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Overcoming odds, Jabre Weatherly sets sights on trip
YOUNGSTOWN
Jabre Weatherly is no stranger to dealing with obstacles.
The 16-year-old high-school sophomore was born prematurely, weighing only 3 pounds. Doctors told his mother, Vonetta Davis, he would have developmental issues and not be able to do certain things.
Jabre, however, managed to thrive, becoming a productive teen with decent grades in school. He also has managed to overcome doctors’ predictions about his limited abilities and has been involved in football, track and marching band.
Now, the teen is looking at achieving another goal. He wants to become a professional chef, preparing exotic cuisine for people from around the world.
There is, however, a smaller goal he would like to achieve first that may help him become that world-class chef.
Jabre hopes to spend 21 days traveling through Europe with People to People Student Ambassadors in the next few weeks.
The People to People Ambassador Programs offer life-changing, educational travel opportunities for students, educators and professionals.
The People to People movement dates back more than a half-century to its founding by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Eisenhower was acting on his belief that direct interaction between ordinary citizens around the world can promote cultural understanding and world peace.
For Jabre, the trip would be a three-week taste-test of various foods he would not likely see in Northeast Ohio. He said the experience would be excellent before going off to college.
“I want more awareness about other cultures. I want to see how they live so I can compare and contrast our differences,” he said. “This will also be a benefit in the long run by being able to learn the different types of foods that people eat and how they prepare things.”
Davis said she is proud of her son’s determination to reach his goal of becoming a chef and taking the trip through Europe as part of that dream.
“Being a single parent with two boys, I just wanted to keep them on the straight and narrow,” she said. “People have called me ‘the warden,’ but that is what I had to be, and it is paying off.”
The biggest obstacle for Jabre in this process will be money. The trip’s cost will be $9,000, and an additional $1,000 is needed for spending money while overseas.
Jabre and Davis do not have the money on hand for him to attend the program, but have raised about $7,000 selling candy, dinners and collecting small donations from family and friends. They still need to raise $2,000 by May 15.
“We have prayed on this, and we are down to the last $2,000. We are going to make it. He is going,” Davis said.
Jabre said he is looking for donations or any other way he can earn the remaining $2,000. He plans to keep trying to raise that amount until the last day of the deadline.
“If I don’t go, I will be sad but glad I had the opportunity to at least try,” he said.