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Gillian Rowlands, owner of Hamilton Knight Associates
and Francine Staple, 2014 Career Hall of Fame inductee. |
Gillian Rowlands, the owner of Hamilton Knight Associates, a
career and human resource company, had just finished a full day of job
informational talks and presenting hall of fame awards. Now in the early
evening, she sat on a bench outside the Grand Jamaica Suite at the Pegasus Hotel
where the event was held last night with Francine Staple. The two have a long
relationship. “I thought you were going to cry,” Staple said to Rowlands. The
company owner gave a demure deflection to the statement, but it was clear Staple read her correctly.
Rowlands knew better than most the hardships Staple has had to overcome in her
life and the miracle she is currently.
Staple along with lawyer, Charlotte Lee Bernard and educator,
Dr. Jean Thelma Small were Hamilton Knights 2014 Career Hall of Fame Inductees.
They were part of the company’s 12th Anniversary Careers &
Lifestyles Expo/Symposium & Job Fair in which representatives from
organizations talked about their programs to students and those looking for
work. Individuals from the Ministry of Labor talked about employment
opportunities; educational institutions such as the Jamaica Library Services, the
University of West Indies, Mico University, Jamaica Theological Seminary and
Abilities Foundation (Skills Training for Persons with Disabilities) informed
students about their programs and companies such as Fashionable Wigs & Hair
Clinic, Hecoin and Club Kingston told everyone about their services.
Rowlands first met Staple when the inductee was 19 years
old. Later Staple worked as her personal assistant. But as a teenager Staple had already
overcome a lot in life. She was given away by her mentally ill mother who wondered the streets, at two
years old; lived in a home for girls, became pregnant at 18 years old, and by 19
was living with her son under a tent in Kingston. Staple said living in a girl’s
home was a great experience for her because she shared her life with other
young women. But when she became homeless she often had no food to eat and
remembers how badly she was sometimes treated. She told of going to an older
woman’s house on a Monday hoping she'd be offered leftovers from Sunday
dinner. The woman claimed to have no food but Staple had to go into her closet
for something. While in the closet she saw the woman’s pots with the rice and
peas, and meat inside. She didn’t take any of the food because it became clear she wasn’t
welcomed anymore.
“Francine went through the mill. To be born poor, to be
homeless and motherless,” said Rowlands. “I remember when she came to me, she
had so many emotional strugles and sometimes bitter experiences of how people
treated her because to be poor is like a sin. I’m not saying everybody thinks
like that but you do have a lot of that still. Whereby [individuals say] ‘those
people, a whole pile of poor people’ and ‘what are you going to do with them,’
but a lot of our talent comes out of ‘those people’ and when are you [going to
invest in them?] You see we’re not long-term thinkers too because the return
on investment and education takes a little time.
“There are some things that are still elitist in our
culture,” she continued. “The things that are still seen through that lens of
colonialism. The colonials have moved beyond it and are beginning to be more
egalartarian. We’re still caught up in a lot of those things; those things,
being a sense of privilege and social position and so on.”
“Working Local, Going Global,” was the theme for the event.
Students from The Queens School, Rowlands’s alma mater, Greater Portmore High
School and others were present. Throughout the day, Rowlands spoke of the practical
approaches in finding employment but tried to encourage the students by letting
them know that “success is right here in your DNA. You have to believe it and
you have to demand it.” At the same time that she was talking about
unemployment or underemployment she was also encouraging the students to begin
to think of their choices which might be globally. “Expand our visions, dream
beyond our shores,” she told them.
All the inductees met those standards. Staple credits Rowlands
as “the one who guided my career path in terms of how to choose my career.”
Now she has a Masters in Security Risk Management from the University of
Leicester in England. Staple is the first Jamaican woman to receive the
designation of Physical Security Professional. Currently she is the manager for
Security & Safety at the Kingston Container Terminal where she has to guard
against drug trafficking and corruption, among other nefarious activities. The
terminal is the largest of its kind in the Caribbean.
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Jean Bernard, mother of Charlotte, Diana McIntyre-Pike,
former Career Hall of Fame Inductee and Charlotte Bernard,
2014 inductee with award. |
Charlotee Lee Bernard is the legal counsel and International
Commercial Arbitrator for the Brady Corporation in Wisconsin, USA. Bernard spoke
of her heritage of a Jamaican mother and American father and how her Jamaican
grandfather who was a pharmacist inspired her to work hard. Her American father was a
naval pilot and Bernard spent her childhood living in numerous countries. “I
stopped counting after 30,” she laughed. She attended John Hopkins University
for her undergraduate degree and went to Wisconsin Law School.
“It was incredible to
see all the young people that turned out,” said Bernard. “It was also
wonderful to see all of the vendors basically addressing all of the unique
opportunities that are here in Jamaica. I feel very honored to have received
this award and to be in such great company with so many amazing female
professionals who have done so much to change the world. I’m really very
humbled right now.”
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| Dr. Jean Thelma Small |
When Rowlands presented the award to Dr. Jean Thelma Small
she immediately said “there is nothing small about this woman.” At 80 years
old, Small dressed in a relaxed black pantsuit, has a strong voice. She was
born in Guyana but has lived in Jamaica from 1954. Small graduated from the
University of the West Indies with a degree in Foreign Languages – French, Spanish
and Latin and has been an educator since. But she has also worked as a
playwright, actress, cultural ambassador and puppeteer. After she retired form
teaching, she went on to get her Doctor of Philosophy and currently uses
puppeteer to teach children.
“I feel that after 50 odd years of working to still be
recognized
for what I have done is just something, it’s indescribable the joy I
feel today and the gratitude,” she said. Small stayed through the end of the
event but then went to the Alliance Francaise where she was schedule to teach a
French class.
When everyone left and the cleaning crew was clearing out
the room, Rowlands and Staple were still in the area of the bench talking. Stories of the
past and present were shared. But Rowlands pointed out that when Staple was financially able to she found her mother, took her off the streets and placed her in a home. Amidst all the tales, Rowlands was clear about her mentees future,
“Francine is going to go on to greater things,” she said. By all accounts that
would be a true statement.
