Culture
Worship of God Through Service to Mankind Dr. Jameiko J. Harvey
I
was born in the beautiful Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI), a British Overseas Territory located in the North Atlantic Ocean, some 575 miles southeast of Miami, Florida, and 90 miles north of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. TCI is an archipelago of 40 islands and Cays, only eight of which are inhabited. The TCI forms part of the southern extremity of the Bahamas chain. The total landmass is estimated at some 238 square miles. The TCI has as its slogan “Beautiful By Nature,” as it is home to the world’s number one beach. Of the 40 islands and Cays, I am lucky enough to call the Island of South Caicos (The BIG South) my birth island. My father, Royalton Harvey, is a retired accountant by profession, and my mother, Youthful Forbes, worked in the hospitality industry. I am the fourth of my mother’s nine children. It was a common tradition for the children to be raised by their grandparents while their parents went to work, so my three older siblings and I spent most of our early childhood living on the island of North Caicos with our grandparents, Thomas and Josepha McIntosh. We grew up in a small neighborhood called Pepper Town; a town that has produced many political and professional leaders of the Turks & Caicos Islands. I attended Adelaide Omler Primary School until the age of twelve. Throughout my primary school education, I was known to be a well-rounded student as I was always in the top five in my class in academia and was also a gifted athlete. I graduated from primary school in 1996 and was in the top three in my graduating class. I went on to attend the Raymond Gardiner High School, also in Bottle Creek, North Caicos. It was in high school that I really discovered my true potential after being guided by some great teachers. The most influential of them all was my third-
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form science teacher, Mrs. Allam. Mrs. Allam was the one who suggested that I become a dentist. I’m not sure if she knows it, but once she mentioned it to me, I never had any other profession in mind. Being a science major in high school, it was difficult to balance my athletic schedule, but it was something I did for five years. As I matriculated through high school, I became the top-performing student in academia and also the top athlete. In the fourth form, I was named captain of my sports club which was Seymour House. I went on to lead them to backto-back victories; the first victory for Seymour in the school’s history. During one of the sports club meets, I entered the 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, high jump, long jump, shot-putt, discus throw, javelin, the 4x100meter, and the 4x400 meter race and won gold medals in all events; an accomplishment that to this day has never been matched. I graduated from high school in 2001 as a Salutatorian and was also awarded Athlete of the year. By this time, my grandmother, whom I had lived with until the age of twelve, had gotten sick and was no longer able to care for me and my siblings. It was at this time that my two brothers and I started living with our mother’s sister, Rosethal Eyvette McIntosh. Rosethal had three boys of her own who were all older than me and my siblings. It was a difficult task for her to care for three boys as a single mother and working a full-time job. When she was asked to care for three more boys she didn’t hesitate. I was the youngest of the six boys being raised by my aunt, which was good and bad; good in a sense where I benefitted from being protected by older brothers, bad because I had to do most of the DentalEntrepreneur.com
