It’s a hot summer day as I sit in my hotel room, here in Jamaica, contemplating on what to do with my life and its struggles. As a single mother of four, an entrepreneur, and an emotional and mental abuse survivor, my life seems to be like and a roller-coaster. Its been quite a while since I gave some time to my ultimate joy ¨writing¨ so I’ve decided to find myself again. Laptop in hand I race to the nearest yet most comfortable seat, turn on the computer, sign into WordPress, and suddenly I’m already feeling different. As my fingers begin to strike the keys, everything I’ve been thinking and feeling just starts rushing through my brain. Which topic do I discuss first? What issue should I address? What do I need to release from my mind the most? Confused by what seemed to be millions of thoughts going at once, I continue to write.
Its been four long years since I have been juggling parenting, entrepreneurship, and volunteering all at once. As a single mother you can imagine how crazy this truly is. I have come from a long past of abuse, depression, failures, and losses; However, at the same time I’ve experienced gains, happiness, and many accomplishments. For this reason I chose to found my charity Single Mothers in Progress in 2009. It took me two years just to even register the business as I was not really sure where I truly wanted it to go. Finally in 2011 I made up my mind and became a registered non-profit organization. I could barely support my own family at the time but I was determined to make a program that will change the struggles of mothers like myself. So no matter the hard times I continued to fight. Time and time again coming to a point where I felt to just throw my hands in the air and walk away never to return. But nothing in life worth doing is ever easy so why waste so many years trying and not see the end result. For this reason I continued on my journey. For one year I worked on my application to become a registered charity. Finally with what seemed like 5 encyclopaedias I stood proud with my application completed and in hand in March 2012. Praying for my application to be approved I continued to provide my programs and services to the community. With the support of volunteers provided to me mostly by ¨Volunteer MBC¨ I have been able to support my community but in a manner very far from SMIP’s ultimate goal. With joy and tears I continued to support my organization by volunteering my time and every dollar I had to support the families registered to my charity.
As a child I never thought my family loved me due to the fact that so many horrible things happened to me. However some of the same people I thought never loved me are those who for the past year have been doing everything possible to assist me with my children and this dream to make a difference across the world. Since November 2012 I have been providing SMIP programs and services in Jamaica. This has caused me to have missed 7 months, on and off, from my babies. The excruciating pain of hearing my children tell me they want me to come home rings in my mind everyday. All I can say to myself is soon well be together again. Now I am a mother, a survivor, and the founder of a Registered Charity. Charity Registration # 806672805RR0001. Yes, that´s right! The application was approved , finally, in March 2013.
I can remember the moment I got the approval like it was yesterday. However that was by phone. It was up until July 2013 when it was finally posted on the CRA website. Tears filled my eyes as I watched SMIP appear in the charity search. Even though I know all things are possible, and I teach this to my mothers, it finally gave me another example that there was nothing I couldn’t do if I just stayed focus and believed.
For many years people would say I was many things like a bum, waste, ugly, and it has affected my life today in a variety of ways both good and bad. My father and his family disowned me many years ago. Suddenly in June this year my father opened the doors of communication again. Will this time be anything like before? Will he actually accept me and support me?
For the next 30 days I will take you, my readers, on a journey. I can assure you this journey will be filled with joy and tears that will keep you glued in your seat and your eyes on your computer screen. Each day I will discuss topics including my past and how I use it in my everyday life, a walk through my past, reuniting with my father and meeting my two baby brothers, the journey to the success or failure of SMIP, the journey with my children during this hard time, and my goal of a future trip to Africa to launch SMIP.
Can you guess both who and what are my inspirations? Will I be able to save SMIP from currently shutting down after growing past the means of the financial support I alone can provide? If you enjoy true stories, with emotional experiences so intense you feel them yourself, and happiness that brings joy in your heart please stay tuned.