One young man’s drive to press on

“The most important thing is that you have life.”

That’s the simple yet profound belief of Dakari Jordan, a young man who is defined by his fortitude and unwavering pursuit to make a positive impact in his country.

“I’m your typical 22-year-old,” he said during an interview with the Pepperpot Magazine, “I’m outgoing, fun to be around, despite my sometimes antisocial or dismissive appearance [and] I’m easy to approach.”

He considers himself a great friend since he always has the best interests of his friends at heart, and he takes pride in being a man of his word. He’s also a HUGE Game of Thrones fan and loves to watch and play cricket.

But below his infectious and affable personality, is a little boy who chose not to let his experiences stop him from making himself and his loved ones proud.

At just the tender age of eight, while at St. Gabriel’s Primary school, Dakari touched an exposed electrical wire. That incident nearly cost him his life, but miraculously, he survived.

It nevertheless claimed one of his arms but could not stop him from trying to live his best life. His mother was his “everything”. She nursed him back to health over the next few years and strived to reintegrate him into the school system, as best as possible. But Dakari lost his everything during that journey.

These experiences, understandably, are ones he rather not talk about too much. It takes a lot of emotional strength just to hear half of what has happened to him, let alone actually experience his trials and tribulations.

“Growing up was challenging at first as I tried to adapt to my new life,” young Jordan said but wasted no time in highlighting: “The challenges quickly disappeared as I adapted nicely to performing many tasks with one hand.”

In fact, he shared that sometimes he forgets that he only has one hand. “It must be nice having both hands but I’m perfectly okay with how I am,” Jordan said.

STRUGGLES
His strength did not come overnight, though. He shared that his first few years in secondary school were a bit of a struggle. He shuffled around three schools and it took time before he really began excelling in his academics. Thankfully, there were persons in his life – like Ms. Gorrin, a teacher of his- who helped him build self-confidence.

Finally, entering the International Business College at the Grade Nine level, he managed to refocus himself and began his academic ascent.

He recalled that during the final term in Grade Nine, he scored 83 per cent.

“I was super excited as I finally gained more than 80 per cent, and was eligible to receive a trophy,” he recollected finally. But even this was short lived because the school closed its doors for good and he transferred to the Guyana Education Trust College (GETC).

He was placed back into Grade Nine despite his stellar grades because he did not sit the National Grade Nine Examinations. Though this infuriated him, he channelled his anger into his studies and managed to top his class each term.

In 2014, he wrote the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations and garnered eight Grade Ones and four Grade Twos. Jordan was far from finished though, as he immediately began studying Medical Technology at the University of Guyana (UG).

The young man explained that he chose this field of study because he was amazed at how critical the role of a technologist is in accurately diagnosing a disease, during a visit to UG’s career day sometime before. He decided that he wanted to be a part of it.

Microbiology and Hematology were two of his favourite courses during his Med-Tech journey.

“For Microbiology, being able to identify tiny organisms that cause great pain and discomfort was really exciting,” he related.

But his affinity for Hematology (the study of blood), perhaps, was a bit closer to home. According to him, “Even though we might know that blood is really important but we don’t really know the extent of how important it is.”

It was learning about diseases like leukaemia and sickle cell that really got his attention given that his mother died from sickle cell and he currently has a trait of the disease. So it was really edifying for him because he knows what steps he can take to prevent his future offspring from inheriting the disease.

Accumulating this knowledge and so much more, Dakari graduated with distinction recently after completing his Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Medical Technology.

Reflecting on his journey, he related: “It was rough at the start as I was unfamiliar with the university life.” Joggling long days spent in classes, with a host of examinations, assignments, presentations and lab work sometimes became tiring. But he persevered.

This took a toll on his social life, however, but Dakari noted that as time went by be found great friends who have made an indelible mark in his life. He also began volunteering with quite a few youth advocacy groups.

Now that this journey is over, he aims to continue his studies for a bit more- but not right away- because he doesn’t want to rush into the next chapter of his life.

Certainly, whatever he does decide to do will align with all those things he is passionate about.
These include equal and affordable access to Sexual & Reproductive health services, safeguarding the environment and lessening the effects of global warming and equal opportunities for women and girls.

On Dakari’s list of things he is passionate about, there are also equal opportunities for people with disabilities because he himself faced discrimination because of his disability. He shared that though he has the requisite academic qualifications, he was turned down when he applied for a few part-time jobs while at UG.

He has vowed not to ever let his disability deter him and said to other persons with disabilities. “I know it might be hard to adjust to your new life, but life is unpredictable and challenging and you either accept it and make the best of it or waste your second opportunity of life and forever live with regrets,” he said.