Educator Heather Lyn drives past Hazard Primary School in Clarendon twice daily, a routine that has been the same for many years. But the other night she felt something different as her car drove over something. “BOOM!” “BOOM!” This was no accident. She’d driven over the brand new rumble strips installed as part of the ‘X… Read more →←
Author: Ross Sheil
Twenty-nine-year-old Dwight Spence is a former teen gang member turned Violence Interrupter and Liaison Officer for UNICEF’s partner the Peace Management Initiative (PMI) in Trench Town, Kingston. Dwight is one of 130 members of the VI team, working in violence-prone communities to intervene with at-risk youth, prevent violent… Read more →←
At 21 years-old, Rasheed Morris is a Violence Interrupter for UNICEF’s partner the Peace Management Initiative, serving the Kingston community of Hannah Town. He is one of 130 VIs in Jamaica, volunteering in violence-prone communities to intervene with at-risk youth, prevent violent conflicts and mediate flare ups. The work is… Read more →←
When Marcia Demontagnac-Ormsby enrolled at Tranquility Bay Infant School in rural Portland – where she is now acting Principal – she was just shy of four years old. That’s when many Jamaican children traditionally enter basic school. However, according to science and what we now know about the development of a child’s brain, that… Read more →←
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 →←
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 →←
