Romancing the vote

HERE WE GO AGAIN... PM Golding (right) has words with NE St Catherine ex-MP Gregory Mair after announcing the date for the by-election.

Jamaica Observer Column | Monday, May 25, 2009

BY JEAN LOWRIE-CHIN

We should just get used to it and make the best of it: politics is the biggest business in Jamaica. On the positive side, Jamaica is a rock-solid democracy with interesting political personalities that make campaigning the most watched reality show in town.

Unfortunately for them, even our best politicians are projected as one-dimensional talking heads, easy fodder for our headlines. Nothing makes a bigger story than a politician in trouble - unless it is a story about fictitious trouble. But let me say no more as that is a yet unfinished drama.

Local Government Minister Bobby Montague held a press briefing last Thursday about a $10 million trip by a contingent of 75 parish councilors and other officials to a conference in the Bahamas.  In fairness, we should point out that a third of the group paid their own way, though we can hardly wait to see how all the wonderful information they gleaned from this conference will be manifested in a squeaky clean environment.

Later, there was the announcement of by-elections for North East St Catherine, a seat already made famous by the Dabdoub (then JLP) vs Mitchell case after the 1997 general elections, eventually won by Dabdoub in 2001.  Gregory Mair will once again contesting the election for the JLP, while it is expected that the PNP’s candidate will be NWU island supervisor Granville Valentine.

PM Golding quickly responded to the Court’s ruling by announcing an early date, June 16 for the by-election, with Nomination Day being this Friday.  We wait to hear decisions regarding challenges to the status of JLP Parliamentarians Michael Stern (NW Clarendon) and Shahine Robinson (NE St. Ann). 

Voters in these three constituencies must be having visions of wonderful feasts and blandishments when their candidates come a-courting.  Elections put Valentine’s Day in the shade.

I heard one critic declaring that we should have less, not more constituencies to arrive at an odd-number.  Clearly, he wants to deprive some electors of the romancing of their votes. Jamaicans are said to be 'boasy'. But hey, after all the wooing by parties, unions, telecoms companies and furniture stores, you can’t blame us for feeling very, very special!

Putting joke aside, we should know that Marcus Mosiah had a bit of ‘boasy’ in him, but distilled this into confident leadership that would inspire millions in the Diaspora.  His philosophy did not encourage the ‘sufferer’ mentality but rather challenged us not to become ‘a bum or hobo race.’  He disdained ignorance and urged his followers to develop a love for reading.  “If you cannot buy books,” said Garvey, “… go to your libraries and read or borrow them …Use every spare minute you have in reading.”

We want to hear our politicians change their platform rhetoric into this kind of practical, useful advice.  Then we would like them to step from the platform into their constituencies and work with their people, motivating them with a wholesome and moving philosophy. 

But hold on a minute -- isn’t that something every ordinary citizen should do?  We who are too ‘precious’ to get caught up in the hurly-burly of Jamaican politics could indeed mentor a child, or take a hot lunch for an indigent elder, or dig a little deeper to help a community project. 

The word politics is defined in Webster’s dictionary as, “The science of government; that part of ethics which has to do with the regulation and government of a nation or state, the preservation of its safety, peace, and prosperity, the defense of its existence and rights against foreign control or conquest, the augmentation of its strength and resources, and the protection of its citizens in their rights, with the preservation and improvement of their morals.”  

What a task! No matter the excellence of the leader, this cannot be accomplished without the cooperation of willing citizens. Those of us who turn up our noses at politicians, from whichever side of the House they may come, and do not cooperate, have no right to criticise.

As we sit in this warm though sometimes overheated bubble called Jamaica, do we know that over the past month in Sri Lanka, hundreds were killed as a 25-year civil war came to a bloody end?  Over 250,000 of its citizens are now in refugee camps, many of them starving as their numbers have surpassed the UNHCR’s projections.  As the Pakistan army fights to retake the Swat Valley in their Northwestern region from the Taliban, over 800,000 residents have had to flee their homes.  Next door in Haiti, four people have already died from the same weather system that has been inundating Jamaica.  Haiti has lost 85% of its vegetation while thanks to our environmentalists, we have been able to preserve most if not all, of our green hills.

Even in the USA, the rate of unemployment has risen fast, with the basic free healthcare we have in Jamaica, still beyond the reach of many in that wealthy country.  After the Bill to protect credit card holders was passed in the US Congress earlier this week, we learned that the gun lobby had snuck in a clause allowing persons to carry arms into public parks; the lawmakers felt powerless to stop it as the rest of the Bill was too important to ordinary Americans.   This same strident gun lobby has affected the proliferation of guns in our region.

When we look at Jamaica in this context, we can understand why, even as we are tearing down our country, many are tearing up at our history and culture.  We can do our part by helping our politicians to fight a clean fight – Jamaica is worth it.

 

We failed them!

'Betta mi did mek her stay pon di road' - These were the words of Prudence Doeman, mother of 15-year-old Shauna-Lee Kerr as she mourned her daughter, one of the five teenagers who lost their lives in the tragic fire at the Armadale Correctional Centre in St Ann. (From today's Sunday Observer report - click on link at right to read story in full at Observer website.)

There will be a Commission of Inquiry into the incident, but the deeper inquiry must happen in the hearts of every Jamaican.

If we had a more caring society, if we had a support system for parents and children in crisis, could these girls have been rehabilitated while remaining in the bosom of their families?

This chaka-chaka approach to the biggest social problem of Jamaica - the breakdown of family - must be addressed. Until we fix that, nothing else can work.

Rest in Peace -
Ann-Marie Samuels
Nerissa Gooden
Rachel King
Kaychell Nelson
Shauna-Lee Kerr

We should have loved you more.

MLK on Ja

MLK Jr on his vist to Jamaica in June 1965

Enjoy this message from Alpha Alumnae Florida Chapter Prez, Patsy Lee (formerly Yee).

A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
-- In this book under the chapter "American Dream"  and in paragraph 13 you will find:

"The other day Mrs. King and I spent about ten days down in Jamaica .  I'd gone down to deliver the commencement address at the University of the West Indies . I always love to go that great island which I consider the most beautiful island in all the world. The government prevailed upon us to be their guests and spend some time and try to get a little rest while there on the speaking tour. And so for those days we traveled all over Jamaica . And over and over again I was impressed by one thing. Here you have people from many national backgrounds: Chinese, Indians, so-called Negroes, and you can just go down the line, Europeans, European and people from many, many nations.  Do you know they all live there and they have a motto in Jamaica , "Out of many people, one people." And they say, "Here in Jamaica we are not Chinese, (Make it plain) we are not Japanese, we are not Indians, we are not Negroes, we are not Englishmen, we are not Canadians. But we are all one big family of Jamaicans." One day, here in America , I hope that we will see this and we will become one big family of Americans.  Not white Americans, not black Americans, not Jewish or Gentile Americans, not Irish or Italian Americans, not Mexican Americans, not Puerto Rican Americans, but just Americans. One big family of Americans."

A Knock at Midnight: <http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/sermons/contents.htm> Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Clayborne Carson and Peter Holloran, ed.s
(New York: IPM/Warner Books,1998)

© The Estate of Martin Luther King,
Jr. <http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/copyright.htm>

Vitamin D 'key to healthy brain'

Time to hit the beach! The sun is the most important source of Vitamin D. (Negril, my favourite place on earth.)

BBC News | 22 May 09 - click on title for full story

Scientists have produced more evidence that vitamin D has an important role in keeping the brain in good working order in later life.

A study of over 3,000 European men aged 40-79 found those with high vitamin D levels performed better on memory and information processing tests.

The University of Manchester team believe vitamin D may protect cells or key signalling pathways in the brain.

The study features in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

STGC- Alpha 1959 Reunion

UPDATE FROM CLAUDETTE CHIN

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

May 28 Thursday 7:00 – 8:30 pm Liguanea Club
• “Meet & Greet” Alumni
• Program Briefing & Explanation
• Cocktails (only)

May 29, Friday 8:30 am Holy Trinity Cathedral

• Mass
Chief Celebrant: Archbishop Lawrence Burke S.J.,
Participating Clergy – Former Teachers and Students

10:00 am STGC Alpha
• Proceed to respective schools
• Principal’s Welcome
• Campus Tour (Teacher Conducted)
12:00 pm
STGC Alpha
• Lunch with Prefect Body
• Head Boy / Girl presentation followed by discussion
• Alumni Presentation of Pledges to school
7:00 pm – 11:30 pm Knutsford Court Hotel
• Cocktails
• “Formal Dinner”
• Keynote Speakers: Dr. Robert Hill,
Hon. Beverley Lopez C.D.,O.J.
• Entertainment – Keith Lyn
May 30, Saturday
9:00 am – 11:00 am Courtleigh Hotel

• “Jamaica – Then & Now”
Panel Discussion:
Moderator – Deacon Ronald Thwaites, MP;
Panelists – Hon. Bruce Golding MP, Prime Minister;
Prof. Patricia Anderson; Mrs. Jean Lowrie-Chin
Prof. Trevor Munroe

Coffee Break

8:00 pm -- Liguanea Club
“Old Times” Party with “Nostalgia Nonsense”
• Soul Shack Disco - Bunny Goodison
• Special Guests:
All Teachers from the Era,
STGC Manning Cup Team 1959 (Winners)

Dinner

Optional 2:00 pm Caymanas Golf Club

Kingston STGC Golf Tournament (Additional Charge)


City Tour (Additional Charge)


EVENT PRICING

All Events - Alumni

Overseas US$ 190
Local J$ 16,500

All Events – Family – Additional Person

Overseas US$ 100
Local J$ M8,500


Other Events - Individual Prices

EVENT OVERSEAS LOCAL
Thursday Briefing US$20 J$1800
Friday Day US$35 J$3000
Friday Evening US$60 J$5000
Saturday Morning US$35 J$3000
Saturday Evening US$60 J$5000

Local cheques for payment should be made payable to:

St. Georges College A/c 800 868

and can be sent to:

STGC Alpha 1959 Reunion
Liguanea Club
Knutsford Blvd.
Kingston

Overseas payments can be made by accessing web site at www.stgc59.askaccessible.com

Boyne still strong after 22 years

Jamaica Observer column | Jean Lowrie-Chin | Monday, May 18, 2009

(click on title above for link to full story)

I remember the intense teenager seriously engaging my seniors at the Daily News, and commenting, "That guy is bright!" The youngster was Ian Boyne and at the age of 18, he was interviewing the likes of Rex Nettleford, Peter Abrahams and John Maxwell for cover stories in the paper's Xaymaca magazine.

Boyne had always been fascinated by clinical psychology and as a journalist at the then JBC in 1987, proposed to marry both disciplines in the creation of Profile, aired on Sunday afternoons. "I thought, maybe I could use the media to help us to have greater confidence in ourselves," he says. "Countries like Japan and other Asian states which had been viewed as backward were able to succeed because of their culture of cooperation and cultural confidence."

BBC post-race interview with Bolt - motivated by Man Utd

Click on title to see interview with Usain - and Jamaican flags waving!

:-) Pigs flew!

Rosa Parks sat so Martin could walk.

Martin Luther King walked so Barack Obama could run.

People said for centuries that if a Black Man won the Presidency of the United States that pigs would fly

And what do you know?

After his first 100 days in office...

Swine flu.

Not an easy time

HELP THEM TO LOVE BOOKS! Kenisha Hughs reads for children at the Stella Maris Foundation in Grants Pen (Omar Frith photo)

(click on title for link to Jamaica Observer website)

JEAN LOWRIE-CHIN | Jamaica Observer | Monday, May 04, 2009

The scene is being played and replayed in workplaces, bars, and various gatherings across Jamaica. PNP supporters are pointing their fingers at JLP followers and saying, "Look at how your government making poor people suffer." In turn, JLP followers are saying, "All because your government was so bad for 18 years." Some of these discussions are as heated as if we were a week away from a general election.

As both sides continue to bicker, there are those who chuckle, "Been there, seen that" and continue to work as hard as they can, having been strongly reminded by the UFO fallout that indeed, there will never be any such thing as a free lunch.

The series on the family businesses nominated for the 2008 Jamaica Observer Business Leader Awards reminds us that this country still remains the land of opportunity. The big issue now, is how we are going to convince some of our members of parliament that their role should be not to divide, but to build harmonious communities. On the 100th day of her husband's presidency, Michelle Obama rallied the spouses of 150 members of the United States Congress, to volunteer to pack and distribute food for hundreds of hungry children in Washington DC. Say what? Hungry children in the capital of the USA? Trust me, I have driven through those depressed neighbourhoods, virtually cheek-by-jowl with the ritzy DC district.

The New York Times reported Mrs Obama as saying to the group: "It's important for America to see you all here doing this, not as Republicans or Democrats or independents - there's no ideology. It's just all of us people who care about our country and want to make service a core part of the work we do.''

Here in Jamaica, Lorna Golding, wife of our prime minister has created The Jamaica Early Childhood Foundation (JECF) to enhance existing programmes for young children, and recently launched an ambitious environmental project at the School of Hope. (We hope you'll support Mrs Golding's JECF fund-raising concert on Labour Day weekend). It seems that we may have to count on the spouses from both sides of the House to come together and show Jamaica that we are one country, not two tribes plastered in orange and green, constantly warring with each other.

This is not to say that we should not encourage free speech and peaceful protest. I was one of those who sent an email to the PM and minister of finance, petitioning that no GCT be charged on books. I have to believe that there was some slip, somewhere, that would allow a tax to be put on books and no additional tax on liquor or cigarettes.

One of my shining childhood memories of Christmas is of being taken up the escalator in Times Store downtown, and being told by my parents to "choose any book". Joy! No tax should stand between a reader and his books. Nothing can develop the mind as well as the distillation of those lines, into a kaleidoscope of images, a new perspective, and stirring "aha" moments.

Well do I remember Ralph Thompson's call for a better appreciation of poetry in Jamaica. He said it would develop our imagination and attributed our terrible driving habits to our inability to imagine the dire consequences of speeding. (More books and fewer Quad nights for our beloved Usain?)

The tribalisation of Jamaica has happened because we have not educated our people to think for themselves, to read for themselves about their boundless possibilities. If the current leaders in our House of Parliament continue to foment this ignorance and division, then well-thinking Jamaicans must ensure that they will not have the opportunity to warm a seat ever again in Gordon House.

It is an open secret that the crime-producing squatter settlements were encouraged by politicians on both sides who "trucked-in" their votes via the hapless residents of gully sides and zinc-fenced mazes. Every politician who has communities of this description in their constituencies must tell us what they are doing to restore these citizens to a decent way of life.

I have tried to navigate the ragged zinc paths in one such community with a group of donors. In one pathetic little corner was a dirt-floored area with a battered desk and a rusty chair. This, a resident told us, was the "study room". A bright young boy was introduced to us - he did his homework by the street light. And now we will tax a book he may have saved all year to own?

That child, who will not allow his ambition to be extinguished, deserves a leader who will help to bring order and peace to his community. We are no longer moved by passionate speeches in the House: we want to see this passion translated into a better life for the poorest of the poor. When an MP can refuse a donation to build a school because the donor is not dealing with "my people", then that MP is promoting darkness, not light. Let us start blogs and websites, upload photos and videos, and expose these wrongs.

No doubt our new taxes will be a hard blow, but we should know that it is a universal blow and Jamaica is still better off than many other countries. If our leaders were less selfish, we could certainly minimise the hardships being felt by the poorest among us. We understand that the Constituency Fund granted to MPs has strict guidelines. We challenge members of parliament to give the Jamaica Information Service funding updates, so that we can be convinced of your probity and good character. It is not an easy time, so we should not ease up on monitoring how every cent of our taxes is being spent.

Taxes 'with a smile'

A worker at the Ellingsen Seafood AS salmon farm in the cold north, near Lofoten, Norway. (Hubie Chin photo)

Jamaica Observer Column |Monday, April 27, 2009

by Jean Lowrie-Chin

"I pay a lot of taxes, but I pay it with a smile." A statement like this would cause consternation in Jamaica where for too many years, too few have been carrying the tax burden for too many. This happy taxpayer is Norwegian marketing executive Svein Wara who informed me that the Norwegian counterpart of our GCT, the VAT (Value Added Tax) is 25 per cent, and that those in the higher income bracket pay 30 to 35 per cent in income tax.

So why would he be smiling? In Norway, health care is virtually free, with only a small contribution, even in the case of serious conditions that require expensive treatments. Education up to 10th grade is absolutely free and after that, tuition continues to be free up to the tertiary level, though students are required to pay for their books.

Crime is so low in Norway that in a large area called Lofoten, there are only two unarmed policemen at the station during the week and four on weekends. People leave their doors open and it is a given that no one will steal their belongings.

"Norway was a poor country until the 60s when we discovered oil," remarks Svein. "It was then that we had a social revolution, a programme to protect our natural resources for the common good of the people. We are a social democracy."

Up to the 60s, Norway had a working-class society with only a few very rich individuals, many of them shipping magnates. There were also cases of people with hidden fortunes who would evade taxes. Now the tax system is so open that you can look up any Norwegian worker and see their salary and tax status. "I'm on the web - you can look me up!" says Svein as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Tough traffic and gun laws are testimony of the high value that this country puts on human life. The allowable amount of liquor in a driver's system is .02/1000 or less than the equivalent in one beer. A first offender for drunk driving pays a heavy fine of about $400,000 upwards, depending on income, spends a mandatory 21 days in jail and has his driver's licence suspended for two years. If you are proved to be driving drunk a second time, it's farewell forever to the steering wheel, plus the same fine and sentence as the first time.

(click on title above for link to entire column)

President Obama and Brian Lara

The Champion of the World and a World Champion -- During the Summit of the Americas, US President Barack Obama got some cricket coaching from West Indies legend Brian Lara who still holds the world record for the most runs in an inning in test cricket. We call this "Barack at Bat"!

Hubie's Norway photos

This is a beautiful country - the people are very gracious.

We're having a fabulous time with Jamaica's Champion Chefs Anthony Miller and Colin Hylton on their prize trip from the Norwegian Seafood Export Council! Photos show them with our hosts Svein Wara and Tatiana Fernandes, and with two chefs at the excellent Svendgards restaurant in Bodo.

'We are fit to be loved'

AUTHORS ALL... Faith Linton (left) with twin sister Joyce Gladwell and nephew Malcolm Gladwell - photo by Dr Las Newman

by Jean Lowrie-Chin | Jamaica Observer| Monday, April 20, 2009

The photograph kindly sent by Dr Las Newman said volumes: Faith Linton, her twin sister Joyce Gladwell and Joyce's son Malcolm, all three holding their books with complementary themes: What the Preacher Forgot to Tell me, Brown Face, Big Master and Outliers. They are sitting in the beautiful gardens of the Linton's Cranbrook Flower Forest near Runaway Bay in St Ann.

By "Joyce's son Malcolm", I mean the author Malcolm Gladwell who has been on the New York Times bestsellers list for years, having also written The Tipping Point and Blink, and who was named recently by Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Persons in the world.

But let us start with Faith Linton's book, also titled Identity and Gospel in Jamaica, exploring Genesis 1 and 2, the creation story. Her observation in her decades of conducting Bible studies at student camps, is that evangelism invariably begins with the fall of Adam and Eve and highlights first and foremost, man's sinfulness.

She believes that our problems of low self-esteem and desperation stem from the fact that our painful past has not been healed but exacerbated by projecting this negative image of ourselves. Faith maintains that it is urgent to begin teaching the Bible at its beginning: "We are God's masterpieces, made in His image and likeness. We are fit to be loved and to show God's character in our lives."

The book gives a number of case studies that illustrate the hunger for such a message and the very rapid transformation that takes place when it is fully accepted. One young woman commented, "My eyes were opened to the remarkable picture. of the dignity, beauty and wonder of man and woman, as God originally designed them."

Faith gives an example of the effectiveness of this message from New Guinea, when after teaching this message, Canadian missionary John Dekker wrote, "The atmosphere has completely changed. People have started to love one another. They have confessed their wrongs of the past - stealing. killing. They now want to make it right, not only by asking forgiveness but also by making restitution where possible."

Before you start thinking that Faith Linton is just a Bible-thumping fanatic, let me hasten to explain that she is an acknowledged intellectual, a Jamaica Centenary Scholar, and graduate in Modern Languages and Education from London University. She was raised in the quiet district of Harewood in St Catherine where her parents were primary school teachers, devout church members and community leaders (in the best sense of the word). They were contemporaries and friends of Mr and Mrs Tacius Golding, parents of PM Golding.

The happy circumstances of her education are vividly narrated by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers, in its final chapter, "A Jamaican Story". He relates the unfolding of events, described by Faith as "providential". High school scholarships were offered for the parish for the first time in the country's history, just as they turned 11, and when only Faith passed, their parents scraped together their last penny to pay for Joyce's first term at St Hilda's, wondering where the next fees would be found. In a happy turn of events, an additional scholarship for the parish of St Ann was awarded to Joyce, as the student with the next highest mark.

In Joyce's book Brown Face, Big Master, which I read many years ago, she describes the colour and class prejudice of Jamaica in the 40s and 50s, and her initial struggle to fit in as a boarder at St Hilda's and later as the coloured wife of an Englishman in London. Malcolm has supported a reprinting of his mother's book, proceeds of which are being donated to the St Hilda's Development Fund.

Faith remembers her history teacher, Gloria Wesley-Gammon, staging a mock-election in the school that "released such emotion". She said there was the PNP group, the JLP, and the JDP (Jamaica Democratic Party), a party representing the elite which got the most votes.

"This was the complete opposite of what was going on in the country," Faith remarked. "It gives you a picture of St Hilda's at the time." She recalls the exciting emergence of the parties and the adoption of Universal Adult Suffrage in Jamaica in 1944. She would hear her father, Donald Nation, who later served in the House of Representatives, avidly discussing politics with the erudite Archdeacon J J Hay, their Anglican pastor.

Faith would like to see a special ministry to Jamaica's politicians, helping to open a way for more harmonious political engagement. The reminder of man's dignity and God's love in Genesis 1 and 2, should see our leaders behaving differently, she believes.

Faith Linton, who looks much younger than her 77 years, also links this acknowledgement of our dignity to respect for our mother tongue, Jamaican Creole. So logical and persuasive was she, that I completely changed my initial attitude towards the translation of the Bible into the Jamaican language. "In every study throughout the world," explains Faith, "children who learn in their mother tongue have a higher IQ and are able to learn other languages more easily."

She describes the tears of older Jamaicans living abroad, when they heard chapters of the Bible being read in patois. And then the penny dropped. I recalled visiting Curaçao, that orderly country, where the citizens wrote and spoke at least three languages: Papiamento, Dutch and English. They speak their mother tongue proudly and with no apology. Giving currency to our mother tongue will, like the Genesis story, help us to accept ourselves as we truly are and lead to new behaviours.

Faith strongly recommends Language in Jamaica by Dr Pauline Christie and research done by Dr Maureen Samms-Vaughan. Our creole is not "bad English", but indeed a separate and distinct language. She believes that if our boys especially understood this, they would be able to embrace learning more readily instead of feeling ashamed of their native tongue and their authentic selves. As Faith said after our long interview, this discussion has to be continued. More anon!

lowriechin@aim.com

FREE AT EASTER - Food for the Poor pays fines for non-violent prisoners

A fresh start - Charity gives prisoners new lease on life this Easter
Published: Sunday Gleaner | April 12, 2009
By Huntley Medley, Contributor

'Today is my daughter's seventh birthday and I can't believe that I will be able to spend it with her.'

IMAGINE BEING incarcerated because you couldn't afford to pay a court-imposed fine of a few thousand dollars after being found guilty of a traffic offence. Well, that's precisely the story of several persons now serving time in Jamaican prisons.

One Jamaican walked free from the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre two weeks ago after his fine - reduced to $517 after spending six months in the maximum-security prison - was paid by international charity, Food For the Poor.

Paid fines - Over the past two weeks, Food For the Poor paid fines totalling just over $800,000 to secure the freedom of 23 persons serving time in local prisons. This was part of a release of 69 inmates in Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti and Honduras this Easter.

Since the twice-yearly prisoner-release programme was introduced as part of the organisation's 'Fresh Start prison ministry' in 2000, the charity group has reintroduced 800 non-violent offenders into their communities.

Reflective of Jesus' own resurrection, these former inmates have just about been given life anew, which is the essential aim of Food For the Poor's prisoner-release programme, done at Christmas and Easter every year in the 17 Caribbean countries in which the poverty relief group operates.

"Jesus' resurrection verified all that Jesus preached and taught during His three-year ministry," said Robin Mahfood, president and chief executive officer of Food For the Poor." Through His resurrection, all of His people have the ability to begin a new life."

Inmates released - Between March 31 and April 2, 23 inmates from adult correctional centres - St Catherine (12); Richmond (4); Tamarind Farm (3); and one each from Tower Street, South Camp, Fort Augusta, and Horizon Remand Centre - returned home in time to spend Easter with family and friends."

Today is my daughter's seventh birthday and I can't believe that I will be able to spend it with her," said one overjoyed inmate, walking into freedom from the Richmond Park prison in St Mary."

I was not expecting this at all, especially not today, so this is the best birthday gift Food For the Poor could give me to give to her. I am a free man. This is more than words can explain."

He was convicted for possession of and taking steps to export marijuana. When asked why he got involved in drug trafficking, the Montego Bay man said: "I wanted to make some money to start a business - a car wash business - but I got caught."

His sentence was a fine of J$127,000 or one year in prison. He started serving the sentence in October last year.Prison ministry coordinator at Food For the Poor, Sandra Ramsey, said the charity recognises the importance of being with family and friends during Easter and Christmas.

"Some of these inmates are incarcerated for petty offences and because they can't pay the fine they have to do the time," Ramsey said. "The point is that everyone deserves a second chance and Food For the Poor is playing its part in this regard. It a blessing for me each time to do this and to give the inmates a chance to do something positive with their lives."

Imagine the joy of some beneficiaries and their loved ones today, Easter Sunday. "Easter Sunday is an important religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. It is beneficial for families to be united on this holy day," Ramsey argued.

huntley.medley@gleanerjm.com

Lester Spaulding's legacy

SPAULDING... don't give in to indiscipline

JEAN LOWRIE-CHIN | Jamaica Observer | Monday, April 06, 2009

When Lester Spaulding presented the Schools' Challenge Quiz Trophy to the victorious Kingston College team last week, I wondered if the young men realised that they were being congratulated by one of Jamaica's most excellent role models. JA Lester Spaulding CD, JP, chairman of the most powerful media group in the English-speaking Caribbean, is the scion of working-class Jamaicans, a visionary whose early decisions have ensured an enduring future for the RJR Group.

Lester admits to "enjoying myself a little too much" at his alma mater Kingston College, but was soon set straight by his mother who insisted that her children should become professionals. With his knack for figures, Lester started his accounting career at Price Waterhouse and looks back at those demanding seven years with appreciation for the uncompromising standards of the firm's Bob Humphries, Jim Lord and the late Keith Handy. He describes it as an environment of "real discipline - you never had the luxury of doing as you please. We had fun off the job but were never allowed to compromise our standards and therefore those of the organisation".

Lester believes that it is only this kind of discipline that will help our young people to succeed in an even more difficult job market. His advice is, "Concentrate on self-development, nowadays you have to be at 125 per cent, making your contribution indispensible." This has been his own approach to life. At his retirement party last year, Spaulding is quoted by Jamaica Observer reporter Tyrone Reid: "I feel very fortunate to have spent 43 years doing what I love." He personifies the German proverb, "There is no one luckier than he who thinks himself so."

The man who presided over the phenomenal growth of the RJR Group, from a single radio station to an entity with one free-to-air television channel, three cable channels and three radio stations, says it is important to operate free from partisan political bias and with no hidden agenda.

"The RJR legacy is one of openness," he says. "We are the only electronic media house that is required to report quarterly by showing our accounts. This encourages discipline as we must be accountable to our shareholders and publics."

The company was once owned by the British company Rediffusion and continued with their private-sector orientation, always aiming for profitability. Let's acknowledge that it is only a profitable company that can assure workers of ongoing employment, organisational growth, independence and improvement of shareholders' value.

RJR's unique ownership structure comprises members of the public, employees and mass-based organisations. In the 80s, when the government put up their shares for sale, 9,000 shareholders came on board, a huge vote of confidence. To this day, no single shareholder can own more than 10 per cent of the group's shares.

The forward-thinking Spaulding had applied for a television licence from the 70s, buying land next to 32 Lyndhurst Road in anticipation. It was a long wait. In 1996, the only mature television station in Jamaica, the government-owned JBC, was deep in debt and undercapitalised. Lester Spaulding and team sharpened their pencils to acquire the assets of the television station with the consent of the then prime minister and on the recommendation of the chairman of the board of the corporation, Errol Miller. Spaulding presided over a US$7-million outlay for First-World style studios and production equipment.

While he is not for stifling the enthusiasm for more media houses, Spaulding believes the policy of successive governments for awarding commercial licences is flawed. "They need to examine and take into account the absorptive capacity of the country.

Licences are generally awarded amidst publication of well-thought out principles, but enforcement rules under which they are given is in the exception rather than the rule," he says. "If the application is for a regional licence, it should not somehow become, in short order, national with retroactive approval. I don't believe the advertising pie and lack of growth in the economy can support them."

Spaulding becomes serious as he speaks about the challenges to all businesses at this time. "RJR had to contract - this crisis is not going away any time soon. But at the same time we have to try to stimulate the market. I am happy to see companies like GraceKennedy still going for growth. One of the best ways to show growth is through advertising - as they say, 'winking at a girl in the dark gets you nowhere'."

Lester is pleased that TVJ has continued and improved the JBC-founded Schools' Challenge Quiz to see its 40th year and has also introduced other winners in local programming. They have been able to marry successfully these programmes to the sponsorship market.

Spaulding says that his successor, Group Managing Director Gary Allen, understands that productivity and proper management of output have to be the focus now more than ever. "One has to insist that all departments perform," he says. "Don't give in to indiscipline and bamboozling so pervasive in the market today." He says companies must now "take the fat out of the system, stay on message and ready themselves so they can go on the economic uptick".

Even as he blazed the technology trail in media, Lester believes in the old-fashioned values of honour and integrity. "Your word should be your bond," he maintains. "I have unfortunately had exposure to people who shake hands on a decision in a meeting and then go out and do the opposite, undermining that agreement for perceived short-term gain. We have to do better than that. Fortunately, without calling names, those have been in the minority."




PS - we added info on Lester's alma mater after receiving the following letter:

Reference to your article on Mr. Lester Spaulding in the Observer newspaper of April 6, 2009..

The content was excellent , however what was missing was the fact that Mr. Spaulding is himself a Kingston College old boy.

Walter T Bygrave
KC 1965 to 1972

RONNIE NASRALLA’S ‘LESSONS TO LEARN’

Ronnie Nasralla’s book “Lessons to Learn” could have also been titled “A Brief History of Entertainment and Marketing in Jamaica”. I remember the wonderful photographs of Ronnie with local and foreign stars, lining the walls of his office at West Kings House Road where the Canadian High Commission now stands. He and the late creative genius Celli Mahwingkee ran the dynamic NCM advertising agency.

The book is written in true Ronnie style – warm and honest. He had a stint at teaching at Campion Hall, the predecessor to Campion College and among his charges were Gordon “Butch” Stewart and jazz pianist Monty Alexander. Ronnie reminds us of the importance of strong friendships and the power of the human spirit. Ronnie recounts the beginnings of “Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires” comprising a group of St George’s old boys. He managed and promoted the band for 35 years, taking its name far and wide. Ronnie speaks admiringly of founder Byron Lee: “a professional …a strong disciplinarian, with band rules that all had to follow or else out!”

By 1965, Ronnie had over 50 musicians under his management, including the Blues Busters, Toots and the Maytals, Pluto Shervington and Ernie Smith. Recalling his early years working in clubs where “bands played for as long as eight hours in dimly lit bandstands (receiving) little or nothing to eat or drink”, Ronnie had promised himself that he would do something to change all that. They advanced on the Annual General Meeting of the Musicians’ Union, brought in a new regime, the new Jamaica Federation of Musicians with Sonny Bradshaw as President and Byron Lee as VP. Our musicians should know that it was through Ronnie’s initiative that, to this day, “bands play for only 5 hours maximum, get 3 breaks, a hot meal and at least 2 rounds of drinks for each engagement.”

He was refused entry at Liguanea Club in the late 60’s, “because I was Lebanese. I found out afterwards that (they were also against) Jews, Chinese, Indians and Blacks.” Ronnie worked to gain membership and by 1982, was elected president of the Club. He collaborated with Arthur ‘Turo’ Ziadie to open its doors “to every Jamaican, no matter what race or colour”, recruiting the impeccable James Samuels as the Club’s new manager.

Ronnie now lives in Atlanta with his dear Rosemary, enjoying the accomplishments of their seven wonderful children. There are many other great stories in this book, but no more – get “Lessons to Learn” at the Dougalls, Ardenne Road!

Etmour Williams: "I dare you to dream big"

Etmour Williams as he addressed the Stella Maris Foundation-HEART/NTA Graduates on March 22

by Jean Lowrie-Chin | from Jamaica Observer column | Monday, March 30, 2009

Neither the JLP MP nor the PNP caretaker showed up for the graduation of 130 students of Information Technology and Early Childhood education at the Stella Maris Church Hall - all roads led to Portland on March 22. The loss was theirs, for they, like those of us present, would have hung on to every word of guest speaker Etmour Williams.

Etmour who? Williams is a 22-year-old Grant's Pen resident who, despite hunger and hardship, is now well employed at All Wrapped Up and halfway through studies for a degree in accounting. "Success is not luck," he told the graduates, "but rather a guarantee if you have a dream, a plan, determination and if you work hard."

He recalls how he used a friend's address on his job applications, "but I decided to stop - I wanted to be true to myself. so at the next interview, I came up with a strategy of how to sell myself and I succeeded." Etmour, a beneficiary of the PROComm Scholarship Fund which supported him at Calabar High, declared, "I am a product of Grant's Pen. Many would say "ghetto", but ghetto for me is a state of mind. I used the negative influences around me to motivate me positively. I dared myself to stand out and be different."
WILLIAMS... I dare you to dream big

Etmour said he chose Calabar because it was "the school that produced the then prime minister (PJ Patterson). I saw it as an inspiration. He succeeded and I knew I could." Do our leaders understand the impact their lives can have on that of a young, struggling child?

"I am a determined young man and I believe that life in the inner city could account for that," confided Etmour, "because after seeing the options available - living or dying - I chose to live, and to live my life to the fullest." To the hearty applause of his colleagues and neighbours, Etmour challenged them: "I dare you to dream big, work toward realising your goal and living your life with a purpose. I dare you."

This brings to over 700 the number of graduates from the Stella Maris Foundation HEART/NTA programme. Eighty-six per cent of them either have been employed or have collaborated to start their own businesses.

Denis O'Brien - featured on Forbes Billionaire List

The World's Billionaires (edited - from Forbes)

#305 Denis O'Brien
Net Worth:$2.2 bil

Fortune:self made

Source:telecom - Founder, Chairman of Digicel Group

Age:50
Country Of Citizenship:Ireland
Residence:Dublin
Industry:Telecommunications
Education:Bachelor of Arts / Science, Boston College, Master of Business Administration

Marital Status:married, 4 children

Colourful, cussing cell phone mogul, already operating in dozens of Caribbean islands, is quickly expanding in the South Pacific in such places as Fiji, Tonga and Papua New Guinea, despite coups, riots and government threats to nationalize.

He endears his firm to masses by lowering prices and upping philanthropy. Angry mobs in Haiti's food riots last year spared his phone stores from burning and looting out of respect for the "Company of the People."

Spent $700 million buying up shares in Irish newspaper company, Independent News & Media, in effort to oust former billionaire investor, Anthony O'Reilly; stake now worth $50 million. Also has interests in radio stations, online recruiting sites in China, and Portuguese resort.

Son of human rights activist, started nonprofit Front Line to fly activists in danger out of hot spots.

Towards a happy 're-birth-day'

Active octogenarians Cynthia Wilmot (left) and Bishop Carmen Stewart... if they are not weary, how can we be?

Observer Column by Jean Lowrie-Chin | Monday, March 09, 2009

Though our optimism got some serious blows last week, each day still brought new hope. After all, it was the week leading up to International Women's Day and there were events that reminded us how blessed we are in the women we call heroine, guardian, teacher.

To answer why it is important to assert the equality of women, let's paraphrase the words of former US President Jimmy Carter: if we ensure that 50 per cent of the world has a better life, then surely the entire world must be better for it.

Last Monday Professor Errol Miller delivered the Rose Leon Memorial Lecture, in honour of the only individual in Jamaica's history that was a minister of government under both the JLP and the PNP. His topic was "Campaign Financing from a Gender Perspective". The professor exercised the minds of his predominantly female audience invited by the Women's Political Caucus, taking us through centuries and continents.

He acknowledged gender bias in politics, quoting studies showing that women were acculturated to stay out of the power circle. Prof Miller felt that women would have equal opportunities in politics when there is "transparency, a level playing field, and greater regulation".

That still bumpy playing field can be quite hazardous to the health of women. UWI lecturer Fae Ellington revealed in her column in the Sunday Herald, and was able to substantiate in a follow-up interview on Nationwide, that there have been incidents of sexual harassment in Parliament. It was said that a former female member of parliament was made uncomfortable during actual sittings of the House, when a male colleague across from her trained his eyes on her and kept licking his lips. When she appealed to male colleagues on either side of her to speak to the non-gentleman, they remarked that she should ignore him because "that's just how he is". The lady said she held her head down most of the time to avoid the lascivious looks. Now how on earth can a legislator function in such disgraceful circumstances?

Well Miss Fae, thank you for speaking out - the boil has been lanced. The discussions and responses are telling us that many of our men have no idea what sexual harassment is. I remember this well-educated Caribbean man who scored a top job at a US-based international organisation; he seemed to have honed his harassing ways in the Caribbean and decided to export them to his new workplace, filled with women who were well versed in their rights. He was eventually unceremoniously booted out of his cushy office.

A Women's Media Watch (WMW) brochure explains that "sexual harassment is behaviour of a sexual nature that is unwelcome. It may be physical, verbal or non-verbal." It offers a test for whether behaviour is sexual harassment: "Ask yourself how you feel about the behaviour. If it offends you, makes you feel angry, upset, humiliated or frightened, it is."

On Tuesday evening, WMW launched their 21st anniversary celebrations by honouring 14 women who had been trailblazers in their fields. They included such stalwarts as Custos Bishop Carmen Stewart, media legend Cynthia Wilmot, nurse educator and former Head of the Senate Syringa Marshall Burnett. We congratulated Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewelyn who recently completed a busy first year in office, and we basked in the company of such stars as fellow columnist and playwright Barbara Gloudon, Lana Finikin of Sistren Theatre Collective and Linette Vassell of Women's Resource Centre (WROC).

The other awardees who were represented were Leader of the Opposition Portia Simpson Miller, Chief Justice Zaila McCalla, Professor Barbara Bailey, trade unionist Dr Helene Davis-Whyte, Evelyn Smart of the Women's Political Caucus and community activist Ionie Whorms.

Barbara Gloudon, who replied on our behalf, commented on the increasing violence against women: "A nation that destroys its women is a failed state. a nation that destroys its women is destroying itself." She urged women in the media "to keep up your standards. women have to be told they are worth more".

Womens Media Watch has a unique organisational structure. There is an active board of directors, but no head. Committee leadership is rotated and it is heartening to see volunteers running towards, and not away from difficult tasks. There are breakfast meetings in homes, constant rounds of islandwide workshops, snappy newsletters and low-budget brochures. In their 21 years WMW have generated great light rather than heat on gender issues.

Wednesday saw a group of columnists and commentators at a roundtable of opinion-makers and media practitioners, part of the National Integrity Action Forum launched earlier this year by the UWI Centre for Leadership and Governance. Project Leader/Academic Director Professor Trevor Munroe told us, "I need hardly stress the critical importance and extraordinary urgency of more meaningful combat of corruption - which, particularly at this time of crisis, is seriously undermining the rule of law, further weakening the moral fibre of our society, and significantly depleting scarce resources." No doubt, the ascendance of women in the private and public sectors will help us conquer this national disease.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: Errol Miller, Barbara Gloudon, Trevor Munroe all singing in the same key about transparency, standards, the moral fibre of our society. If they still have hope for this country and are asking us to join them, why should we hesitate? If octogenarians like Bishop Carmen Stewart still running her dynamic ministry and Cynthia Wilmot still making "Videos for Change", are not weary, how can we be?

The week ended with the International Women's Day Peace March and a quiet toast to Lady Bustamante on her 97th birthday. Happy Birthday, Lady B - we continue your work towards a happy re-birth-day for Jamaica.

lowriechin@aim.com

One Love, One Heart

Please link to this international rendition of Bob Marley's 'One Love'.

Girl's Cries For Help 'Fell on Deaf Ears'

Neighbors say they reported finding Alexis "Lexie" Agyepong-Glover hungry, injured and afraid of her mother in the weeks before she was found dead Jan. 9 in an icy creek. (Courtesy Of Prince William County Police)


(Look at the pain in this child's eyes! May we never fail to follow through on suspicions of abuse - Jean Anita)

Pr. William Officials Were Told of Abuse

By Jonathan Mummolo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 9, 2009; A01

Prince William County police, social services and school officials received numerous reports from people who saw firsthand that 13-year-old Alexis "Lexie" Agyepong-Glover was being abused and neglected by her adoptive mother in the two years before the woman allegedly killed her.

But Lexie was not removed from the home.

Lexie's school bus driver said she made several reports, the first when she saw marks on Lexie's wrists and forearms that looked as if she'd been tied up. She also told authorities that Lexie had a large welt on her head and tried to board the bus in her underwear. Another bus driver and her attendant told police that they saw Lexie's mother driving off with her in the trunk of her car.

In the weeks before Lexie was found dead Jan. 9 in an icy creek, neighbors said they reported finding Lexie hungry, wandering the streets wearing only a barbecue grill cover, physically injured and, above all, terrified of her mother, Alfreedia Gregg-Glover.

"We thought by making a police report, the police would get her out" of the home, said Marlene Williams, the school bus driver who, along with her attendant, Brenda Taylor, told police and Lexie's principal that they saw Lexie's mother drive off with her in the trunk.

"We don't know how much that little girl suffered," Taylor said. "Her cries fell on deaf ears."

Prince William police Maj. Ray Colgan said police would have taken action if they had found Lexie to be in danger. He said that when police were called about the trunk incident and the injuries seen by the neighbor, Social Services was notified and the incidents were investigated. He said the pending criminal case and privacy laws prevented him from giving too many details.

"As far as I know, I think we've done everything properly we could have done," Colgan said. "We will continue to review it, and if we need to make some changes, we will."

Jack Ledden, director of Prince William's Department of Social Services, and a school system spokesman declined to comment, citing confidentiality rules and the ongoing investigation. Gregg-Glover's court appointed attorney, John V. Notarianni, did not return calls for comment.

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors announced Friday that it has requested that the Virginia Department of Social Services review the county's response. The review will include all child welfare programs, including child protective services, prevention and treatment, foster care and adoption. Such a review is required by state law, but the board requested that the state accelerate the process. It is expected to take three months.

Gregg-Glover, 44, was indicted last week on charges of murdering her daughter and lying to police. She told police Jan. 7 that Lexie had run away, which sparked a massive search. Police say they later learned that she had dumped Lexie in the shallow creek in the Woodbridge area, still alive. Lexie was found dead two days later from drowning and exposure to the cold. Gregg-Glover was also charged with child abuse, the county's chief prosecutor said.

Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert said the medical examiner's report "showed there were recent injuries and old injuries" to Lexie's body. "The recent injuries, coupled with the cause of death, certainly indicated it was a horrible death," he said.

When Gregg-Glover appealed to the media for help in finding her daughter, she said Lexie was mentally disabled, suffered from autism and other ailments, and acted much younger than her age. But several of Lexie's former counselors have disputed that characterization, saying Lexie was a smart, affectionate girl who had reactive attachment disorder, a condition that makes it hard to form emotional bonds and is sometimes found among abused and adopted children.

Those who sought help for Lexie in the years and weeks before her death are angry that no one helped the girl, who tried to tell people what was happening to her when she was out of earshot of her mother.

One afternoon in September 2007, Williams and Taylor were dropping off students at the Robert Day Child Care Center in Manassas when they noticed a frightened girl being marched out of the building by a stern woman. They took their eyes off the pair for a few moments, then saw the woman drive off alone.

"I think she put her in the trunk," Taylor recalled telling Williams. But, uncertain, they said nothing.

Two weeks later, they pulled into the day-care center and saw the same white Toyota parked outside with the trunk cracked open. Minutes later, they saw Lexie emerge from the building with Gregg-Glover behind her, fists clenched. She and Lexie walked to the back of the car, where the mother looked around and then opened the trunk, Williams and Taylor said.

"Lexie walks right over, climbs in that trunk," Taylor said. "She did not hesitate, like she had been doing it every day."

Horrified, the pair watched the car drive off and called their dispatcher. They went to a Prince William police station later that evening and gave written statements of what they had seen. They drew a diagram of the position of the cars in the lot, gave the tag number of Gregg-Glover's car and later told Lexie's principal, they said.

Police told them that they went to Gregg-Glover's house to investigate and that she denied the incident. Lexie did not speak up for herself, they said.

"Are you going to get her out of the home?" Williams said she asked police.

They told her that they had to "get their ducks in a row," she said, and when she left a message days later to follow up, police didn't call her back.

It was not the first time authorities were alerted.

In March 2007, Lexie's regular school bus driver, Nancy Frederick, said Lexie was getting off the bus when Frederick noticed marks on her wrists and forearms that appeared as if she had been tied up. Lexie told Frederick's attendant, Lissette Romero, that her mother had taken her on a trip to North Carolina and had bound her hands during the ride and made her lie on the floor the whole way, Romero said.

The following spring, Frederick said, Lexie boarded her bus with a large welt on her head.

Lexie told her, "I hit myself." Frederick asked her why, and she replied, "If I don't, my mom is going to hit me," Frederick recalled.

Lexie told Romero that her mother would order her to hit herself and that she would videotape it, Romero said.

Frederick and Romero said they notified Lexie's school, PACE West, about the welt on her head, and Frederick told officials at Prince William's Department of Social Services about the welt and the marks on her wrists. Officials told her that they would look into it.

"It didn't do any good," Frederick said.

In October, Lexie came to the bus on two occasions in her underwear, Frederick said. The first time, Frederick and Romero gave her a coat and blanket and called their dispatcher. Police went to the house but returned her to her mother after Lexie remained quiet.

"I said, 'Can't you do anything?' " Frederick said. "They said, 'Ma'am, we can't charge her with anything.' "

The next school day, Lexie came to the bus in the same condition, this time with Gregg-Glover close behind, videotaping the incident and ranting that she could not tolerate the girl any longer before taking the girl back inside, Frederick said.

"She said, 'I don't know what I'm going to do. She's ruining my life, and I want her out,' " Frederick said.

Shortly after that, Lexie was pulled out of PACE West, and Frederick never saw her again.

Troubling reports persisted into the weeks before her death, when Lexie ran away at least three times in December, only to be returned to Gregg-Glover, according to neighbors and officials. On March 11, because of her habit of running off, she was fitted with a locator bracelet, used to track endangered people, by sheriff's deputies, officials said.

On Dec. 2, about five weeks before her death, Lexie showed up outside neighbor Wes Byers's house early in the morning, as temperatures hovered near freezing. She told Byers and his wife that she had run away after her mother opened a quarter-size gash on her head with a stick, and she was wearing a tarp used to cover a grill, Byers said. She pleaded with him not to be sent home.

After clothing and feeding Lexie, who was famished, Byers called authorities. Police came to his house and took Lexie to a hospital, and Byers followed. Gregg-Glover arrived there, as did a county social worker. Lexie's mother told police that her daughter had a habit of hitting herself and she had the video to prove it, Byers said he was told by police. Lexie left with Gregg-Glover that day, he said.

In late December, sheriff's deputies tracking Lexie with the bracelet found her inside the house of her next-door neighbor, Jonah Seaman. Seaman said deputies found Lexie in red pajamas, hiding behind a Christmas tree in his living room, devouring a bowl of cereal she had taken from his kitchen.

"She looked terrified," Seaman said. "She looked really scared."

After reporting her missing one last time, Gregg-Glover positioned the tracking bracelet near a Manassas library to make police think Lexie had run off the day she disappeared in January, police said.

Two days later, a man out for an afternoon walk discovered Lexie's body.

Staff writer Josh White and staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.

Can we save ourselves?

CVM People's Choice Award Recipients - Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell-Brown

BY JEAN LOWRIE-CHIN

Jamaica Observer | Monday, March 02, 2009

It was stirring to be part of the packed church last Ash Wednesday, to have an ashy cross traced on our foreheads, a reminder of our brief sojourn on planet earth. US Vice President Joe Biden also had a smudge on his forehead as he stood beside President Obama for a White House briefing later that day. So here we are, the humble and the powerful trying to connect to our Maker, trying to bridge the gap between the material and the spiritual, trying to stay strong in faith even as our economy weakens.

People of faith are seeing magnificent metaphors from their Maker, the messages of today harking back to the parables of Jesus. And so I have no doubt that the miraculous landing of US Airways Flight 1549 was a divine message, delivered on January 15, 2009, the actual birthday of hero-saint Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Some of us went as far as saying, "MLK held that plane together - he was not going to allow anything to rain on Obama's parade." But to explain it away like that would be to deprive the hero of the day, Captain Chesley B Sullenberger III, of his due honour.

The story had biblical undertones: the passengers appearing to walk on water, standing gingerly on the airplane wings washed by the Hudson River. The bravery of their saviour who insisted on checking the craft row by row to ensure that everyone was out, even after it began taking in water. The symphonic rescue when all boats and personnel converged in quick succession to give America a prelude to its hope-filled Inauguration Day. In commenting on the masterful handling of the pilot, crew and other rescuers, Time magazine said this demonstrated that "we have the power to save ourselves".

Our new governor general, Dr Patrick Allen, said it well at his installation on Thursday: "There is nothing wrong with Jamaica that cannot be fixed by what is right with Jamaica. every Jamaican must know, think, internalise, personalise and actualise the theme 'I believe'."

We continue to swoon at every speech made by President Obama, but we should not blind ourselves to the excellence of our own fellow Jamaicans. We have certainly not been short of heroic figures, brave thinkers, educated strategists who have taken us from one milestone to the next and kept us current with an audacity that belies our size. St Elizabethans do not tire of reminding us that Black River had electricity before New York, and last year the bigwigs of the Ford Motor Company, converged on Jamaica to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their oldest dealership outside of North America, Kingston Industrial Garage.

The fastest growing telecoms company in the world was launched right here in Jamaica and Denis O'Brien never fails to remind that "Digicel is a Jamaican multinational". Naturally, they signed up the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt, to be their spokesperson. Our visits in the past two months to our busy resort areas remind us how much others appreciate our great tourism product; the beaches were beautiful, the sea sparkling. I remember Bolt's response to HBO's Bryant Gumbel when he asked why the track star did not opt to go to the US like many other local athletes. "Why would I want to leave this? Look!" answered Bolt, his hand sweeping the curve of the Trelawny beach where they sat.Indeed, there is indescribable beauty in our people and our environment.

We also read in this paper that Sandals Negril became the very first hotel in the WORLD to be awarded the Green Globe's inaugural Platinum Award. Sandals CEO Adam Stewart described such innovations as "a biodiesel refinery at Sandals St Lucia, which converts fats and oils from the resort's kitchen into fuel for its diesel engine vehicles, and its wind turbine and solar generation power plant at Fowl Cay in The Bahamas".

The report said that the company had launched an "Earth Guard" programme that has two full-time engineers "who ensure that all of Sandals' development plans, from inception, go through a multi-organisational process, which vets them for environmental sustainability". Stewart is moving to abolish the use of plastic drink bottles at the resorts.

Consider the courage and resourcefulness with which our leaders are approaching our national challenges, and the inspiring words of our new governor general who urges us to "immediately develop and implement a survival package. that will call on the creative genius of all well-thinking Jamaicans in defence of the nation". This Lenten season is a good time to refocus on our own productivity and the empowerment of even one other individual.

lowriechin@aim.com
www.lowrie-chin.blogspot.com

10 Healthy Habits That May Help You Live to 100

You don't need to eat yogurt and live on a mountaintop, but you do need to floss.
By Deborah Kotz, U.S. News & World Report

The biggest factor that determines how well you age is not your genes but how well you live. Not convinced? A new study of 20,000 British citizens published in the British Medical Journal shows that you can cut your risk of having a stroke in half by doing the following four things: being active for 30 minutes a day, eating five daily servings of fruit and vegetables, and avoiding cigarettes and excess alcohol.
While those are some of the obvious steps you can take to age well, researchers have discovered that centenarians tend to share certain traits in how they eat, move about, and deal with stress—the sorts of things we can emulate to improve our own aging process. Of course, getting to age 100 is enormously more likely if your parents did.

Still, Thomas Perls, M.D., M.P.H., who studies the century-plus set at Boston University School of Medicine, believes that assuming you've side-stepped genes for truly fatal diseases like Huntington's, "there's nothing stopping you from living independently well into your 90s." Heck, if your parents and grandparents were heavy smokers, they might have died prematurely without ever reaching their true potential lifespan, so go ahead and shoot for those triple digits. Follow these 10 habits, and check out Perls' lifetime risk calculator to see how long you can expect to live.

Don't retire
"Evidence shows that in societies where people stop working abruptly, the incidence of obesity and chronic disease skyrockets after retirement," says Luigi Ferrucci, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. The Chianti region of Italy, which has a high percentage of centenarians, has a different take on leisure time. "After people retire from their jobs, they spend most of the day working on their little farm, cultivating grapes or vegetables," he says. "They're never really inactive." Farming isn't for you? Volunteer as a docent at your local art museum or join the Experience Corps, a program offered in 19 cities that places senior volunteers in urban public elementary schools for about 15 hours a week.

Floss every day
That may help keep your arteries healthy. A 2008 New York University study showed that daily flossing reduced the amount of gum-disease-causing bacteria in the mouth. This bacteria is thought to enter the bloodstream and trigger inflammation in the arteries, a major risk factor for heart disease. Other research has shown that those who have high amounts of bacteria in their mouth are more likely to have thickening in their arteries, another sign of heart disease. "I really do think people should floss twice a day to get the biggest life expectancy benefits," stresses Perls.

Move around
"Exercise is the only real fountain of youth that exists," says S. Jay Olshansky, Ph.D., a professor of medicine and aging researcher at the University of Illinois in Chicago. "It's like the oil-and-lube job for your car. You don't have to do it, but your car will definitely run better." Study after study has documented the benefits of exercise to improve mood, mental acuity, balance, muscle mass, and bone health. "And the benefits kick in immediately after your first workout," Olshansky adds. Don't worry if you're not a gym rat. Those who see the biggest payoffs are the ones who go from doing nothing to simply walking around the neighborhood or local mall for about 30 minutes a day. Building muscle with resistance training is also ideal, but yoga classes can give you similar strength-training effects if you're not into weight lifting.

Eat a fiber-rich cereal for breakfast
Getting a serving of whole grains, especially in the morning, appears to help older folks maintain stable blood sugar levels throughout the day, according to a recent study conducted by Ferrucci and his colleagues. "Those who do this have a lower incidence of diabetes, a known accelerator of aging," he says.

Get at least six hours of shut-eye
Instead of skimping on sleep to add more hours to your day, get more to add years to your life. "Sleep is one of the most important functions that our body uses to regulate and heal cells," says Ferrucci. "We've calculated that the minimum amount of sleep that older people need to get those healing REM phases is about six hours." Those who reach the century mark make sleep a top priority.

Consume whole foods, not supplements
Strong evidence suggests that people who have high blood levels of certain nutrients—selenium, beta-carotene, and vitamins C and E—age much better and have a slower rate of cognitive decline. Unfortunately, there's no evidence that taking pills with these nutrients provides those anti-aging benefits. "There are more than 200 different carotenoids and 200 different flavonoids in a single tomato," points out Ferrucci, "and these chemicals can all have complex interactions that foster health beyond the single nutrients we know about, like lycopene or vitamin C." Avoid nutrient-lacking white foods (breads, flour, sugar) and go for all those colorful fruits and vegetables and dark whole-grain breads and cereals with their host of hidden nutrients.

Be less neurotic
It may work for Woody Allen, who infuses his worries with a healthy dose of humor, but the rest of us neurotics may want to find a new way to deal with stress. "We have a new study coming out that shows that centenarians tend not to internalize things or dwell on their troubles," says Perls. "They are great at rolling with the punches." If this inborn trait is hard to overcome, find better ways to manage when you're stressed. These are all good: yoga, exercise, meditation, tai chi, or just deep breathing for a few moments. Ruminating, eating chips in front of the TV, binge drinking? Bad, very bad.

Live like a Seventh Day Adventist
Americans who define themselves as Seventh Day Adventists have an average life expectancy of 89, about a decade longer than the average American. One of the basic tenets of the religion is that it's important to cherish the body that's on loan from God, which means no smoking, alcohol abuse, or overindulging in sweets. Followers typically stick to a vegetarian diet based on fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts, and also get plenty of exercise. They're also very focused on family and community.

Be a creature of habit
Centenarians tend to live by strict routines, says Olshansky, eating the same kind of diet and doing the same kinds of activities their whole lives. Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day is another good habit to keep your body in the steady equilibrium that can be easily disrupted as you get on in years. "Your physiology becomes frailer when you get older," explains Ferrucci, "and it's harder for your body to bounce back if you, say, miss a few hours of sleep one night or drink too much alcohol." This can weaken immune defenses, leaving you more susceptible to circulating flu viruses or bacterial infections.

Stay connected
Having regular social contacts with friends and loved ones is key to avoiding depression, which can lead to premature death, something that's particularly prevalent in elderly widows and widowers. Some psychologists even think that one of the biggest benefits elderly folks get from exercise is due to strong social interactions that come from walking with a buddy or taking a group exercise class. Having a daily connection with a close friend or family member gives older folks the added benefit of having someone watch their back. "They'll tell you if they think your memory is going or if you seem more withdrawn," says Perls, "and they might push you to see a doctor before you recognize that you need to see one yourself."

'The potholed road ahead'

Dr Herbert Gayle as he delivered this year's lecture in the Cobb Lecture Series sponsored by Ambassadors Charles and Sue Cobb, at UWI, Mona on Thursday, 29 January.

by Jean Lowrie-Chin | Jamaica Observer column

Monday, February 02, 2009

Will we listen to the heartbeat of a country that so dearly wants back its self-respect? We heard it in the call of Professor Errol Miller for our system to place more focus on values so we do not produce "educated ginnals". We heard it in Dr Herbert Gayle's plea as he pondered, "The Potholed Road Ahead" in this year's Cobb Lecture Series at UWI, Mona.

Prof Miller was guest speaker at the annual Teacher and Principal of the Year Awards where last year's winners, Joan Willams-Davis of Ardenne High and O'Neil Ankle of the Green Park Primary and Junior High School, showed us the mettle of true patriots. Williams-Davis presented a free manual with cutting-edge teaching tips, painstakingly prepared for her colleagues in the profession.

Ankle spearheaded a behaviour-change camp for the boys in his school, in collaboration with that star of community policing Corporal Marvin Franklin. He showed a video in which campers were counselled and embraced; one spoke of his new closeness to his God. RJR reporter Kersha Reid was moved to tears, apologising that she did not want to seem unprofessional. I think Prof Miller would have applauded her sensitivity.

The trailblazing educator and ECJ chairman reminded us that his concern was not just about literacy, but about the values we were inculcating in our children. He pointed out that while it was important, literacy alone cannot build a nation. "It was not illiterates that flew those planes that brought down the twin towers," he said. "It was not illiterate people who concocted Ponzi schemes, and scams and lotteries on the Internet."

"Intellect is being exercised without humility," said Prof Miller. He lauded the emergence of Barack Obama who "is himself the change, returning to the verity of content of character." He defined character as "what an individual is, in the dark when no one is looking".

Brilliant Jamaican anthropologist Dr Herbert Gayle took the discussion further last Thursday as he examined solutions to reduce Jamaica's murder rate. He called for "a welfare system to cover the bottom quintile of our population". Dr Gayle said we were labouring under misconceptions about the drug trade: we should know that it is conducted on the same scale as the global oil trade. There are people in high places who make millions in drug trafficking without ever seeing a dead body: "Seventy-five per cent of all £5 notes in England have cocaine residue on them."

He said poor people were their pawns, and that the money made by the poor is used to buy guns. Why guns? Dr Gayle's study has shown sadly neglected inner-city youth lining up against our police and seeing bigger guns as their only defence against what he describes as the paramilitary dispensation of the JCF. He contrasted our force to England's Metropolitan Police, theirs built on the community policing model and ours on the Ulster paramilitary model.

Echoing Prof Miller's book Men at Risk, he raised an alarm about the dire state into which our boys had descended. He said that gangs now existed in every parish of Jamaica. He was incredulous at data that told him that there were boys as young as six years old, who were "already firing guns".

Dr Gayle's studies, in relation to the importance of the mother, mirror those of Dr Claudette Crawford-Brown. In Who Will Save Our Children? Crawford-Brown identifies the common factor of the absent mother in juvenile delinquents. Dr Gayle explains the particular devastation of what psychologists describe as "monotrophic disasters", wherein boys from zero to six years are separated in one way or another from their mothers. Of the 25 multiple murderers interviewed by Dr Gayle, 23 suffered from this broken relationship.

"The core responsibility of the mother is the emotional stability of the child," said Dr Gayle. He has heard a boy say of a mother gone into prostitution that "she dish out the love". Mothers in poor communities are in urgent need of government assistance, he believes, so they can be more fully supportive of their children.

By fomenting tribal behaviour, our politicians have contributed to the damage of our young boys. "At age six," said Dr Gayle, "they have worked out that 'if my government don't win, I won't get bag juice to drink'." For these tiny little bodies, "bag juice" is sometimes the only food they receive. Criminals breed in communities where there are "poor housing, poor sanitation, inferior physical infrastructure and few active social institutions," offered Dr Gayle.

Herbert Gayle was heartily applauded when he called for an end to giving community funds to MPs for distribution. "Establish an independent welfare office run by social workers," he urged. "MPs must recommend, not be 'father'." Then he turned the focus on us ordinary citizens, challenging us to show leadership by demanding accountability. "No police force can save us if the social model is bad," he warned.

During Dr Gayle's lecture, my phone kept vibrating relentlessly until I had to slip out to take the call. It was an irate friend who was watching the news coverage of the arrival of a notorious (and literate) "don". He could not believe the media hype around this individual who had been convicted on several counts of murder and drug-related charges, served only a part of his sentence and was now being deported to Jamaica.

Under a system of good governance, could such "dons" have emerged and flourished? Dr Gayle observed that during political campaigning, police vehicles are regularly seen escorting shrill and lawless motorcades.

Commissioner of Police Hardley Lewin assured the audience that the JCF's operational plan is addressing many of the areas explored by Dr Gayle. We should know, however, that the good efforts of Mr Lewin's High Command are constantly being challenged by the monsters of greed and tribalism that lurk in the shadows. Who is nurturing these squatter communities which the commissioner warns are fast turning into new garrisons?

At the start of his lecture, Gayle displayed the triangle of crime: performer, victim and witness. The longer we witness silently our country being overtaken by crime, the more we become accomplices of the performer. And the closer we move ourselves to becoming the next victim.
lowriechin@aim.com