Social Impact with Emma » Montego Bay : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

CARICOM, The Patriarchy and Plastic Bottles

July 7th, 2018

Over the past few days, Jamaica, as incoming Chair, has been proudly hosting the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) 39th annual Conference of Heads of Government in Montego Bay for approximately 200 foreign officials. We have been regaled with numerous social media posts, video clips with cameras panning across sunlit views of the coastline and happy, smiling […]

Hunger, Obesity and Rural Poverty: All Part of the Same Picture

February 28th, 2018

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is holding the 35th Session of its Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean in Montego Bay next week from March 5 – 8. Among its three top priorities for the meeting are hunger – and, paradoxically, obesity. Both are on the rise in the region. The other […]

Jamaica’s Funeral Culture: What’s Not to Love?

January 26th, 2018

This was the funeral of an alleged gang leader. It was particularly high profile and jumped straight to the headlines, because it took place soon after a State of Public Emergency had been declared for St. James; and this was in St. James. Tragically, one man was killed and five other participants were injured. The […]

In Need of Care and Protection: At the SOS Children’s Villages

October 15th, 2017

Towards the end of the summer, I had the opportunity to visit two SOS Children’s Villages in Jamaica: one in Stony Hill, St. Andrew and the other in Barrett Town, near Montego Bay. On both occasions, the villages were relatively quiet; most of the children were out enjoying themselves at summer camps, before the new […]

“Endo What?” Documentary Film Highlights A Misunderstood Disease

April 12th, 2017

I recently attended the Caribbean premiere of a new documentary film – the first ever – on the often misunderstood and ignored disease of endometriosis. The screening of Endo What? was shown by the B.A.S.E. Foundation. Last month (Endometriosis Awareness Month) was an intensely busy one for B.A.S.E. founder and CEO Shauna Fuller Clarke, herself an “endo” […]

Acknowledging Our History Should Be More Than Grand Speeches

January 4th, 2017

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. – Marcus Garvey Jamaica’s history is a turbulent one, like the histories of many nations. Colonialism, slavery and conflict dominate the landscape. However, this is what made us. Here we are today, at the beginning of 2017, […]

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