Monthly Archives: July 2017

The Best Care Special Education School is set to grow its student body to 65 by the September term, says Orville Johnson, chairman of the Best Care Foundation.

Johnson said that the foundation is focusing on the development of the school’s, current population of 40 students, to better serve Jamaica’s large, special needs population. The foundation has been providing services for intellectually and physically disabled children for more than 40 years.

“We are recruiting students now for the September term,” Johnson said. “We want to create an oasis where they can have their potential developed.”

Started seven years ago, the school provides academic and vocational training for students aged six to 21 years. Located at 11 Trevennion Road in Kingston, it serves children with disabilities, with a curriculum covering training in skills such as cosmetology, agriculture, music, and handicraft.

“Children should have all the stimulation they need to reach their full potential,” Johnson stated. “Unfortunately, we have a culture in which some are left at home. Thankfully, we have been evolving, but, there needs to be more spaces for them to develop and grow to their full potential.”

Johnson pointed out that 10 to 15 per cent of the population have special needs, and more educational opportunities are needed for children in this group. He was speaking at the Best Care Foundation’s fund-raising gala at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on July 15.

General manager, JN Foundation, Saffrey Brown told the audience that greater effort is needed to support organisations catering to those with special needs, as their prospects are otherwise being limited.

For the 10 to 15 per cent of the population who have special needs, of that group, only about one per cent forms part of the labour force in the formal sector, she pointed out.

“We need to bring all communities into the national development effort,” Brown stated. “But those with special needs continue to be a very marginalised and at-risk group.”

She commended the Best Care Foundation’s decision to develop its special education school, to expand its service to the special needs community, with the school also serving to increase its income-earning possibilities, so that it can become more self-sustaining.

Only a small fraction of Jamaicans with special needs are getting employment in the formal sector, the development specialist stated. She said those areas where they find employment, or which help them to find employment, deserve greater assistance from the private sector and wider community.

“Social enterprises merge business objectives with social objectives,” Brown said. At the JN Foundation, they have found that, “about a quarter of the organisations we work with are run by people with disabilities, which means that these social enterprises are extremely inclusive.”

The JN Foundation general manager urged private sector companies, “when you are looking for corporate gifts, go down to Best Care School and buy from their products….You need to insert them into the supply chain”.

Miss Jamaica World 2016, Ashlie White-Barrett, told the audience at the gala function to judge the quality of work done at the school by the beautiful wristband and necklace she was wearing.

“I was blown away when I went to visit the Best Care School,” the beauty queen said. “These children have been doing fantastic work, therefore, it is important that we support their initiative. It is an investment in our future.”

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BUNKER’S HILL, Trelawny – Nature lovers from home and abroad can now explore the unspoilt biodiversity in areas of the Jamaican Cockpit Country, through the Bunker’s Hill Cultural Xperience & River Tour, which was officially opened to the public last Friday in Bunker’s Hill, Trelawny.

Clover Gordon, co-owner of the eco-tourism attraction, said the facility offers a “total Jamaican experience” with a variety of activities, such as: a nature trail for the physically fit or adventurous; river spa and cave exploration. The property also boasts a botanical garden and cascading waterfall.

In addition, the facility also offers cultural experiences, through performances of our country’s traditional dances, such as the Tambo and Gerreh and servings of authentic Jamaican food.

“Following the rigorous tour activities, the appetite that our visitors ‘work up’ will be satiated with mouth-watering Jamaican dishes, such as: our traditional run dung, roast yam, rice and peas, jerk chicken and jerk pork; to be topped off with cornmeal pudding, dukunoo, all cooked on a wood fire,” Gordon shared.

The facility will generate some 30 new jobs; providing employment for people from the community who want to work as tour guides, chefs, waitresses, ground personnel and lifeguards.

“All of our employees are from the surrounding communities,” Gordon pointed out, “hence, our operation is actually generating growth and jobs.”

Project Manager, Social Enterprise Boost Initiative (SEBI), Opal Whyte, explained that the Bunker’s Hill Cultural Xperience & River Tour is also creating “backward and forward linkages”.

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The Jamaica Diaspora Education Task Force (JDETF) will officially announce its Jamaica 55 project at the staging of the 7th Biennial Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference in July.

The ‘Pledge2Build’ campaign, which is valued at US$2 million, targets early-childhood and primary schools.

The funds will be used to upgrade schools across the island. Diaspora Board Member for West/Mid-West, United States of America and Chair of JDETF, Leo Gilling, told JIS News that the project will be executed in collaboration with Jamaica National (JN), adding that it has been declared a Jamaica 55 project for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

The funds will be used to upgrade schools across the island. Diaspora Board Member for West/Mid-West, United States of America and Chair of JDETF, Leo Gilling, told JIS News that the project will be executed in collaboration with Jamaica National (JN), adding that it has been declared a Jamaica 55 project for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

Mr. Gilling pointed out that one of the duties of the Task Force is to broaden the support for education by Jamaicans and organisations in the diaspora through active engagement, and to upgrade the infrastructure of early-childhood and primary schools through fundraising initiatives.

“We are an action-oriented unit, so I encourage everyone in the diaspora who wishes to give back to Jamaica and advance education to join our regular conference, discussions, fora and summits and give of their expertise to help our homeland,” he urged.

“We are an action-oriented unit, so I encourage everyone in the diaspora who wishes to give back to Jamaica and advance education to join our regular conference, discussions, fora and summits and give of their expertise to help our homeland,” he urged.

Since the Task Force was formed, it has been giving unwavering support to the advancement of education at various levels of the education system in Jamaica.

The Task Force has collaborated with the Ministry, Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in conducting two biennial education summits to facilitate professional development and information exchange between Jamaican teachers and the diaspora.

Several other educational initiatives were undertaken by the JDETF. These included a five-week education camp for at-risk grade-three students. This programme, which is valued at US$500,000 and sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Issa Trust Foundation and Food For The Poor, is aimed at improving the literacy and numeracy mastery level of these low-performing grade-three students.

This programme, which is valued at US$500,000 and sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Issa Trust Foundation and Food For The Poor, is aimed at improving the literacy and numeracy mastery level of these low-performing grade-three students.

Presently, five teachers are participating in the Excellence in STEM Experimental Education (EXSEED) in California.

Through this initiative, a partnership was forged between the JTA and Loma Linda University in the US to train teachers in how to use iPads to teach STEM subjects in the classrooms. More than 100 teachers have benefited from the programme since its inception in 2014.

More than 100 teachers have benefited from the programme since its inception in 2014. Mr. Gilling explained that JDETF focuses on capacity building through professional development training, workshops and seminars for student teachers’ advancement.

Meanwhile, in collaboration with Broward Alliance Caribbean Educators in Florida and the JTA, the Education Task Force facilitated more than 250 teachers from across the island in a two-day middle managers workshop. They were exposed to training in areas of classroom management, leadership and best practices.

They were exposed to training in areas of classroom management, leadership and best practices.

Mr. Gilling noted that, going forward, the Task Force will continue to engage educators at their biennial summit in Florida; continue the five-year plan for the Pledge2Build campaign; build on the school-twinning project and expand the STEM education training and professional development for Jamaican teachers.

This year’s Diaspora Conference will be held from July 23-26 at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, under the theme ‘Partnering for Growth’.

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A Doctor Bird seeming to greet visitors, as it swiftly flaps its wings and plunges its elongated beak into a fiery-red ginger lily in pursuit of nectar, is all the confirmation one needs to know that he is in for a truly authentic Jamaican treat.

This is Bunkers Hill, Trelawny, located at the entrance to the biodiverse Cockpit Country, which abounds with nature and history, and lingering cultural rituals and practices that date back to the inhabitation of Maroons, led by Captain Cudjoe and the legendary heroine, Nanny, as well as the Tainos.

These fine distinctions have been packaged by Clover and O’Brian Gordon into the Bunkers Hill Cultural Xperience, which is unlike other tourism experiences Jamaica has to offer.

The Eden-like five-acre property, nourished by the gushing waters of the Tangle River that flows into the Martha Brae, captures some of the fine details of Jamaica’s early inhabitants, giving its visitors the opportunity to live and breathe its heritage.

On the banks of the Tangle, for example, are caves, still fresh with the writings and carvings of the Taino people, who once inhabited it; and if one should hike just a bit farther through the bushes and up the steep cliffs, he would discover another cave which sustained Cudjoe and his men in their effort to evade the British. However, caution: it’s not a trip for the faint-hearted.

There is more. Beyond the caves lies the ruins of the Dromilly Great House, and the site where Cudjoe and his men ambushed British troops around 1795.

AUTHENTICALLY JAMAICAN
Everything about the Bunkers Hill Cultural Xperience is authentically Jamaican.

“We prepare authentic Jamaican meals; such as, run dung and roast yam; roast sweet potato; dukoonoo; rice and peas with coconut milk, grated and the juices drained; cornmeal pudding, all cooked on wood fires,” Clover Gordon, who jointly manages the property with her husband, O’Brian, explains, stimulating one’s appetite.

The drinks and meals are served in painted enamel cups and plates, along with the utensils Jamaicans used in the 19th to mid-20th centuries; or, on banana leaves; or carefully cleaned calabash shells, as was the practise of the Maroons. These traditions are also kept alive by their descendants, in some rural Jamaican communities.

Jobs coming for lifeguards, cooks, tour guides
One of the social enterprises nurtured under the Social Enterprise Boost Initiative by the JN Foundation and the US Agency for International Development, the Bunkers Hill Cultural Xperience, relies on the resources of the Bunkers Hill community and its surrounding hamlets for sustenance. Consequently, more than 90 per cent of its food; and 100 per cent of its human resources come from the community.

“We are going to need more support from the community,” Clover Gordon says, as the attraction, which recently received its permit from the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA); and is in the process of applying for an operating licence from the Jamaica Tourist Board, prepares for its official opening to the public in July.

“At that time, we may be needing a 100 pounds of chicken, so they will need to increase supplies; therefore, if Jane don’t have, Mr Peter will have next week,” she explains.

The operation provides an employment and production boon for Bunkers Hill, giving its mainly farming constituents an additional source of income. It already employs 10 people part-time; and, with its upcoming launch and expansion, there will be need for additional cooks, tour guides, life guards and others.

For Kemar, who travels daily to work miles away in Hanover at the Tryall Club, it provides an income during the “off season,” when visitor bookings are low at the high-end resort and there is no employment for him.

“It’s good employment here,” he says. “It uplifts the community and give us work.”

However, more important to him and Alexander, another young male resident employed as a tour guide, it allows them to discover aspects of their community and its indigenous culture that were not well known to them.

For the Gordons, this historical introspection and cultural preservation is a primary objective of their Bunker’s Hill Cultural Xperience, which emerged to Mrs Gordon in a literal dream, some four years ago.

Beyond simply generating employment and economic activity in the community, the registration and inclusion of folk groups, such as the Deeside Cultural Group and the Wakefield Tambo Group, are essential to maintaining the cultural authenticity, which the Gordons want to sustain at Bunkers Hill Cultural Xperience.

Preserving and promoting cultural authenticity of the Bunkers Hill Cultural Xperience is the primary objective of the Gordons.

Jamaicans living overseas have the opportunity to contribute to the development of the Bunkers Hill Cultural Xperience by investing in the JN Bank Diaspora Certificate of Deposit, from which a percentage of the interest earned, will be matched and reinvested into businesses being nurtured by the Social Enterprise Boost Initiative by the JN Foundation.

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Marketing, communication and events officer at the Social Enterprise Boost Initiative (SEBI) Anna Toby (second left) leafs through one of the “Gratitude Journals” produced by the Jamaica Association for the Deaf (JAD) Binders. The new product line was launched at the ceremony to relaunch the JAD Binders as a social enterprise. Looking on (from left) are David Thomas, owner of Bookophilia; Dr Valerie Facey, founder of JAD; Dr Iris Soutar, executive director of JAD; and Jean-Michel Despax, ambassador of France to Jamaica. The relaunch of the JAD took place at Bookaphilia in Kingston last Thursday. JAD also signed a memorandum of understanding with JAD Binders. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

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Speaking during the finals of the JN Foundation’s Science Genius Jamaica project at the Carnegie Centre, New Kingston, on Thursday, Tifa and Wayne Marshall, said education is important to both dancehall artistes’ style and competitiveness.

“The lyrics are evolving now; therefore, to be a dancehall artiste you can’t have just one or two subjects, because is not just an ABC thing again. You have to go deep if you want to keep up with man like Aidonia, [Vybz] Kartel, Alkaline…,” Wayne Marshall underscored. He said Kartel, in particular, received distinctions in English Language and Literatures in English at the Caribbean Secondary School Education Certificate (CSEC) level.

“The youths need to understand that education is highly regarded. Right now to be a dancehall artiste, you have to have subjects. It’s not just a pick up and jump up and chat two things anymore,” he said.

Tifa pointed out that corporate sponsors also tend to be more interested in artistes who are known to have strong educational backgrounds.

“Corporate [companies] play a big part in dancehall right now; and if you can’t represent yourself, don’t think you’re gonna be on a billboard; don’t think you’re gonna represent these major companies. You have to align yourself and make sure that what you’re saying makes sense; and that there is substance behind the music,” the artiste, who holds a degree in psychology, counselled aspiring artistes.

SCIENTIFIC PROCESS

Eleven high schools participated in the JN Foundation’s Science Genius project, in which students assisted by science and music teachers, created and performed music, explaining scientific processes.

Jabuer Martinez of Cedric Titus High School, in Trelawny emerged the winner of the solo category, with his confident performance and his precise and entertaining explanation of the scientific process in his song, Dat is Science.

Dwayne Marshall of May Day High School, in Manchester was second with his catchy and engaging rendition of Pump it Up, which explained the circulatory system; while Britney Boyd of Clarendon College was third, with her anthem to science: Science we Say.

In the group category, May Day High School was first with their lyrically and scientifically satisfying dancehall song Eye Yeye, about the human eye. The all-girls Westwood High School in Trelawny was second, with their chemistry composition about Metals, while Godfrey Stewart in Westmoreland was third with their song, Nutrition..

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JAD Binders, owned and operated by the Jamaica Association for the Deaf (JAD), signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bookophilia on June 29.

The MOU formalises arrangements between both entities in which Bookophilia will serve as a retail distributor and a “drop-off and pick-up point,” for JAD Binders’ products.

Iris Soutar, executive director of JAD, said that the partnership would allow the products from JAD Binders to be displayed in an easily accessible location. JAD Binders is located in Hope Estate, Papine.

“We see this partnership as one that will strengthen our efforts to ensure that deaf persons can lead a fuller life, totally integrated into the society, and improve their quality of life as finding employment can be a challenge,” she said.

David Thomas, owner of Bookophilia, said, he welcomed the partnership and that it would be mutually beneficial to both organisations.

“I think it is a very good product,” he said. “They produce unique journals, and more journals are being used today.”

JAD Binders, which is supported by SEBI, is a social enterprise that specialises in customised gift solutions. It has been offering an array of fine hand-binding services since 1994.

Its product line includes preservation binding, such as newspapers, periodicals, manuals; restoration binding, including heirloom bibles and treasured books; memorabilia; as well as the its signature Gratitude Journals and notebooks.

Opal Whyte, project manager of SEBI, said that the partnership would boost business for JAD Binders and would improve the visibility of the company’s unique products.

“We need more partnerships of this nature, where private sector companies create linkages with social enterprises,” said Whyte. “JAD Binders produces quality products and provides meaningful employment for the deaf,” she said.

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