Former ward of the state credits grandfather for his achievements

Dwayne Haynes does not know much about his mother, and he didn’t have a relationship with his father.

He was told that his mother, who has since passed away (2013) was schizophrenic, and that as a baby, he was placed at Maxfield Park Children’s Home in St Andrew because she was unable to take care of him. He stayed there until he was nine years old, when his grandfather, Granville White, from Ewarton in St Catherine, found out and came for him. Haynes’ father was always absent; he died in 2017.

But growing up with his grandfather had its hardships.

“It was challenging because of the generational gap. He was past the age when he took me, and never had the requisite finances to care of me how he would have wanted to,” Haynes said.

However, with support from the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), formerly Child Development Agency (CDA), Haynes was able to start attending school. But, he initially faced some discrimination, which, he said, his grandfather put an end to.

“When my grandfather went to register me for primary school, the principal didn’t want to take me because I was a ward of the state. But my grandfather was adamant, and he went back to CDA, called somebody from the Ministry of Education, and they intervened, and the school ended up taking me,” he said.

KEPT IT A SECRET

Haynes said that he kept his ward of the state status a secret in high school, until he became head boy.

“When I was doing the interviews for the position of head boy at St Jago High School, that’s when the principal found out. And she thought that I came from a family with mother, father, everything. And I said to her: ‘It’s my grandfather that grew me and taught me how to carry myself.’ Not that I’m deceiving anyone, but just always putting my best foot forward,” he said.

Now 24 years old, Haynes has completed his first degree in management studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), and he is currently pursuing a master’s in international public development management studies. He is also very involved in extra-curricular activities.

“I was a former resident adviser for the Irvine Hall on the UWI campus. I’m currently the public relations officer for the Caribbean Tertiary Level Personnel Association, Jamaica chapter, and also an executive member of the UWI Alumni, Jamaica chapter,” he said.

Ultimately, Haynes said that his goal is to impact lives in a way similar to how his grandfather influenced his.

“I’ve always wanted to impact someone else’s life because persons have impacted mine. I know that other persons are suffering, and they want to know that somebody else made it through their struggles, despite the fact that I never had any family, apart from my grandfather,” he said.