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

“People who are homeless are not social inadequates. They are people without homes.”- Sheila McKechnie. The United Nations states that within the next few years, and for the first time in human history, more people will live in cities and towns than in rural areas. This process of urbanization is linked to what has been called the ‘urbanization of poverty’, the fact that a rapidly increasing proportion of the world’s poor are now living in urban areas. In developing countries, sprawling slums and squatter settlements and a multitude of street children roaming the streets looking for income-earning opportunities or a place to spend the night are the most striking manifestations of this. The inhabitants of even the most affluent countries are reminded that poverty is present even there every time they encounter a homeless person. Jamaica is currently going through the above-mentioned prediction by the United Nations Development Fund. The Jamaican state is bedevilled by many social ills.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”- Nelson Mandela. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented educational disruption in the Caribbean Small Island Developing States. Most governments in the English and Dutch Caribbean sub-region have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. We all are living through this pandemic, many of us have lost loved ones or friends to the novel coronavirus, indeed many of us have had to be living with long term health complications as a result of having contracted the coronavirus. Our nation’s children have suffered immensely since the education system was ordered closed in March of 2020. There are some who argue that the best way forward rests with students repeating a year; however, many educators have not found favour with this recommendation. It is well r

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a special individual. He came unto the world scene at a time when his presence and words of reassurance and encouragement were needed the most. One can only imagine living in that period of history where one’s skin colour was the marker by which one was judged. Indeed many of us took for granted King’s I have a dream speech. We have all seen the numerous black and white video footage of Dr. King addressing huge crowds all over the United States of America. Dr. King was eloquent as he was fearless as he spoke about the multiplicity of injustices towards African Americans in a racially divided United States of America. Regrettably, 58 years after King’s iconic I have A Dream Speech, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington; the United States of America is

“Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.”- Nido Qubein. We all like a good story; a human interest story which speaks to endurance and determination of the human spirit. Most of us like to support those who have been written off by the society. We are especially appreciative of the proverbial underdog who wins at the end. The life story of 38-year-old Jennifer Blake, a former bartender and janitor who recently graduated from the University of Technology (UTech) with honours, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Midwifery is both inspirational and poignant. “I was thrown in the garbage bin and left to die,” Blake told one of the local newspapers in an interview. Blake, who is from the rural northern Clarendon community of Pennants, was abandoned as a toddler by her mother. She got pregnant at age 16 and graduated from high school with one subject. She got pregnant again when she was 18 and 20. In many societies teenag

Your smile speaks relief. Relief that has been molded by the astuteness of experience. Your veil of darkness, pain, misery and grief. Gone! Replaced with a spirit of hope, amidst an air of expectancy for all things good. Reaffirming of your faith. Your smile speaks to the miracles of restoration and reconciliation of humanity to her Creator. A new day has dawned. Confidence! To embrace the unknown of a new year; to recapture the imagination which comes with a new beginning? To shrug off the baggage of yesteryear; and adorn yourself with precious jewels of optimism and innovation. Your smile reignites that passion to live life not merely existing. To refashion a community sense of trust necessary to navigate the unfamiliar. A togetherness to overcome the painful past and forge ahead. Buoyancy! To hasten your footsteps in the rebuilding of ravaged communities; as the perennial Phoenix we will rise again. To heights unheard of; and unseen; your smile. To hold close; succes

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”- Isaiah 40:31. The words in Isaiah are very appropriate in describing the situation many of us faced last year. Many of us would prefer to forget that last year did happen. Perhaps in our minds we can leap from 2019 to 2021. However, we live in a real world. Last year required of us supernatural strength to have overcome the many challenges and overcome we did. A new year brings a renewal of spirit and hope. It is this renewed spirit that we will need to navigate the many unknown quantities which a new year offers. There is a sense of expectancy and hope that 2021 will be good. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, hope means to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true. Hope is not static and remains in a vacuum; it’s a process of renewal. To desire hope is to want an out