MONTEGO BAY, St James — The Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, bishop of Dover and Canterbury, has urged Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora to maintain their moral voice on the global stage even as they seek to build a more resilient island home.

“As we seek to build a more resilient Jamaica, at the core of this will be about how we lift each other up, how we treat those who are most vulnerable,” stated Bishop Hudson-Wilkin, a former chaplain to Elizabeth II, Queen of England.

“In other words, my sisters and brothers, we have got to care about each other. And not just the each other whom we can see, we have got got to care about what is happening in Cuba — yes, the blockade that is happening in Cuba. We’ve got to care about what is happening in Haiti, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We’ve got to care about what is happening in Sudan and the Middle East. Why? Because we share a common humanity,” stated Bishop Hudson-Wilkin.

“We cannot say: “It’s happening over there, nothing to do with us,” added Bishop Hudson-Wilkin, who is the first black female in Europe to be appointed a bishop in the Church of England.

Bishop Hudson-Wilkin was addressing the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference Church Service which was held at Calvary Baptist Church in St James.

She pointed to the folk parable about a mousetrap in hammering home the point to those who may be of the opinion that being hands off is a form of survival.

“The story is told of the farm animals. The farmer’s wife decided that she was going to set a mousetrap to catch the rat that was plaguing the farmhouse, and so she did. When the rat saw the trap, the rat ran outside and the first animal seen was the chicken, and so the rat pleaded with the chicken: ‘A trap has been set for me.’ The chicken clucked and said, ‘Nothing to do with me,’ ” she relayed.

Bishop Hudson-Wilkin further pointed out that the rat met the same selfish stand from the pig and the cow, who both callously repeated, “Nothing to do with me.”

That night the trap went off, and the farmer’s wife, knowing her home, didn’t turn on the light as she came down the stairs.

“What she didn’t know was that the tail of the snake had been caught. And so the snake that was still alive bit her as she came down the stairs. And what do we give to people when they’re not feeling so well? Chicken soup! The chicken who thought this had nothing to do with me became chicken soup,” stated the bishop to a congregation that laughed softly.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith greets Jamaican-born British celebrity chef and businessman Keith “Levi Roots” Graham during the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference Church Service held at Calvary Baptist Church in Montego Bay on Sunday. (Joseph Wellington)

“And then she got worse and many of her friends gathered to see her, and the next thing on the menu was the pig. The same pig who said ‘That has nothing to do with me.’ And then she died, so there’s an even greater gathering… and the cow that said nothing to do with me, became involved,” added Bishop Hudson-Wilkin, as she argued that, “We are involved because we are part of the one human race.”

The diaspora conference, which runs from June 14 to 18 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, is being held under the theme: ‘Diaspora Partnerships: Rebuilding a More Resilient Jamaica.’

With the theme in mind, Bishop Hudson-Wilkin pointed to the need for Jamaicans at home and abroad to work collaboratively to build a more resilient nation while expanding the definition of neighbourly love beyond geographic borders.

“To build a more resilient Jamaica means looking outwards and staying connected with each other. There is a South African word called Ubuntu. It means ‘I am because you are. I am because we are.’ In other words, all our lives are inextricably linked together. We are family. We are a people. We are a community. We are a nation. We are part of the one human race. And it means, therefore, that we must speak out against injustices wherever we see it,” encouraged Bishop Hudson-Wilkin.

The church service was attended by Government ministers, ambassadors, and conference delegates.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith, in her greetings, argued that, “an assembly like this gives us an opportunity to reflect on the enduring values that have shaped and sustained Jamaica — our faith in God, our perseverance, our unity, and our service to one another.

“As a Government, we strive to apply our God-given talents and wisdom to the service of every Jamaican. We have taken seriously our mission to engender true respect for all and to strengthen our country so that we may care for all, especially the most vulnerable.”

She pointed out that throughout Jamaica’s history, “we have faced many challenges that have tested our strength and our resolve”, and underscored that the Jamaican community overseas plays a central role in the country’s growth and development.

“Even in the hardest of times the true spirit of the Jamaican family shines brightest, with powerful expressions of love, both tangible and intangible, for Jamaica. This 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference will provide the opportunity to rethink and reimagine the Diaspora collaborations that exist for greater resilience, even as we solidify and re-energise those positive elements of our shared ‘Jamaicanness’ that unite us across oceans and continents,” argued Johnson-Smith.