A twinkle in her eye and a warm smile on her face, seamstress Olivia Johnson has been a proud member of the Allman Town community for over thirty years. The nimble craft woman recently turned her hand to something new: creating colourful, reusable, non-medical cloth masks.

Johnson, 63, is one of 20 artisans engaged by Kingston Creative for their Masks for Downtown project. With many downtown communities being seriously affected by the pandemic prices are high and with unemployment increasing, masks are not an easy commodity for all people. Together with Kingston Creative and their sponsors – the Digicel Foundation, Grace and Staff Foundation and Fight for Peace – Johnson has contributed to making masks available for over 2,000 persons in downtown Kingston. The initiative has also offered a source of income for skilled workers.

As an older woman living with diabetes, Johnson knows she is among the more vulnerable residents. Since COVID came to Jamaica’s shores, she’s been working at home. Hunched over her Singer sewing machine, her seven-year-old grandson, a student of St. Aloysius Primary School, stays home with her as he does online classes. He makes sure the entire family is practicing social distancing and sanitisation – keeping Grandma safe.

“He loves to use his own personal hand sanitizer, and reminds me to use my own,” Miss Johnson laughed. Johnson’s daughter, a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and her fiancé also live at the cozy Allman Town home. With two other grandchildren overseas, Johnson hopes for the pandemic to end soon.

Johnson made her first trip to church since the lock down – attending service at the Apostolic Church of Jamaica Bethel Temple in Kingston Gardens. She was happy to see the congregation again, and proud that they were all practising social distancing.

Looking to the future, Johnson is optimistic. When asked how she saw her business progressing as things open up, she responded, “I may just continue making masks.” Business has been good for the Manchester born craftswoman, who currently has orders to fill. She’s also looking forward to participating in Kingston Creative’s monthly Downtown Artisan Market after COVID-19. She believes this will boost her sales, expand her customer base – and help to give her new creative ideas.

As for Allman Town itself, Miss Johnson has one major prayer: that her community will stay safe. “The time is hot. People want to go to the beach and go out, enjoy themselves. But we must be careful. I am worried that people will drop their guard.”

Groups from Allman Town to Rae Town are working with Kingston Creative to distribute the masks, while taking the time to speak to community members about the importance of wearing masks – especially youths.

“We must remember that, as the saying goes, ‘Prevention is better than cure’,” said Johnson.

 

Despite the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alpha Boys School is planning a major expansion. The Kingston-based school is finally realising its goal to build a dedicated music space for its longstanding music programme. The space, which will be located in the old dormitory building will accommodate a performance space, rehearsal rooms and a music resource centre.

Since the closing of the dorms in 2014, the administration of the school has been developing plans to repurpose the old dorms to expand their music programme and provide adequate rehearsal and recording space. Funding has been a major challenge for the extensive renovation, but Digicel Foundation inked a deal on Thursday, July 24 at Alpha to assist the project.

“You know how it is sometimes when you’re struggling to get things started and you just can’t get any traction; Sister Martha Milner, who passed in October 2019, put together a four year music and Jazz curriculum for us and when she did that, it all came together,” explained Sister Susan Frazer, executive director at Alpha Institute. “Digicel is the top of the heap for us – this sponsorship is what has moved it forward for us. Now we can get more than the outside done.”

As a part of the Foundation’s sponsorship, the newly renovated building will be dedicated to Digicel’s past CEO, Colm Delves, who passed away in May after a battle with cancer. “Colm embraced Jamaican culture through music,” said Charmaine Daniels, CEO of the Digicel Foundation. The Digicel Foundation is focused on the areas of Special Needs, Education and Community Development; a large part of their investment in schools has been focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. “We’re proud to be able to honour Colm in this way – it is our largest investment in a music programme to date and we know Alpha will care for this building as it continues to serve at-risk young men and create a world where no one is left behind.”

Alpha has had a 140 year history of promoting skills to boys and much of that history is entrenched in music, with past students such as Yellowman, Dizzy Reece, Feluke and  Tommy McCook, Lester “Ska” Sterling,  and John Arlington “Dizzy” Moore, founding members of The Skatalites.

“Sister Martha was instrumental in bringing this music programme to life and now the late Colm Delves, through the Digicel Foundation, will be an important part of that as well,” said Frazer.

The renovation is set to be completed by December 2020. Other investors have already assisted the school in creating an adjacent outdoor space for open-air performances. This space will also be available for rentals to assist the school in maintaining the extensive music programme. Other sponsors include the Tourism Enhancement Fund and the Sandals Foundation.