Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
PALS programme officer at Charlie Smith High School Reverand Juanita Peekvary with students. Ross Sheild Photo
VOLUNTEER TODAY had just arrived at a Peace and Love in Society (PALS) class at Charlie Smith High School, Trench Town. Some of the girls from 8-1 had entered the classroom late, after lounging on the staircase beforehand.
Their classmates already seated expressed strong disapproval. One girl attempted to close the grille on the latecomers. "Cuase that's how they stay miss," she protested.
In the midst is the school's volunteer PALS programme officer, an infectiously enthusiastic woman in her mid-70s. Originally from Detroit Michigan, Reverend Juanita Peekvary is "God's gift to our school," said Vice-Principal Valerie Hibbert.
Rev. Peekvary coolly waves the girls back. They have interrupted the class and must wait outside until the current discussion comes to an end.
The students have received another quick and simple lesson in how to resolve disputes peacefully. The latecomers understood they should not barge in and likewise their classmates not to exclude others.
Begun in 1994, PALS currently operates in over 150 Jamaican schools. Its sole aim is to diffuse the culture of violence that permeates from the community into the classroom. Recently the acronym was adjusted from 'Schools' to 'Society', in acknowledgement of the wider context of violence in which PALS operates.
UNFLINCHING IN HER COMMITMENT
And to carry the programme into the schools, win over sometimes reluctant teachers and educate parents and students, are volunteers such as Rev. Peekvary. Training the 24 peer mentors, meeting with parents and liaising with Charlie Smith's 28 teachers, she is unflinching in her commitment to the school which she has served since 2003.
The former Peace Corps volunteer came to Jamaica for her two years in 1997 and, like others before, she stayed.
But none of this would have happened had she not almost died from a brain aneurysm in 1984. Doctors told her family she would likely die or be left in a vegetative state or unable to walk again. But this is a determined woman, one who, as she claims, negotiated with God to get herself out of her wheelchair.
"So I told God I'll do anything in exchange, anything that you want me to do and this is what he wanted me to do. I looked for any reason or excuse but I did study for the ministry and after that he told me to join Peace Corps," she said.
Her husband and her church, both based in Detroit, regularly send barrels to her. She regards herself and her husband as investors investors in people.
"My church at home will say that we need to pray for her but we really need to pray for the children here. There are a lot of bright youngsters, but they will probably never reach an institution of higher learning," she said.
PALS, she believes, gives hope. "PALS has taught them to control the anger 'the violence in me'. My job is to make the children understand what is disrespect and for them to change that behaviour."
It is an uphill struggle she admits but not one she will give up: "Children are God's blessing to us, I have to stay here."
For more information or to volunteer contact PALS: 967-3795.
