Marlene McPherson photo
Destiny had a plan that saw a rewarding relationship between Loven Simmonds (left) and Dorrett Barton ...and the youth of St. Thomas.

Marlene McPherson, Outlook Writer

Loven Simmonds and Dorrett Barton were sharing their new-found Jamaican experiences during their travel from Yallahs to Morant Bay on the K's Sons bus recently. What they found out about each other was simply amazing!

Both had no idea what destiny had in store for them but read on and see how their paths converge and the results of that convergence.

A look at their biography and it's like déja vu. Both migrated to the United Kingdom at the age of 19, were trained as registered nurses and later specialist nurses.

Dorrett's speciality is in chemotherapy and oncology, culminating in 24 years of service while Loven did midwifery and psychiatry and later given responsibility as senior nurse for community nursing, her service amounting to 38 years.

If you think their careers followed the same path, just look at the women's personal lives. Both embrace the Christian way of life. Both are married with a family. Both have returned home to the parish of their birth, St. Thomas.

And look at their reasons for returning home.

"I wanted to retire and have an easier way of life, to take care of my mother and to have 12 hours of sunshine ...," quipped Loven.

"I wanted to be my own boss doing the things in my time and, of course, care for my mother," stated Dorrett.

But there was no real retirement and easy way of life as destiny had its mission to complete. Destiny had other plans for them that would see their activities this time converging. Both women came, saw and quickly became involved within their respective communities. Loven became the president of the Returning Citizen Association in Yallahs while Dorrett was vice-president of the Returning Citizen Association in the Morant Bay area; however, these affiliations were not catering to the young.

As they led these organisations, the needs of young people came home to them.

"...Especially the girls," Dorrett said, "it was as if there was no future, no hope. All you could see was pregnancy. We thought of giving them something that they could see a vision, a life of their own.

So the women arranged a meeting with youth representatives - four from Arcadia and five from John Town districts, their ages ranging from 17-28. The youth were asked what they wanted to do and they were responsive to the idea of community and tourism. This gave birth to the training programme - the St. Thomas Sustainable Development Organisation (SSDO) where experts taught young people about the hospitality industry. A total of 90 have so far graduated to work locally and in some cases overseas.

After two years, Loven and Dorrett have found it necessary to upgrade the programme and align it to the HEART Trust/NTA. They also relocated from the Anglican Church hall to the facilities of Social Development Commission in Spring Field. With this has come more teachers and an expansion in their training.

These stalwarts are not daunted by challenges they face. Instead, they use them as stepping stones for changes. They motivate the students to care for their children, encourage them to be punctual and to attend classes regularly. They inspire the youth to have a positive view of self and the application of resources. Both women have said that the ultimate goal is to develop in the students' acceptable work ethics and positive appreciation of self.

They lamented, however, that they were not getting men in the programme "because they cannot read."

As problem solvers, they would like to have six months of teaching of English language and mathematics as part of the programme. So far that's a dream.

But what is it like working together? enquired Outlook.

"It is about civic duty," responded Loven.

"It is very enjoyable, it is rewarding. You become attached and feel a part," added Dorrett. "It is just laughter a fun arguments. We have good laughter. One (of us) is more miserable than one (the other)."

Both eyed each other and burst into hiccups of laughter.