TRELAWNY, Jamaica—Global Humanity Network Incorporated (GHN) on Monday launched its Beyond the Book Bag Initiative, signalling a long-term commitment to students who lost school books and essential items during the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

President and CEO of the non-profit organisation, American-based Jamaican native, Dr Laxley Stephenson, said the intervention was driven by responsibility rather than convenience, and deliberately avoids duplicating existing relief efforts.

“It is not just because we can [support] but because we need to. We have a responsibility to step up and show up and do the work. There are many ways to help and I just did not want us to do anything that was going to duplicate what everyone was doing,” Stephenson said during the launch of the initiative at the Falmouth Drop In Centre.

On Monday, the organisation distributed textbooks, food supplies and hygiene kits, valued approximately $1 million to a number of young students, while also announcing the establishment of a mentorship programme to nurture selected students over three years.

Emphasising sustainability, Stephenson said the programme goes beyond one-off charity.

“Now we are not just giving books, we are not just about charity, we are bridge builders, we are about building capacity because there is no point just to walk in here and give a book and just disappear. Book is only just going to go so far,” Stephenson.

Under the Beyond the Book Bag Initiative, Global Humanity Network will operate in Trelawny, Westmoreland and St Elizabeth, providing targeted support to students most in need over a three-year period.

“We are going to be supporting them, finding sponsors for them over a three-year period. Because we want to walk with them to the next educational level,” Stephenson said.

He explained that the initiative was developed after a needs assessment in schools.

“That’s why we decide that we want to go into the school systems and see what the needs are and so Dr [Ryan] Keating did his due diligence and he came back and he told us exactly what was needed,” Stephenson said.

GHN’s director of infrastructure, Dr Garfield McCook, also an American- based Jamaican native said the organisation is committed to tracking the progress of the children it supports.

“We are going to follow the kids… we are going to take care of some of these kids here. And we will watch them progress,” McCook said.

GHN director Dr Ryan Keating, who is based in Jamaica, said the initiative emerged after he observed students attempting to return to school without basic tools following Hurricane Melissa.

“Kids go back to school in January without the necessary tools… school supplies, clothes, uniforms, everything were gone,” Keating said.

Mayor of Falmouth, Councillor C Junior Gager, welcomed the initiative, describing its timing as critical.

“[Hurricane] Melissa came a few weeks ago and Christmas is coming and although Melissa has come and caused a lot of havoc we cannot allow our Christmas to be dull and low,” he said, thanking the organisation for bringing timely relief and renewed hope to affected families.

Meanwhile, Stephenson underscored that the organisation’s focus is on children as the foundation of strong communities.

“Our movement, our work is about focus on students and kids, the next generation. And so anything we do our goal is to build communities and the best way to build a community is to build the ones who will be leading the future,” he argued.

Global Humanity Network, Inc is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation focused on improving underserved communities worldwide by mobilising volunteers and resources for education, poverty reduction, infrastructure, and community development.

—Horace Hines