Social Impact with Emma » Kingston : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

St. John Jamaica Trains Volunteers on Zika Virus: What is Certain, and What is Not

February 13th, 2016

Has the Zika Virus been with us all along? This was the question that turned itself over and over in my mind, as I sat in on a training session for St. John Ambulance volunteers at their Kingston headquarters last week. Dr. Garth Officer seems to be of that opinion. The virus “is not new,” […]

The Courage to Lead: A Heartfelt Breakfast with UWI Students

January 31st, 2016

My father sometimes came out with this extraordinary expression: “Screw your courage to the sticking-place.” He was a man of great courage himself, and although I was always a little vague about where the sticking-place was, I think I got the gist of it. This is a quotation from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Of course, the courage I […]

Author Mary D. Johnson Talks About Spirituality and Danger

January 18th, 2016

Mary D. Johnson has a kind and gentle face. Yet there is determination in her voice, and when she begins talking about her writing, she becomes more animated. The stories are clear in her mind; and she makes it very clear that writing is, at least for now, her main purpose in life. Ms. Johnson […]

Freedom is a Process, Says Farmer and Cafe Owner Anne Bailey

December 23rd, 2015

“I know it’s hard for Jamaicans to change their eating habits,” says Anne Bailey, smoothing down her apron. “It takes time.” Dr. Bailey has just opened a café in Kingston’s busy Half Way Tree area. It’s a café with a powerful message, as its name, Forever Free suggests. Tucked away upstairs in a small plaza, it offers a […]

A Question of Ego – or Love?

December 21st, 2015

Rev. Father Sean Major-Campbell is, in my view, an extraordinary “church man.” He certainly is in the modern Jamaican context, in a society fraught with divisions (real or imagined). The priest at the Anglican Christ Church in Vineyard Town, Kingston not only advocates for human rights, that is human rights for all, but demonstrates these core […]

Msgr. Albert, HIV/AIDS and the Need to Recommit

December 1st, 2015

At breakfast today in a Kingston hotel, a large group of Jamaicans stood for a minute’s silence in remembrance of Msgr. “Father” Albert, who had passed away quite suddenly just the evening before. His presence seemed to hover among us for a few minutes; he was a regular participant in World AIDS Day ceremonies. Last […]

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