Trench Town “The Forgotten Land” script
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Every morning as I rise
I hear the gunshots firing.
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Before you go to bed
you hear them again.
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The man who killed my brother sent
a threat saying he was going to kill me.
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Even in your sleep
you can hear the gunshots firing.
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I feel very bad, very very bad.
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Cos I know that when I was much younger
Trench Town wasn't like this.
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From Friday evening until
Sunday evening, four o'clock, four-thirty,
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you have the shots firing.
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The M1 Enforcer,
the Mark 10, the Thompson,
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the Bushmaster, the .303 rifle...
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Right now I'm scared.
All around is just guns and war.
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The guns have got more sophisticated -
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the M16, the AR-15,
the Heckler & Koch,
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the Israeli Uzi, the .357 handgun.
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These are gunshots. Bullet holes.
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More than 2 million people visit Jamaica every year. Tourism is Jamaica’s biggest source of foreign income.
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But there’s a side of Jamaica that most tourists never see.
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All over Jamaica people live in intense poverty. Nowhere is this more evident than in Trench Town, Kingston 12, which is only two miles from the city centre.
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The four story tenement blocks sit symmetrically in a neighbourhood with boarded up shacks, which are fenced and roofed with rust coloured zinc.
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You could be forgiven for thinking these homes were derelict. In fact they house many more than their design intended. Today about 25,000 people live in Trench Town.
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This is a community that has been abandoned by its government.
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Gun crime and shootouts between rival gangs and police are commonplace.
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Trench Town was immortalised in the music of its most famous resident, Bob Marley.
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Thanks to Bob Marley people from all over the World have heard of Trench Town but few outsiders have ever set foot there.
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Today it is a virtual war zone. Rival gangs controlled by Dons are fighting for overall control.
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Dons control most Jamaican communities. Due to its unique history, Trench Town is divided into different areas each with its own leader or Don. It is the conflict between these different areas that has turned Trench Town into one of the most dangerous places in the World.
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There are gun battles every day and every night.
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So how do ordinary people manage to live in such a violent climate?
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My name is Delroy Junior Lee.
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I'm a member of the Trench Town
Development Association.
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I was born in Trench Town
and grew up here.
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I've lived through all the politics,
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I knew all the Rastamen and artists
who passed through here.
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I've been through all the hardships,
the nice parts and the bad parts.
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I got these scars in 1977. I got shot.
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The doctor cut me here
to take out my lungs and patch it.
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The doctor cut me here
to take out my lungs and patch it.
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I was sitting on the corner
and a car just drove up.
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I think he said, "Police", then he just
pushed a gun out and started firing at me,
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emptying his 9mm semi-automatic.
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The first shot never hit me
and I started to move away from the gun,
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and then he started to shoot
indiscriminately.
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You don't get a chance to see the person.
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In the split moment, you only know
there's a hand with a gun.
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I got grazed
and the bullets burned my skin.
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So when I ended up in the hospital -
because it was like a knife had split me
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and shots had burnt me up -
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and the police said, "Was that
a 12-gauge shotgun they fired at you?",
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and I said,
"No, it was a semi-automatic pistol",
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and he said,
"Boy, you're the luckiest man."
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And that isn't the first time
it's happened to me, either.
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Junior knows from personal experience how dangerous it can be to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in Trench Town.
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The Police are losing control of the streets. They are regularly involved in shootouts.
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There are many innocent victims caught in the crossfire.
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Trench Town hasn’t always been the violent place it is today.
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It was originally built in 1945 as a Government housing project.
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There has been very little investment here since then.
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A number of different housing developments and yards make up the community of Trench Town.
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This is an old photograph of Trench Town.
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All of this is Trench Town -
the bottom of Trench Town here as well.
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You have Buckers, here.
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You have Action Pak over here.
You understand?
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It’s hard for the older residents who remember the way it used to be.
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My name is Ethel Clarke,
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and I've lived in Trench Town
for over 50 years now.
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When I first came here
Trench Town was a glorious place.
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Some people couldn't rent a house in
Trench Town because it was too beautiful.
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They didn't have the you-know-what
to rent a house there.
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Places such as James's Street,
Federal Gardens, Maxfield Avenue,
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and all those places up there.
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You couldn't rent a house in Jones Town -
you didn't have enough to rent it.
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But now it's become a graveyard.
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Today much of Trench Town is crumpling.
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It’s hard to keep your dignity when you live in such poverty.
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But the people who live here have great pride in their community.
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This is my little segment -
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the "twelve-shilling-a-month",
as they called them back in the day.
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I have ideas to extend it
and make it suitable.
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Most homes are very basic.
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There's one room.
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There's one room. This is a veranda
which I've turned into a kitchen.
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I want to build a bathroom -
I don't have a bathroom or toilet.
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I'd like to knock out this window
and build something at the back
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for a bathroom and toilet facility,
and extend the kitchen over there.
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When you live this way, you get frustrated.
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But I'm better off than a lot of people.
Still, I need a job.
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A Trench Town address is a handicap when seeking work. Unemployment runs at about 70%.
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The future looks dim.
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It's not like I'm going to work and saving -
I don't even have a bank account.
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A man died of hunger on 2nd Street.
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When I heard he'd died of hunger,
I know the suffering that's going on.
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And a lot more people
are going to die that way.
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He used to go uptown and sell belts and
things, but they ran him off the corner.
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The police took away his stock.
He couldn't get anything else started.
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And the government know what's
going on. People are dying of hunger.
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Trench Town’s plight is a direct result of its political history.
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Jamaica has two main political parties, the JLP and the PNP.
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Since independence in 1962 their rivalry has always been intense.
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In the mid 1970’s when Bob Marley was first enjoying global success, the political tensions erupted into violence all over Jamaica.
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It became virtual civil war.
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In the '70s, when I was a young fellow,
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I lived through this time when politics
changed the whole of Trench Town
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and the youth started to separate
and started to build gangs.
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For Trench town, sandwiched between the two opposing political strongholds of Arnett Gardens and Tivoli Gardens, the consequences were catastrophic.
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I left Trench Town - it's vivid in my head -
on New Year's Day 1976,
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because on New Year's Eve '75
our house was set on fire.
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Kids that I grew up with
were paid to set our house on fire,
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and we had to move - quickly - for safety.
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What happened was
that my aunt, who I lived with,
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she was a very vocal member
of the People's National Party,
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and where we lived at the time was
obviously being purged of PNP supporters
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to create a JLP enclave.
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They were creating garrisons, essentially.
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Trench Town had two major streets,
West Road and Collie Smith Drive,
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and off those two streets you had
14 streets running up - 1st to 14th.
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And from 1st to 7th Street became JLP,
from 7th to 14th became PNP.
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And thatís how they created
Rema and Jungle,
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Arnett Gardens, Trench Town -
rival communities.
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Out of one place,
Trench Town became rivalling sectors,
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because politicians had an interest
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in having people fight each other
for scarce benefits.
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Money is in short supply.
Jobs are in short supply.
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If my party's in power,
I'll have more access to jobs and money,
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so I'll kill to maintain that connection,
that access to money and jobs.
10:12:00:00
No part of the community was untouched by the violence.
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My school borders
the JLP and the PNP sections,
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and so once there is any upheaval
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you find that they fight across the border.
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We took the precaution
of having the children move in and out
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with the help
of the Jamaica Defence Force.
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Although the violence didn't happen in the
day, but in the evenings and in the night,
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what you found was that the students
came into the school community
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with the tension experienced
in the afternoon and overnight,
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and you had to deal with it
through the home-room teachers,
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through the guidance officers,
sharing with them
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and sort of giving them
some type of hope.
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The legacy of the violence continues to this day – the community is still at war.
10:13:05:02
Children have to take taxis, they can’t afford to get to school if they have to cross boundaries. Some have to stay at home.
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The location of this school
is in a bad place
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because you have the violence going on
right now, and it's really poor
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because some of the students live in
the area and they can't come to school.
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This side is warring with this side,
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and sometimes when you come in
to school, we are in the middle.
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This community is very bad
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because you can't concentrate
or focus on your work
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because of the gunshots in the night.
You can't concentrate.
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Selvin Stewart was born and raised in Trench town. He’s chosen to stay and do his best for the children and the community.
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A teacher friend of mine
said that because the government
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didn't build Trench Town High School
it's becoming a forgotten school.
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A young man went up
and asked the minister
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if he could assist
in fixing the wall by the school
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because it can be dangerous
when kids are training -
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anybody can run through the place.
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Lots of people thought
that what he was requesting was stupid.
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Lo and behold, a couple of days later,
the girls were on the field training
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and a guy or two came through
the wall that was broken down,
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came onto the netball court
that the girls were on
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firing at some guys
who were looking at the girls training.
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Can you imagine if those guys had
retaliated, what would have happened?
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It’s not just the school that’s neglected it’s the community as a whole.
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There is urban decay everywhere you look.
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The refuse lorries pass through but never seem to stop to collect any rubbish.
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I think they should change the name
and call it the Forgotten Land,
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because the government is doing nothing
for the people in Trench Town. Nothing.
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Bob Marley’s wife Rita, who was originally one of Bob’s backing vocalists, grew up in Trench Town. She is still an active champion of the community.
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Schools are needed and clinics.
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When we were in Trench Town
we had clinics.
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Dentists - you could go
and get your teeth fixed.
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The clinic had opticians
to look after eyes.
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Those things are gone.
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As there is no government funded medical centre the community relies on a team of voluntary doctors from the USA who visit once or twice a year.
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They are granted safe passage to go wherever their help is needed.
“They do have other people that they can see, it’s just that if they can’t get out then we can do shut ins. Its harder for them, they don’t have the economics to go and pay for their medication so that’s why we bring a bag full of medication.”
(Female American Doctor talking)
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This lady would not receive any medical attention without these visits.
“It hurts when I press here? How about down here? Right there its hurting….”
“That’s a hernia……your blood pressure is good, its better than mine!”
(Male American Doctor talking)
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We are asking
for those who really care to help.
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There are so many different places
in Trench Town
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that could be used for factories,
schools, training centres,
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the development of the community.
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The government only go there
when it's election time.
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The cinema lies in ruins. Bombed and burned in the political warfare of the 1970’s, it is a bleak symbol of an abandoned community.
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When I was growing up, Bob Marley
and those guys were singing music
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and there were talented players
and cricketers.
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Bob usually played his rehearsals
in 1st Street at the Culture Yard.
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Trench Town is the capital of Jamaica,
as far as I'm concerned.
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Growing up there,
I know good things, good people
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are in Trench Town
and came out of Trench Town.
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I am one of the proofs of the pudding.
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Bob Marley, the Wailers,
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a lot of famous Jamaican reggae singers
came from Trench Town.
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Bob Marley made it
and he didn't use a gun.
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He used his guitar
and the gift that God gave him.
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Bob Marley’s success remains an inspiration to the community.
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That is the good part.
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But the bad part is the violence
that's taken over this community.
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I've seen some
gruesome killing go on here.
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In Trench Town
it's not every day a man gets shot,
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but when it starts off, sometimes
five or six people a day get shot,
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and by the weekend - it's retaliation -
another two or three people get shot.
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You'll find two dead out of every three
that get shot - that's the ratio.
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And for the month
you'll find ten people are dead.
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Because of this constant retaliation
from just one incident.
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There is no official murder rate for Trench Town, but it’s much higher than for Jamaica as a whole, which is the 3rd highest in the world.
10:19:09:24
The sound of gunshots and automatic weapon fire are an everyday occurrence.
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Nobody seems to know who’s shooting who or why.
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You can only surmise that
that side is warring with this side,
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but you can't know the individuals
at any given time who are firing the shots.
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But you know that war is going on
between Bockers
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or Action Pak and Federal Gardens.
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And they are warring for the same spoils -
each man wants a piece of the pie.
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I've been living in Trench Town,
Kingston 12, for the past 27 years.
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It has been good, it has been bad.
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Lakeisha Ellison is a young mother bringing up a son on her own.
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The reason why
I had to finish school in 1995
10:19:57:14
was because of gang violence
between Tivoli and Trench Town.
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There have been incidents where
they want to catch a particular person,
10:20:08:07
and because at that time
they could not get that person,
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an old lady could be passing, a dog could
be passing, a little child could be passing,
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and those are the people
that they would target
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because they can't get
who they want to get.
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So if I'm going to a school
that is in that community
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and I'm from the other community,
I will be targeted.
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I will be killed.
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Whether or not
I have someone in the conflict,
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or whether or not I'm involved.
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I'll just be seen
as a person from the other side.
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So I dare not go over to the other side -
you stay within your own boundaries.
10:21:00:14
The community put up roadblocks to try and deter drive by shootings.
10:21:10:01
We block with anything we can get -
trees, old cars, tyres...
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We block the road
to stop drive-by shootings.
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Sometimes we use them to demonstrate
our needs and wants in the community,
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but this is here directly
for the drive-by shootings,
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because of the violence
on two sides of the community -
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over this side, Federal Gardens,
and over there Action Pak.
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They are warring for some reason -
I don't know why.
10:21:39:10
But they also need to come in and out,
so they leave a main street unblocked.
10:21:43:17
So if a car comes in and fires any shots,
they know where it will come out,
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so they can run it down and attack
the car, mash it up, shoot it up.
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So no one will run that risk.
10:21:58:17
Only those who live on this side know
which street is blocked and which is open.
10:22:04:03
So it's like a maze.
10:22:07:22
My name is Delroy Smith, aka "Rambo".
10:22:13:04
Delroy is paralysed – he was shot through the spine.
10:22:15:12
A rival war between communities,
and I got caught up in it downtown.
10:22:23:08
It was downtown one Saturday like this
at the end of the evening,
10:22:28:21
unknown assailants pounced on me.
10:22:32:02
I don't really know why, because I never
was a bad man or anything like that.
10:22:36:23
But it was a community war
and everybody was looking for everybody,
10:22:41:16
so that's how I got involved that night
and I got shot.
10:22:46:22
And that's why I've been in a wheelchair
since 1996 or 1997.
10:22:54:00
It's a really scary experience,
encountering a gun.
10:22:57:14
You start thinking about the days
of your youth and early things you did.
10:23:03:19
When a man points a gun at you,
you're looking at death.
10:23:07:01
The one thing triggering in your mind
is, "Death, death."
10:23:10:03
But I never died, so I give thanks
to the Father that I'm still alive.
10:23:18:01
There is a culture of revenge in Trench Town.
10:23:20:04
One night some shooting was going on
in Rema over on the other side.
10:23:23:09
They found the guy who did it
and I saw them kill him and burn him.
10:23:27:18
They piled tyres up on him and burnt him -
they burnt him to ashes.
10:23:31:11
So that was the end of him.
10:23:45:15
To survive in Trench Town you’ve got to know you’re way around.
10:23:46:21
Gunmen use secret escape routes to evade the Police and other gangs.
10:23:47:00
You can't walk on the street -
you're liable to get shot.
10:23:55:19
These routes provide safe passage for residents when there’s conflict on the streets.
10:23:56:08
We're on 5th Street now, and just one
little walk through the hole here
10:24:02:12
and you're in 4th Street now.
10:24:05:13
This is the back of 4th Street.
10:24:09:22
So you can walk from 1st Street,
come through the 1st Street hole,
10:24:14:01
drop onto 2nd Street,
come through the hole from 2nd Street,
10:24:17:21
drop onto 3rd Street,
and constantly from 3rd to 4th to 5th.
10:24:24:07
This is the survival system. Understand?
That is what we have to go through here.
10:24:36:04
The boundaries between rival gangs’ territories can change overnight.
10:24:37:00
From time to time something will flare up
from the simplest of things -
10:24:40:19
I don't know what it is.
10:24:42:11
Then they have a peace meeting
and they talk it over and they're cool,
10:24:46:13
and something else happens
to trigger it off.
10:24:49:14
And that's how it goes. It's like a cycle.
10:24:53:11
The community doesn’t feel it can rely on the Police.
10:24:59:00
The police are a joke, because the cops
only come when the shots stop firing.
10:25:07:05
One Saturday morning I think
they were going to torch the houses -
10:25:10:15
my house is right on the borderline.
10:25:13:15
They called the police. He said he's afraid
to come - he couldn't see anything.
10:25:18:15
Most times if you call the police
they say they won't come
10:25:21:12
because these guys
have bigger guns than them.
10:25:24:15
It seems like it's a joke, because the cops
don't really respond to anybody's call.
10:25:36:13
My name is Robert Taylor.
I'm a sergeant of police.
10:25:40:00
I joined the Jamaica Constabulary Force
27 years ago,
10:25:43:03
the last 22 years of which
I've spent in West Kingston.
10:25:49:09
Trench Town is a challenging place to be a policeman. It’s a frightening job.
10:25:50:18
It is very very scary,
10:25:52:12
especially with the advent of the kind
of weapons that these men are firing now,
10:25:56:17
and the fact that it is the youths
who are firing them.
10:26:00:00
The age group is between 14 and 25 -
those are the dangerous ones now.
10:26:06:00
They have so positioned themselves
that they have no respect for anything.
10:26:10:15
They have no purpose,
they have no projection for their lives.
10:26:14:03
There is nothing that they have to live for.
10:26:18:18
If you notice
as you go through the community
10:26:21:12
you will see that there are a number
of youths sitting idly on the corners.
10:26:26:13
Those are the ones who are at risk,
because they are used as sentries.
10:26:30:05
They are look-outs. And sometimes
some of them, when they see the police -
10:26:36:01
I don't know if it's nerves,
I don't know if they intend to harm us
10:26:40:14
or they really want a confrontation -
but sometimes it just triggers off.
10:26:44:23
Some will run from the police,
while some will fire at the police.
10:26:49:21
In most cases
they are more armed than the police,
10:26:52:10
because when they are firing they
are able to fire 200 to 400 shots per day,
10:26:57:24
and if needs be tomorrow
they can fire the same amount.
10:27:01:08
So they are more heavily armed than us.
10:27:12:19
The Police are under-funded for the job they are expected to do.
10:27:13:07
The job itself is not scary, it's just
the conditions in which we have to work.
10:27:18:02
A lot of our police personnel
are without proper equipment.
10:27:21:22
Few or none of us have ballistic helmets
and we are in a war zone, practically.
10:27:28:09
Even this morning
we were doing our regular patrol
10:27:31:06
and we came under fire
from a group of men.
10:27:37:07
It is very very scary.
10:27:39:06
It's all good and well when you are firing,
10:27:42:11
but when you are being fired at
it is not a very nice feeling.
10:27:48:01
It is not a very nice thing.
10:28:09:17
If you look at how the place is set up,
it is very difficult and hard to police
10:28:14:15
because of how the localities are -
with the zinc fences,
10:28:17:18
the pathways where
you can only go on foot.
10:28:20:24
You can jump a fence of one premise
and get through to the back of another
10:28:25:01
and access six, seven,
eight more premises.
10:28:29:00
There are trap doors that they use
to get from one premise to another.
10:28:33:00
They set up the zinc so that a man can
run through it and it closes behind him,
10:28:37:01
so you think
that probably you didn't see anybody.
10:28:48:16
We are people's children.
We choose to do this.
10:28:51:15
It is fulfilling to act as a buffer
10:28:53:19
between the good citizens
and the "not-so-good" citizens.
10:28:59:10
You are not always looked upon as
heroes, but that is what I feel we are.
10:29:04:13
I honestly believe that we are heroes
working in unfriendly conditions.
10:29:24:05
In such violent times the one thing that unites the community is sport.
10:29:27:11
Trench Town has produced more than its fair share of sporting heroes.
10:29:29:08
Like music it can provide an escape route.
10:29:31:06
Sport plays a key role in the childrens’ education.
10:29:32:13
School is a part
of the development of us all,
10:29:36:05
and we believe that being in school,
being a part of school activities,
10:29:40:08
does take you away from certain things
and point you in some direction.
10:29:44:11
And as a result of what the kids
are exposed to while they're in school,
10:29:48:20
they actually move away
from some of the bad things in life
10:29:51:23
and gravitate towards
some of the things they can achieve in.
10:29:59:16
There are many times
that I could have picked up guns,
10:30:02:21
because where I live
there are gunmen all over -
10:30:05:23
in front of my yard,
behind my yard or next door -
10:30:10:03
so I could easily pick up a gun.
10:30:15:21
All these guns in Jamaica,
10:30:18:00
most of the persons
who are firing these illegal weapons
10:30:21:10
are not in a position to buy them.
10:30:23:16
They are not in a position
to bring them into the country,
10:30:26:16
or to support them with ammunition.
10:30:29:12
So there are other people
behind the issuing of these guns.
10:30:40:14
It’s generally accepted that it’s the Dons who supply the weapons and ammunition to the gangs they control.
10:30:42:19
A don is a man who controls everything -
10:30:47:19
which means he controls the guns,
10:30:50:16
he controls the politicians,
he controls the shots.
10:30:54:04
They steal, go out shooting anything...
10:30:57:23
So the don has a structure
of a set of guys and says:
10:31:03:05
"All right, tonight you stay up
and hold the corner
10:31:07:00
and make sure that everything is OK."
10:31:09:13
Then in the morning
any spoils are shared out between them,
10:31:14:00
whether from robbery,
money coming from abroad,
10:31:17:11
or from political workings
in the community.
10:31:21:16
Money coming from those projects
is shared between all these guys.
10:31:27:08
This is one of the main reasons
for most of the problems in the inner city,
10:31:31:16
because this don thing
is really a fight for control.
10:31:49:16
Each one of the subcommunities
has its own don.
10:31:53:02
Once there was only one don,
and that don died,
10:31:57:01
so everybody wants to be the don now
in these subcommunities.
10:32:01:04
You have a split decision and everyone
wants to identify who is the real don -
10:32:05:22
based on firepower.
10:32:08:09
It is a fight for turf,
it's a gang-war situation.
10:32:11:21
It is between community members,
10:32:14:01
between citizens who live on this street
and citizens who live on another street.
10:32:27:18
It’s widely acknowledged that it was the politicians who first armed the Dons in the 1970’s in return for the Dons delivering the vote in their communities.
10:32:38:20
Today the politicians are keen to be seen to distance themselves from these relationships. But rumours abound about them continuing.
10:32:48:16
Without the full backing of the government, or the support and trust of the community, the work of the Police is almost impossible.
10:32:54:13
Everything that happens here,
somebody knows.
10:32:57:11
They know the people firing the guns,
they know where the guns are kept,
10:33:01:09
they know the wanted men.
10:33:03:07
And if they realised the importance
of preserving their community
10:33:08:13
and came forward and did something...
10:33:10:19
You don't have to identify yourself -
10:33:13:01
you can call various agencies
to give information.
10:33:16:22
The people mistrust the police because
when they give the police information
10:33:21:12
that information
comes back onto the streets,
10:33:24:00
and if you're not careful the person who
gives the information will end up dead.
10:33:30:04
They give you 24 hours notice -
if they are that kind -
10:33:33:17
or they kill you
and shoot up everybody in your family.
10:33:37:12
You are stuck in between - either
you move or you listen to the gunshots.
10:33:42:08
The question of people
being branded as informers -
10:33:45:19
it was common a couple of years ago,
10:33:48:02
but I am happy to report we have made
remarkable changes with respect to that.
10:33:59:02
In Trench Town the Don delivers the justice.
10:34:01:23
The dons give you jungle justice.
10:34:05:04
It goes like this: if you rape,
there's a possibility that you will die.
10:34:11:09
The only reasons you might not die
10:34:13:18
is either the don knows your parents
and has a soft spot for you,
10:34:20:10
or they might say, "He's a first offender."
10:34:23:21
Then you might get shot in the foot.
10:34:26:19
If you try and run,
anywhere the shot hits you is fine.
10:34:30:01
But if you stand up and take your justice
you will probably get it in the leg,
10:34:34:09
or you might end up losing your foot.
10:34:38:08
But most of the time rape is out.
10:34:41:24
If a man rapes a girl, somebody
will kill him. You understand?
10:34:49:11
If you thieve or break into a house
and take somebody's things,
10:34:53:12
they'll probably give you two hits
with a pickaxe handle or an iron pipe
10:34:57:16
and beat you up
and send you to the hospital.
10:35:00:20
If you do it again
you'll most likely be killed.
10:35:11:05
The don justice is harsh
and the people like that,
10:35:15:23
Dons think of themselves as community leaders and in some ways they are.
10:35:15:37
because it's what they've grown up with
and seen every day in the community.
10:35:19:08
The don is protecting their interests.
10:35:21:14
When you go to the police
it's a long process.
10:35:24:18
If you have something stolen, the police
can't get it back, hand it over to you,
10:35:29:21
but the don will get it back within hours.
10:35:37:12
People's experience is that the system
doesn't get it right enough
10:35:42:12
and it takes too long and it very often
doesn't satisfy you in the end.
10:35:47:07
So they take the cheap route
and call for a lynch mob.
10:36:00:05
A Don provides some sense of order in his community.
10:36:01:10
If you get rid of the don,
you get more problems
10:36:04:24
because when there's one man
who can talk to these many guys,
10:36:10:08
all these men start to fight
to try and become a don.
10:36:13:23
Because that's how the ghetto runs and
the people really put their trust in the don.
10:36:25:22
Most of Jamaica’s communities are controlled by one single Don. In Trench Town a number of Dons from different areas are battling for overall control.
Reporter - How do they decide who’s going to be the Don?
10:36:33:22
Gonna be the next don?
10:36:36:06
The man who has the most firepower,
the most contacts.
10:36:41:11
The man who thinks
better than the next man
10:36:46:01
is going to be the winner some day.
10:36:48:23
Because you don't need seven subjects
to be a don,
10:36:53:20
or you don't have to have a rich family
to be a don.
10:37:05:01
The hardest thing is when a youth is going
to school and his father is working
10:37:09:21
and the don has more money
than his father who works hard,
10:37:13:03
and sits on the corner
and wears the best shirt or pants or shoes,
10:37:17:01
and the don can give him a dollar or two,
whereas when he asks his father,
10:37:21:18
his father says, "I don't have any
because it's gone to pay the bills."
10:37:28:21
The youths these days
are moving away from the culture
10:37:33:04
and start getting involved with guns.
10:37:35:13
They don't want to play cricket any more,
they don't want to be good footballers.
10:37:40:02
No one wants to do music.
10:37:41:24
Because everyone is hoping
to be the don of tomorrow.
10:37:50:09
Most students, when they leave school,
have a dependency on the don,
10:37:55:07
who can provide a life that looks easy.
10:37:58:19
He can probably give them a gun,
and a gun in their hands is like power.
10:38:03:02
There's a danger with them
having a gun in their hand,
10:38:05:22
because they don't really
have any aim in life,
10:38:08:19
so they are destructive,
and are easily influenced and led.
10:38:18:07
Being a teacher in a deprived community like Trench Town carries big responsibilities.
10:38:19:01
I sometimes wonder why a youth
with so much potential in my class
10:38:23:21
would choose to go in a different direction
instead of educational success,
10:38:29:05
and I find that things are looser now
10:38:32:15
and kids at a younger age
are gravitating towards doing wrong.
10:38:37:23
In my youth kids did bad things,
but not that many.
10:38:42:14
Now so many 13- and 14-year-old kids
are exposed to guns
10:38:48:11
and all the weapons that we call evil.
10:38:52:00
The ones not from
a strong family background
10:38:54:13
are the ones who usually waver -
10:38:57:04
they are the ones
who take the undesirable route in life.
10:39:02:12
These guys, usually
as a result of searching for food,
10:39:07:02
are searching for someone
who seems to be interested in them.
10:39:11:06
Sadly, a lot of those ones are pointing
those guys along the wrong route,
10:39:17:06
and they go with it because it's a route
which will bring them bread,
10:39:22:05
will bring them companionship.
10:39:28:13
Most kids have friends who’ve got involved in the violence.
10:39:28:02
I know about six or seven of them.
10:39:32:01
I can't mention any names on television.
Reporter – “Do you ever talk to them?”
10:39:38:03
Yeah, I've spoken to quite a few of them.
10:39:42:00
But they say talking to them doesn't
make sense because they are already in it
10:39:46:24
and if they try to change -
even though you can change -
10:39:50:10
they say it's going to be difficult
10:39:53:23
because they are already wanted
and the cops are trying to get them.
Reporter – “From what age does this normally happen?”
10:40:03:21
From 13 up.
Reporter – “And no-one makes them go to school?”
10:40:11:22
Normally they feel
that they are bad and know everything,
10:40:15:20
so they just drop out of school
and do whatever they please.
10:40:19:05
It is a challenge
to keep the boys in school,
10:40:23:02
because an easy life
is usually what they see.
10:40:30:16
A lot of them want to do good, you know.
10:40:33:04
But they have great difficulties
and obstacles.
10:40:47:16
Sean was one of the kids who was prevented from finishing his education because of the conflict.
10:40:48:08
I'm 25. I've lived here about 25 years.
10:40:51:18
I didn't grow up with a father,
but I've got two sisters and one brother.
10:40:59:16
Some gang war started
and I had to stop going to school.
10:41:05:16
There was a war between Trench Town
and Tivoli Gardens
10:41:09:20
and my school was in Tivoli Gardens.
10:41:14:00
I know I never had a choice - if I'd carried
on going to school at that time
10:41:20:03
I'd probably have lost my life.
10:41:21:24
A man came to kill me in my class
in front of the teacher and students,
10:41:26:11
and I had to beat him off with a chair
just to save my life.
10:41:32:04
I jumped through a glass window.
10:41:34:16
I had to jump the school fence
to save my life and run back to my yard.
10:41:40:17
I've never really had anything
10:41:43:00
because of the gang violence
between up here and down there.
10:41:48:03
If it wasn't for that, by now
I'd probably have six or seven subjects.
10:41:54:09
If they come and kill
someone from my community...
10:41:59:22
I wouldn't do it,
but there are youths in my community
10:42:04:06
who say you have
to kill one of them back,
10:42:10:18
because if we don't do that they won't
stop coming up here and killing people.
10:42:16:24
So they stay up their end
and we stay up our end.
10:42:20:08
They know not to come up here
and we know not to go down there,
10:42:25:02
so we don't really go down there.
10:42:27:18
I know not to go down there because I
don't want to end up fried in a pan of acid.
10:42:35:22
All I know is that a lot of people are dead.
10:42:38:20
Sometimes they find them
and sometimes they don't.
10:42:42:05
We hear somebody's dead,
but we never see him dead.
10:42:46:00
So I don't know if they hide him
or burn him or what they do with him.
10:42:53:03
The schools and teachers try their best to help keep the children on the right path.
10:42:55:13
There are people
whose lives are waiting to be affected
10:43:00:00
by what God has placed within us.
10:43:03:04
Most people let others
control their destiny - don't do that.
10:43:08:13
Don't allow anyone to take over
the driver's seat of your life
10:43:12:13
and determine your own life's course.
10:43:15:22
Talents are within you,
10:43:17:13
and we are here to help you to achieve
these and get the most out of it,
10:43:22:12
so you can be the best that you can be.
Shall we pray?
10:43:41:00
But despite their best efforts too many get drawn into the world of violence and guns.
10:43:56:06
I guess they're fighting
almost everywhere.
10:44:00:07
No one knows what they're fighting for,
but they're fighting.
10:44:12:01
Some say itís about the donship - who
wants to run the area, the community.
10:44:18:01
Some of them live
in certain areas of the community
10:44:24:12
and say they are defending their area.
10:44:27:02
Some of their family
or relatives have been killed,
10:44:30:03
so they say, "Somebody killed my family,
I'm going to kill one of their family."
10:44:35:07
So it's revenge.
10:44:44:17
The wisdom and insight of the children of Trench Town is a ray of hope for the future of the community.
10:44:47:01
It's very difficult
and it can be frustrating sometimes,
10:44:50:22
because you want to go to the shops or
go to school or hang out with your friends,
10:44:55:18
and if you do, when you come back in
there will be shots firing.
10:44:59:18
So it's really difficult
and stressful as a teenager.
10:45:06:22
Most times when it's raining they just
fire nonstop until the rain eases up.
10:45:12:10
Then in the night
they start the firing again.
10:45:15:10
Sometimes it goes on from about six
till twelve o'clock the next morning.
10:45:21:01
There's no given time - it can be early
in the morning, as early as two o'clock,
10:45:26:07
in the afternoons, twelve, one...
10:45:29:07
Usually in the evenings, though.
10:45:31:14
From about eight o'clock
nobody is on the street.
10:45:34:09
I think even this morning
there were shots being fired,
10:45:37:07
and they were up against the wall
and one guy was cursing another.
10:45:41:02
It was just like a movie - only it's real life.
10:45:44:07
I hear gunshots every day.
10:45:46:14
You see them come and hold their corner,
so you know it's time to go in.
10:45:51:14
The shots start firing
and you start running
10:45:54:02
and it's echoing
and you don't know where to run.
10:45:56:18
I hear them zing past my ears,
so I have to duck and get low.
10:46:00:22
They don't want people on the other side
to see them,
10:46:04:07
so you have to turn off your lights
at a certain time.
10:46:07:10
Last night shots were firing
and I had to jump off my bed
10:46:13:03
because it could have
come through the window and hit me.
10:46:18:02
My mother tells me to get off the bed
and go on the floor
10:46:21:12
or go underneath the bed for my safety.
10:46:25:01
You have to get under your bed
and use a flashlight to study.
10:46:30:02
You can't turn on the light,
you can't turn on the fan
10:46:32:23
because they'll say you're an informer.
10:46:36:01
I have a bedside lamp that I keep on
because of my little sister.
10:46:40:09
She's afraid, so when she hears the shots
she says, "Hold me, don't let me go",
10:46:44:21
and I have to turn on the light
to keep her quiet.
10:46:47:14
I feel terrified knowing that I'm
in my house and I can't lie on my bed,
10:46:54:12
I've got to go on the floor.
10:46:56:21
Sometimes when I sit back and I hear
the gunshots, I feel like killing myself.
10:47:05:24
It is madness.
Reporter – “What do you think of these guys with guns?”
10:47:13:01
I say they are nothing.
They are very scary.
10:47:16:20
It's the only thing I can say.
Reporter – “What about your future?”
10:47:22:16
Well, you have to leave it to God.
Reporter – “What do you want to do when you leave school?”
10:47:34:03
I want to be a flight attendant.
10:48:16:20
I have seen changes in this community.
10:48:20:00
I've seen good times and bad times,
10:48:22:21
but it is sad that I've seen
more bad times than good times.
10:48:27:10
What's going to happen to the people in
Trench Town another 10 years from now?
10:48:31:24
Is it going to be the same thing?
10:48:34:00
We are trying our best
to rid this place of the violence
10:48:37:12
and work with the youth
for the betterment of this community.
10:48:42:13
We are thinking
about a changed community,
10:48:45:21
a more positive community,
a violence-free - if possible - community.
10:48:49:24
A lot of people have managed
to hold their heads up high.
10:48:54:24
A lot of good people, intelligent people,
came from Trench Town,
10:48:59:19
and it still has that potential.
10:49:03:03
My hope for Trench Town
is that it could just become normal again -
10:49:08:11
people live their lives with a sense
that they can walk from A to B
10:49:15:03
without feeling
that they are crossing border lines.
10:49:18:11
We have to preserve
this place called Jamaica,
10:49:21:17
because if we don't
then in times to come
10:49:25:13
this country, this beautiful island
10:49:29:02
is going to be a place
where nobody wants to come or stay.
10:49:32:19
If I were the MP of this community,
10:49:34:21
one thing that is lacking
is a good rapport with the people.
10:49:38:15
So much has been said,
but little has been done.
10:49:51:16
The responsibility for the future of Trench Town, Jamaica and all of its communities lies in the hands of the Jamaican government.
10:50:00:24
To continue to allow the gunmen and Dons to control the communities is to fail in the fundamental duty to protect it citizens.
10:50:09:19
What Trench Town and Jamaica really need are genuine community leaders not Dons.
10:50:09:23
To me, a true don for our community
10:50:13:09
is an intelligent person
who lets things work for the people,
10:50:20:04
and sees that projects
get built in the community,
10:50:23:10
sees that the youth are organised,
10:50:25:24
go to school, do music,
do positive things.
10:50:30:19
I feel those are the real dons
in our community,
10:50:34:17
the men who make things work.
10:50:38:08
He doesn't have to be an MP or anything,
but people will look upon him and say:
10:50:43:19
"I respect that man
and he doesn't have to carry a gun."
10:50:57:10
We would love to see some green grass
growing there for the future of the people.
10:51:09:00
I want to get a good job so I can help
my grandmother and my mother.
10:51:13:24
I want to study law
because I want to be a lawyer.
10:51:16:23
Either become an accountant
or a businessman.
10:51:20:18
I want to publish my novel.
10:51:22:14
I would like to become
a paediatric nurse.
10:51:25:02
Go into the business world.
10:51:27:01
I want to become a pathologist.
10:51:29:17
Medical scientist.
10:51:38:21
If not a medical scientist or a footballer,
10:51:42:00
I will surely become a teacher.