"We were always involved with the lives of children," said Joanne Harroo-Blackman.
Joanne is half of the enterprising husband-and-wife team quietly making waves in the lives of many youths in Port-of-Spain schools through the group they founded, En Toto. Launched in 2006, En Toto's other founder is Michael Blackman.
The phrase "en toto" (from Latin and French roots, explained Joanne) means "in total–embracing all." From a small event-planning business, En Toto has grown to become a successful youth-oriented non-governmental organisation, said Joanne in a T&T Guardian interview at her Diego Martin home.
En Toto has helped more than 6,000 primary school leavers and adolescents in a range of ways, including learning life skills, etiquette, outdoor survival skills at weekend camps, counselling, sex education and even some basic but essential lessons in how to save money.
None of these activities are full-time: they are done on a project basis as funds are raised. "We ramp up, execute and then demobilise," explained Joanne's husband Michael Blackman.
Yet all the projects are heartfelt. When philanthropy meets community self-help, the Blackmans are proving that good things can happen–and that individuals can indeed make a difference.
En Toto's projects have helped youth become better adjusted, better prepared to handle secondary school, and more aware of the importance of planning for a future.
Humble beginnings: SEA gift kits
Joanne is a former Ministry of Works employee who's been involved in youth sports (she was the first female manager of an under-19 basketball team). Her husband Michael worked with children all his life; he ran the laboratories at the South East Port-of-Spain Senior Secondary school from 1977 to 1994. They both love children (they have five of their own), and have both been busy creating practical ways to help youth develop better coping skills.
They began with simple projects, run from their home-office. When in 2007 their last son left Sacred Heart Boys School (all their sons went there; even Michael Blackman is a Sacred Hearts boy), the couple wanted to say thanks to the school. Rather than hosting a pizza party–quickly forgotten by the kids–they opted to give them Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) pencil case and stationery kits, to try to help them think about the next step of their education.
They gave stationery kits to 500 SEA school leavers from 17 schools in 2007. By 2012, En Toto was giving these kits to more than 12,000 SEA pupils, said Joanne. En Toto helped source all funds for the project through a lot of hard work networking with friends and neighbourhood businesses.
By 2013, the Ministry of Education liked the idea so much that they took it over.
New projects: Helping youth
En Toto then had to rethink: what else could they do?
They soon saw a need among the post-SEA students. Joanne started to explain: "Seeing the children, coming innocent to secondary school from SEA, the rapid changes they go through at secondary school, the pressures they face there, and how rapidly they lose that innocence...."
"The thing is," interjected Michael, "you see children come in one way, and by the time they are ready to leave, they are twisted out of shape."
"You realise that there are several challenges that they face in making the transition from primary to secondary school, and many haven't really been equipped with the tools to deal with the challenges."
Challenges include the constant rotation of teachers, minimal personal attention ("No one really takes the time to develop that bond with you in secondary school; it's like you're on your own" said Michael), children having to take transport to school by themselves for the first time, even hidden family traumas, said Michael.
"So there's a lot that we don't see confronting children. There's a gap of sometimes hidden trauma they go through in attempting to deal with that–remember their old friends are gone and they have to make new friends–they may misalign themselves, get into the wrong set of activities. A lot of times they may go the full distance of the five years without having a chance for anyone to work with them, to pull them back from negative behavior."
Michael said lack of mentoring is one of the problems not only in school, but in our entire society.
"Right now, the people who are the mentors in the (crime) hot spots, where the children need mentors, are the gang leaders, unfortunately.... And they always have a steady stream of recruits. They are the ones who often take care of the young children in the neighbourhood, they are the ones who seem to be doing well, and have disposable income." He said many kids in some neighbourhoods idolise and emulate such gang leaders because of their nice cars, apparently nice personalities, and their ability to "take care" of everyone and fix problems. And in the process, their lives can become warped.
'Bridging the Gap'
En Toto developed a free six-week Bridging the Gap programme for kids as a transition to help them better prepare for secondary school. The programme included training in table manners/etiquette, some basic life skills and useful outdoor survival skills. UWI lecturer Margaret Nakhid-Chatoor has provided counselling in sexuality, peer pressure, goal setting and drug abuse.
In its early years, the programme was delivered in a series of one-hour sessions to 15-17 schools in and around Port-of-Spain every Saturday for six weeks. The programme was many steps up from the original aim of just giving a gift: it focused on needs, involved real interaction with the kids, and delivered caring, relevant training. Some 35 companies have since partnered with the programme.
Bridging the Gap also included sports, music, spirituality, and some sewing and cooking classes. En Toto paid a stipend to coaches to teach kids football and basketball basics at venues of King George V Park, the Woodbrook Youth Centre, and some school facilities.
"We have relied on our own resources and corporate help with minimal help from the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Social Development. However we have done a lot of work with the Ministry of National Security," said the Blackmans.
"The Defence Force has really been our backbone in all that we do," said Michael.
In 2009 En Toto started Camp Omni–an annual weekend camp designed to teach leadership, respect, self-esteem and basic survival skills. The camp was held at Teteron Barracks for two years; this year they camped out at Tucker Valley at the headquarters of the Reserves. Youth got to see the Air Guard landing a helicopter, they spoke to pilots, to members of the Defence Force, and even got to ride on a Coast Guard fast patrol vessel. It was a full weekend of activities, including morning aerobics, sessions with Fire, Prisons, and Coast Guard staff, and supervised ziplining.
A culture of saving
En Toto also began a project in money management: they gave small money awards to SEA achievers to open deposit-only bank accounts, to be kept until they are 18. All kids and parents must sign a contract: they promise to service the account and regularly deposit some of their pocket change. The children are taught about goal-setting and are encouraged to save through odd jobs or chores in their homes or community.
"Basically what we are teaching them is delayed gratification, financial management and sacrifice. How they have learned to manage their money is from the experiences they have generated, sharing among themselves." When kids who were poor savers heard other kids were achieving, it changed their habits: the value of positive peer examples was very effective.
"The children live in a very instant age...where you press a button and you get stuff," said Michael. "They expect the same thing. That is why you have this bandit syndrome. You look all over the place, you see: 'Workers wanted.' Yet some people tell you they can't get a job–or, they would prefer to go and take a gun, and take somebody's hard-earned possessions. Because they want everything now."
http://entotott.org/
Tel: 637-3739
E-mail: info@entotott.org
Hotline for parents: 222-2545