By Akola Thompson

(Part 1 of 2)

IN today’s society, very few young persons get a chance or have the drive to build strong relationships despite the odds which may be in their favour, even more so if they become parents.Of Guyanese and Grenadian origins respectively, Timmintra and Joachim knew that they were going to become parents before any of them legally became adults.

Battling the hurdles placed in their way over the years in an effort to be more than stereotypes, 22 and 21 year old Joachim and Timmintra Joseph are examples of how love and determination can overcome time, distance an abundance of challenges.

Before becoming a mother at 16, Timmintra who was born in New Amsterdam and grew up in Tabatinga, Lethem, explained that her life, while fun was becoming more and more difficult as she got older.

Her parents, of the belief that migration and a better education would equate to an easier life than she had in Guyana, decided to send her to Grenada to live with her aunt.

There, she was enrolled into the Anglican High School (AHS); an all girls school which boasts being the second most prestigious school in the island.

Born and raised Grenadian, Joachim attended the prestigious Grenada Boys Secondary School, which was a mere five-minute walk away from AHS.

After school one afternoon, Joachim, who lived a short distance from school was walking home when he was called out to by a group of AHS girls. Going over to them, they all began conversing in a friendly manner, but a few minutes into the dialogue, he realised that there was “this one short Indian girl who didn’t talk at all”. He claimed that from that moment, he forgot about the others and began speaking to Timmintra and they exchanged contact information.

Thus began their long and tumultuous relationship, which resulted in a pregnancy two years after they initially met. At the time, Timmintra was still in High school and Joachim now in his first year of college.

Realising that they would need their families’ support, a week after finding out they decided to tell their parents.
After revealing their secret to their families however, the couple began facing a series of issues as both sides urged them to forget about each other.

Timmintra’s family began threatening to send her back to Guyana as she had migrated for “betterment”, while Joachim’s mother urged him to forget about her and pay attention to his education.

Realising that he would soon have major responsibilities and knowing he could no longer rely on his family, Joachim began working part-time at a supermarket packing shelves.

With their families still against their relationship, they would often meet after school and talk. On one such occasion someone saw them kissing and reported it to the principal of AHS. It was not long after they were spotted that the principal and counsellor of AHS called a meeting with Timmintra and Joachim in which they were told that their “relationship was unhealthy” and they should stay away from each other.

At the time he said, he could remember thinking that despite the fact that everyday their “relationship was getting stronger”, it was being attacked.

MORE HURDLES

Unfortunately, that was not the end of their troubles, hardly even a sufficient start.

In Easter of the year 2012, shortly after they had found out about the pregnancy, Timmintra was reported to the Grenadian immigration and was carried in for questioning. After the initial meeting, they called another one, this time inviting Joachim and it was only then that the couple learnt that immigration wanted to send her back to Guyana.

The reason they had given was that Timmintra was on a student visa and a pregnancy would see her dropping out of school.

Feeling as if they were running out of options and constant assault on their relationship, spurred them to bear a plan, which neither of them at the time felt would come to fruition. They decided that if Timmintra were to be sent back home, Joachim when he could afford it would go over and meet her.

With the new threat of deportation, Timmintra’s family became increasingly mean to her and would often verbally and physically assault her. This, she related, caused her to begin feeling unwanted.

Feeling neglected and abused by their families, the couple decided that the only way they could truly be together was if they ran away. So, packing their bags one morning, they began their spree of independence, which lasted for approximately only three days.

With nowhere else to go, they spent one night and a day on a forte in St Georges, buying food from off the road and bathing in the Grande Anse beach when the need arose. Upon their second night, they decided to confide in a close friend about their situation and he agreed to keep them for a few days. The day after, Joachim returned to work after having skipped two days and Timmintra waited on him upstairs at a restaurant. Before his shift was over, CID along with both of their family found them in the supermarket and took them to the police station.

After a round of questioning, they were asked whether they wanted to live alone and believing they would be better off than with their families, they jumped at the opportunity. They began renting a small apartment, which drained most of their resources, but they did not mind as they were together. Before the first week in their apartment was up however, immigration upon realising that Timmintra was no longer staying at her intended address came for her and she was eventually sent back to Guyana. All through security clearance, the two cried because despite their promise, they were unsure whether they would ever see each other again.