There are many requests that citizens would want to make of a prime minister. Top of the list would be good roads and a reliable supply of water to their communities. Health care, education, and other concerns could follow.

But no prime minister would expect someone to ask for a beast of burden, which was precisely the case when Prime Minister Holness was asked for a donkey on a recent visit to St Elizabeth.

The prime minister was understandably taken aback by this strange request. When he realised the woman was serious, he regained his composure, listened more intently to the request, and promised her that she would get the donkey she obviously desperately needed. An important takeaway for me here is that there was no attempt on his part to vilify or minimise the integrity of the request. He showed the requisite empathy by listening to the woman and, in a sense, demonstrated part of the legendary quality of humility for which the beast of burden is well known.

Some politicians would have just laughed and moved on. But the fact that the prime minister was willing to engage the woman (not unlike Jesus’s encounter with the woman at the well in John 4) says a lot about the essential leadership quality of empathy. Needless to say, it was an astute political move. Dionne Blake has now received her donkey, along with other agricultural paraphernalia and scholarships for her children attending secondary school.

This quick follow through on a request so humble by a citizen is the kind of stuff which wins politicians friends and influences people. It would have been better judgement, however, if the donkey was not named Prosperity, an obvious reference to the Jamaica Labour Party slogan, which could be seen as a needless politicisation of the gift. Just saying.

Comments by the ignorant on the social media platforms clearly demonstrate how detached many Jamaicans, especially urban dwellers, are from the reality of life in deep rural communities. Some comments were downright contemptible. They fail to recognise that with advanced technology and the connectivity of communities across the island no part of Jamaica can truly be described as “rural” in the common assumptions of illiteracy or backwardness suggested by some comments. So-called “rural” St Elizabeth feeds the nation, one of the purposes to which Blake as a small farmer is making her small contribution.

She is to be congratulated for her persistence and obvious determination to work hard to support her family. Those of us who grew up in deep rural communities know how hard it is to move agricultural products through often rocky terrain. A donkey is relied on, and is, in fact, integral to the transporting of those products to a place where they can be picked up by other means of transport. They are a lifesaver for many a rural farmer.

The integrity of her gift is not to be impugned. In time, she may go on to own a small van to help her in her efforts. It behoves the Government to improve the road infrastructure in these communities to make it easier for farmers like Blake to become less reliant on a donkey to move her goods.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest, social commentator, and author of the books Finding Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storms; The Self-esteem Guide to a Better Life; and Beyond Petulance: Republican Politics and the Future of America. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or stead6655@aol.com.