Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 17, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

There have been unremitting complaints about uncollected garbage and thankfully 50 new trucks have arrived to tackle those longstanding piles of waste. Now, Executive Director of the Broadcasting Commission Cordel Green has announced the ban of dangerous garbage not fit for airplay. This includes:

“● any audio or video recording, live song, or speech which promotes and/or glorifies scamming, illegal use or abuse of drugs (e.g., Molly), illegal or harmful use of guns or other offensive weapons, “jungle justice”, or any other form of illegal or criminal activity;”

● any edited song which directly or indirectly promotes scamming, illegal drugs, illegal or harmful use of guns or other offensive weapons, jungle justice, or any form of illegal or criminal activity. This includes live editing and original edits (e.g., edits by producer/label) as well as the use of near-sounding words as substitutes for offensive lyrics, expletives, or profanities.”

For over 30 years WMW Jamaica (formerly Women’s Media Watch) has presented studies on the damaging effects of such productions on our young people. These dangerous and dirty lyrics will normalise anti-social behaviour in the impressionable minds of our children. I remember one outreach worker saying that after she witnessed a ‘concert’ in an inner-city location in which children under ten were doing vulgar movements to sexually explicit lyrics, “I had to go home and take a long shower. There was so much filth on that stage.”

We applaud DJ NikkyZ who posted on social media, “I have no argument with the Broadcast Commission ban … none of that is in my rotation anyway … any DJ who complains they have nothing to play now SHOULD NOT BE IN RADIO…”  She shared some of her favourites who are “not just old school …  Protoje, Sevana, Mortimer, Kranium, the dancing music, Kabaka, Jesse, Jada, Shenseea, Sean Paul, new Shaggy, new Beenie Man.”

Many of us have memories of the music our parents played; our favourites were the ‘Queenie’s Daughter’ and Broadway soundtracks, Nat King Cole and Gospel. Today’s parents can make a difference in their children’s outlook with their choice of play. Those earbuds are convenient but take them out and share some good music and moves with your little ones; you will be influencing the choices that will help them navigate this challenging world.

For the sake of our children, let us clean up our country, our streets and our airwaves.  Let the fresh air fill their lungs and sweet music soothe their minds.

A Jamaica Observer feature published on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 by Dashan Hendricks

There are some moments in life when people ask: Where were you? For Jean Lowrie-Chin, founder and executive chairman of Pro Comm, Pro Comm Developments, and the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons (CCRP), most of those moments were created by her and her team.

An affable woman, Lowrie-Chin’s enthusiasm for public relations is only exceeded by the work she has done over the last 44 years in which she has been managing Pro Comm. But her journey to being one of the country’s best public relations entrepreneur could have easily been usurped by another profession.

“Well, my field was journalism,” Lowrie-Chin stated in the interview for this feature. “And then when I got married, and the hours were so terrible, as you would imagine, that I decided to switch to teaching. But, and I always tell people, you know, when you’re leaving a job leave in a blaze of glory. So I had to do an interview with Edward Kamau Brathwaite, the poet from Barbados who had made Jamaica his home. And, of course, I was a student of literature at UWI [The University of the West Indies]. So I really, really enjoyed the interview. I put my all into it and left after that to go on vacation and then to teach at Calabar, teaching English and drama,” she said.

Lowrie-Chin said in those years sports broadcaster Patrick Anderson was among her students, and while she worked as a journalist, she reviewed theatre for the Daily News and that article was remembered by Braithwaite who contacted her when Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere was to visit Jamaica in 1974. Braithwaite, who was impressed with the article, called and told her he wanted her to do the public relations (PR) work for the visit.

“I told him I had a job and he said, ‘No problem’, I will send a car for you.” Lowrie-Chin said she worked with Braithwaite on a spectacular show, which didn’t get off the ground because it rained.

The next year, for Carifesta, she was offered the job to do PR for that event as well, then after that she got a role as PR manager at Dunlop Corbin, a PR firm, at the end of 1976. Lowrie-Chin was a clear fit for the job as she constantly picked up new contracts for the firm. Her boss at the time even worried how she’d manage all this new business she was bringing in. However, Lowrie-Chin was up to any challenge.

Based on her calibre of work and her experience in such a short time, others began to recognise Lowrie-Chin’s abilities and strategies. During an encounter at the Jamaica Pegasus, she was introduced to Susan Campbell, who noted how she was doing everything on her own and how she wouldn’t take orders from anyone. She asked her why she doesn’t start her own business.

At 27, Chin was given the opportunity to start a business but didn’t have any resources to get going. However, Campbell arranged a meeting for Lowrie-Chin with the general manager of Jamaica Pegasus Peter Westbrook, and she negotiated a contra deal to do PR for the hotel in exchange for space to work. This deal involved Chin providing the hotel with PR services and she’d have an office with utilities paid for as part of the arrangement. Thus, she got room 106 and had one of the best addresses in Kingston.

Thus, on November 29, 1978, Public Relations Operations (PRO) was born. Lowrie-Chin was trading at this time before she officially registered the business PRO Communications Limited on June 30, 1981.

However, when some clients at Dunlop caught a whiff that Lowrie-Chin was going out on her own, they affirmed that they were going with her. She informed them that they’d need to speak with her boss first before they could be contracted to her firm. Guinness followed Chin and signed a contract on December 14, 1978, while Racing Promotions followed after.

As the firm’s business began to grow, so did the need for office space. Lowrie-Chin rented the room next door as she had to hire new staff in her second year of operations. When it came time again to expand, she couldn’t rent any additional rooms at the Pegasus. However, when she dropped one of her co-workers at home one evening on Kingsway, she was informed of a “For Sale” sign on a building on 6 Kingsway. The owners had left Jamaica during the five-flights-a-day saga in the 1970s but had a property in that area of Kingston. Lowrie-Chin was successfully able to acquire 6 Kingsway with PRO Communications making that location its new abode.

“We were there for 34 years now. During that time we adopted a little girl. And then, in 1988, we adopted a little boy. Now I always said that Kingsway was going to be for my daughter. So when my little boy came on in 1988, same year as Gilbert, I said, you know, I need to find somewhere for my little boy. And I’m always checking real estate because we all played Monopoly as children. So we were always into this real estate thing. So I found this place up at Phoenix Avenue, which is where Pro Comm is now. And I just bought it and said I would develop it and move Pro Comm over there. But then I got very busy with a client, Lasco. And I remember at one point, they said they wanted me to actually do a beauty contest. Now, I’m a feminist, and an unapologetic feminist, so I do not do beauty contests. So I told them, ‘Sorry, I don’t do beauty contests.’ “

Lowrie-Chin said, instead, she asked: Why not celebrate our unsung heroes? With that, Lowrie-Chin created the Lasco Teacher of the Year, then the Nurse of the Year. The police awards were added later.

While Lowrie-Chin no longer does PR for Lasco, she said she created the slogan ‘Nutrition never tasted so good’ and ‘Lasco makes living affordable’, which is used by the company’s food division to this day. But it was not just for Lasco. Lowrie-Chin said with GraceKennedy she created the Household Workers of the Year award.

Recalling her promise in the 1980s, when she purchased the property at Kingsway, to go into development, Lowrie-Chin decided to do just that, but with the property at Phoenix Avenue in St Andrew. One of her former students at Calabar was to be the architect.

“I started to think about Phoenix and decided I wanted to put up a commercial complex. I went to my former student and told him I wanted a building that looks ultra-modern. That was developed and that was how Pro Comm Developments started.”

Most of those offices are rented out and Pro Comm now has its headquarters at that location.

“We still have Kingsway. It’s leased out, actually leased to ‘Bridge FM’, but we do have plans to develop Kingsway.” She said she is planning to partner with a young developer to build apartments.

But dialling back, Lowrie-Chin reflected on her time working with Digicel on its launch in 2001.

“Let me tell you the story. In September 2000 I got a call from somebody with an Irish accent, and the person said we asked about PR companies in Jamaica and we were given three names, and you are not one of them. Anyway, he said, ‘However, I went to dinner last night with an executive and he said if you do not use Pro Comm, you will be making a big mistake.’ And so they said to me, and we need your presentation within 24 hours.“

Lowrie-Chin said that man was Seamus Lynch, who was to be the first CEO of Digicel. He was parried around the media to sell the plans for a second mobile operator in Jamaica, but things weren’t going well for the launch. Lowrie-Chin said she contacted the then minister with responsibility for the telecoms sector Phillip Paulwell, who helped with the process.

In April 2001 Digicel was launched to much fanfare. This heralded a war which benefited media entities. Digicel itself surpassed its target for consumers. The company targeted 100,000 customers over a few years but achieved that in a few months.

But PR would not hold Lowrie-Chin, and on the 30th anniversary of the company, she said a decision was made to create a legacy project.

“And I looked around and I said, ‘You know the most underserved set of people in Jamaica are our seniors.’ I said let me start something for seniors. And thus CCRP, the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons, started.”

“CCRP now has over 12,000 members from all over Jamaica. We now have a television show that comes on, on a Sunday afternoon. We also have a radio show that also comes out on a Sunday afternoon. Best time for our seniors. We have all sorts of advocacy programmes and a lot of outreach. We partnered with the police officers to give out packages to the indigent elderly. And what has really sustained CCRP is Pro Comm’s marketing skill. You know, I think if we did not have the communications and marketing, we would not have come so far.”

Among the achievements of CCRP is bringing health insurance to people over the age of 60 who could not get insurance otherwise. This was provided by Sagicor Life.

That aside, Lowrie-Chin was also instrumental in starting Flair magazine in The Gleaner each Monday and has been a contributor to the Jamaica Observer for the past 20 years.

“Last year, December the fifth, was my 20th anniversary of my column in the Jamaica Observer. I love to write and it’s a sacrifice because I have so many different things doing, but I just love to write and I love to celebrate people, passion. If you notice in my column, I try as much as possible to be balanced and always try to solve to some positives because this is a great country. And I think the most important thing about Pro Comm is that we are passionately Jamaican. The other one is follow through sets us apart.

Among her many roles these days is chairing the Digicel Foundation in which the philanthropic work of the telecoms company is done throughout the region and includes building schools in Haiti.

The Louise Bennett-Coverley Festival Committee wishes to thank all 100+ Voices for Ms Lou contributors who reached out to us during the planning of the Inaugural Louise Bennett-Coverley Festival.

One of the objectives of the Louise Bennett-Coverley Festival is to provide a platform for the contributors of the anthology to do paid performances. Our resources were limited this year but, going forward, we hope to make the event more expansive and possibly include more 100+ Voices for Ms Lou contributors on the programme.

With the festival being this Saturday, October 15, 2022, there is another way contributors can help ensure the Louise Bennett-Coverley Festival becomes an enduring cultural product. You may assist us by doing the following:

• promote the event on your respective social media sites

• purchase tickets personally or

• encourage those in your network to purchase tickets at our brick and mortar ticket outlet locations which are Fontana Barbican and Waterloo or online at https://cari-flo.com/events/louise-bennett-coverley-festival
• circulate our flyer to your supporters, tribe, family and friends

Above is our flyer, invitation letter and fact sheet for your participation and support with ticket sales.  Email us at any time if you have any queries or recommendations.  Thank you for your support.  We appreciate all you do.  Have a nice day!

Digicel Group has been shortlisted for both the Global Carrier Awards and the World Communication Awards.

Entering the category for “Best Environmental, Social, Governmental (ESG) Initiative” in the Global Carrier Awards, this submission looked at the extensive work the Digicel Haiti Foundation has done in the field of education throughout the nation. Digicel has built 188 schools, resulting in more than 100,000 Haitian children accessing education in a Digicel-built school each day.

The “Best ESG Initiative” category recognises initiatives that are changing the world in the environmental, societal, state and government spheres, including charity initiatives, corporate environmental commitments now or for the future, or anything in the CSR space.

For the World Communication Awards, Digicel was shortlisted in two categories, the “Social Contribution Award”, again for the work of the Digicel Haiti Foundation in education and the “Customer Experience Award” for work done to improve customer experience and to go above and beyond when it comes to putting the customer first.

The “Social Contribution Award” celebrates the service provider demonstrating the greatest positive impact on the market it seeks to address, while the “Customer Experience Award” will go to the service provider that proves to have the best all-round experience for its customer whilst enhancing the trust bonds with its customers in an increasingly digital world.

Oliver Coughlan, Digicel Group CEO said, “Each year, we take a look at the work Digicel has done in a number of areas and determine which aspects can stand tall in a global playing field. While we mostly operate in small island nations, we have a big impact and we are all immensely proud of the work we do in the markets we serve.”

Oliver continued, “Being shortlisted for these awards is a tremendous honour, and validates the work we have been doing. Getting to this stage took a collective effort, so I’d like to give a big thank you to all the teams across the business who have been working extremely hard to make this a possibility, especially in Haiti where, despite the challenges, we continue to do our best to create a world where no one gets left behind.”

The Global Carrier Awards will be held on October 19 at The O₂, London and the World Communication Awards on November 1 at the Grand Connaught Rooms, London.

By Racquel Simpson

With the successful second staging of the IGT Coding and Robotics Rock! Camp for its IGT After School Advantage (ASA) beneficiaries, Brendan Hames, Regional Director IGT-Caribbean, noted that more students have expressed a desire to be a part of the next training. IGT aims to meet these additional requests as best as possible, in continuing the programme which caters exclusively to students within IGT ASA Centres across the Caribbean – many of whom are either in state care (children’s home or place of safety) or are otherwise disadvantaged youth.

“The response to our introductory Level 1 training in 2021 was overwhelmingly positive,” Hames stated. “With the addition of the more advanced Level 2 component and focus on regional sustainability, there was an even greater demand for enrolment from our ASA student group across the region.”

Over 60 youth from IGT ASA Centres in Antigua and Barbuda; Barbados; Jamaica; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Maarten; and Trinidad and Tobago participated in this year’s camp. It was delivered by the Mona GeoInformatics Institute (MGI) at the University of the West Indies(UWI) Mona Campus. The MGI team received curriculum development guidance from Nalini Ramsawak-Jodha, Education Specialist and Lecturer from the School of Education at the UWI, St. Augustine Campus. The camp culminated in late August with more than 30 students completing introductory level training and over 30 additional students receiving intermediate training at Level 2 for the first time.

Pleased Participants

Participants have indicated that this year’s camp taught them useful skills and broadened their horizons in terms of future career options. In the post-camp evaluations, students identified a wide range of future endeavours that the experience had ignited in them, everything from e-commerce stores to gaming and game design to cybersecurity (“ethical hacking”). 

“It was very fun, competitive and intriguing,” said Jared Davis* a Level 1 participant from the IGT ASA Centre at the Spring Village Development Foundation in St. Catherine. He also noted that while the camp has ended, he is still improving the clothing website that he created during the training. “I am doing this because it is very fascinating, and it will help me in the future to create my website for my company.”

The participating supervisors affirmed the high level of engagement among the students and had high praises for the MGI instructor team as well as Education Specialist, Nalini Ramsawak-Jodha.

“The camp was great. The students were a little shy, but with encouragement from the team, they became more involved and they enjoyed it,” said Melissa Boothe-Anderson, IGT ASA Supervisor at the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) in Savanna-la-mar. 

Youth from IGT ASA Centres at SOS Children’s Village – Stony Hill, Sunbeam Children’s Home and Mustard Seed Communities – Jerusalem! were also among the list of Jamaican participants.

MGI’s Acting Executive Director Dr. Ava Maxam said the Institute was gratified at the continuing success of the programme and was eager to renew the partnership with IGT to serve more youth across the region. 

“The value of this initiative cannot be overstated,” said Dr. Maxam. “We look forward to an even better offering as the programme grows and as we offer our youth a vital pathway to fulfilling their potential through information technology (IT).”

The programme’s curriculum advisor, Ramsawak-Jodha said it was inspirational to know that the students had gleaned as much as they had from the sessions. “We are proud to be associated with this experience, and we commend IGT for deepening its commitment to ensuring young people receive this critical and early exposure to IT.”

As Caribbean territories continue to strive to secure relevance and sustainability in this data-driven age, IGT has been graciously aiding the cause for the technological empowerment of the region’s youth. This has been witnessed through the company’s provision of fully equipped IGT ASA Centres for students in underserved communities since 2011. The company has also funded numerous IT training opportunities for young people, the most recent being the IGT Coding and Robotics Rock! Camp which has left anticipation on a high for the 2023 hosting.

*Name changed to protect identity.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/igt/

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 3, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

Congratulations to the Stella Maris Steelband, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last Friday with a free concert. Band Captain Margaret Rhoden and Musical Director Gay Magnus led the happy troubadours who delighted us with a variety of medleys from gospel to Bob Marley, to Jamaican folk and soca.

They played a tribute to octogenarian Sister Mary Andrew who had retired from the band at the beginning of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Stella Maris Steelband has toured Europe and the United Kingdom, raising substantial funds for renovating our church.

If you believe seniors don’t rock, please check my social media pages for some of their items. Like fine wine, our Stella Maris Steelband members have mellowed with age.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 3, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

We said farewell in recent weeks to two wonderful individuals, Kamla Devi Kumrai, mother of my friend Rita Kumrai Mitra, and Professor Michael McFarlane, father of colleague Nicholette McFarlane and brother of my college friend Pamela McFarlane.

The gracious Kumrai and her family made their home in London, even as they preserved their Indian traditions. She was a gentle lady and a culinary creative who kindly graced my kitchen on a visit to Jamaica. Kumrai and her late husband raised five outstanding children.

Professor McFarlane was an exceptional medical professional, who, along with his wife Allison, raised three high-achieving daughters. Professor McFarlane was a member of the Department of Surgery, UWI, Mona, the Association of Surgeons of Jamaica, the American College of Surgeons (serving as governor, Jamaica chapter), the Medical Association of Jamaica, the Caribbean College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Surgeons, and The Jamaica Cancer Society.

Our sympathy to the Kumrai and McFarlane families, may the souls of their loved ones rest in peace.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 3, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

The extensive flooding we experienced when Hurricane Ian passed south of us was nothing compared to the devastation it wreaked in Cuba and Florida. The videos are reminiscent of our Gilbert experience and the losses have been heartbreaking. So far there have been six deaths in Cuba and 65 deaths in Florida.

I have appealed on social media for assistance for Cuba as they have never failed to send personnel to support our health-care system. I believe that grateful Jamaicans would contribute to the effort.

There was widespread criticism of Jamaica’s authorities regarding the flooded areas but as we see from the highly developed state of Florida, no amount of drainage infrastructure could have stood up to the deluge of a hurricane.

Let me hasten to say, however, that the pile-up of garbage all over the island is a health crisis. A news report a few months ago showed rats running in and out of garbage heaps; we could have a leptospirosis threat on our hands. It should be noted that dumping offenders include businesses who are not managing their waste. However, the final responsibility rests with the National Solid Waste Management Authority, which can act against lawbreakers even as they address the ever-increasing garbage on our roads.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 3, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

We read deeply into history at The University of the West Indies (UWI) and, yes, we knew all the ills of colonialism, but we did not feel malice toward our fellow students from various ethnic origins because of their colour. Indeed, we learnt that the Irish joined the Indians and Chinese as indentured servants and later there was a settlement of poor Germans and Jews who fled Nazi Germany. How could we decipher then the ancestry of our fellow Jamaicans based solely on their colour?

Fast-forward to the present, where white-looking folks in Jamaica are being painted with a broad brush. Never mind that these Jamaicans care for their country, that they built businesses which create employment, that they offer scholarships and invest in the professional development of their staff. Even as we celebrate our young black Jamaicans who have risen to become business moguls, let us also celebrate those who were not content to only inherit businesses but continue to put their energy into innovative expansion.

Our motto ‘out of many, one people’ was created on a bright hope for Jamaica’s future, a hope that all of us, regardless of class or colour, would aspire to be nation-builders. There is nothing that saps our common good like malice, both for the giver and the target. We have lost fine Jamaicans who could not tolerate the bile being poured on them and have opted for a more peaceful life abroad.

But there are some of us who refuse to give up our Jamaican dream that we can all work to affirm and help each other to prosper. It was Dr Martin Luther King Jr who exhorted Americans not to judge someone “by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character”. It is a challenge that we should embrace here in Jamaica.

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, October 3, 2022

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

We felt joy in greeting friends and colleagues at last Thursday’s Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards, some of whom we only had contact with via Zoom for the last two years.

We were treated to Jamaica’s finest in food and drink and felt the relief of those restaurateurs who had managed to survive the pandemic. Our favourites were Sandals, where bartender Marland poured us his unique gin fizz; Rainforest, including desserts created from their frozen fruits by chef Trevanne Donegal; paella from Bahia Principe hosted by David Shields; and Select Brands, where my “little sister” wine authority Debra Taylor Smith exulted after receiving the Chairman’s Award. I was sorry to miss the display of the family favourite Pelican Grill, which I later found out had “milkshakes galore” — one of their most popular offerings.

The service was impeccable and the displays delightful, the result of Jamaican excellence when we unify around our goals. Kudos to Novia McDonald-Whyte and Natalie Chin for pulling off this sparkling event after a worrying deluge that afternoon.

However, our hearts were heavy as we learnt that afternoon of the death of a high school student at the hands of another — two teenage girls. There have been allegations that the attacker had a negative history. This is the dilemma of those of us who have served on school boards: Do we expel a troubled child, leaving them to the perils of their community or do we try to mentor them and keep them in school?

We have to accept that we have young parents in Jamaica, some of whom have received little guidance and live in crime-torn communities. They need support. I remember a Stella Maris Foundation parenting programme in Grants Pen supported by the USAID in the 90s. The remarks of the parents at the end of the project revealed that they desperately needed guidance on discipline, communication, and budgeting. We have a wealth of successful professionals who could participate in mentorship programmes.

As I recall the great folks at the Food Awards, I believe a mentorship drive having a presence at such events could assist in the social healing which Jamaica needs.