Social Impact with Emma » children : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

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 […]

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 […]

Youth Activism Is Alive and Well – If Given the Chance

May 16th, 2019

Our Jamaican youth often get a “bad rap.” Many Jamaicans believe they are lazy and self-centered. Millennials, in particular (slightly older) are seen as shallow and obsessed with material things. Jamaican adults often put young people down; between the ages of twelve and twenty-five, say, they are not entitled to express an opinion or have a seat […]

On the Anniversary of a Genocide: What Is Your Idea of Hell?

April 7th, 2019

In Bob Marley’s reflective song “Time Will Tell,” there are the lines: Time alone – oh, time will tell: Think you’re in heaven, but you’re living in hell. Marley was referring to the people he called “baldheads” – those politicians and businessmen (“big men”), whom he considered greedy, corrupt and self-satisfied in their mansions on […]

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 […]

Prioritising People: The Rebuilding of a Kingston Neighbourhood

October 29th, 2018

There has been a lot of public debate recently about urban development: The new Parliament building, twenty-storey buildings, road widening – and the felling of our city’s trees, which I have written and tweeted about before. It’s all quite overwhelming. What of the people who live in the midst of this sea of concrete mixers […]

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