Sonia Mitchell, Gleaner Writer

Robert David Shaw: the Drummonds had a lot of love in their hearts for their foster children.

It's as though the name Robert David Shaw does not exist, as it was given to him by the Government. And there is a new dawn in the life of Nicketa Lawrence-Burchell, which was once filled with disappointment and despair.

Shaw and Lawrence-Burchell, who once lived in foster homes in Jamaica, are now charting successful careers.

Shaw, 30, is currently employed as a production manager at Northern Caribbean University's Media Services Department. He graduated from the institution in 2007, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communication and is completing his Associate of Science degree in social work.

Strong youth leader

Shaw, who was born at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Kingston and received his early education at Edwin Allen High School, is president of Chapelton Police Youth Club, in Clarendon.

"This to say, that even though one is from a marginalised environment, that doesn't not mean that that individual is marginalised," said Shaw.

He met Wycleff and Sylvia Drummond, along with their two children and five other foster children in Clarendon when he went to live with them in the 1980s. He was the youngest of the six foster kids.

The Government paid them a stipend of $900 every two months towards upkeep, which could hardly maintain the poor family.

"We had to go around the community to beg food, and clothes for church and school," Shaw recalled. "But the Drummonds had a lot of love in their heart for their foster children."

Shaw recounted the violent attacks and abuse on him by residents in the Clarendon community because of his foster status. He was stoned, kicked, cursed and beaten badly. The attacks left emotional scars, but the abuse stopped when it became known that he was 'the Drummonds' child'.

He said he stayed with the Drummonds until age 18.

Nicketa Lawrence-Burchell is now in the Cayman Islands. - Contributed photos

Lawrence-Burchell, 29, is employed in the surgical department of the George Town Hospital in The Cayman Islands and is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing at the University of the West Indies.

Lawrence-Burchell, who was born in Waterhouse, St Andrew, still doesn't know her biological parents. She said she knows her mother's name because it was recorded on the birth certificate.

She experienced years of unhappiness at children's homes and in foster care.

Violent abuse

Lawrence-Burchell recalled the violent abuse on her as a child. She remembers being placed in the canteen at one of the children's homes to work. She was only nine at the time.

Other incidents made her life miserable. She had to walk two to three miles to church while the other girls were transported to and from church.

But Lawrence-Burchell was always optimistic that God could turn around her life.

Soon, she was removed to the home of Roy George Porter, and his wife Ada. Lawrence-Burchell joined the Anchovy Seventh-day Adventist Church at the age of 13, participating in several church activities.

She worked at the Cornwall Regional Hospital for three years, later spending one year at Montego Bay Hospital in the neurosurgical department.

"I became a nurse to help people and to tell them about Jesus Christ," stated Lawrence-Burchell.