Monthly Archives: October 2019

The love of her family, her faith and the inner strength to keep living for her three children, made Michelle Robinson relentless in her fight against breast cancer, a diagnosis she received a year ago.
The 36 year old said that she knew something was wrong when she started to feel a pain in her left breast, which she ignored at first, however, the pain persisted.
“It was on Mothers’ Day and I was with my eldest son. We were watching a movie and I felt the aches,” she related during a #JN PowerofPink Think Tank Session:  Beyond Breast Cancer: Stories of Survival, on Miss Kitty LIVE ON Power 106, recently.
The educator said that on further self-examination, her fears were confirmed. “Later on, I decided to squeeze it, and I saw this brownish discharge emerging from one of my nipples. It was a shock for me, I held my son and started to cry.”
However, it was after visiting her doctor and doing an x-ray that she received the formal diagnosis. She had stage two breast cancer. That meant the cancer was growing and had extended to the nearby lymph nodes.
“I was devastated by the news, but, at the same time, because I know how God works, I decided to ‘take it to the Lord in prayer’ and that has been my mantra since the diagnosis,” she related.
She broke the news about her illness to her family members, who were downcast; and she realised that she had to be strong for them, as well. “The diagnosis was like a curve ball, but I was determined to keep batting,” she said.
Michelle immediately commenced her treatment, which involved surgery to remove the left breast and chemotherapy nine months later. She said the chemotherapy brought on nauseous feelings, loss of her eye lashes, hair, loose bowels, discoloured nails, and left a metallic taste in her mouth. So far, she has done 16 chemotherapy sessions and hopes that at her next doctor’s visit she will not have to do any more treatment.

However, the diagnosis forced her to change her lifestyle. An introvert by nature, whose life simply involved going to work and home, Michelle decided that she would start enjoying life, therefore, she began to participate in activities which she enjoyed.
“I found a new lease on life. Occasionally, I would go out and play pool, and I started to look at life totally different. Now, I am more comfortable and at peace,” she said.
The loss of her hair was another stage of the cancer which she had to embrace. She opted not to wear a wig and accepted her baldness. That decision not only motivated her; but encouraged other women affected by the disease.
Michelle was also forced to change her diet. As a result, she reduced her sugar intake; increased eating fruits and vegetables; as well as, eliminated red meat, processed foods and alcohol, in her diet.
“It was life changing,” she related, “One had to make so many changes, and it was not for one month or two months, but for a lifetime, and the change was immediate.”
But for Michelle, her journey has been bearable, because of her faith in the Lord and the strong support from her family members, who have been ‘her shelter in the time of storm.’ She highlighted the close bond with her mother, Catherine Knight, who kept her persevering.
“We now appreciate each other so much more. The thing is that, we don’t know how long we will have with each other, therefore, one needs to embrace every moment you have together. Tell them you love them and hug them,” she said with a pensive look.
“When you are faced with so many challenges being diagnosed with cancer, if you don’t have that support, it will make you give up easily. But, when you have support, it will make you press on,” she informed.
On learning about her daughter’s illness, Ms Knight said she was shocked. But, as the shock wore off, she supported her daughter, the last of her four children.
Last year, 974 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in Jamaica. Data from the Jamaica Cancer Society also revealed that approximately 60 per cent of breast cancer cases diagnosed in Jamaica are among women between the ages of 25 and 59 years.
The #JN Power-of-Pink Think Tank Session was the second in a three-part series of conversations about breast cancer, which was part of The Jamaica National Group’s campaign to raise awareness about how to prevent breast cancer and educate them about the symptoms, early detection and treatment.

Dionne Rose l JN Corporate Communications l JN Bank

Mayor of Falmouth, Councillor Collin Gager, is taking the 2019 Hurricane Season very seriously, as he stocks up on hurricane tools, and prepares residents in the event of a disaster.

“Our biggest fear here in Falmouth is flooding. Therefore, we need to ensure that we take the proper precautions, in the event there is a hurricane, we are prepared,” he said.

Gager informed that the Trelawny Municipal Corporation was cleaning drains and replenishing its hurricane supplies, which include equipment to cut down trees, shovels to clean drains and blockage, among other resources.

“What would happen if we were to receive the amount of rainfall which fell in The Bahamas? It would be something to reckon with. Therefore, we need to be prepared. We must ensure that our staff and disaster coordinators are well organised and have the necessary tools,” he explained.

In response to the needs of the Corporation, the JN Foundation presented hurricane supplies, including saws, shovels, water boots and raincoats, to assist with its disaster preparedness.

“We are happy to assist in addressing the needs of the council by providing these essential equipment,” Onyka Barrett Scott, general manager of the JN Foundation, said at the handing over event recently.

Gager pointed out that over the years, the parish has been affected by flooding in vulnerable communities such as Wakefield and Troy.

“Therefore, we ensure that we do proper drain cleaning and clear the sinkholes, to allow water to run off. In addition, we also educate our people about the importance of keeping the sinkholes free and clear,” he said.

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In a bid to build local capacity to design and install a variety of water-efficient measures in the housing sector, the Jamaica National Group, in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), has launched a 16-week training programme about rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling.

The training programme, which was officially launched on September 11 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, will benefit developers, architects, engineers, practising designers, and builders, as well as implementers of rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling systems.The training is being offered through the JN Water Project, which is being managed by the JN Foundation and was designed to address water-management issues, primarily related to climate change. The project, which commenced in March 2017, is a four-year collaboration among the JN Foundation, JN Bank, the IDB, the Climate Investment Funds, and the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience.

Onyka Barrett Scott, general manager of the JN Foundation, said that the training initiative will seek to drive behaviour change in building practices and encourage a new approach to how we build houses to cope with new climate realities, particularly fluctuations in water supplies due to extended periods of drought.

“It is also aimed at householders. Whether we own the home or not, we are able to practise certain conservation measures at our places of abode, and the overall combination of those actions helps to promote a better response to climate change, which we are now facing,” she said.

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Therese Turner-Jones, general manager and country representative for Jamaica at the IDB, said that it was commendable that the private sector was being engaged in this way through the training initiative.

“Bringing developers together on this particular issue and having JN and the IDB as partners on this project is significant because we are moving beyond the theory of why we need to be doing this,” she said.

Robert Stephens, consultant on the Water Project, said that the objectives of the training for participants are to develop an appreciation for rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling, identify characteristics and the mistakes that can be made, and identify how to avoid these mistakes in building out the systems.

He said that they will be taught how to design and implement rainwater harvesting systems, in addition to costing those systems. The training programme will also examine the components of rainwater harvesting systems, the water-saving devices that can be implemented by homeowners to save water, and factors that affect water quality and water standards.

The course will be delivered weekly via face-to-face sessions and online. The class sessions will be held from September to December.

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