Former state wards make mom proud
Taken from her as infants, she fought to get them back
When three of Gloria Reid’s children were admitted into state care in 2011, her life was turned upside down.
But despite the many challenges she faced, Reid fought hard to get her children back, and now, 12 years later, they are still striving to make her proud.
Last Thursday at the Child Protection and Family Services Agency ‘s educational achievement award ceremony, Reid could not contain her excitement as her 19-year-old identical twins, Reacheal and Reasheal Wallace, walked proudly across the stage to collect their awards for their performances in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams.
“I’m very proud, I’m very pleased, because they have been through it and they didn’t have to be doing what they’re doing now; they could be doing worse. They’ve never run away yet; them never do violence; them never, never drink; suh I’m proud of them. Them have a strong mindset, them have a goal, and them reach forward to it, so I’m very happy,” Reid said as she burst out in laughter.
Currently, Reacheal is pursuing an associate degree in business and management at the Portmore Community College. She hopes to become an entrepreneur by owning a supermarket in Old Harbour, St Catherine. Reasheal is studying general agriculture at the HEART/ NSTA Trust’s Ebony Park Academy. She hopes to become a farmer as well as a soldier.
Despite hearing discouraging comments from unkind peers who knew that they were living in state care, Reacheal and Reasheal always motivated each other as well as their 18-year-old brother, who will be sitting his CSEC exams this year.
“Nuff people did seh wi nah guh come out to nothing, but we always push wi one another … . We all compete with each other, because if she come first this year, mi know seh mi afi come first next year, especially when mi see seh a just a few marks she get above mi. Suh wi compete with each other and challenge each other fi push it, because wi afi mek it out,” Reacheal said, smiling.
Reid told THE STAR that at the time when the children were taken from her, she had left them with their father to work in St Elizabeth. After hearing the bad news, she returned to Old Harbour and tried to get them back. But due to her limited resources and living conditions, she could not. Still, she did not give up. She worked hard to fulfil the requirements to have her children back.
“Losing my kids was a lot. When mi lose my kids, come een like mi lose part a mi soul. That’s why mi fight suh hard to get them back. I really did, believe mi. Mi tek care a dem hair, mi duh everything. I wasn’t eating, wasn’t sleeping. It wasn’t my option, because six years is a lot of years,” Reid said. As part of her plan to get her children back, she took money that she had saved to extend her house, so that all her children could have their own comfortable rooms.
For Reacheal and Reasheal, being away from their mother was a painful experience, and for years they hoped anxiously for the day they would be reunited with her. To this day, their reunion remains one of their most memorable moments.
“When mommy did come fi pick wi up wi seh, ‘Yes, wi a guh home.’ We were so excited,” Reacheal said.
“I felt so happy, I felt elated. When we hear seh wi mother a come fi wi, we literally walk round and tell everybody. We were so happy, we mek sure wi pack everything, and yuh see as she come, wi just run and hug har up,” Reasheal added.