Some of the streets in downtown Kingston are coming alive with the sounds of happy children and smiling parents. Welcome to Street Play JA, a pilot initiative by UNICEF, implemented by partner our Fight for Peace, which aims to counter a lack of play spaces for children and foster greater community understanding of the power of play. … Read more →←
I was born with cerebral palsy because I did not get oxygen for five minutes at birth. When I was just a few days old, the doctors told my parents that there was a very good chance that I would never sit up or swallow. The doctors were wrong! Living with cerebral palsy means that I have both physical and intellectual disabilities.… Read more →←
“I share my story here today for every girl and every boy in Jamaica who is subjected to sexual violence, and they are everywhere. There are children who are keeping horrible secrets in Upper St. Andrew, in downtown Kingston, and all across rural Jamaica” As I listened to Shaneille speak, my eyes welled up with tears. Her voice,… Read more →←
Early in my pregnancy, I caught chickenpox which damaged my daughter’s eyes. Chandis is afflicted with pigmentary retinopathy, which means her visual acuity is only 8/18 in each of her eyes. Growing up, at times she would walk into people or objects and injure herself and had to use people’s voices to identify them. Yet being… Read more →←
We have just come back from another Special Olympics, not just with 33 medals but eye-opening experiences both for the special athletes and the able athletes who competed in the unified sports. Going to Abu Dhabi was a life-changer for everyone involved because people abroad understand more about disability and the treatment is… Read more →←
Coming back to Jamaica with a Silver medal in 800 metres swimming at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Special Olympics has touched my life, especially because four years earlier I was disqualified. At the time I was in shock, but I knew had to come back. Being disqualified had me in tears because it would have been a Gold and all of a sudden it was… Read more →←
It is the athletes from Special Olympics Jamaica who have made me different than the man who joined in 1996 to coach volleyball. Before that I could not deal as well with people and I was more quick to anger, but being around persons with intellectual disabilities teaches you to be calm, more respectful of differences and able to… Read more →←
“Mi waan dead di man who dead mi modda.” A two-year-old boy said that. Can you imagine? Children in Jamaica today have so much on their minds to deal with. And now, for the first time in Jamaican history our children will be getting their chance to stand up and speak in Parliament, for a Special Session on Violence against… Read more →←
Born and raised in Trench Town, I’ve seen that my community, more than anything, needs to be led on a path of peace and love, and it starts with the youths. Whether it’s my friends or other youth in the community, I try to teach them the beauty of virtuous living. I try to enlighten them about the things they may be participating… Read more →←
Becoming a guidance counsellor in a Kingston primary school was a real culture shock. Coming from St. Ann, I was not used to the trauma some of my students were experiencing on a regular basis. When one of our Holy Family students, Angel, was murdered in 2017, that was the first in my tenure, so I had nothing to compare it to. As a… Read more →←