The Tribune

NEARLY 6,000 Family Island students in 42 schools have been hearing powerful messages about life from former gang member Drexel Dean over the past few weeks.

From March 20 to April 13, Mr Deal - a dynamic speaker and author - addressed students on nine islands and cays, from Abaco to Exuma, on four real life lessons that he had learned the hard way after the loss of his sight in a shooting during a failed armed robbery in 1996.

They included the importance of honouring and respecting parents, because it will go well with them and add many years to their lives. The students were told why it is never good to be a bully, because all bullies are bullied in the end.

They were also made aware of the importance of attending church and the wisdom of seeking God in their youth and urged to listen to their teachers. Mr Deal, 41, challenged them by saying, “Don’t just hear your teacher’s words but do what they tell you because it’s the doer who stands to benefit the most.”

He shared with the young men the reality of what it feels like to be lying on the ground after being shot four times and knowing you are going to die. The head boy for Central Eleuthera High School, Vershard Rahming, said he found the presentation very interesting. “I know the students really love it because of the outcome they gave you and I hope you can come back again,” he said.

Brenell Clarke-Higgs, principal of J A Pinder Primary School in Abaco, said Mr Deal’s testimony had left “an indelible mark upon the lives of our students and the community members present, who were left amazed and in awe of your boldness to publicly express your shortcomings in the youthful stage of your life”.

That was echoed by Don Barr, principal of L N Coakley High School in Exuma. “Mr Deal’s presentation was indeed an awesome one,” he said. “It was timely because most of our students needed to hear that kind of message.” Senior mistress Denise Curtis said “Drexel’s message really hit home to our young men.”

Natasha Sands, principal of Wemyss Bight Primary School in Eleuthera, described Mr Deal’s presentation as “extremely moving and thought provoking”.

Mr Deal left several copies of his riveting book “The Fight of My Life is wrapped up in My Father” with the principal at each of the schools he addressed, which he hopes will allow his presentation to remain with the students for a lifetime. The book deals with why so many young men like him chose the criminal path they did and Mr Deal’s discovery that they shared a common bond of neglect, rejection and fatherlessness.

The entire school outreach to Abaco, Eleuthera, Exuma and surrounding cays was made possible by community partners such as Michael Pintard, of Freeport; Gregory Bethel; Leon Williams, CEO of BTC; the Rotary Club of East Nassau; the Abaco Rotary Club: Nathaniel Beneby, of RBC Royal Bank; Gordon Major; Judith Knowles, of the Paint Place; Isaac Collie, from Long Bay School; The Pilot Club of Abaco; and Augustine Williams.

Also lending support were Sir Durward Knowles, Colina Insurance, Sawyer’s Group Ltd Freeport, Brenda Jenoure, of Abaco, Pastor Paul Scavella, President of the South Bahamas Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, Patrice Cooper, of Freeport, Bank of The Bahamas and Shelton Burrows, from Elizabeth Estates.

Special thanks go to Dr Lenora J Black, Dwayne Wallas, Valerie Dean, Pastor A B Lewis and Pastor Silbert Mills and his wife in Abaco; Jacqueline Gibson, Althea Gibson, Jerdeshia S Moxey, Principal Vernitta Thompson and Pastor David Armbrister and his wife in Eleuthera: and Pamela Gorte, Pastor Steven Smith and his wife Krivoy in Exuma.

• Watch video testimonies from the schools on tribune242.com