Former gang member uses her story to encourage young people to desist from violent acts

0
977
xxxxxlocalcluster
- Advertisement -

By Theresa Goodwin

[email protected]

Growing up in a single-parent household with just her mother, *Jahiesha* had a yearning to be a part of something in hopes of filling the void she felt.

That yearning and need was satisfied when she entered the secondary school system and was introduced to a group of girls who she later said became like the family “I never had”.

What joining meant

To become a part of the sisterhood, Jahiesha had to show her loyalty to her new-found family and, according to her, that meant doing literally anything she was told.

She explained in our hour-long conversation that she was welcomed into the “sisterhood” after an older female whom she trusted, like a mother figure, took her to an abandoned building in St John’s late one evening and introduced her to 11 men who had sexual intercourse with her one after the other.

“I wanted a place to belong, my mother was not always around and I just wanted to belong to somebody that was what it meant for me at that time, whatever the gang wanted I was down for it and everything became natural after that.

“I recall her telling me that everything would have been okay just relax because the alternative would have been worst. And yes! I said female because society needs to know while these groups are formed in schools it is just a smaller fraction of a larger adult group,” Jahiesha said.

 She added that “the students in the different schools are used as bait to recruit people of their own age group but the adults are the ones who call the shots”.

After joining, the now 25-year-old said she felt alive as she was now among her sisters whom she did everything, from stealing from other children in school to the small grocery shops in close neighbourhoods.

“At that age, if you do not have a strong family background, wherever you find it, you are going to cling to it for dear life, a gang wherever. At that time, it was more important to me than eating.”

Here comes trouble

The rude awakening came after she started bouncing from one foster home to the next and was in and out of the Juvenile detention center.

The final straw was when she was arrested and taken to His Majesty’s Prison and calls to the person, she expected would have been there to offer assistance went unanswered.

Feeling alone, she started to rethink her choices and made a conscious decision that she had to break the cycle.

“I did not sleep for a couple of days; I could not see my friends and been in a place where my movement was being restricted felt like hell. I had a lot of time to think and I decided then that this is not what I want for life, that was it,” she recalled.

Getting out of the group

Being a gang member is already considered a very dangerous thing and moreso, the decision to leave the group.

Leaving becomes even harder and in most cases, fatal because as a member you may have information that could be shared with authorities like the police and there is a fear that once that information is shared it will put others in trouble with the law.

Jahiesha was, however, lucky to have survived the process after confiding in a judge who was handling her case. This led to a private meeting with another informant who provided useful information that led to the eventual dissolution of the group.

“I don’t know what the judge said but they were able to go to the homes of a number of these individuals with the assistance of the police. Some of the other girls were taken to the girls’ home and I was taken to live with a relative in the country, so I had no interaction with anyone at all as I feared for my life.

“I did not go to school anymore because they threatened to kill me and everything, they said they would have done to that point they did and because of that I never got to finish my secondary school education.”

Jahiesha said she decided to share her story following the upsurge of gang-related activities involving young people in the latter part of last year in an effort to encourage youth not to make the same choice as she did.

She said while she survived the ordeal this is not always the case, noting that one wrong choice could result in their death.

“I first thing I would want to say to young people is to think twice and if unfortunately, you are caught up in it speak to someone who can trust and that does not involve one of your fellow members, they should never know what your plans are planned.”

Looking back at her journey, Jahiesha said she has changed considerably. While she was desperate to be a part of something then, now the only thing she is interested in is being apart this “human race”.

“I do not feel the need to belong to anyone. It took a while but I had a couple of people who helped me to understand who I was and regained that part of me that I had lost because I did not trust anyone at the time, especially boys, but I am in a better place now”, she said.

*Jahiesha is the name given to the interviewee who wanted her identity withheld out of concern for her safety.*

- Advertisement -

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

4 × 1 =