunity to sail for four months (during the summer of 2019) on a supply vessel as a marine engineering cadet.

“I remember one particular year in university when my mother and I were discussing my tuition and payment plan. After accumulating the funds we had, we fell short by at least a third of the total. At the that time we didn’t know where that money would come from because Grace & Staff had already issued a grant for the first semester,” he said.

“My mommy trusted God for this situation and He came through, through Grace & Staff. I was a beneficiary for two semesters. Thank God, and thanks to the Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation,” he added. MAURICIO HARRISON Student/Beneficiary