“I think everybody in an inner city needs a Programme like the EU BRIDGE Project. It is a very, very good Programme. I appreciated the Life Skills and Employability component especially, because that was where we got to interact with each other, you know, as residents. I actually got to talk with the other participants in a safe way, not like talking about girls, guns and other things that people talk about normally. Also important, we got to discuss the working world.”
This is the opinion of 27-year-old Mario Thompson, a committed youth leader in his home community of Trench Town, who refers above to the world renown Passport to Success® (PTS) Curriculum. Mario also benefited from a two-month Apprenticeship with Menzies Aviation, performing so well that his host company offered him a permanent job as a Passenger Service Officer.
He is now in his third month of permanent employment with the aviation company. In addition to doing check-ins and data entry, he is able to assist with customers who speak only Spanish or French, which he studied in high school.
He was one of 280 participants to take part in the PTS training, one of 85 placed as interns, and one of six who gained full-time employment through their apprenticeship. The other beneficiaries of permanent employment are:
- Abby-Gaye Paterson – JamGas Distribution
- Kemar Morris – Kris Krus 2018
- Tameisha Clayton – Unique Beauty supplies
- Marvette Bailey and Erica Jackson – Murray’s Fish and Jerk Hut
These opportunities were among the layered interventions carried out under the three-year EU BRIDGE (Building through Reintegration, Intervention, Development, Growth and Education) Project.
Mario has a special request to the European Union who sponsored the Programme, and The MultiCare Youth Foundation (MYF) the philanthropic arm of the ICD Group, which executed it with their partners: “I would say, just continue what you’re doing!”
He had noted, as he presented the Vote of Thanks on behalf his fellow EU BRIDGE graduates during the Project’s October 9 Close Out Ceremony:
“This Programme has given us amazing opportunities, the effects of which we will carry with us for a very long time. These lessons have helped us to prepare for the future, and also to grow as a people and as a community. To our trainers and facilitators, your hard work has not been wasted.”
Mario grew up in Trench Town with his mother, elder brother, grandmother and nephew. He attended Norman Manley High School, and studied renewable energy at the Trench Town Polytechnic College, gaining a certificate in 2017. Following that he worked at a series of temporary call centre jobs.
He shares that in high school he had aspired to a career in meteorology. However, he says that once he graduated, he saw different opportunities and decided to go into technology, programming and computer science, and is now applying for related courses offered by the HEART/NSTA Trust.
He is also currently developing an app called Trench Town Social in his free time.
“It’s like a social media app for persons in the community” he explains, “It’s actually to fight crime and violence – if there’s anything happening in the community, residents can initiate an alert from the app. It’s a free app and the feedback from my friends and others is that it’s a good idea.”
The Trench Town Social App is to be released soon, Mario notes, adding:
“I also partner with Fusion Caribbean, a Christian based organisation for young people.”
