By Wendella Davidson

“MY journey towards becoming a mother and an independent woman has been bittersweet, but those experiences along the way, my fervent belief in God and my determination to succeed regardless, are what helped me to be what I am today.”

Those were the words of Woman Corporal Jennifer (W/Cpl) 17271 Jennifer Weever, 52, of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), a mother of two and grandmother of three.
Cpl Weever, who is stationed at the Agricola Police Outpost at Agricola, East Bank Demerara, during an interview with the Pepperpot Magazine, credited her experiences along the way and her fervent belief in God for helping to mould her into the woman and mother she has become today.

Today, she plans to spend the day at home with the family: her daughter, Natalia a.k.a ‘Latoya’,32; son, Kevon, 31, and his wife, Aquela and her grandchildren, Tinnisha, 12, Tranace and Trevon. She admits that she looks forward to being pampered by them.
They all reside at Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD), where Cpl Weever after being allocated a plot of land in the community, by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), said she constructed a house through blood, sweat and tears.

According to Weever, she is a Christmas Day, 1968 gift to her mother, Doreen Weever and father, Herman Muss and the third of five children. The family first lived at Agricola and subsequently relocated to Grove, both villages on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD).

Early life

She reminisced on the fun times she had travelling to the North Georgetown Secondary School in the city. The mode of transportation then was the `Tata’ bus, and her mother used to buy `a monthly contract’ that allowed her to join the bus in the mornings, in order that she could have been punctual for school. “My mother never used to make joke when it comes to schooling, so she went out of her way to ensure I was always neat and on time for school. In the afternoon, she allowed me to make my way to the bus park and join any bus that was available to get home early,” she added.

Cpl Weever recalled that she had not even reached the age of 16 when her mother was afflicted with a stroke and subsequently died. As a result, she was sent to live with her grandmother, who also lived at Grove, while her other siblings were split up among relatives.

With the death of her grandmother, the teenager moved to live with an aunt, Shirley Bruce, who also lived in the same village.
“Those deaths, especially that of my mother really took a toll on me and my education, my aunt tried her best but there was only so much that she could do and so much love she could have offered. Eventually, I dropped out of school when the going got really tough.”
”I knew I had to start earning a living to upkeep myself as a teenager, so when I became 18 I wrote an application seeking any job.

On my own instinct, I got up one morning, dressed and armed with the application went to see my mother’s uncle, Dr Ptolomey Reid, who was Prime Minister in the Forbes Burnham administration and lived at Supply, also on the East Bank. I was determined to start earning money and `Lady Luck’ was with me. I was allowed to see him I explained my situation he offered me a job at Vanceram Tableware Factory, at Coverden, another EBD village.

The trials of motherhood
“I stayed on that job for two years, before I was offered better employment at Congress Place, Sophia but left when I realised I was pregnant. The baby’s father was a policeman who used to work at Dr Reid’s residence and he was supportive. However, my aunt and uncle were annoyed as they thought I was getting into motherhood too early. It wasn’t easy, not working, “she said

According to her, the situation got tougher when one year after giving birth to her daughter, she again became pregnant. The child-father was transferred to `D’ Division and then is when his visits became scarce and to crown it off, I became aware that he was having an affair with someone from the Westside.

“It was then when realisation hit me as to my situation, I had two children now and I told myself that I will be the runner that stumbled, got up, dust myself off and made it to the finish line. I applied to become a Special Constable, wrote the exam and was enlisted on September 3, 1990, and was assigned the regimental number 8603.”

“I used to pay persons to look at my two children whenever I had to work and when I had my off-duty I tried to be the best mother I could,” she said, adding “I always took my work seriously and maybe it was because my superiors said that determination that on September 26, 1996, I was selected to participate in a Conversion Course, to become regularised as a full-fledged police officer.

I had my children enrolled at St Andrew’s Primary School in the vicinity of the Stabroek Market, however, when I was regularised I was transferred to the Grove Police Station. I used to work from 8 am to 8 pm. When I got home at nights I used to prepare their clothes and stuff for them to eat the next day. Latoya and Kevon used to leave home the same time with me.

I had a contract with a bus to pick them up and transport them to school in the mornings so that they can be punctual. In the afternoons they would together board a bus, and come and wait at the station until I was relieved and we would go home together.
Continuing she said, “I prayed a lot, I brought them up in the church just as I was brought up and I would sit and have pep conversations with them and maybe that is why I never had any problems with them growing up.”

Cpl Weever’s children are both adults now. Her daughter works at one of the KFC franchises and has two children of her own while her son recently got married, has one son and works with Exxon Mobil.

“My mother died when I was still a teenager, I made some wrong choices but that did not prevent me from trying to stay focused. Because of my job, I hardly got to spend key holidays like Mashramani, Easter and Christmas with them. I am ever grateful to my sister Rhonda Weever who used to ensure that they still enjoyed those occasions. Nevertheless, I made it my duty to always hold pep talks with my two children, and today I am proud of what they have both become,” CPL Weever added.

Her advice to mothers, even those who are teenage mothers as she was, is to “train up your children as how you would want them to grow, keep talking and praying for them and keep them in church.