Parchment’s dad gave a single mom a solid start

Nineteen years ago, while walking through a section of her Port Morant, St Thomas community, Andene Taylor's eyes caught a woodwork shop and a bulb went off in her head. What if I ask the owner to teach me to be a cabinetmaker, she thought to herself. The workshop is operated by Hensle Parchment, the father of world-famous sprint hurdler Hansle. Taylor mustered the courage, walked inside and laid her cards on the table.

"I told him that I wanted to learn the trade and he said he was willing to teach me. He told me to come back the following day, but he didn't believe I would return," Taylor said.

"That was 19 years ago. I am still here and loving what I do."

Taylor started off her cabinetmaking career by sanding furniture in Parchment's shop. "I then started making picture frames and then doing repairs on furniture when people bring them in. Now, I can do everything. When people come in here and see that is a female working on their thing, they will always big mi up and tell me to continue. They are very supportive and so is Mr Parchment," Taylor said.

Parchment, who has been a cabinetmaker for the past four decades, told THE STAR that he took Taylor under his wings because she demonstrated confidence and a willingness to learn the trade.

"She was young and she seemed very interested. Mi did like har because there were a lot of other girls in the district, and none a dem never wanted to learn the trade. From she willing to learn, I was willing to teach her, and she learnt quickly," he said.

Taylor now makes a wide range of furniture, including beds, dressers, wardrobes, tables, chairs and sofas. But while she is happy with her growth in the field, she is concerned that more young people, including females, have not been embracing carpentry and joinery as a career.

"This trade is lacking young people and it is not because they don't want to get their hand dirty. They want instant money and this type of work doesn't bring instant money like that. You have to learn it then do the job and get paid. They want to get a job where at the end of the week they see a portion of cash coming in," Taylor said.

She added: "I would want to see young girls taking on this trade because of what it does for me. It gives me independence, it built me. I learn to do a lot of other stuff by being a cabinetmaker. Now I am an all-rounder where I dabble in electrical and plumbing work. I make my own furniture so that is a lot of burden that is eased off my pockets."

Similar sentiments were echoed by Parchment, who has been a cabinetmaker since 1979. He told THE STAR that he entered the profession shortly after he graduated from Seaforth Secondary School.

"Is a very good trade enuh, and money can make from it because furniture is always in demand. It is one of the hardest but one of the best trade," Parchment said.

He added: "A lot a di young people dem naah take it on though, so very soon we a guh have to start import stuff because no one is going to be here to make them. I feel it a guh die enuh, the trade a guh die because the younger generation don't want to take it up."