SUNDAY 16 DECEMBER, 2018 – UWI TODAY
29
70
th
ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE
THE MAKANDAL DAAGA SCHOLARSHIP IN LAW – ISSUE ARCHIVE OCTOBER 2017
“He represented the best
that East Port of Spain had
to offer,” said an outgoing minister of government.
The line could easily describe Kareem Marcelle, a
young man who has set aside his own turbulent life
to serve others in the East Port of Spain region and
who, because of his activism, has earned theMakandal
Daaga Scholarship to study Law at The UWI, St.
Augustine Campus this academic year.
Kareem is the last of four children for his mother
and father who respectively earned $700 fortnightly as
a kindergarten teacher, and $1,500 monthly working
in the market. “But we were rich in morals and good
values,” he says.
He recalled that in Standard Four, just before
the start of the new school year, his father said quite
suddenly, that he was going to the US for threemonths.
With two children in secondary school and two in
primary school, emotional and financial upheaval
ensued. His two older brothers stopped school to take
jobs to help provide for the five of them. It came to light
later that his father was not returning. Unknown to
them, he had a wife and she had sent for him.
Kareem moved through Sacred Heart Boys R.C.
to Daniels Community College, which went into
receivership shortly after he started, making his hard
to come by books and one shirt abruptly obsolete. He
was transferred to Trinity College in Maraval, where,
in spite of the choppy start he became president
of the debate club and the 2012 National Youth
Parliamentarian.
At home, he began to get involved in the life of
the community. He is still the PRO for the Beetham
Gardens Village Council, which organizes inter-
community sports and cultural competitions aimed
at uniting factions in the area. For three months
(June-August) every year, young ladies who enter the
queen show are trained not just to walk on a stage, but
also to be role models, and the netball and football
competitions end with a grand family day. Kareem is
also the PRO for the Positive Impact Organization,
another community-based initiative that provides
mentorship and counseling services for schools in the
area without guidance counselors.
Another community outreach organization
Kareem is part of is BEYOND, which is the Beetham
Estate Youth Outreach Network Development. He is
the Youth and EducationOfficer and assists in running
after-school programmes, one of which organizes for
students to complete their SBAs.
“It’s really easy not to hand in SBAs, the cost of a
colour print is one dollar a page, plus the cost of trips
to Internet cafes. When you hand it in and the teacher
KareemMarcelle: The First Scholar
B Y R E B E C C A R O B I N S O N
He wants to be an attorney-at-law as he sees law
as the foundation of his community, the place that has
filled gaps in his family life and where he continues
to thrive.
Every year he personally hosts a children’s
Christmas party for about 1,500 on Christmas Day, as
he knows “what is it like to not have a gift to go outside
with on Christmas morning among other children.”
Kareem seems motivated to give and to do by all the
deficits he experienced in his earlier years. As PRO for
the Beetham Gardens Village Council he is currently
organizing the area’s first community career fair, which
will come off in November.
Kareem was a facilities assistant at NIDCO for
the three years prior to winning the scholarship. He
has since relinquished the position for a combination
of reading for his Law degree and continuing to work
in his community. It is really fitting that this young,
bright star wins the first offer of the Makandal Daaga
Scholarship in Law.
marks on it, where is more money coming from to re-
print a whole project? Many children from this area do
not have access to these resources, so they do not hand
in SBAs. This was my struggle too. I know,” he says.
Because these factors are the reality for children
from the area, volunteers, usually graduates of the
programme, come back and help current students
stay on track to handing in SBAs, frequently helping
with the cost of printing. BEYOND also helps annually
by gifting 25 families with completed booklist items
that include uniforms – the scarcity of which is also
familiar to him.
How does a self-made successful young man deal
with the society-imposed stigma attached to people
from the Beetham? Kareem: “The bad elements in
my community represent 1% of the people who live
there. Most people are law-abiding and hard-working
citizens. And personally, I try to tell people where I am
from early! I think I am a good example of a Beetham
resident and I am not running away from it.”
Kareem Marcelle, the first
recipient of the award.
PHOTO: ATIBA CUDJOE
For more on the application guidelines visit
For more information visit call 662-2002 ext.82039, 82040; email:
