No one ever expected them to succeed. Many people were sure they would end up back behind bars.
Sunday Newsday tracks the progress of eight men who won their cases or got out on bail. Their lives outside prison are featured in a series on inmates from Debbie Jacob’s CXC English classes and debate teams.
Why did these men make it when so many others failed?
Read their stories of redemption, rehabilitation and reinvention in the Sunday Newsday.
Part V
Debbie Jacob
Life delivers unexpected blows, but CB, out on bail on a murder charge, believes the best way to fight back is to plan for the future.
In Paramin, where he grew up, he works to provide for his six-year-old daughter. He’s trying to make up for the five years and four months he spent in remand waiting for a court date that still has not come through.
In Port of Spain Prison, CB joined the debate team. In workshops, he had notable charisma, but his hands trembled when he delivered his arguments. He persevered and gained confidence; then, the night before a debate with Women’s Prison, his girlfriend died.
“She suffered from lupus, and I wasn’t there for her. We were friends since she was 12 and I was 14. We lived together since she was 18.
"I went to the debate the day after she died. It was my tribute to her,” he said.
CB, 32, thinks of himself as a reliable person who shows up and faces all the hard times. His girlfriend’s death was his biggest test. He knows there are more tests to come.
When he came home from prison after getting bail, CB’s first decision was to throw a barbecue.
“I owed the bailor, and I needed to get funds for myself to live,” he said.
Next, he turned to agriculture, which suited his needs for order and planning.
“My family has lots of land. I started to cut it, but I wasn’t so strong. I got soft in prison. I planted chive and thyme to get started.”
He lives in a simple board house that he’s fixing up. That too requires planning.
“I lived by my mother for two months when I first came out of prison, but felt I wouldn’t see progress living there. I was comfortable, so I wouldn’t move forward. By going to my own home, I have to concentrate on uplifting my life.”
He knows he is luckier than many ex-inmates when it comes to providing for himself and his family.
“My grandfather gave me land. My former boss in construction gave me back my work part-time. He helped me to get on my feet.
"But my mind is on agriculture and keeping myself in order.”
Planning for the unexpected makes agriculture a rewarding challenge.
[caption id="attachment_1048229" align="alignnone" width="919"] CB plans on spending as much time with his family as he awaits his trial. - ROGER JACOB[/caption]
“The weather makes it hard, but I want to plant in a big way – cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, chive and pumpkin. In the future, I want livestock: cows, goats, pigs, fowls. The way the world is going, food might become a problem to get. Prices are rising, so we have to put ourselves in order.”
CB believes agriculture offers hope a
