Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published Monday, April 17, 2023

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

The American Friends of Jamaica (AFJ) has been supporting hundreds of worthy organisations for over 40 years. The board comprises our current and past US ambassadors to Jamaica and other well-wishers.

Their gala events are incomparable, the most recent of which was their Hummingbird Awards last month at which our star athlete Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and business leader Douglas Orane were honoured. Ambassador Sue Cobb said she had always had a high regard for Douglas Orane, but conversed with Fraser-Pryce for the first time at the event. She enthused, “I must say she is an extremely impressive person (beyond track) — a first-class representative of Jamaica.”

At the close of the annual AFJ grant cycle, 24 discretionary grant applications were approved by the AFJ Grants Committee and will be awarded during the upcoming Official Grant Ceremony hosted by Ambassador N Nick Perry in May. Discretionary grants combined with donor-direct grant awards and donations received on the AFJ’s online giving platform Choose A Cause are valued at US$503,744.47 ($76,351,340.33).

The beneficiaries include Bethel Baptist Church; Bloom Early Childhood Centre of Excellence; Bob and Rita Marley Foundation; Breds Treasure Beach Foundation; Bull Savannah Primary School; Busy Bee Educational Enrichment (BBEE); C B Facey Foundation; Chain Of Hope; Christel House; Church Teachers’ College; Eye Health Institute; Friends of Hopewell; HEART/NSTA Trust; Hope Zoo; INMED Caribbean; Institute of Jamaica; Issa Trust Foundation; Jamaica Cancer Society; Jamaica Conservation Partners; Jamaica Environmental Trust; Jamaica Musical Theatre Company (JMTC); Jamaica Trail Project; Jamaican Advantage Through Sports for Youth (JASY); Journey 2 Free; Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; Kingston Creative; Mussons Foundation; Mustard Seed Communities; National Education Trust; ODEM Foundation; Pocket Rocket Foundation; Portland Arts and Vocational Education Centre; Project STAR; RISE Life Management Services; Rose Town Foundation; Seprod Foundation; Songs For Sound; Southern Basketball Conference; The University of the West Indies Scholarships (Ambassador Sue Cobb, Ambassador Gary Cooper, Ambassador Glen Holden), Ralph and Ricky Lauren Family Foundation, Kathleen and Mark Newman, Margaret “Peggy” Steuart); Violence Prevention Alliance; Wattle and Red Earth Collective; We Care For Cornwall Regional Hospital; Wolmer’s Safe Shelter Programme for Girls Fund; Wolmer’s Rebuilding Fund; and the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published Monday, April 17, 2023

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

It was the week after Champs when our Digicel Foundation Team visited the Harbour View Primary School to open a fourth smart room to equip the children for this digital age. Yes, we were thrilled by the extraordinary performances at Champs, but we must also cheer them on to excel at technology and so be able to stay one step ahead of artificial intelligence (AI).

Digicel Foundation Chair, Jean Lowrie-Chin (second right, standing), interacts with students at the Harbour View Primary School during the opening of a smart room at the institution on Tuesday (April 4). The state-of-the-art facility was provided by the Foundation. Also sharing the moment are (from left, background) Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Ministry of Education and Youth, Dasmine Kennedy; Digicel Foundation Board Member, Heather Moyston and the school’s vice principal, Lavern Morgan. (Photo: JIS)

At the event, Dasmine Kennedy, Region One director at the Ministry of Education and Youth noted, “The impact on learning tends to be greater once the technology is incorporated in their learning paradigm … students’ learning actually increased with the use of modern equipment, technology, and tools. Students are able to maintain focus much longer on the teaching/learning activities and most of all the engagement and interactivity process tend to increase.”

“Studies have shown that teaching and learning, when aided by technology, allows for easy, convenient, and effective transfer of knowledge,” she shared. “In essence, the mind tends to work faster when assisted with the use of modern technology.”

Additionally, let us include the A for arts to STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and call it STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics). Chat GPT can write a speech for you, but can it capture the beauty of those children at Harbour View Primary, their eyes shining with expectation? Can it capture the graciousness of the teachers and my colleagues at the Ministry of Education? As I did in my address, would it be able to draw a parallel between the Champs stadium and the digital stadium, where we want our children to flourish? Let us keep our love for the arts, even as we promote STEM. Then the genius of Claude McKay, Marcus Garvey, Louise “Miss Lou” Bennett and Bob Marley will inspire their critical thinking for personal mastery in this brave new world.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published Monday, April 17, 2023

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

Ackeef Nugent meets Andrew Holness.

The words of young Ackeef Nugent rang out in Jamaica, and we hope they will touch the hearts of wrongdoers: “I would like to say a word to all the criminals and warring factions … not only in my community but all around Jamaica. Please, please to put down the gun and allow our young youths to grow in peace so we can make Jamaica to be the place to live, raise families, and do business. We are your next generation — teachers, doctors, lawyers, judges … please put down the gun, I am pleading to you guys!”

This is from a TVJ news report by Shemala Pullen about the 13-year-old’s community outreach in Cockburn Pen. The Excelsior High School student of humble means teaches the little ones and sometimes feeds them out of his lunch money. So moved was Prime Minister Andrew Holness that he invited Ackeef and family members to meet with him at his office and promised to support his project.

I posted an excerpt of the video on Twitter and it has made thousands of impressions. We should ensure that this young man is supported to the highest degree in his own educational pursuits as well as in his mentorship of the little ones. Who knows, one day he may be sitting in the prime minister’s chair, encouraging another good youth like himself.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer Column published Monday, April 17, 2023

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

With the exciting Carifta Games last weekend and Carnival activities over the past week, our lively Caribbean spirit is calling out to us.

Sure, we quarrelled over certain decisions during the Games, but that is what families do. Because of our linkages through The University of the West Indies and other tertiary institutions, we now have strong Caribbean extended families and fast friendships.

Savvy companies know that trading within the region brings the benefit of tax relief. My friend probably introduced Bridget Sandals to Trinidad because as far back as the 1990s, when she had to travel there on business, she would dedicate one large suitcase to those popular sandals and made some good bucks from selling them.

Sandals Resorts International was early off the mark as well, becoming the standard for all-inclusive excellence and still growing, employing thousands of Caribbean people and offering them solid training for growth opportunities. Such companies as CIBC First Caribbean International Bank, Marubeni, Sagicor, Digicel, Flow, Guardian Group, JMMB, Massy, Scotiabank, and International Game Technology (IGT) have dynamic presence. Their high-calibre Caribbean personnel holding their own in international business.

We scare each other with headlines about crime and violence, but when we turn to news further afield we realise that we are a relatively stable territory. Yes, Haiti is in urgent need of rescue from its out-of-control gangs, but the people can help their neighbours with their stunning artistic talents and craftsmanship. The gangs dominate reports, but little is said about the heroic, dignified Haitians who keep working, teaching, and nurturing each other. If we give up on Haiti, we would be depriving ourselves of one of the finest opportunities in the Caribbean.