How far have you gone to your man?
BY DONNA HUSSEY-WHYTE All Woman writer [email protected]
Monday, April 01, 2013

LOOKING back, we bet many of you can’t help shaking your heads at the strange things you have done for love. And while some can smile at the tactics used, there are those who will look back in total embarrassment.
It is said that when a woman wants a man, nothing can get in her way. She will do whatever it takes to nail him down and tie him to her.

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This week some women confess just how far they have gone, or are willing to go, in the name of snagging Mr Right.
Marlene W:
My man was involved with another woman and it looked like no matter what I did, he still insisted on talking to her. Some evenings he would make sure I wouldn’t visit his house and I knew it was because she would be there. On his birthday I showed up at his house early, uninvited. It was his birthday so I knew he wouldn’t really ask what I was doing there. But somehow I knew she would be coming over too ’cause he knew her longer than me. When he went to the bathroom I went outside and punctured two of my tyres and went and sat down as if nothing was wrong. Later in the evening when it was time to go I fell into a fit over the fact that I could not go home. He wanted to call a cab but I pretended to be so upset over the matter that he didn’t bother to argue when I told him I was not taking a cab from Kingston to Portmore.
I even turned it around on him and made it look as if he had some woman who wanted to sabotage me, who punctured my tyres, because what were the odds of having two punctured tyres at the same time? It was his birthday so of course the other girl turned up bearing gifts. She was the one who had to leave.
Maxine M:
I sent his woman messages on Facebook and from his phone telling her that he was with me now and that she should move on with her life. I also told her that the money she was giving him was being spent on me. I was able to tell her how much he got and when he got it, because he would tell me. She was the one who used to support him. He would drive her car to my house and stayed overnight and things like that so she knew what I was saying was true. In fact, he even bought me a car out of the money she gave him. We have been together two years now and she is no longer in the picture.
Chris-Ann T:
I know that the man I was with had a woman at the time we met. But he was always telling me things bout her and saying how he was planning on leaving her but felt sorry for her. They were living together at the time. I would call her and talk up the tings dem, about what we would do and what he would do to me. But she behaved as if she didn’t believe me and as if she didn’t care. So one night when he came over to my house, while we were making love, I dialled her number and made sure I called his name a lot and behaved badly while we were getting it on.
Shernette R:
If I have a good man who really checks for me and is taking care of me and my children, then I wouldn’t think twice. I would take a trip to St Thomas. The way I see it, the only way to get a man and keep him is to make sure you get the right remedy to plant him by your side. Make sure it’s you alone he has feelings for.
Paula C:
I consulted an obeah man I found in the newspaper. Yes, I admit it, I was desperate. I had just had a child, and wanted my guy to marry me. The man gave me some powder to put in his food and I did it. The man also gave me something to bathe with, and I did it. My guy asked me to marry him a few months after, and we have been together since.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/allwoman/How-far-have-you-gone-to-your-man-_13852562#ixzz2PQ7CtH4t

Poverty Stifling Family’s Potential
Published: Wednesday | April 3, 2013 4 Comments

Debbie Fung with her children, Prince Mais and Christopher Hyatt. Prince has not been attending school regularly while three-year-old Christopher has never gone to school. – Ian Allen/Photographer
Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer

Despite her last school report registering 46 days of absence in one school year, 17-year-old Conni-Lee Mais has managed to earn near-perfect grades.

However, like the proverbial children of Sisyphus, Conni-Lee and her younger brother, Prince Mais, might not get far despite being admired as the two of seven siblings most likely to break the cycle of poverty in their family residing in the Blackstonedge community of rural St Ann.

As is the case with countless poor rural children across the island, “money problem” is one of the main reasons for them not turning up for school on a daily basis.

“I try my best to send them, but when I can’t send them, a just so,” said mother Debbie Fung who makes a living from subsistence farming and raises three school-age children.

An examination of the Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions 2010 shows the impact of “money problem” on school attendance is that the number of children in rural areas who failed to turned up for school because of an inability to find money for bus fare and lunch almost doubles the record for those in the Kingston Metropolitan Area.

When closely examined, Conni-Lee’s last report shows her scoring an A in cosmetology, A in English language, A in English literature, B in information technology, B in integrated science, A in mathematics, C in music, A in physical education, B in religious education, and B in social studies.

TOP STUDENT

Carol Smith, Conni-Lee’s former primary-school teacher who has kept close tabs on the teenager and her family over the years, testifies of her always doing well in school. Smith, however, points out that the challenges she faces at home might stifle her chances of one day breaking the cycle of poverty in her family.

“Even when I went to her school last year, I remember her name being called as the top student in her class,” said Smith, who is a teacher at St George’s All-Age.

Mindful of her situation, the fifth-form student at Guy’s Hill High School has already ruled out attending sixth form, saying that “I would go to sixth form, but mi know Mommy cannot afford it”.

She is contemplating repeating grade 11 as the family was unable to come up with funds for her to sit her Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations.

The St George’s All-Age School teacher also testifies that nine-year-old Prince is “full of potential, but like his sister, he does not attend school regularly. The register shows that between September 2012 and January 2013, he has been present at school only 25 times.

At nine years old, Prince Mais spends most of his time writing music. Surprisingly though, he harbours hope of one day becoming a soldier.

“He is a child with a lot of potential, but he needs constant supervision to ensure that he comes to school regularly. He writes worse than a grade-one child, but when he reads – it doesn’t matter how big the word is – he will use whatever phonetic skills and call the words,” Smith said.

HURDLES IN THEIR PATH

The children’s mother pointed to the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), one of the Government’s chief social programmes for providing funding to poor families, as one means by which she might be able to rescue her children from the poverty cycle. She noted, however, that she has been having trouble getting on the programme because of missing birth certificates she claimed got destroyed when she lost her house in a fire months ago.

“Even before then, I could not get on the programme. I went to the PATH office in St Ann’s Bay and they promised to send someone to the house to assess the situation and, until now, I don’t see anyone,” she said.

The mother said she would be seeking to have the birth certificates replaced, but is unable to do so now because of a lack of funds.

As she contemplates her next move, the hope of a promising generation hangs in the balance.

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