Former state ward now mentors young girls

After enduring a traumatic past which included having to change homes frequently, former state ward Meisha Simon, 35, is looking to counsel young girls in the same way she was assisted.

After finding solace at the St Andrew Parish Home for Girls for several years, Simon has returned to offer her services to the facility as a mentor and caregiver to the wards.

"I always told myself that when I got rich, I wanted to help others and someone told me that I didn't need to have money or be rich to assist others. I took that advice and here I am offering my services to these girls. I went through a very difficult time in my life but the staff here at the time when I was a ward treated me really kindly. So I came back to do the same and I wouldn't have it any other way," she said. Simon, who has worked as a caregiver, said she was approached in 2019 by the home's manager who believed that she would have a positive impact.

"I decided to give it try and I have not regretted it. Things were a bit different from when I was there, but I stayed," she said.

Simon spent the first 10 years of her life living with her father, but said her life changed after a school mishap.

"I was attending Dupont Primary at the time and I was walking down the steps and all my books fell out my bag. But I only found one of them, and from that day, everything went downhill for me. I started hanging out with the wrong crowd," she said. Simon admitted that after church, she used to beg passers-by for money in Half-Way Tree.

"(I was) well dressed because my father use to comb my hair and dress me up. The other children were raggedy and I was out begging in my dress. People would give me because they thought I was lost and needed bus fare or something," she said, adding that they used the money to buy fast food.

Displeased with her deception, Simon's father sent her to live with her mother. After a while, she and one of her younger siblings were sent to live with other relatives before her mother eventually returned for them. But life did not improve.

"Between the ages of 10-12, I barely went to school as my mother kept moving a lot," she said. Eventually her situation caught the attention of the authorities, and she was placed in state care.

"I was still 12 when I went to Glenhope Place of Safety and I was well behaved so they transferred me to St Andrew Parish Home for Girls, and that was where I felt at home. My father, who had been searching for me all that time, found me when I was at Glenhope and came to visit, as well as my mother (now deceased). I had a good relationship with my house mothers and I really felt at home. We were given love as well as discipline," she said.

Simon left the home at age 19 and worked in the culinary field after getting certified in food preparation. She did other jobs before getting the call from St Andrew.

"I have found my peace here and the staff here, including the manager Miss Hamilton, has been really supportive. I am glad my situation didn't break me and I can use it as a motivation for others," she said.