Thousands of Jamaican women carry the name of Pamela McNeil in their hearts. This unsung heroine who passed away on February 6th, was the Founder and first Director of the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF). In her 1998 report, 20 years after the founding of the WCJF, Mrs McNeil reported that the Foundation had seven main centres and seven (at present eight) outreach stations islandwide.
Mrs McNeil matched her passion for the education of teenage mothers with solid research which proved the social and financial worth of the programme. She wrote: “Dr. Sanshu Handa of the University of the West Indies also did a cost-benefit analysis of WCJF’s Programme for Adolescent Mothers, and … concludes that each Jamaican dollar invested in the WCJF Programme for Adolescent Mothers results in 6.7 dollars worth of benefits to society. In fact, due to the savings to the government, it now funds all salaries, wages and utility expenditures of the Women’s Centre.”
Mrs McNeil shared some of “the real achievements” of the WCJF : “A decrease in the negative societal attitudes formally displayed towards the teen mother; the breakdown of the barriers within the Ministry of Education and the changes in the Education Code (a regulatory law) to allow teenage mothers to return to the school system; the thousands of young women who have been able to achieve academic successes and social advancement; the scholastic achievements of the children of teen mothers involved in our programme.”
Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, in her tribute to Mrs McNeil noted that she was “a visionary who saw it as her purpose to take an active part in assisting teenage mothers to carry on with their education and realise their dreams.”
Some 50,000 graduates of the Women’s Centre of Jamaica have achieved successful careers. I have heard their stories and seen their resolve and confidence. We hold precious the memory of this good woman, Pamela McNeil who helped us to judge less and love more.
Jamaica Highlights 