1. UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, JAMAICA
Declaration of Authorship
FACULTY:___Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies________
School/ Department: _Schoolof Humanities and Social Sciences_________
Course Code & Title: Fundamentals of Journalism
Submitted To: Mr. Smith
SubmittedBy: Kedesh McFarlane 1200695
Date of Submission: November 30, 2015
Title of Assignment:
Featured Article
Declaration: I certify that I am the author of this paper and that any assistance I received in its
preparation is fully acknowledged and disclosed in the paper. I have also cited all the sources from
whichI usedvisuals,data,ideas or words, either quoted directly or paraphrased. I also certify that this
paperwas preparedbyme specificallyforthiscourse.Ialsounderstandthata grade will notbe assigned
without the submission of this agreement.
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3. The Exodus of Janet
Writer: Kedesh McFarlane
1 Althea Roberts visits a patient in their home in
Woodford, St. Andrew in early 2015.
It was William J. H. Boetcker who
said, “the difficulties and struggles of today
are but the price we must pay for the
accomplishments and victories of
tomorrow.”Althea Grace Roberts
affectionately called: Mummy, Janet,
Browning and Robby truly epitomize what
Boetcker meant during her fifty-three
years on this island called Jamaica. Now a
nurse due to her affectionate and caring
personality towards others, Janet works at
the Gordon Town Health Centre. Her story
like many started with the dream killer
called poverty. She was the first of seven
children which meant her responsibilities as
a child/teen were endless. Janet was not
daunted by the many mouths her parents had
to feed or the many hands that had to be
greased by the scarce treasure of money.
Life taught her from an early age
how to be patient and tenacious. At the age
of 25 she was blessed with her first child,
Kerice Walker. She now realised that her
priorities had to be altered, which was no

4. problem for this already loving individual.
She did not have money nevertheless her
child was well taken care of no matter how
callous cost was for her. At the age of 28 she
was blessed with another child, Kayan
Walker. You would think that she would
give up with the little help she received from
the father of the two girls, but love for her
children revitalize her every single day and
she did everything humanly possible to
contribute to her children’s life.
Growing up without the strong
caring presence of a father, Janet learned
how to be independent and how to care for
her children the way she wanted to be cared
for, especially after ending the relationship
with the father of her kids. “I was stressed
out, depressed and mawga dung. Yu neva
waa si how mi look man.” her words to
describe her venture into single parenting.
With the help from mother Carmen Watson
and Grandmother Ida Jonas she was able to
work in Kingston while the kids stayed in
St. Mary with their grandparents. This she
described as a trying time to be away from
her children, not wanting to have a minimal
presence in their upbringing.
Nevertheless she had a burning fire
to halt the distance from her children. She
hopped from radio room control at the Atlas
security company to store clerk in
Downtown Kingston then to domestic work
to finance education and health for her
family. “Days work hard. Fi sidung ina
people back yaad a clean up jus fi put food
and clothes pan wi back neva easy... a God
alone know how much mi cry” she
expressed.

5. But an intimate chat with a primary
school teacher of her daughters, Ms.
Rainford, was about to open doors in her
life. Ms. Rainford, she described as a helpful
woman, who gave much financial assistance
with extra-lessons and school trips for the
her daughters. “If I didn’t send them to
school it would be a problem cause she
would call me and ask what’s the matter,
why Kayan and Kerice not at school?” Janet
explained. With a soft embarrassed tone she
said she would normally reply, “Miss I
didn’t have the money to send them today.”
Just a simple question like: ‘what do
you want to do?’ from Ms. Rainford
changed the cold season in Janet and her
daughters’ lives. She replied, “nursing.”
Then and there she started to enquire about
nursing schools and the cost. Not bothered
with the issue of financing nursing school,
she registered for CXC subjects (Caribbean
Examination Council) as a prerequisite to
the nursing course. The rest was history she
described it as. A long last childhood friend
made contact with her and opted to pay her
way through Wilmot’s Academy Nursing
School. “From that mi stop plan and jus mek
God lead” she said.
Janet landed a job right after her
course ended and within two years she was
promoted to staff. Her dreams were finally
on their way but an obstacle tried to bar
them. Her age was an issue with the
National Housing Trust (NHT); she was too
old to independently apply for her own
home. But luckily by that time her older
daughter Kerice was now a teacher at the
Holy Family Primary School, who merged

6. their savings to make deposit on a house in
Longville Park Clarendon. They now own
their home for a year and a month. “Things
still not the way I want them to be. But
when I look back at living in a one bed room
with my kids, doing days work for long
hours to late nights while they were home
alone, I must say I’m truly blessed. I have
stopped planning, God holds the future.”
2 At her home in Longville Park Clarendon Althea poses in
her garden back in 2015.
Althea didn’t allow her many struggles to
frustrate her focus on being successful and
giving her children a life she didn’t have.
She played the game of life well, using faith
and rejecting pride to overcome. “I believe
in happiness. Every man is responsible for
their own happiness. I will continue to instil
that in my girls” she said. Her daughters
now grown, the older being a teacher and
recently graced with a baby boy, the
younger an entrepreneur in Cosmetology.
And what makes her different from other
single moms, “I remain humble and trust
God...I’m a superwoman” she replied.