Youthful humanitarian, Onica Charles, is a ‘Special Person’

Jun 28, 2015 News

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 “My plan is not just to have students from the United States come to Guyana, but to create a programme where students from Guyana and the Caribbean can volunteer to travel elsewhere to help others, because the need is everywhere.”

By Rehanna Ramsay
Holding firm to the philosophy of never forgetting from whence she came, this week’s special person

is young, vivacious,  accomplished, ambitious and very giving of her time, talent and resources to those in need.
At just 31 years old, Onica Charles, an overseas–based Guyanese, is in a nutshell, a humanitarian.
In just a few short years, after migrating to the United States, Charles landed her dream job in government and soon became the Founder and Director of International Children’s Outreach (ICO), a registered non-profit organisation in the US.
But her efforts to improve the lives of others did not stop there, with persons like Oprah Winfrey and her parents, Amanda Kumar and Augustus Charles, as her inspiration, the young philanthropist also founded the Little Masters Academy, a private school in the United States, which caters to children in the lower socio-economic areas.
Charles has not merely travelled the Caribbean and the wider globe, volunteering her time and effort towards improving the lives of others, particularly those in need. She seeks to inspire others to do the same.

EARLY CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION
Born on September 3, 1983, Onica Alicia Charles spent her early childhood in the village of Craig, East Bank Demerara, (EBD). She recalled that her upbringing was humble and simple but served as the perfect foundation for all that she has accomplished today.

While growing up, Charles said that her parents were very hardworking and dedicated to ensuring and she and her brother Leyland had a better life.
“I had a simple childhood, which involved going to school and to church, and being involved in youth Ministry. My parents took education very seriously,” she reflected.
Charles attended Grove Primary School and Anglican Primary in St Lucia, as she resided there with her paternal grandmother for a few years.
She subsequently attended St Joseph High School. However, the experience at that institution was short-lived as she migrated permanently to the United States one day before her 13th birthday.
Describing the transition period from Guyana to her new home in Miami, Florida, Charles related that the ethnic division, culture and way of life in Guyana were nothing compared to what she would initially experience in her adopted homeland.
“It was a huge culture shock for me. In Miami, we lived in a predominately white neighborhood and my brother and I attended a basically all-White school. We did settle in eventually.”
At Gold Coast Christian School, Charles got the academic experience that paved the way for her future scholastic accomplishments.  She was accepted into college at 16.

She explained that because of her age, her parents thought it was in her best interest to attend a school close to home. She attended Broward Community College.
Charles completed her tenure at Broward Community College in two years and transferred to Florida International University (FIU). While at FIU, Charles studied International Relations and dreamt of a career as a Diplomat.
“I wanted to be Foreign Service Officer. I wanted to be able to travel, and work with the government,” Charles said of her fascination for travel and absorbing different cultures.

FOCUS SHIFTED
It was while in college, Charles said that her focus shifted. At FIU, she loved to volunteer and became involved in student clubs and projects. The alternative breaks programme, gave her niche, she to do what she does best – travel, interact with different cultures and help those

in need.
“My first trip was to Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic, which was like right on the border with Haiti and we worked at an orphanage there. It was a great way to meet people and interact…Then we went to Jamaica the following summer and we helped to build a clinic there.”
The experience impacted Charles’ outlook on life, changed her course essentially, and inspired the idea for her own volunteer outreach programme, ICO.  Charles said that it was the pressing desire to give back and to do more community work that birthed the organisation.
At that time, she did not have the finances to get the work started “I would take sandwiches and boxes of juice, and go out on the streets and share to those in need. It would cost less than $20.”
As she continued with such efforts, the ambitious youth earned a BSC in International Relations with a focus on Asian Studies, Sociology and Anthropology, and later acquired a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Nova Southeastern University.

Although efforts to fulfill her career and academic goals occupied most of her time, Charles said that she never gave up on her philanthropic ambitions.
After completing her studies, she worked to get the idea for the organisation off the ground.
“I had no idea, what I was doing, but I went online and did my research,” she said
By this time she was a budding 25-year-old career woman, who had her first internship in the suburban city of Miami Gardens. She thereafter acquired a job in Sunrise, Florida.
Speaking about her work in government, Charles said “I was actually the youngest black woman to be hired as a management person at the City and I was actually the first intern to ever get hired permanently.”

HER OWN PRIVATE SCHOOL
After a few years of working with the City, Charles established her very own private school, the Little Masters Academy.
The establishment, which is located in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, caters for persons from the lower socio-economic environment. She said that she wanted to able to give children in the inner city the opportunity and strong academic foundation that she received as a child.
Charles said that in just four years the school has evolved, with over 300 children in attendance.
“We just try to give them a rounded education. Besides the regular school work, we do pilates, yoga, dance, and karate. We also have tutoring for the older kids.”
The school is under the supervision of her younger brother.
“Without my brother I don’t think any of this would be possible. He’s the Chief Operating Officer and he’s really hands-on. He knows the children by name – their parents and grandparents… he’s just been doing a really great job.”
For some time, the young entrepreneur juggled working at the city, overseeing the operations at the school and managing the Alternative Breaks Programme with ICO.
“I would use my vacation periods to host the college students and we would go to Jamaica, Guyana or St Lucia and conduct community service learning projects, to assist those in need.”
Looking back, she credits her work ethic and sense of independence to her mother, whom she said worked tirelessly and sacrificed to maintain the household, run a shop and ensure that she and her brother were taken care of, while their father was at work, overseas.

DEFINING MOMENT
But there was that defining moment. Charles said that she saw persons waiting for retirement to start living their lives and she decided that she didn’t want to be like that.”
So with “just a little faith and a drive to help others”, Charles said that she decided to quit her job at the City to focus on her work in Philanthropy.
“Everybody thought I was crazy to give up a job in corporate America. Almost everyone, who knew me tried to convince me to keep my job. They were like, ‘you have security and an entire retirement package to look forward to, and you’re going to give all that up?’”
But the young philanthropist was unfazed by this prospect. After eight years of working in government, she resigned last November to follow her passion.
Since then, the ICO founder has hosted thousands of college students from across the United States; FIU,  University of California, University of Michigan, University of Miami, just to name a few.
ICO volunteers have since used their “Alternative Breaks”, to move away from the usual party atmosphere during the summer and spring time and travelled to various parts of the world to conduct outreaches which will benefit children.
Charles said that it is through her humanitarian efforts that she has been afforded the opportunity to meet people she never thought possible.
“Those persons came into my life for one reason or another and I owe all that I have to God and to my beliefs.”
Her organisation primarily functions through fund-raising ventures and generous donations from private individuals and companies.
“People donate money and other resources including books, other useful items that we can give to families,” she explained.
ICO volunteers have conducted outreach work in Jamaica, Miami, south Florida, Guyana, the Dominican Republican, and throughout the Caribbean, South America and South Africa. As she plans to expand her outreach, Charles remains focused for now on the Caribbean, Africa, and South America.
“My plan is not just to have students from the United States come to Guyana, but to create a programme, where students from Guyana and the Caribbean can volunteer and be exposed through ICO. That, through ICO, they would get the opportunity to be able to travel the Caribbean and even to the United States to help others, because the need is everywhere.”

NOT ALL WORK AND NO PLAY
But it’s not all work and no play. When she’s not engrossed in volunteer work or working at her school, Charles travels extensively and indulges in a host of outdoor activities. She enjoys kayaking, hiking and like most young women, shopping.
Given her hectic schedule, Charles noted that she had to learn to take time off for herself.
“I started with four hours. I would turn off my phones, computers and just zone out … I would take mini vacations to just clear my thoughts and recoup.”
Charles is currently constructing a Children Aid Centre at Craig Village on the East Bank. She counts it an honour to be able to give back to the community in which she grew up.
Every year she hosts a back-to-school event in Guyana where donations are made to hundreds of children.
Charles believes that American writer, Frederick Douglass, said it best when he opined ‘It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men”.

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