‘Fostering’ and nurturing life
“I am what I am because of what she taught me,” Brissette said.
“My childhood was rough and abusive,” recalled Brissette, abandoned as a child and brought up by her grandmother.
BOOKS AS AN ESCAPE
Growing up in Jubilee, a community in St James, survival was an uphill task for Brissette, who sought refuge in Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. “My only escape from the challenges, where I saw girls in the community having babies were my books, I never wanted to go that route,” she said, with a glimmer of teary sadness in her eyes.
Brissette’s challenges were numerous but she managed to stay afloat and keep her sanity and integrity intact. Faced with a daunting task and an equally uncertain future, her took a turn for the better in December of 1994 when she met Charmine Johnson-Garwood.
Johnson-Garwood, a Cambridge High School, St James Alma Mater sent a request to the past student association to select a student who needed help on a personal front, to be her foster daughter.
Keisha Brissette was selected, but it was not ‘love at first sight’; an incident the mother and daughter duo laugh off.
“I saw this young girl in pretty dress and looking no where near needing help,” Johnson-Garwood said, “I told the school that I wanted to help someone in need.” “I was merely trying to be like her,” Brissette interjected.
But over a period of a month things were ironed out, as both got to know and understand each other. Brissette found a new home and a new lease of life.
“Keisha is my fourth foster daughter,” Johnson-Garwood proudly professed.
Being a parent comes naturally to Charmine Johnson-Garwood, who took up responsibility of mothering her five younger siblings when she was sixteen. “Parenting became a cooperative venture and I was the lead parent,” she recalled.
As she was spreading the fragrance of her love and caring for her siblings, the path she was treading was no bed of roses, it had it share of thorns. She faced numerous personal challenges, from violence to abuse; but Johnson-Garwood took up a cue from a responsibility that was thrust on her as a youngster to reach out and make a difference in the lives of children who had no parents as their foster mother.
“I wanted to reach out to these children and ensure that they are not deprived of the opportunities they deserve and more importantly go off track,” Johnson-Garwood, who biological mother to two sons, said.
As a high school drop-out, Johnson- Garwood pledged to stand by teenage girls, giving guidance where she can to stop the cycle of teen-age pregnancy. She has been engaged in initiatives to assist less privileged teenage girls to complete high school and college education. Though, she wants that a concerted effort is needed towards touching the lives of youngsters, most of the times people hand over money, which, according to her, is least of the requirements.
“Money is not a problem, children need love, commitment and support,” she said. “We (Jamaicans) are articulate but don’t implement.”
But she treads along - her hard work, love and dedication is reaping rewards, Brissette is a teacher at Jamaica College where she teaches Language, Literature and Literacy.
Brissette was also editor, presenter and producer for the programme ‘Court T.V’ and has been working with Jambiz International as a part-time producer and playwright for the last four years.
“I am often asked by my children, how they can repay me,” Johnson-Garwood said, “I tell them just go out in the world and succeed, that’s my reward.”
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