I sometimes wonder whether media commentators are a little tired of topics like the Cockpit Country, because they are not going away. I can almost see them doing the “eye roll” emoji as they sit down to pen a careless piece for the Sunday Gleaner, such as the article by Mr. Mark Wignall on November 14. Because he did not have the patience to do the required homework, Mr. Wignall contented himself with snide comments like “That, of course, will not satisfy activists (sic) groups like the Jamaica Environmental (sic) Trust (JET), which wants to have it both ways.” 

Mr. Wignall is very good at commenting on crime and violence on our island and likes to give us his personal insights on such matters. Even in this article he could not resist mentioning “an area that is a haunt of mine” that was “shot up”! Dear me! [Insert eye…

More cheerful news. Junior Achievement Jamaica has been quietly doing the work, getting schoolchildren ready for the world of work and entrepreneurship…

United States Embassy Partners with Junior Achievement JA on Youth Empowerment Programs

The U.S. Embassy has partnered with Junior Achievement Jamaica (JA Jamaica), to provide tablets for students in need at the primary and high school levels. This initiative, valued at J$3.7M, is tied to two flagship programs being led by JA Jamaica, namely, the JA BizTown Program for primary schools and the Junior Achievement Company of Entrepreneurs(JACE) Program for high schools.

JA BizTown combines in-class learning with a simulated work experience in a model town. It allows students to understand and carry out functionalities of a bank, manage businesses, act as consumers, and practice the roles and responsibilities of being a good citizen. It helps students connect the dots between what they learn in school and…

Jamaica is hurrying down towards Christmas now, it seems. Not a gallop yet – just a gentle canter. Lots of happenings and running up and down, and things seem a little brighter and more lively than last year’s season, which was fairly glum.

There is some cheerful news here, though. The Government of Jamaica has finally seen fit to officially recognize the life and legacy of Mary Seacole. Yesterday was declared Mary Seacole Day, and there was a small ceremony to celebrate near the site of the inn where she worked, Blundell Hall, an inn or boarding house where she was born, at 8 East Street. The UK has really done a great deal in her memory, including a magnificent statue at St. Thomas Hospital in London. You can read a great deal of interesting history here, from Dr. Elizabeth N. Anionwu, Professor Emeritus of Nursing at…