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

“Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul”. –Dave Pelzer The abuse of children is most vile and despicable especially when those in positions of trust and power are involved in committing such an act. The sex scandal now rocking the Moravian church seems to be getting from bad to worse. While sex abuse and molestation of minors is not new regarding the church, this episode is close to home and has served to turn the spotlight on an evil which has been taking place under the cloak of religiosity and plaguing the society for many years.   Sadly, too many of us choose to turn a blind eye to the evil around us whether in our communities and or the wider society. Ironically, it’s not until the same wickedness confront us or those close to us that we realize that evil is evil regardless of the perpetrator. The time to interrogate and break the culture of silence is now as our children continue to experience hurt which inevitabl...

“Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to. It’s not for them”. - Joubert Botha It is a subject matter which is not readily discussed in public; however, for many couples and single women having a miscarriage is a reality. Women who have lost a child through a miscarriage often speak about the trauma they struggle with as well as the self-blaming which accompanies this painful and at times life changing event. There are many myths associated with having a miscarriage, one such is; a miscarriage is caused by a stressful event or lighting heavy object. It has become common place in many societies for people to offer help to pregnant women to carry objects for them, however; there is little evidence to suggest that a miscarriage is linked to a mother’s physical activity or emotional state. There is a tendency to believe that pregnant women are fragile and helpless beings, however, nothing can be further from the truth. It bears thought that we shou...