LARGE ABROAD: Taylor gives back scholarships to Waterhouse!

LARGE ABROAD: Taylor gives back scholarships to Waterhouse!

March 27, 2019 0 By Horace Mills

A son of the inner-city, who attained social elevation through education, is giving back nearly JA$2 million annually in full scholarships for two students, who are from his native Waterhouse community in Kingston 11.

Linval Taylor, who migrated to the United States in 1978, told The Beacon that his wife Menervah, who hails from Annotto Bay in St Mary, is fully supportive of his thrust to uplift young people through education.

“We have taken a philanthropic approach to life in our golden years,” the couple said.

Mr Taylor retired in 2010 after working in the US telecommunications industry for 38 years; his wife retired three years later after working as a registered nurse.

Instead of planting their generosity elsewhere, the Taylors picked Jamaica.

“I have been told that ‘nutten good come from Waterhouse,’ and that is a fallacy,” Mr Taylor said. “I have never ever forgotten where I came from, and I always wanted to do something to help those in my old community.”

Linval Taylor and his wife Menervah who hails from Annotto Bay in St Mary

Mr Taylor further stated that he, along with his wife, has chosen two of the ‘best and brightest’ students from Waterhouse to study at his alma mater – University of Technology (U-TECH).

He explained: “We selected a male and female in August 2018, and they are currently enrolled at U-TECH. Denecia Kelly from Ardenne High School, with eight CSEC subjects and four CAPE subjects, is studying for her Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

“Devon Smith from Ardenne and Kingston College High schools, with seven CSEC subjects and four CAPE subjects, is doing his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering,” added Mr Taylor, who is a Kingston College past student.

He told The Beacon that the two scholarships – which also cover meals, and transportation or accommodation – are tenable for four consecutive years if each recipient maintains at least a 3.0 GPA.

Scholarship recipients Denecia Kelly and Devon Smith

Meanwhile, the two patriots, before migrating, also made significant contribution to their native land.

Mr Taylor worked at the former Jamaica Telephone Company (JTC) for just over eight years, starting out as a trainee technician and leaving as a senior technician. “That company was aptly named by ex-employees the ‘JTC University’. It delivered state of the art training,” Mr Taylor recalled.

His wife, Menervah, was a registered nurse at the University Hospital of the West Indies at the time she migrated.

Linval Taylor grew up in Waterhouse in the early sixties and left that neighborhood in the mid-seventies

When they left Jamaica in 1978, the couple had a one-year-old daughter, Stacey-Ann, who now is an attorney-at-law. Their second daughter, Tiffany-Ann, born in the United States, is a City and Urban Planner in New York.

The Taylors, in the meantime, urged Jamaicans living abroad to keep hope alive. “Never give up on yourself, and always remember to lend a helping hand to a person who is less fortunate,” Mr Taylor further advised.

By Horace Mills, Journalist


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