Social Impact with Emma » Kingston : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

“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 […]

Animals Behind Bars: Why Make Their Lives Even Harder?

May 31st, 2019

I have always had issues with zoos. As a young girl, I found myself gazing into the sad eyes of a lonely silverback lowland gorilla at London Zoo. It is a vivid memory. He was a famous gorilla named Guy, who lived a long life – mostly in solitary confinement. When he was finally introduced […]

But…Can It Be Business as Usual?

April 27th, 2019

Perhaps it’s just me, but the year 2019 seems to have been one of considerable upset for the world. A second, extremely fierce cyclone has arrived in Mozambique (the first one killed over 900 people, although it hardly received mainstream media coverage). On the beautiful island of Sri Lanka, which I visited in late 2017 and […]

Finding Their Voices for Climate Change

April 15th, 2019

It’s quite challenging. When we are talking about climate change, we need to “break it down.” We must find ways (not one way, several ways) to explain it. We need to demonstrate what is happening here and now, and what may happen in the near future. And we need to point to solutions. Gloom and doom […]

From a Cause to a Purpose: The Private Sector and Climate Change

November 24th, 2018

A few days ago, I attended a meeting, organized by the Climate Change Division of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation. Towards the end of every year, this seminar highlights the key issues of concern for Jamaica (as part of its negotiating group of island states, AOSIS) as they go off to the […]

Fish And Bread! The Little Ones Learn Road Safety with Royal Optimists

November 15th, 2018

Road safety is very much on our minds this week. Just as the Road Traffic Act passed in the Lower House of the Jamaican Parliament, there has been a sudden and horrifying increase in fatal accidents on our roads. In a well-known danger zone – the insane racetrack that is the North Coast Highway near […]

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