Earth Today | Local foundation makes conservation count for children, youth
Published:Thursday | May 20, 2021 | 12:11 AM
WITH THE experience of COVID-19 exposing the vulnerability of children to abuse, Africka Stephens is more determined than ever to serve Jamaica's young people through her foundation, 'Fi We Children', and with a focus on, among other things, environmental conservation.
“Growing up, it was always a dream to operate a children's home or a group that can help children who were abused, based on what I was seeing around me, and with my friends,” the Hampton School and Mount Alvernia High School graduate told The Gleaner.
That dream led to the now law student at The University of the West Indies establishing her foundation in February 2019.
“There was verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and even if you reported it to a parent (for example), they didn't believe you. There wasn't really a voice for children; they were hushed,” added the founder and chair for the non-profit organisation.
In order to help children be heard, A Fi We Children is engaged in a range of activities, including efforts to preserve the natural environment for the children, which is so necessary for them to thrive.
“We participate in beach clean-ups and do greening activities,” Stephens explained.
The foundation has also had occasion to make an intervention in Hanover that looked at the ills of children eating fish from drains.
“I had gone on a visit to Hanover and saw children fishing in drains and then eating the dirty fish. I immediately went to an Internet café and wrote a letter to the mayor,” Stephens recalled.
What followed was an initiative undertaken with the support of youth volunteers from Hanover and neighbouring St James, and the National Solid Waste Management Authority.
They distributed education and communication material door to door at fishing huts and a few homes along the Lucea seaside while waste was removed from the area.
The Hanover activity is also evidence of another element of the work of the foundation: advocacy. That advocacy has extended to things like lobbying for the inclusion of sign language training in schools, even as they have raised funds to support efforts aimed at getting tablets into the hands of children in need.
The latter has been especially important in the pandemic, with many children having to join online classes from home.
“There is a digital divide and tablets are essential,” said Stephens, who is supported by a team of other young people, including an international relations and economics graduate now pursuing a master's in government; a doctor in training; and another lawyer in training, who together comprise the board of directors.
“We have a Go Fund Me to raise USD 3,000 to get tablets to students. So far we have raised USD1,000 of the USD 3,000,” Stephens said.
Some four tablets are already in the hands of students with another three on the way.
The foundation has also raised money for skills training for young people with the HEART/NSTA Trust.
Ten scholarships were offered to students from St Catherine to pursue certification in electrical engineering, bartending, hospitality and early-childhood education.
Ultimately, Stephens said, her goal is to help people understand that Jamaica's children and young people are everybody's business.
“Many people see and hear things and say nothing because they say, 'It is not my business'. We need to stop that. You cannot hear someone getting beaten every day and not call somebody to ask what is happening or, not report it to the Child Protection and Family Services Agency,” she said.
“We want persons to look themselves in the mirror and say, 'I can help a child today.' If you see a child on the road walking and crying, stop and ask, 'Are you ok?' That is your duty. These are the nation's children and we should stand up for them, especially when their immediate family can't. They are our children.”
Information about Fi We Children Foundation can be accessed via Link Tree at https://linktr.ee/fiwechildrenja.