Her unconditional generosity has touched and changed the lives of many children. Claudette Richardson-Pious has devoted her life to Children First, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that caters to the needs of children who are HIV positive, dropouts and those who have never been to school.

Children First started out in 1997 with 50 children but has grown to 3,000. Also, the NGO offers service indirectly to 22,000 children. The agency was born out of the unselfish zeal that Pious had for children who needed to be be rescued.

In the early '90s, she was a teacher at Kingston College. Some of the boys would skip school, which made her uneasy. One day, she followed them but lost them in Half-Way Tree. She befriended one of the boys who told her they usually go down to the Hope River. Another day, she went to the river in search of them. She found about 10 boys just hanging out. She spent the day with them and talked. She found that they had many problems. Some had no lunch money, others had issues with their stepmothers, and some were from abusive homes. The river was their way of escaping it all.

"I spoke with them about the importance of education. One boy told me he didn't believe he would go further because his father quarrelled with him every day," she said.

It was out of that experience sherealised that there was a need for a special programme that would assist children. At the time, the Jamaican branch of the United Kingdom charity, Save the Children, needed a project officer. Though she had no experience in social work, she applied for the post and got it. When that organisation withdrew from Jamaica, she was left with the choice to move on or continue her project.

"I had a lot of young people depending on me so I could not close the project. I took it with a big heart because Save the Children gave them everything free and I wondered were I would get all these things to give them."

REFUGE

However, things worked out and today, Children First is refuge to many children. Since then, she changed the model from welfare and took a developmental approach. This approach gave the children a voice in everything that goes on.

Aside from helping children in need, she has the natural knack to make people laugh. Her speech pattern and her gestures tend to set you off into an explosion of laughter. Her passion for drama began while attending Manchester High School. She later blossomed into a stalwart performer.

While she did theatre, she was also involved with Children First. She told Flair that that assisted her in keeping the organisation afloat. However, two years ago, she realised that there was not enough happening in her personal development in theatre. "Plus, it was time to stop the 'fat jokes'," she said.

Therefore, she took a break from theatre and from doing her PhD at the University of Cambridge to focus on Children First. She notes that there is too much development going on with the agency and it is at a strange juncture currently. "When I thought about bringing the agency to this stage and for it to die, it was major sacrifice, so I decided to spend more time with it and a put off studies for another year."

LOCATION

The agency is also battling with the whole matter of location. But they have been in negotiation with the National Heritage Trust to find a permanent home. Currently, they operate four campuses, three in Spanish Town and one in Old Harbour Bay. Children who attend the school are dropouts, those who have never been to school and children living with HIV/AIDS. The school functions as a family-based entity. Parents are encouraged to be a part of their children's education. Children are usually evaluated then placed according to their abilities. When the time is right, they are moved into skills training or into the formal school. Also, parents are allowed to learn a trade.

Pious also works with the Ministry of National Security in five correctional institutions, Tower Street, South Camp, Rio Cobre, St Catherine and Fort Augusta. In these institutions, she works on eliminating stigma and discrimination. Last year, they received the United States Embassy Ambassador's grant to assist with the HIV/AIDS sensitisation in the correctional institution.

STIGMA, DISCRIMINATION

Despite the effort of ardent workers such as Pious, stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS still exists today. She said stigma and discrimination are hard to grapple with. "A lot, too, is self-discrimination and we have to work on developing their self-esteem and getting them back on track."

Pious has received many awards for her selfless contribution to humanity and community development.

She acknowledges that she is blessed and God would not put her here and not provide for her so she can continually do the work she is doing. She pointed out, too, that in five years time, she hopes to pass on the Children First torch to a junior management team, which is presently in training, and should be ready by that time to take over. Also, she wants a permanent place for the agency and to finish her studies and take up writing. But most of all, she wants to the Children First model to take off nationally or even globally.

Pious is married and has four children. Her spare time is spent by coming up with creative ways to make the agency better.