Visually Impaired Trainee Expresses ‘Heartfelt’ Gratitude for Life-Changing Skill Acquired

Praises are being heaped on the HEART/NSTA Trust for offering training opportunities to Jamaicans with disabilities.

Among these persons is Jerome Jackson, who, though blind, holds Level Three certification in Massage Therapy from the HEART College of Beauty Services.

He was one of the HEART trainees providing back and hand reflexology massages to volunteers and staff of Stimulation Plus Child Development Centre on Ostend Close in Kingston, during Labour Day activities on May 23.

The 34-year-old tells JIS News that he became blind in 2001 while he was a student at Pear Tree Grove Primary School in St. Mary.

He recalls experiencing internal bleeding in the back of the eye, which was caused by retinal detachment.

The then pre-teen spent five months in hospital and shortly after being discharged, relocated to Kingston to live with his aunt and was enrolled in the Salvation Army School for the Blind.

“At first, I didn’t know what to do because I was really scared. Watching my friends, who I used to play with, running around and I wasn’t able to do the same with them, made me very stressed. I cried every day,” Mr. Jackson shares.

He lauds the Salvation Army School’s “excellent teachers” for helping him to develop mobility skills that enabled him to travel alone.

“Right there, I learnt how to cook. I cook for my family – my mom, my wife and my daughter,” he says.

Mr. Jackson points out that he has an eight-year-old daughter and has been married for five years.

Mr. Jackson sat six Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects and two Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) units, before moving on to Jamaca’s premier training agency – HEART/NSTA Trust.

“I had an excellent instructor there – Mr. Martin. He was the one who helped 19 of us who were visually impaired. He taught us to do reflexology and a lot of stuff,” he says.

Mr. Jackson is currently employed as one of two massage reflexologists at the HEART/NSTA-operated ‘Salon 10’.

Reflexology is a type of therapy that uses gentle pressure on specific points along the feet and palms.

“Whenever persons have a long day at work standing on their feet, and we are able to rub their feet and detect other stuff that they have – sinus or circulation problems – it gives me this warm feeling that I’m able to help; and when I massage the sole of the feet, the clients feel like they got an entire body massage,” says an enthusiastic Mr. Jackson.

He is grateful to HEART/NSTA Trust for equipping him with a skill that enables him to provide for his family.

“They gave me a great opportunity, because being blind is a real struggle out there,” he says.

The training Mr. Jackson received at HEART/NSTA has empowered him to seek further educational advancement.

He is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in Entertainment Management and Culture at the University of the West Indies, Mona.

HEART/NSTA Trust Managing Director, Dr. Taneisha Ingleton, says the agency is committed to increasing access to training for vulnerable Jamaicans.

“We have our different training programmes that are geared towards individuals who are visually impaired. We have invested millions of dollars in purchasing braille notetakers; even in our very spaces, we have different access like ramps. We have invested in instructors who are able to teach our individuals who may not be at that particular physical capability,” she points out.