Lead Editor-Newsgathering
ryan.bachoo@cnc3.co.tt
On a Saturday evening, a group of boys follows Alwin Hunte down Nelson Street toward the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. These young men, residents of the Credo Home for Boys—who are without parents, abandoned, or placed under the care of the Children’s Authority—are headed to evening Mass. They settle quietly in the front pews, their eyes fixed on the altar, awaiting the start of the service.
Hunte and Makemba Whitley, supervisors and caretakers at the home, serve as steady father figures to these boys, many of whom come from troubled, fragile backgrounds and vulnerable homes. For these young men, Hunte and Whitley offer more than guidance—they offer a sense of belonging and hope.
Whitley explained, “It is a really huge task because everything that you try to impart to the young men, you have to model it yourself because it is easy to say something to the young men, but when you model it, it comes across even greater for them.”
He has been working with the Credo Home for the last five years, while Hunte has been at the institution for 28 years.
Both men have found meaning in what they do–each in his own way. Hunte said, “I feel very proud when I see them take up that role and become decent young men and fathers in society today. That is my greatest achievement and success when I see the young men doing very well with their lives. That gives us a sense of joy that we have done something.”
For Whitley, who holds a degree in psychology and a master’s in criminology and criminal justice, working at the Credo Home has allowed him to put theory into practice.
He explained, “I was really drawn to it when I came to the realisation that you could actually now put those theories I learnt in school into practice, so I think what is really important for me is presenting these boys with life examples and really seeing the applicability of all these theories that we’re going to learn.
“Compared to when you sit in these classes, you’re now actually on the ground dealing with these boys, helping them to see the differences between a life of crime versus a pro-social lifestyle. Dealing with the boys, I really like to see when it comes to fruition.”
Hunte is all too familiar with the challenges these boys have faced in the communities they once lived in and their households before they arrived at Credo Home.
He, too, grew up in a “rough area”, but he credits his parents for being great examples. As such, he has been able to impart knowledge to the boys he now overlooks.
Hunte explained, “My parents never told us one day that we cannot associate with bad company. What my mom and my dad would say is, ‘Let them come home; we will show them a difference.’ They came to our yard. Some of them passed on, some of them made jail, but some are still alive and found themselves being a part of our household by getting a different training to see how we lived. They saw how my parents cared, and they wanted to be a part of that.”
Hunte has become passionate about helping young men reverse the course of their lives and pick themselves up after family breakdowns.
“I think this is my calling. I don’t think we can be paid enough for the things we do. I will do it for free. I will see young people in the community of Nelson Street where our programme is situated or Duncan Street, and I will talk to young people and give them good advice. I will do it for free,” he said.
The Credo Home is not without its challenges. Young boys coming from different backgrounds are forced to live with each other according to the letter of the law.
Hunte said, “They are a bunch of young men who you really have to channel to know how to live with each other because, as young men, they will always be in one another’s faces and find themselves in a lot of problems, and we have to discipline them. We’re forced to look at how we are dealing with this.”
Considering the challenges of discipline and whether the boys truly deserved punishment, Hunte asked, “Is it that we have to give them a consequence for something that they did?”
Nevertheless, Hunte and Whitley understand the boys they are dealing with and the difficult hand life dealt them at an early age.
Whitley added, “I try to impart to them that it is not your altitude but the attitude that determines where you are in life. A lot of times they would come with different challenges based on probably the trauma that they would have had, and I think we really help them adjust easily by changing their attitude and seeing the blessings of the situation.”
Although Whitley and Hunte work with these young men throughout most of their teenage years, once they turn 18, they must face the world on their own. Both men agree that this transition is far from easy for the boys.
Whitley explained, “I think in terms of challenges, I would say how the system is set up, at the age of 18, the boys will no longer be under the Credo Home. I think it’s just a matter of ensuring that there’s a level of continuity because, frankly, sometimes, when you think of the age of 18, you may not get your approach to adulthood. I wish there was some transitional home or place for them that they could have gone to.”
This situation can take a mental and physical toll on Whitley and Hunte, but they remain determined to help the boys placed in their care at the Credo Home become the best young men they can be.
Hunte recalled, “I still have young men who I worked with from years ago who are in their 40s, and they still call me at Christmas time and Father’s Day. When they introduce me to their friends, they say, ‘This is my father.’ They introduce me to their wife and their children as their father.”
For Hunte and Whitley, they are more than caretakers and supervisors; they are father figures to young men who would otherwise be forgotten.
