Putting Down Rootz in Spanish Town

October 8th, 2014

Anticipation was in the air as we arrived at the gate of the St. Jago Cathedral Preparatory School in Spanish Town last Friday morning. Students were bustling around in small groups. Some trailed after their teachers with questions: “Miss!” Hot 102 FM was setting up in a shady corner, arranging wires and cables. On the other side of the yard, LASCO employees, who had arrived in a bright pink van, were arranging hot food and cold drinks. School Principal Andrea Baugh watched the activities; she looked a little anxious, but not overly so. Some girls were  amusing themselves by swaying and dancing to the music that played, setting the mood for National Tree Planting Day. Another group of students quietly rehearsed their recorders. And a sky of pure blue promised a warm day ahead.

The recorder players pose for their picture. They performed the National Anthem quite beautifully.

I was also feeling excited and a little nervous. The school had invited me to speak at the LASCO Releaf Environmental Awareness Program’s (R.E.A.P.) celebration of this special day – and the launch of LASCO R.E.A.P.’s island wide Primary and Preparatory School Environmental Competition for the 2014/15 school year. As the overwhelming winners of last year’s competition St. Jago was hosting the event, and was basking in its special status. According to Project Director Stephen Newland – lead singer of the band Rootz Underground – the school will be a hard act to follow this year. But I already knew this, having visited the school several times in the past. Ms. Nadia Guy, who greeted us warmly, has been a stalwart, leading the school’s environment club throughout the school’s participation in Jamaica Environment Trust’s Schools Environment Program.

St. Jago Cathedral Preparatory School Environment Club leader and teacher extraordinaire Ms. Nadia Guy has a quiet chat with two students.

So what is LASCO R.E.A.P. all about? Well, it focuses primarily on recycling, conservation and tree planting. LASCO, Idea Factory Limited, Rootz Underground, friends and supporters launched the program two years ago, in the year of Jamaica’s 50th Anniversary of Independence. The aim is to encourage young children to get actively involved in the preservation of the environment; and to teach them how their lives are impacted by environmental concerns – to preserve and value that connection with Mother Earth. This year, prizes will be given for the best garden; the most trees planted; the most bottles collected; energy conservation; the best essay; the best poem; and the best visual art piece. With Rootz Underground’s musical background, the program involves artistic and performing arts components – dance, poetry, short stories, dub poems, songs, posters and so on. There are also bonus points for innovation for new and additional creative ideas involving composting and the use of recyclables, for example. So there is lots of room for creativity…and fun.

Stephen Newland, lead singer of Rootz Underground, is a young man with a great vision and a love of young people.

“Where there is a will, there is no waste!” That is the theme for the upcoming year. Ah, lots of scope there, children!

Before the event started, I took a quick guided tour of the school yard. Having just returned for the new school year a few weeks ago, at the end of a summer-long, debilitating drought, the Environment Club feels it is almost starting from scratch. Still, the corner where Dickie Crawford and his radio crew was stationed was delightfully cool and green, with (recycled) water trickling into a pond where tilapia swam (edible fish – not merely decorative). In another area, a large raised bed had been planted out with callaloo – even a pretty purple-leafed one. The callaloo is growing on a bed of the school’s biodegradable garbage; St. Jago Prep generates very little waste. Even old junk like an old suitcase and a rusty bicycle are put to use as containers – yes, containers – to grow vegetables. So chives are growing from the bicycle seat and the suitcase is filled with earth and well planted out. Whimsical, fun – and reusing old things.

The youngest members of the audience – students of the Kinder Kampus pre-school over the road – were well-behaved and attentive. You can never start them too young!

As I spoke about the importance of action (no more words!) it occurred to me that programs like LASCO R.E.A.P. are, beyond a shadow of a doubt, more lasting and sustainable than any public relations efforts by our political leaders. They are far more influential than any well-meaning speech by a public official. These programs shape the way our young people think about the world they are growing up in, helping them to create their own future – and Jamaica’s. In a broader sense, apart from strengthening the students’ scientific knowledge, programs like these teach responsibility, caring and love. And we know that we all need more of those qualities, abundantly.

The delicious oasis in one area of the school yard. Dragonflies danced around under our tent, for a while.

After all, let’s face it. We have left this planet in quite a mess for the next generation. Mother Earth is badly hurt; we have abused her. The least we can do (those who care that is, like LASCO and Stephen Newland and dedicated teachers like Ms. Guy) is try to guide our youth onto the right path. To try and turn the tide, perhaps, to a more sustainable and livable future.

I included a couple of my favorite quotes in my speech. Here is one, by Buckminster Fuller – an architect and an early environmental activist: “We are called to be architects of the future: not its victims.”

We are not helpless. It is in our power to change the world, to turn it all around. Let’s start now.

Footnote: Driving back to Kingston along the Mandela Highway, we found ourselves behind a heavily-loaded truck. Nothing surprising about that… except that on closer inspection we realized it was packed with plastic bottles for recycling! I took a quick photo.

There is hope…

Recycle…Now!

Schools, do you want to know more about this year’s competition? The prizes are amazing – including computer labs, laptops and projectors, flat screen TVs, DVD players and tablets! All that wonderful technology that makes learning so much better. For more information, contact LASCO R.E.A.P. at rootzundergroundproject@gmail.com. Tel: 622-5056. You can also find them on Facebook and on Twitter at @lascorootzreap

Congratulations to Stephen Newland and Rootz Underground for their inspiration; to LASCO for their terrific support; to Ms. Baugh and Ms. Guy and St. Jago Prep; to Councilor Claude Hamilton, representing the Mayor, who gave a thoughtful and charming speech; and to all the participating schools. You are all awesome! 

Tags: Hot 102 FM, Jamaica, Jamaica Environment Trust, Kingston, LASCO R.E.A.P., National Tree Planting Day, recycling, renewable energy, Rootz Underground, Spanish Town, St Jago Cathedral Preparatory School, Stephen Newland