The world is shaken by the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, but we in Jamaica must not let cable news distract us from our national reality. Too many children are also losing their lives to gun violence right here in Jamaica. Some are innocent bystanders, while gangs are recruiting others — children who can barely find lunch money are toting expensive weapons. Their moral compass is missing; many of them have young parents who can barely fend for themselves. Every one of these gangsters and scammers was born innocent, then circumstances of deprivation and depravity moulded them into these fearsome beings.

Belatedly, we are learning from the Professor Orlando Patterson report that, while Jamaica’s spend for secondary school education is on par with most countries, the budget for early childhood education has been dismal. Thankfully, the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), established by the Early Childhood Commission Act of 2003, has created Brain Builder centres aimed at creating optimum care for the first 1,000 days of a child, starting from conception to age two. Supported by the Japanese Government and the Inter-American Development Bank, the programme focuses on developmentally appropriate stimulation, nutrition, and protection. There are currently 116 such centres in every parish, information on which can be found on the ECC website.

Sociologist Dr Claudette Crawford-Brown highlighted in her book Who Will Save Our Children? the negative effect of “the missing mother” in the lives of Jamaica’s “barrel children”. These children, she noted, received all the fancy clothing and foodstuff in barrels, but none of the emotional nurturing required for the wholistic development of a child. She also called for expansion of the foster care system, pointing out the inadequacies of children’s homes.

As we grieve over the deaths of Jamaica’s children and the young victims of school shootings in the US, we should leave no stone unturned in finding solutions to save our children. I remember a senior representative of UNICEF reminding us that “children are not the future; they are the present”; therefore, we must address the clear and present danger they face.

Let us transfer our anger from overseas situations to those right here on our little rock, and use it to give our time, talent, and funding to ensure that the children of the present do not become the scammers and gangsters of the future.

ENDURING INDIA-JAMAICA RELATIONS

The year 2021 marked the 175th anniversary of the arrival of Indians to Jamaica. Historian and medical librarian Laxmi Mansingh, who with her late husband Dr Ajai Mansingh co-authored the remarkable book Home Away From Home: 150 years of Indian Presence in Jamaica, 1845-1995 noted that on the Indians’ arrival, the previously enslaved Africans offered them food and friendship. She noted that one of the founders of Rastafarianism, Leonard Howell, renamed himself Gong Guru Maragh, while another founding member Joseph Hibbert recalled hearing Indians chanting “Jai Rama, Jai Krishna, Jai Ashoka”. He discovered that these were former emperors of India who were considered deities, and this may have inspired his naming Emperor Haile Selassie, Jah Ras Tafari, an African deity.

As the daughter of a Hindu father and an Indian Christian mother (Sydney and Maisie Gopaulsingh) and later an Indo-African stepfather (Joscelyn Lowrie), I saw close up the respectful and loving relationships between all races in my home parish, Westmoreland. It was therefore a special honour for ‘hubby’ and me to meet Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and First Lady Savita Kovind on their recent State visit to Jamaica.

The visit saw President Kovind addressing our Houses of Parliament and attending a ceremony to rename a section of Tower Street in honour of Indian social activist Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. The president laid a floral tribute at the shrine of National Hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey, who had led a protest against the British empire calling for the release of the great Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi from imprisonment.

Governor General Sir Patrick Allen and Lady Allen hosted a State dinner for the president and Mrs Kovind, the brilliant programme was a credit to the King’s House and Jamaica Pegasus teams.

This visit took place while both countries are celebrating milestone anniversaries of independence: India’s 75th and Jamaica’s 60th as well as 60 years of diplomatic relations. We are grateful for India’s continuous support of Jamaica, particularly in sending us one of the first batches of vaccines during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Long may we continue to have this meaningful and fruitful engagement.

CULTURAL LEGENDS HONOURED

As part of their 50th anniversary, the National Chorale of Jamaica honoured three cultural legends at Jamaica House last Sunday: Dawn Marie James, Marjorie May Bayley, and Vivian Crawford.

James is an Immaculate Conception High School alumna who studied at the University of Windsor and is a fellow of the Trinity College of London. She has won top international prizes and performed in operas worldwide. She now gives instruction in her home state of Georgia and virtually to students worldwide.

Educated in music and foreign languages, Bayley was a force in The University of the West Indies (UWI) Chorale and the University Singers. She has taught at Alpha Academy, Kingston Technical High School, and The Mico University College. She served as choir director, pianist, and organist at Webster Memorial and Scots Kirk United churches and has also supported the music ministry at St Margaret’s Church. She also served as assistant to then Director of the National Chorale Geoffrey Fairweather.

Jamaica’s genius of culture, Vivian Crawford, OD was lauded for his leadership of the Institute of Jamaica for the past 17 years, during which time he oversaw the restoration of Marcus Garvey’s Liberty Hall and the Sites of Memory Programme. He and the late Dr Olive Lewin chaired the successful submission to UNESCO for the declaration of the music of Moore Town Maroons to be part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The recipient of numerous awards, his career also includes a tenure as pro chancellor at the University of Technology, Jamaica and stints in both teaching and the financial sectors. He is a keen musician, member of several national boards, and the first treasurer of the National Chorale of Jamaica.

These honourees remind us of the excellence our children can attain if we only take the time to nurture their talents.

LABOUR DAY AND PRODUCTIVITY

Thousands of volunteers turned up at schools and institutions islandwide to help renovate and landscape facilities. Our Digicel Foundation team was over 100 strong as staff volunteers brought parents, grandparents, and children to support projects at Mandela Park and Galilee Early Childhood Institute at Rodney Street in Waltham Park. Prime Minister Andrew Holness was the main speaker at the Government-led Mandela Park project. He noted that there would be changes in Half-Way-Tree that will necessitate moving the park to a larger green space.

After outlining the many changes being planned, the prime minister called for a higher level of productivity, noting that Jamaica was lagging behind our regional counterparts. In the 90s, my shop collaborated with Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro) on a programme titled Productivity for Prosperity – that message is needed now more than ever.

lowriechin@aim.com

www.lowrie-chin.blogspot.com