Over a year ago Carol Bodoo was a student at the University of Technology [UTECH] reading for her Bachelor of Science in nursing until she was forced to abandon her studies. “I have tried a lot of things, but no matter what I do, I always seem to come back to the arts. I think this is my calling,” she...

Despite losing his sight at age 10, Daemion McLean has accomplished much, working his way to the top of the class at Calabar High School before moving on to the University of the West Indies. “I have done myself proud, and I know I have done my family proud,” says McLean who holds a first degree in Social Work and...

Inside a workshop on Charles Street, downtown Kingston, a battered looking pedestal fan fights off heat as Kimarley Tomblinson and his young apprentices work against the clock, crafting shoes from leather. When JIS News visited Tomblinson, there were only days to go before the start of the new school year. The orders for school shoes were pouring in and the...

All it took was a homemade “one pop” gun for Dave Sewell to earn the respect of some persons in the St. Catherine community of Lakes Pen, and the ultimate title of ‘Area Don’ during the 1990s. Over two decades later, the former Lakes Pen don looks back with much regret, revealing that he paid the “ultimate price” for his...

By the age of 17, Anthony Currie was deep into a life of crime, slinging guns in sections of Kingston. At age 18, he was on the police most wanted list for murder, and at 20 he had resigned to the idea that he would take his last breath at the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre where he was sentenced...

In the heart of the old capital, Spanish Town, two former death row inmates, a social worker and approximately 25 other persons convene a meeting behind closed doors. As they do every Friday morning, the men and women, trained by the Peace Management Initiative (PMI) as violence interrupters, are knocking heads to come up with measures to stem the violence in sections...

Chairman of the Peace Management Initiative (PMI) in St. James, Rev. Everton Jackson, is hailing as a major success, the peace marches which have been staged in the volatile communities of Norwood and Salt Spring in the parish. In an interview with JIS News during the latest peace march which took place in Salt Spring on May 22, Rev. Jackson...

The parish of St. James paid homage to National Hero, The Right Excellent Samuel Sharpe, with a floral tribute and ceremony on Labour Day (May 23). The function, held at the monument in his honour at Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay, commemorated the date on which the National Hero was hanged in the town square in 1832. Sharpe was...

The Lauriston and Thompson Pen (L & T) 4-H Club, in Spanish Town, has been praised for consistency in charting development initiatives for youth in the area for 17 years. With a membership of 12, at its inception in 1997, the Club now has 120 members, with a focus on empowerment for the community youth; beatification of the communities; and...