'I realised I was better than what they said' - Young man turns life around, tries to steer other youth in positive direction

Dave Lindo, Gleaner Writer

ROSE HILL, Manchester:

RYAN ROBERTS had a rough childhood while growing up in Rose Hill, Manchester. At one stage, he was heading towards a life of crime; however, through his inner strength and ambitions, he managed to turn around his life. Roberts is currently enjoying the benefits of that change and is now reaching out to troubled youth in his community and guiding them towards a positive path through music.

Roberts was born in Rose Hill, Manchester, and from birth, faced difficulties in his life. As he explained, his mother was "thrown out of her family home because she got pregnant, so she ended up on the road. I was taken in by a lady named Ms Freeda, who was like a village mother in the Rose Hill community."

Ms Freeda raised Roberts like her own son, but despite her good intentions, with no parents around, it created some difficulties for him.

'UNBALANCED' LIFE

"Most of the early stages in my life were unbalanced," Roberts said. "It was when I was 11 I knew and understood that I had a mother and a father. My mother was always taking care of me, but she wasn't there physically."

He added: "It was all love at Ms Freeda, but when you went outside, you felt like an underdog. I got the second-hand shoes and other things, so I developed this inferior feeling. Not understanding (this situation), it caused rebellious feelings, so you are saying, 'Why people have to look at me that way?'

" I remember going to school one day. Ms Freeda's son was a shoemaker and he repaired a pair of shoes for me. In my eyes, the shoes were okay, but when I lined up at devotion, the whole school looked at my shoes and laughed at me."

Roberts explained it was situations like these that built a rebellious spirit in him. At one stage, he found himself getting into a lot of trouble; however, the defining moment in his life came when he was 17 years old and attending May Day High School.

He related: "It was just realising that I was intelligent, better than all that people were saying about me. I wasn't a slow learner. I was always in the bright stream at school. I was just tired of people saying negative things about me. I just started to act like a 17-year-old and settled down."

After leaving school, Roberts got the chance to migrate to the Cayman Islands, where he worked for a few years before returning to Jamaica. It was while in Cayman that he found his true passion - music - which has helped to transform his life.

SINGER AND PRODUCER

Roberts is a singer and a producer and operates the entertainment company 3R Productions. He has also set up a recording studio in Knockpatrick, where he lives.

"We have live bands. We deal with anything to do with stage production - from sound, lighting, the whole works," Roberts explained.

"I feel good that at this time I can stand and say I am a man," said Roberts. "I run my own business. It is a complete feeling for me. Basically, it's just doing what I love. As they say, 'Give me what I love and I will never work another day', so I am pursuing my love."

Roberts has been working with the youth in his community. He assists the ones who have musical ambitions, guiding them towards achieving other goals.

"I am putting myself in their shoes when I was at their age," he said. "I can feel what they are going through emotionally in trying to fit into society, sometimes going in the wrong places. I am just channelling them in a positive way through music and otherwise."

rural@gleanerjm.com: