"It's not about who I was, it's who I am," Daniel Barnes is keen to stress. He is intent on proving that he is not to be judged by his past, as he is charting a path to a future filled with hope and promise for better, much better, and it is useless looking back.

It's 1 p.m. on a Saturday, and the 29-year-old is in Emanci-pation Park, New Kingston, jotting down a few notes to share how the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) of the Ministry of National Security has changed his life.

CSJP is a multifaceted crime and violence prevention initiative focusing on community safety and security. Through its vibrant community action component, now serving 26 inner city communities, at-risk youth like Daniel are mobilised into vocational courses, life skills training and other social intervention opportunities.

After "following bad company" and dropping out of the Holy Trinity Comprehensive High School in grade 10, Daniel says he was just sitting at home.

Bad influence

"I just follow friend, drop out after two to three weeks in grade 10, then I just stay at home lingering, seeing pure bad influence around me 'til eventually I get caught up in the system," he said.

'The system' involved him getting into trouble numerous times and going to jail "too many times" until eventually he got tired. It was then 2008 and he decided to leave Southside to go to the border with Tel-Aviv "to cool off". It was there, on the border between the two communities, that his life changed.

There, he said he saw some youths who were involved in the CSJP, young men who were making something of themselves.

"I see them learning trade, and I was there not doing anything. I had something inside me that I really wanted to get out ... so I asked questions and someone sent me to someone ..." he explained.

That meeting led him to apply to the programme and weeks later he was enrolled in a welding component, offered by CSJP through HEART Trust/NTA, complete with life skills sessions.

After completing level one of that programme and not wanting to break his stride, he enrolled in a landscaping programme being offered through Manpower and Maintenance Services. He is now three months into the six-month programme which he said he loves.

"I just love to be around life," he said, explaining the love he has for plant life, and expressing a wish to later be involved in a landscaping gig beautifying somewhere like Emancipation Park.

He explained that his world has opened up so much that it's something he wants to share with others.

"I would love to see myself working in the country to reduce violence - going around like a role model. I want to show the youths how they can get out. I want to be a counsellor. Right now, I'm just being a little (street) corner counsellor to the gangsters, but I want to go further. I want to go on a mission; I want to work to try to change people."

It's work he says is mandatory, as there are many youths who need opportunities.

"They need more things like CSJP, to make them see that there's hope," Daniel said. "For all the youths, violence is constantly going on ... We need help with education. There's so much talent in the community, but the youths are hiding. They fear - it's how you live and grow. The fear is like a virus. Some of us have to go out for help, but some need the help to come to them."

Best future for his kids

He confessed that he has always tried to help the youths, even before CSJP came into his life, because he believes there is good in everyone.

He had even more conviction when he had his two children, and wanted the best future for them.

"I just wanted to be a person who was doing something good for the youths and doing good for the community," he says. "I try to do community service, keep the community clean and beautify it. I talk to the girls about not lowering their self-esteem, I organise treats, I talk to the youths. It was always in me. People would say you're wasting money on people's pickney, people weh nuh like yuh, but I tell them the kids have nothing to do with it."

He added: "If I see the youths doing something wrong, I won't turn my eyes or walk away. And I have the experience to show them, it's not like I'm just talking."

For more information about the Citizen Security and Justice Programme of the Ministry of National Security, go to www.csjp.gov.jm or call 906-4714.