My mom left me at a bus stop when I was six years old. She just said, “Stay here. Don’t move.” Being an obedient child, I sat and didn’t move. I waited and waited, and eventually I got up and started walking, which was when the police found me. At first I was lucky to go into foster care, but lucky was only until Grade 9 when my… Read more →←
Author: Ross Sheil
Young women and girls who are HIV positive are often victims of repeat victimisation. Many were sexually abused as children, and were shunned after trying to name their abusers, who are often family members. For them, stigma against persons living with HIV is one more thing to overcome. Alicia (alias), shares her story below about… Read more →←
Watching this video you can see my emotions. In some way I felt as helpless as the children in state care involved in these critical incidents that I was reading about. “April 27: Two wards got into a fight after a rap session. One girl came behind the other with a broken wine glass and stabbed her over the eye. The other twisted… Read more →←
One of the most enlightening father-to-child stories I have witnessed was the evolution of a particular young man as he took on his responsibilities to his son. I would see the man with his son in his arms as he walked briskly past my gate every morning, to be on time for school at Mona Heights Primary. Eventually, that man bought a… Read more →←
We interviewed 3,400 Jamaican fathers for the JA Kids 2011 Birth Cohort Study, and we listened to them. We asked them about how they felt about their children; and we asked them about how they felt about raising children and about what it was like being a father. We were impressed with the support of Jamaican fathers. Sure, there are… Read more →←
Fight for Peace doesn’t teach children to fight. It uses combat sports as a way to channel their energies, to instill discipline and values; and help them escape the violence in their communities. To do so effectively – to do so safely – it’s vital that when a child enters the programme, they have a clear understanding what it is… Read more →←
Teaching youths to take a step back, to step away from violent situations is what ‘Psychological first aid’ (PFA) is about. It’s part of what our partners at Fight for Peace are using to help inner city youths here in Kingston. Johannesburg, South Africa, is a city where youth face similar challenges. Visiting from that city… Read more →←
I have a really busy workday. I’m often on the phone WhatsApping colleagues, checking emails and making sure I respond on time. When I need a distraction, I’ll check the news or social media to see what people are posting. I do sometimes get stuck peering into my phone. Mostly it’s because I want to be efficient and fear not being… Read more →←
We sat down with Giovanni Dennis, the newest winner of UNICEF’s annual Award for Reporting on Children’s Rights, presented at the Press Association of Jamaica’s awards show, to get his thoughts on the alarming prevalence of bullying. Giovanni’s winning entry about this issue was inspired by the first report of its kind on… Read more →←
The biggest reward for retired social worker June Torey-Scott is the possibility of saving a young life. “Mrs. Scott, if I hadn’t come for counseling then I would have killed myself,” is a phrase she’s heard many times. For the past 15 years, June has been volunteering her skills for the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), a local… Read more →←
