Port Royal: A Rebirth or a Reinvention?

January 27th, 2020

I have mixed emotions about the little town of Port Royal. It is now undergoing some kind of transformation, due to the development of a (floating) cruise ship pier in the mangroves just north of the town itself. What is the future for the town, its beleaguered environment, and the livelihoods of its residents? It […]

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My Alternative to Being “Scared For the Holidays”

December 14th, 2019

I read a blog post by journalist Kate Chappell, and it made me think. Yes, crime is on the increase. Yes, the roads are a mess. Traffic (and bad driving) has reached another level. Noise pollution (now encouraged by the Government’s amendment to the Noise Abatement Act) has reached new highs. And Kate is right – […]

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Fifteen Strong, and a Woman’s Supportive Voice

November 25th, 2019

I shared in a happy event last week, at the headquarters of Digicel, downtown. Their lobby unfortunately has a huge echo effect, so the voices of employees chatting as they waited for the elevator did a ricochet around my head. It is however a bright and lofty space. Regardless of the voices, we joined the […]

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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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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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