The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

DR Hubert Minnis’ rags to riches story is familiar to anyone who paid attention to politics when he was leader of the opposition and prime minister.

His experience growing up poor in Bain Town was a frequent part of his stump speech, one he said influenced his policies, like the Economic Empowerment Zones that eliminated some taxes for people in Over-the-Hill communities.

Still, his new book, “The Power of Determination,” will cause some to reflect on how high a ladder he had to climb.

He grew up using slop buckets as a toilet at night because his family didn’t have a bathroom.

“The old newspapers served their purpose,” he writes in his book, released last month.

He had no electricity as a child. He worked at his father’s service station, sold newspapers in the mornings and evenings and shined shoes on Sundays to pay tuition at St Augustine’s College.

He couldn’t afford to go to prom and considered dropping out of school to avoid the embarrassment of being sent home for late payment. As a student at the University of Minnesota, his food budget was $1 per week during summers when other roommates returned home.

“I always accepted another student’s invitation for dinner or lunch. It allowed me to stretch the $1 even further,” he writes.

Amid reflections about poverty, the theme of community persists throughout the book, and he maintains an optimistic tone.

Dr Minnis said his second book, which he is currently writing, will examine his career as a doctor. His third book will reflect on his political career and will be based on contemporaneous notes he made in a diary.

He said he wants the first book to encourage people to stay determined to achieve their goals.

“The moral is never give up and never let anyone say to you that you can’t do it and that you would fail,” he said yesterday.

“The most important thing is we try to teach young people that they will run into obstacles in their life and those challenges are placed there to make them better leaders and individuals. The happiest moment in my life is when I see young people succeed. That’s always been my number one goal and objective. And I want people to know, no matter how little they make, always save. Try to save 10, 20 percent of what you make because, at some point, opportunities will come, and you will need to be prepared.”