Didn’t We Just Forget World Toilet Day?

November 20th, 2019

World Toilet Day is a rather awkward title for a very important day. One imagines the whole world sitting on a toilet. Of course, that is the point. The whole world is not sitting on a toilet. In fact, 4.5 billion people do not have access to proper (by proper, I mean safe) sanitation and 2.3 billion […]

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Civil Society Collaborates to Influence Health Policy for Mothers and Infants

November 10th, 2019

As I entered the quiet, cozy Alhambra Inn recently, I stopped to look at the beautiful koi carp swirling in the water near the entrance. I was prepared to be inspired, not only by these majestic fish. Why? Because I was attending a meeting organized by the Women’s Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC). I know […]

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Feeding Ourselves: Healthy Diets for a Zero Hunger World

October 19th, 2019

Are Jamaicans overfed and under-nourished? In Jamaica, World Food Day (October 16) was a rather low key affair. Agriculture Minister Audley Shaw attended an event in his own constituency of Christiana, Manchester, co-sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Jamaica, and there were photo-ops. According to the FAO, poor nutrition causes nearly half […]

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Banishing the “Mad People” Mindset

October 13th, 2019

“For the average Jamaican, mental illness means mad people. Let’s be frank.” So said Minister of Health and Wellness Christopher Tufton at the launch of the “Speak Up, Speak Now” Mental Health Campaign at Bellevue Hospital in Kingston last Thursday, October 10 – World Mental Health Day. Now, first things first: the Mental Health and […]

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Why Don’t We Just Get on Our Bikes?

September 28th, 2019

One of the (many) interesting conversations I have had on Twitter recently has been with Cycle Jamaica, an entity that actively advocates for more Jamaicans to get on their bikes. I am not talking about those energetic and highly fit people (mostly men) you see out on the Palisadoes and other highways early on Saturday […]

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“The End of the World Is Nigh”

July 1st, 2019

This was the message on a placard that a man on our London high street used to carry. Or rather, it hung around his neck as he shuffled along, head down. He was a gloomy sight: shabbily dressed, his features perpetually downcast. He was what we used to call a “sandwich man,” with a placard […]

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