Dear Editor,

Some young people may be shocked to hear this, but there was a time when Jamaica had a really impressive craft industry. This industry was nurtured by an organisation called “Things Jamaican” which trained young people to produce quality stuff. To make a long story short, Things Jamaican was converted into a prison and now the craft shops are full of colourful items not to my liking and bearing the Jamaican flag. To top it off they are marked, “Made in China”, “Made in Taiwan”, etc.

Since I live in hope, I am expecting that the flicker I saw over the weekend will develop into a real flame. On a visit to Trelawny, I ran into an artistic acquaintance who told me of a course she had just completed at the HEART Academy in Falmouth, making jewellery from glass. She had a few pieces with her and they were really impressive. Luckily for me (I thought), she said they would be having a display at the academy at 1 pm the next day.

Since I live in hope, I am expecting that the flicker I saw over the weekend will develop into a real flame. On a visit to Trelawny, I ran into an artistic acquaintance who told me of a course she had just completed at the HEART Academy in Falmouth, making jewellery from glass. She had a few pieces with her and they were really impressive. Luckily for me (I thought), she said they would be having a display at the academy at 1 pm the next day.

Forgetting that even training institutions have no respect for time, I was there a few minutes before 1 pm and was certainly not impressed by the level of preparation. Anyway, I must say the staff was very pleasant and took visitors on a tour to explain the project which they had undertaken with the kind assistance of a professor from Ghana, courtesy of their government. I was really impressed with what I saw from the clay oven they had made from scratch to bake the glass, after it had been beaten and sifted, to the finished products which were beautiful, exquisite bracelets, necklaces and pendants.

I really hope this will take off and not just fizz out, because we really need to offer tourists and locals alike something worthwhile to leave with when they visit the resorts. I was also very happy to see the level of cooperation between an African country and ourselves, for although we pay lots of lip service to African culture and our roots, it usually stops at that. So kudos to HEART, but I urge them to introduce punctuality into their curriculum.

I was a bit concerned about the pricing of the products, though, for the process seemed quite time-consuming and I couldn’t get a clear indication of where prices would end up, thus allowing the craftswomen to make a decent living without pricing themselves out of the market. Anyway, I wish them the best of luck because it offers a fresh ray of hope for one segment of our craft industry.

Joan Williams

Kingston 10

gratestj@gmail.com