Observer column published MON 6 JAN 2020
by Jean Lowrie-Chin
Happy New Year to all! Let’s start off with a story that should
boost our spirits for 2020. A group of students
last month taught us an important lesson in restoring hope, and we thank
Winford Williams for carrying this report on ‘Onstage’, shared with me by Dr.
Clover Baker-Brown.
In what Winford described as “a remarkable
outpouring of compassion”, we learned that student Devonte Pearson at Jonathan
Grant High School noticed that his friend Omar Lindo was upset but reluctant to
speak. “What happen?” he asked. “Talk to me nuh man!”
‘Financial Minister’ Devonte then learned that
a fire had destroyed Omar’s home and belongings, so he got together with five
other classmates, ‘Spokesman’ Paris Francis, Daniel Peart, Dane Taylor, Al
Francis and Javin Jameison and they embarked on energetic fundraising in the
school and on the streets, collecting $72,000 in three days.
Paris said they made sure they were
‘properly attired and disciplined’ on the street and when they shared their
project with market vendors, they received donations of produce.
Popular radio personality and
attorney-at-law Khadine ‘Miss Kitty’ Hylton heard about the students’
initiative and decided to host a handover at the school, inviting other
corporate sponsors to assist. She confessed to being ‘in tears’ as the students
shared their fundraising experiences.
This column has already described the
positive and resolute approach that Principal Dr O’Neil Ankle has towards his
charges. He said the caring students
remind their fellow Jamaicans that “there are young people who are not selfish
and willing to help their fallen brother.”
Dr Ankle continued, “Just a few days ago I
had a chat with the male population [of the school]. I told them of my
expectation - I want them to become real men in a country that is short on real
men. There is hope for them to be better persons, better than others in their
communities, better than their parents.”
What was touching was the humility of the
students. Paris Francis declared, “It’s God’s work.”
Progressing from ‘quick fixes’
Driving through downtown Kingston a few
days before Christmas, we were stunned by the wall-to-wall and
sidewalk-to-sidewalk display of goods. It was a challenge to navigate the area
surrounding St. William Grant Park. We
were worried; clearly there were more sellers than buyers. Then we learned that
entertainment events would be allowed to run till 4 am in the mornings over the
holiday season, causing great concern in tourist and residential areas.
These moves are responses not just to
score votes but to put some quick bread on the tables of some very hungry
families. Politicians will explain that even with an uptick in our economy,
‘while the grass is growing, the horse is starving.’ They are bombarded daily by their
constituents who cannot keep up with the basic cost of living. Thus, we have a deluge of minibuses and taxi
drivers, aggressively filling vehicles, then driving crazily for the next load.
We have to progress from these ‘quick
fixes’ which promote lawlessness, discomfort and danger, to strategic plans
which will give our people the opportunity and dignity which they deserve. Human resource expert Jacqueline Irons shares
my concern that the teachings of Marcus Mosiah Garvey are not mainstreamed in
our school curriculum. The book ‘Marcus Garvey said…’ by the late Ken Jones is
a curated collection of our National Hero’s teachings under various headings,
easy to navigate even for primary school students.
Ken Jones also shared quotes about Marcus
Garvey from other world leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: “He was
the first man on a mass scale to give millions of Negroes a sense of dignity
and destiny.” The lack of such dignity and destiny is what is robbing us of a
peaceful environment in which we can prosper, in which people will want to
invest.
We love the lines from Bob Marley’s
‘Redemption Song’: “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery; none but ourselves
can free our minds.” Those are actually the
words of Marcus Garvey. No matter the focus
on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), if we do not help
our young people to step up in dignity, we will be forever looking for
unsustainable quick fixes. Let us knuckle down and create sustainable plans to
give our people dignified and productive alternatives. “Where there is no vision, the people perish,”
Garvey warned.
Thank you Hon Pine-McLarty
Hon Dorothy Pine-McLarty, the first woman
to chair the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ), has retired after serving
the organisation as an independent member for 18 years, including the last six
as Chair. The ECJ and the Electoral Office of Jamaica are organisations of
which we can be proud, overseeing and conducting our General and Local
Government as well as internal political party elections.
Mrs Pine-McLarty has been a strong and
wise leader, earning the respect of her colleagues and the leadership of the
two major political parties. She describes her sojourn as ‘a unique and humbling
experience.’ For women, she was a role model, having achieved excellence in the
legal profession, in her service to boards of major organisations and as an
exemplary wife and mother.
It has been a privilege to serve the ECJ
and to collaborate with this brilliant lady whose dedication, patience and
sense of balance remind us that these feminine qualities make women
well-equipped to steer any ship. Mrs Pine-McLarty has been a mentor to many,
unstinting in her instruction and advice.
We salute this distinguished woman for her
outstanding contribution to the bastion of our democracy and wish her a happy
retirement.
Congratulations Sister Mary Andrew
We were greeted at Sister Mary Andrew’s 80th
birthday party by this evergreen nun beating pan along with her fellow members
of the Stella Maris Steelband. The administrator of the Consie Walters Hospice
in Vineyard Town and an innovative educator and composer, Sister Andrew was
lauded by Archbishop Kenneth Richards, Archbishop Emeritus Donald Reece, her
mentor Sister Cecilia, family members led by her brother Horace Campbell,
friends and students.
Emcees Dr Aggrey Irons and Velia Espeut
commented on her loving but firm hand while Dr Owen James related her original
way of delivering discipline to her students.
Sister had been assigned to teach at a school in St. Kitts and had
difficulty getting the attention of her skittish students, even after she meted
out punishment. After appealing to their parents to no avail, Sister decided to
give the parents lines and other duties whenever their children misbehaved. Lo
and behold, the children were transformed into veritable angels, no doubt by
the warnings of their embarrassed parents.
Studies have been done on the longevity of
nuns, and Sister Mary Andrew is a prime example of their virtual agelessness.
We wish her many happy returns of the day as she continues in compassionate
service to her people.
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