THREE Mondays ago, when I woke up on a beautiful spring day in a US suburb, I felt relaxed to be away from the many jarring headlines that I had left behind in Jamaica.

The blossoming trees gently nodded, squirrels shimmied up trees in my sister’s backyard, and birds whistled away. We were not at all interested in watching the news.

Then I saw a text from my husband in Jamaica, telling me to stay away from public places because there had been a bombing in Boston. Bombing? Boston? The only images I had of Boston were those described by my friends who had been to their fine universities — a beautiful city that welcomed students from every corner of the world.

Sadly, among those thousands of students were two radicalised brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who had plotted their attack on a country which had embraced their family, and was providing welfare for Tamerlan.

Photos on the non-stop news coverage showed them walking near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on a sunny Patriots Day, wearing knapsacks containing home-made bombs. A bag was placed right at the feet of eight-year-old Martin Richard, one of the three persons killed by the bombs. Scores of others were injured, many of them losing limbs.

It was another heartbreaking day for America which says to the world, in the words inscribed on its famous Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

America, and indeed the world, have not recovered from the 9/11 attacks. The United Nations was formed after World War II to co-operate in developing a lasting world peace. Now, we are all on tenterhooks in airports and public places because we never know when the next bomb-toting radical will emerge.

With all the security safeguards, I believe what the world needs is a global army of well-trained social workers and psychologists to stay close to communities, work with troubled families and individuals to address these issues before they literally explode.

We hope that the UN will vigorously plan and implement a thorough and balanced programme that will get to the root of this evil, so that we can bequeath to our descendants a safer world.

Jamaica gets her IMF deal

Even as we breathe a sigh of relief that Jamaica’s proposal to the IMF has been accepted, and we will be able to access nearly US$2 billion in loans over the next four years from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) under the Extended Fund Facility, we should know that the terms are stringent.

Our wastefulness in all sectors, even in our own homes, must now come to an end. It must pain our funders to see a country so well-endowed by nature become so desperately in need of funding.

This island in the sun is hardly tapping into the great potential of solar energy, while we pay billions for imported oil. We can cut our health costs by eating our local produce, instead of getting obese and diabetic on imported processed food. We can have a better educated population by simply switching off the television and sitting with our children, encouraging them to read more.

So Jamaica, it is not just ‘Govament’ that needs to pull up its socks. It is every one of us. When we read our Bible, let us make that parable of the talents a favourite, so that we are reminded of our sacred duty to develop every gift we have received.

We have many valiant Jamaicans doing more than their fair share. And then we have the profilers and complainers who, at the end of a working day, can scarcely name one thing they have completed or delivered.

We are in a different world, where searchlights will examine every unkempt corner. Let’s pull up our socks and clean up our act. We are a tiny country with abundant advantages — there is no reason why we cannot meet the demands of our funders, and lift Jamaica out of this morass of debt.

‘Living Legacies’ honoured

Speaking of those who do more than their fair share, CCRP Jamaica, a seniors organisation, recently honoured six outstanding Jamaicans as ‘Living Legacies’. They are Dotsie Gordon, for business and philanthropy; Thelma Jackson, for leadership in the field of nursing; St Mary Custos Emeritus Bobby Pottinger and his wife Coleen Pottinger; Gloria Robinson, for community service; and retired Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe.

Founder and managing director of Dot Personnel Services Jamaica Limited, Dotsie Gordon, has contributed over 40 years of service to the business community, outstanding voluntary social work and leadership in women’s and other civil society organisations. This daughter of St Elizabeth is active in the PSOJ Trade Committee and the Jamaica Employers’ Federation, has served the HEART Trust/National Training Agency as chair of the lead group on Secretarial and Business Studies, as treasurer of the Council of Voluntary Social Services, and president of the Big Sisters of Jamaica. She is past chair and a current vice-president of the Jamaica Federation of Women.

Thelma Jackson has contributed over four decades of outstanding leadership in the field of nursing and nursing administration, and has played an integral

role in the development of important advances for both nursing professionals and their patients.

A graduate of the UWI, the University Hospital School of Nursing, and specialised courses in England and Scotland, Mrs Jackson worked briefly with the Hyacinth Lightbourne Visiting Nursing Service before launching a 41-year career at the University Hospital of the West Indies. She was the first graduate of the University Hospital School of Nursing to be appointed senior director of nursing at the University Hospital, serving in that post for 17 years.

Gloria Robinson has been helping others since she was a small child. A Kingstonian whose marriage took her to St Catherine, she is the founder of Old Harbour’s first Golden Agers Club. She is a former registrar of births and deaths for Old Harbour and surrounding communities, serving in that post for many years.

Following Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, Mrs Robinson became an effective advocate for the elderly, garnering assistance for them from churches and other organisations, and sheltering some in her own home.

She currently operates a crisis centre for the vulnerable of all ages. She has received many honours, including the Certificate of Award Badge of Honour for Long and Faithful Service from the Jamaican Government.

Next week I will share more on the other recipients of the ‘Living Legacy Awards’.

Tivoli Gardens Interim Report

Going beyond the media-lashing preamble, Public Defender Earl Witter’s Interim Report on the Tivoli Gardens incursion in May 2010 is heartrending. There are still too many unanswered questions to point fingers at any group or individual, but the sad fact is that over 70 members of our Jamaican family lost their lives in this event. We are family, Jamaica; let us monitor at-risk communities and work to free them from donmanship, so that such a day will never come again in Jamaica.

lowriechin@aim.com

www.lowrie-chin.blogspot.com