The Intersection of Gender, Culture and Education: Jamaica: The Next 50 Years!

Today, October 29, is World Stroke Day . With the global theme "Every Minute Counts, " there has never been a more critical time to educate ourselves. Did you know that 1 in 4 people will experience a stroke in their lifetime? Over 12 million people suffer a stroke each year, yet up to 90% of strokes are entirely preventable. Public education is our strongest tool to change these statistics. A stroke is a serious, life-threatening medical emergency that occurs when blood flow to your brain is blocked or when a blood vessel in your brain bursts. When a stroke happens, brain cells begin to die in minutes. Understanding the different forms it can take is the first step in saving a life. The Main Types of Stroke . Ischemic Stroke: Making up about 85% to 87% of all cases, this is the most common type. It happens when a blood clot or fatty deposit blocks an artery carrying blood and vital oxygen to the brain Hemorrhagic Stroke: This occurs when a blood vessel in the brain leaks o...

Think about the last time you watched a piece of historical footage or listened to a decades-old recording. Maybe it was a political speech, a clip of a forgotten musical tradition, or a vintage broadcast of everyday life in a city halfway across the globe. Did you feel an instant connection to the past? That is the power of audiovisual heritage. There is a feeling of nostalgia when we listen to or watch recordings of the past. But this heritage is incredibly fragile. Every day, thousands of unique recordings face the threat of physical decay, neglect, and technological obsolescence. Safeguarding fragile audiovisual formats is vital to preserve human history, cultural identity, and collective memory. Audiovisual materials capture the true voices, sights, and sounds of past events. They embody unique community traditions, oral histories, languages, and artistic expressions. Indigenous languages, local music, and community stories live inside these unique recordings. In 2005, the Unit...

Those of us who do not stutter may think that stuttering is not a big deal. Yet, for those who stutter, it is a huge deal. Young children get teased for their speech. School-age children may not participate in classroom activities. Employers may choose not to hire someone who stutters. The British Stammering Association defines stammering, otherwise known as stuttering, as a neurological condition that makes it physically hard to speak. Someone who stammers may repeat sounds or syllables, make sounds longer, get stuck on certain words or have words that don’t come out at all, despite knowing what they want to say. More than 70 million people around the world stutter. This means that while talking, they repeat syllables, sounds or words. People who stutter also prolong sounds or experience unwanted interruptions in their speech. They know what they want to say, but are unable to produce a normal flow of speech. This disorder usually affects children between the ages of 2 and 6. This is ...

Culture is never static. The Jamaican culture is as diverse as it is misunderstood. Brand Jamaica is renowned globally and works extremely well in attracting millions of tourists to our shores annually. Whether it is our language, dance, food or our social norms, Jamaicans stand out in any crowd. UNESCO defines culture as the collective beliefs, values, customs, and practices that characterize a particular group or society. It encompasses language, art, religion, and social norms, shaping how individuals interact with one another and perceive the world. A society therefore must be intentional in preserving and passing on their culture. We cannot take our foot off the pedal of socialization. While the process of socialization should begin at home we are mindful that many families are dysfunctional and the education system becomes the primary agent of socialization. The education system is often expounded as the vehicle to pass on the values and attitudes of the society. However, our s...

”Global hunger isn’t about the absence of food. It’s about the presence of entrenched injustice.”- Ray Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America. More than eight per cent of the world population or around 673 million people are not getting enough to eat and going hungry. The United Nations adds that 30% of all food produced globally is lost or wasted annually. These statistics are alarming and should serve as a call to action. This year’s World Food Day should therefore take on an added significance to address global hunger and food security. World Food Day is observed annually on October 16th. The day is set aside to raise global awareness about hunger, malnutrition, and the pressing need for sustainable food systems. World Food Day serves as a reminder that access to safe and nutritious food is a fundamental human right, not a privilege. The day unites nations, communities, and individuals in reaffirming a shared commitment to end hunger, strengthen food security, and build a future w...

“Rural women play a critical role in ensuring the world can be fed - yet they continue to experience systemic racism, structural poverty and discrimination.”- António Guterres, UN Secretary-General. Women have long confronted a culture of exclusion. Today, rural women remain especially vulnerable to these systemic barriers, even though women make up nearly 40 percent of the world's agricultural labor force. Rural women have less access to a range of resources, from land rights and credit to education and technology. Although women make up almost four out of every ten people in the agricultural workforce, they own only about 15 percent of agricultural land. Structural barriers and discriminatory social norms continue to constrain women’s decision-making power and political participation in rural households and communities. Women and girls in rural areas lack equal access to productive resources and assets, public services, such as education and health care, and infrastructure, inclu...

Globally, more than a billion people live with a mental health condition. Life often comes at us hard. Yet, we must find ways and means of coping. Our overall wellbeing is hinged on the state of our mental wellness. Unfortunately, due to the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental wellness many of us suffer in silence. It is this prolonged period of suffering that often translates into a diagnosed or undiagnosed mental disorder. Traditional masculinity norms such as pushing for toughness, emotional control, and total self-reliance considerably hinder men's mental health by discouraging help-seeking and forcing distress into masked symptoms like anger, substance use, or suicide. Many mental health conditions can be effectively treated at relatively low cost, yet health systems remain significantly under-resourced and treatment gaps are wide all over the world. Mental health care is often poor in quality when delivered. People with mental health conditions often also experie...