Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
BROWN
AFTER PLAYING an integral role in the fortunes of Jamaica's football, former national coach and player, Carl Brown has now turned his focus to transforming the landscape of Trench Town.
As the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Boys' Town, Brown now says his job is no longer saving football, but saving lives.
"I'm still focusing on football presently, but my real goals are to get this institution back to where Father (Hugh) Sherlock (the founder of Boys' Town) would have wanted it," said Brown.
Getting up as early as 6:00 a.m. in the mornings to help with football practice, Brown almost gets no rest. After football comes peace talks with different factions within Trench Town, then there are negotiations with companies for sponsorships, sometimes four for a day.
Then there is the problem of ensuring that the money in the coffers at the end of the day is sufficient to ensure that the various factions that make up the Boys' Town institution are run effectively.
Boys' Town remaining open, given the heavy financial burden that they have to undertake without any real source of income, is remarkable.
They not only play in the Wray and Nephew National Premier League, which is an undertaking of some $12 million a year, but they also play the different cricket competitions as a club, which also is a significant yearly expense.
The institution also houses an All-Age school and facilitates numerous vocational activities for young people in Trench Town, all of which cost huge amounts of money.
Brown's belief in God has led him to think that Boys' Town's continued existence is more than just remarkable.
Reminiscing about a time when Boys' Town had been vandalised and Father Sherlock had returned from an overseas assignment, Brown, who won premier league titles with Boys' Town both as player/coach and captain, told a story of unswerving faith.
"Years ago when this place was vandalised and at the bottom of the ladder and Father came back from an overseas assignment, a man jumped over the wall and said: 'Father not even you can bring back Boys' Town', to which Father retorted 'that is true but the big man upstairs can'. Within six months Boys' Town was up and running and that has remained with me throughout, the big man upstairs," said Brown, who grew up in the area.
"I believe that the fact that this is the work of God keeps this place going. The fact that this is not a man-made institution but the vision of God that miracles will keep this place going on," Brown added.
Even with the belief of a greater power contributing to Boys' Town's existence, Brown is of the opinion that people need to find ways to help as 'God helps those that help themselves'.
"It is very important that we keep this place going. A lot of the finances from this place comes from the pockets of old boys. We have people like Junior Lincoln (Boys' Town president), Loxley Comrie (vice-president), who give their all to this institution and Andrew Price who has worked wonders in keeping this institution going from a football perspective, which is our main focal point in trying to attract sponsors here," explained Brown.
It is understood, what Brown and the board at Boys' Town are trying to achieve, but how can the institution achieve the feat of saving lives within a community?
"It is something that I refer to as a little miracle. Boys' Town is a secret that we now want for people to know. For the people around that have nothing else to do, I really want to offer them hope. The hope that there is a future out there for them and I want them to understand that there are people out there that care for them. The thing is, they'll not care until they find out that we care," said Brown.
What difference is expected even if Boys' Town return to its former glory, how does that make the community a better place?
"Boys' Town has not been able to achieve its true potential for too long and I said to the MP (Member of Parliament) for this area, Dr. Omar Davies that I can guarantee him that once Boys' Town is up and running, there will be a 50 percent reduction in crime and criminality in this area and I'm still on that path.
"I still feel that if we have alternatives for these youngsters we can easily pull them away. I am into the business of prevention because otherwise it will be the police, the soldiers and the citizens of this country that will have to deal with the cure," explained Brown.
Money is hard to come by, especially for those on the lower echelons of the social scale, but Brown believes that he and his organisation must not stop in their pursuit of salvation.
"We hear a lot of 'no's' but they don't deter me, I think that if we can get someone to sponsor someone for one day I think that we have a victory," said Brown.
"Corporate Jamaica needs to see it as their responsibility to save the lives of young people and that is what I am doing here at Boys' Town and that is my main goal here, to save lives.
"If I have them for two or three hours every evening I have a great opportunity of doing that. Without Boys' Town I'll not be able to do it," Brown noted.
