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Except for a brief visit overseas a couple years ago, 88-year-old Manasseh Davidson said he had never left Gobay in St Catherine. That was until last year when he, like many others, was forced to flee because of a spate of gun killings unleashed on this once quiet community by heartless gunmen.
Yesterday, Davidson, who stayed away for four months, was overcome with joy as he and his neighbours, along with more than 30 police officers, gave God thanks inside the community's Baptist church at a service marking, in a sense, Gobay's rebirth.
"Me had to go wey for four long months and leave me home because ah fraid me fraid," said Davidson, with a blank stare.
But his countenance changed almost immediately as he expressed how happy he was to be able to return to the place he called home for 88 years.
"Ah feel good about how the community come together, and me just know seh everything is going to be alright from now on," he told the Observer.
Eighty-eight year-old Manasseh Davidson said he was forced to flee Gobay for four months. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)
Davidson, who has been a member of the Baptist church since 1963, said he was praying hard that other persons who fled in the same way he did would now find the courage to return home.
The upsurge in violence by marauding gunmen between March and October last year left nine persons dead and several others injured. But it was the gun slaying of three people one night in October that sparked a massive exodus from the community. Businesses and churches were closed and fearful teachers abandoned the classrooms at the Berry Hill All-Age and Infant School.
Gobay became a ghost town.
Eventually, the police issued an appeal to residents to return, assuring them of their safety. In an apparent effort to demonstrate their commitment to the community, police - from district constables to superintendent - as well as members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) band and choir, yesterday joined in worship with the residents, some of whom had only just returned to the community.
The service started with the melodious sounds of the JCF band, which set the ambiance for worship.
However, it was the instrumental version of the song Prayer that brought alive emotions on the faces of the residents, many of whom appeared to be reminiscing on what had brought them to this place.
As some in the congregation sang the words "Lead us to a place, guide us with your grace, give us faith so we will be saved", many nodded in agreement, and even the fussing children grew silent.
Gretel Embden, a resident, said Gobay was an almost unknown place until last year when the media turned their spotlight on the community, following the spate of killings.
Since then, she said, Gobay has received attention from Government and non-governmental entities, as well as the police who have all assisted in bringing back the residents slowly to the community.
Another resident, Frederick Austin, who lost a family member to the violence, encouraged the residents to strive for peace and not to be threatened by those who would label them informers.
"Today we are here to send a message that this is peace time and God time too, and so nobody nuh call nobody informer because we done with the old time something. So let bygones be bygones and let's start life anew," he urged.
He also pleaded for funding to be made available to assist those persons who are desirous of returning to the community but cannot afford to do so.
"Them need a little fund to bring them back because some woulda come back but them nuh have nuh money fi come back, and so if the police can give us a truck when somebody want come home, fi draw them in, we welcome that too," he said.
Member of parliament Gregory Mair, Superintendent of Police Harry Daley and Senior Superintendent of Police Terrence Bent all gave words of encouragement to the residents as they urged them to unite if they are to ensure the community never returns to what it was a few months ago.
Chairman of the school board and resident of the community, Theophelous Tyrell, one of those who ensured that the school remained open after teachers left the classroom in fear, said he would never sit idly by and allow the community he grew up in to be overtaken by criminals.
Reminding the residents that the first murder which took place in Gobay happened when he was more than 50 years old, Tyrell said had they allowed the school to close down it would have had a chain reaction to the neighbouring communities.
"If we allowed the violence to close down Gobay, then other communities would have suffered a similar fate, as bad things always take on a chain reaction, because it started with one garrison, now look at how many garrisons we have in Jamaica," he said.
Reverend Cherrine Abrahams, who delivered the message from Ezekiel Chapter 37 verses 1-14, which tells the story of dry bones coming back to life, said the residents must take hope in the situation and believe that Gobay's dry bones can come back to life.
"Can Gobay's dry bones live again and be a place where there is love for neighbour and respect for elders, and can it become a place again where people are not afraid to live again?" she asked.
In a message titled 'A Question of Challenge, a Response of Certainty', she urged the residents to ensure that the community and individual response to the question of challenge be one of certainty that life has returned.
Reference:
Brown, I., (2008, April 14). News. The Jamaica Observer. Retrieved on April 14, 2008, from http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/..._THE_GRAVE.asp