We have much to celebrate
How exciting to hear the Beijing Winter Olympics commentator enthuse that Jamaica “punches above her size” as we watched our four-man bobsleigh team whizzing down and around the icy course on Friday evening. Last week, the cheery Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian raced down the course in the women’s monobob event and vigorously waved the Jamaican flag post-race.
We are grateful to president of the Jamaica Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation Chris Stokes for persevering, despite several administrative headaches, and the Sandals Group for their valuable sponsorship.
Last Thursday, our Reggae Girlz triumphed over Bermuda 4-0 in the Concacaf Women’s Championship qualification round at our National Stadium.
We had travelled to France in 2019 to see our Girlz play in the Fifa Women’s World Cup and it was sheer joy to see that goal from Havana Solaun against the highly ranked Australian team in Lyon. We were a happy crew with a few surprises — vuvuzelas were banned but somehow this sweet, quiet lady in the group produced one when the goal was scored and didn’t we make noise.
We noted a quiet, young Jody Brown giving her all in the games. What a joy to see her developing into a strong player, scoring the first goal for Jamaica, and now a valuable member of the Florida State University team, winners of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 Women’s Soccer College Cup.
Of course, the queen of the field was Kadija “Bunny” Shaw, who scored the last two goals after being unjustly deprived of a penalty. Shaw is now a celebrated member of the Manchester City Women’s Football Club, scoring a hat-trick against Leicester City last October to take her team into the Football Association Challenge Cup semis. In that post-event interview, she remained humble: “It’s a team effort. I’m scoring the goals, but if it wasn’t for my team, it wouldn’t be possible.”
We remember what a hard time the Girlz had getting funding for the World Cup and the dedication of Cedella Marley in obtaining support for them. We hope they will not be facing the same difficulties with the Jamaica Football Federation this time around.
Disabilities Act in effect
We celebrate with Jamaicans who have disabilities. It was a long, hard road to getting the Disabilities Act finally implemented.
When we consider the talented and well-educated people with disabilities who are contributing to our national development, we look forward to the review of hiring policies by human resource managers in both the private and public sectors. When there is inclusivity, organisations blossom as their staff members collaborate and develop emotional quotient (EQ), now acknowledged as being on par with intelligence quotient (IQ).
Last year the Digicel Jamaica Foundation created a series of videos on Jamaican companies who hire people with special needs. One of those featured was Alphanso Cunningham, a Paralympics gold medalist, who we tend to think of only in the context of sports, but we learnt that he is a diligent employee at the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre.
We also learnt in a Jamaica Observer feature by Josimar Scott that Digicel’s human resource executive Daveanna-Kay Reid, who uses a wheelchair and started as a “POWER (providing opportunities for a workforce that is enabled and resilient) intern” with the company seven years ago. Digicel belongs to the Valuable 500 group of companies which has put “disability inclusion on the leadership agenda and made a commitment to action”. It was Reid who oversaw the retrofitting of Digicel’s global headquarters in downtown Kingston to accommodate people with special needs.
Kudos to Dr Floyd Morris, Jamaica’s first blind senator and head of The University of the West Indies (UWI) Centre for Disabilities Studies; Dr Christine Hendricks, executive director of the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD); and UNICEF. They advocated assiduously for the Disabilities Act. UNICEF provided support for the islandwide registration of persons with disabilities (PWDs), which gives them access to a range of helpful benefits accessible through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
The JCPD has cited the main objective of the Disabilities Act as “encouraging all Jamaicans to recognise and accept the principle that PWDs have the same fundamental rights as any other person”.
Happy 100th Anniversary, GK!
The strong and steady GraceKennedy Group last week celebrated their 100th anniversary, growing from a distribution company to an innovative manufacturing, exporting, and financial giant.
CEO Senator Don Wehby, in commenting on the company’s achievement, noted, “GraceKennedy’s story is one of resilience and longevity… From a little island in the middle of the Caribbean Sea to the world, a small Jamaican trading establishment transformed into a global consumer group with over 50 subsidiaries serving millions of customers and employing thousands.” He referred to the group’s core values of honesty, integrity, and trust, as well as “the timeless words of our late great chairman, Hon S Carlton Alexander: ‘What is good for Jamaica is good for GraceKennedy.’ ”
The company’s philanthropic contribution through the GraceKennedy Foundation has been remarkable, with well-run homework centres, generous scholarship programmes, environmental projects, and the enlightening GraceKennedy Annual Lecture.
Congratulations to team GK! Here’s to the next grand century!
50 years of The Harder They Come
The 25th Bob Marley lecture entitled The Harder They Come: 50 Years of Film Legacy was presented by Justine Henzell, daughter of novelist and film-maker Perry Henzell, in conversation with Dr Rachel Mosely-Wood, lecturer in The UWI Department of Literatures in English. Perry Henzell adapted the screenplay for The Harder They Come from his novel, loosely based on the story of the notorious Rhygin, a Jamaican outlaw of the 50s, and produced this classic movie starring the legendary Jimmy Cliff, with a soundtrack as riveting today as the first time we heard it.
Of interest, the conversation highlighted the increase in the number of locally produced films by talented creatives.
Following in her dad’s footsteps, Justine is an independent film producer, founding member of the Jamaica Film and Television Association (JAFTA) and the Calabash Literary Festival.
Kudos to the dedicated Justine, always more interested in making others shine, but well deserving of this spotlight on her work.
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