- Norman GrindleyChristopher Smith, foreground, and Linton Smith, auto body repairmen at Operation Friendship, prepare the JIG to straighten the chassis of a motor car that was bent out of shape in an accident.
Lynford Simpson, Staff Reporter
IT IS most aptly described as an oasis in an inner-city community.
For nearly 40 years, Operation Friendship has provided young people in many of the Corporate Area's inner-city communities and rural Jamaica with a skill, in the process, giving them a start in life.
From Monday to Friday each week, youngsters willing to make the sacrifice to attend classes are trained in woodwork, metal work, electrical welding, sewing and auto body repairs among other things at Operation Friendship's headquarters at 2C Bell Road, Kingston 11.
Today Auto Feature focuses on the Auto Body shop and the three talented instructors who readily pass on their knowledge to youngsters eager to equip themselves with a skill.
In their six years together at the institution, Christopher Smith and Linton Smith, who are cousins, and Oral Angus have tutored at least 250 youngsters in the art of body repairs and spraying. Another 20 are expected to start a 10-month course beginning tomorrow.
Christopher told Auto Feature that the programme is made possible with the assistance of Food for the Poor which is providing an allowance for the instructors. He explained that the youths are drawn from both urban and rural communities and will be in training until July 2001.
"Training will be every day except for weekends," the instructor with 15-years experience under his belt told Auto Feature.
He will be working alongside his cousin, Linton, who has been fixing smashed-up motor vehicles for the last 10 years. Completing the team is Oral Angus, who does the spraying.
The three who grew up together in the Kingston 13 area, have been together for the past six years at Operation Friendship.
"I was taught by my uncle," said Christopher, adding that "wi born inna it." He explained that both he and Linton were always hanging out at some garage where their uncle or father worked.
It was by chance that the three came work together. Christopher had gone to a Justice of the Peace, Webster Edwards, to have him sign some documents, when the JP, while examining the documents, realised that he was an auto body repair man. Mr. Webster who runs Operation Friendship and who was looking for an instructor for the Auto Body shop invited Christopher for an interview. Christopher, in turn, invited Linton and Oral. They were all asked to report for work and have been together since.
The three do an expert job and are known to have transformed vehicles so badly smashed up they were headed for the scrap heap. They are at home on the JIG, a body straightener, that can realign vehicles that have been involved in the worst accidents.
Despite their tremendous talent, there is hardly enough work for the trio at times. They are appealing for additional private sector support, pointing out that many of the youths who start the training programme are forced to quit because of a lack of bus fare or lunch money.
"Sometimes from a class of 20, only eight complete the course," Christopher said.
He said that despite Operation Friendship's primary function as a training school, they welcomed any job. "We would be interested in repairing the vehicles of Government departments and agencies," said Linton. He added that it would be done at prices difficult to beat "with no compromise to quality."
