Street vendor’s daughter earns university degree

It's 3 p.m. and on North Parade, downtown Kingston, a street pastor preaches, with Tiffany Johnson and her mother Merlene Robinson among the 'congregation'.

Even as they listen to his 'sermon', the women call out to potential buyers, showing them the small stall containing soap powder, tissue and other items. The stall played a vital role in furnishing Johnson's education. The 23-year-old recently graduated from the University of the West Indies, Mona, with a degree in accounting and a minor in economics.

"This stall is where I did a lot of my university assignments while my mother and I try to catch a sale. My mother worked tirelessly and throw small partners from her little business to pay for my tuition. This is where we get most of our income from. Yes, we would get assistance from our relatives but this is what really helped us. I just graduated and getting a job now during the pandemic is difficult, so I had to be innovative. So I started selling face masks. Seeing that Christmas is coming, I decided to make cushions and add to what we sell," Johnson said.

A resident of Luke Lane, a tough inner-city community in Kingston, Johnson said she knew from an early age that a solid education was required to rid her family of poverty. As a result, she excelled academically gaining a total of 16 subjects in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency examinations.

"As the saying goes, diamonds were made under pressure so I have endured a lot of struggle and consider myself to be one of those gems. I didn't have a lot of friends. I was classified as a one-in-a-million child because I wasn't like some others. I honestly don't mean this in a discriminatory way as I do not consider myself to be better than anyone else, but there were some who were just not interested in education but were the stay-at-home type," she said.

Make a better life for her

Robinson beamed with pride and sometimes pat her daughter on the shoulder during the interview. Her only child, she said Johnson is a miracle and a blessing as she had her at age 39. She stated that she was not physically present in Johnson's life until she was 14, as she was living in England for a while.

"I working and going to college as I wanted to make a better life for her but I was sent home after being there 11 years," she said. Johnson noted that her mother had experienced many struggles since she returned to Jamaica and had to start her life all over again.

"My dad started taking care of me at age 11 but he did a good job with me. Things were hard for mommy and I remember when I was suppose to pay for my CXC, we just couldn't afford it. But because I was doing so well academically, the school paid for four of them for us," Johnson added.

Johnson said she is looking forward to a career as a chartered accountant and a fashion designer, but for now, she continues to support her best friend, her mother, with her stall.

"You just have to be innovative to generate an income because in this day and age if you don't have any entrepreneurial skills or any skill in particular, it is going to be very difficult surviving in an economy like this," Johnson said.