Over thirty years ago Kenneth Wilson and a group of residents joined forces to stem the gun violence that has stained the image of August Town. Through various social intervention methods, the August Town Peace Builders reaped its biggest success in 2016 when the community recorded zero murders. “We never set out for any type of award when we started....

Claudia Chambers can easily match skills with any male carpenter and also hold her own equally behind a welding torch. “I just love building things,” says Ms. Chambers, who is a certified welder and carpenter. “I like the fact that when I build something I can actually go back and look at it and say I built that,” she tells...

He started out selling water to churchgoers in the Valdez Road community of Spanish Town before taking on other small entrepreneural ventures. Today, Peter Ivey is a recognised international chef and owner of The Reggae Chefs – a personal-chef business based in New York. The Jamaica College old boy says it was his grandfather who first sparked the flame of...

After leaving the comfort of her business decades ago to help persons in Kingston’s inner-city communities overcome addictive disorders, Sonita Abrahams is to be rewarded with a National Honour by the Government. “It is a very good feeling, because a lot of times this kind of work goes – not really unappreciated – but it’s not really celebrated the way...

Police Sergeant Wayne Wallace is an officer on the frontline in Western Jamaica, working to build relationships between the police and residents under his portfolio as sub-officer in charge of Community Safety and Security. His job is not always easy, he says, but his affable personality combined with the experience of a less-than-ideal upbringing makes it easy for him to...

“IPAD for life!” shouts a male teen as he commands a group of around 80 of his peers inside an auditorium at the Spot Valley High School in St. James. The teenagers are participating in a summer camp put on by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to help steer youth away from crime. The Identity, Purpose, Attitude and...

When the number of road fatalities for 2016 was totalled, 14-year-old Jonathan Grant High School student, Rajar Clemetson was listed among the 377 persons whose lives were cut short while using the roads. He was hit by a car while riding his bicycle along Brunswick Avenue, Spanish Town. The driver reportedly fled the scene. Six months has passed since Ms...

After leaving her full-time job at Up Park Camp each day where she works as a dental hygienist, 28-year-old Sabrina Smith heads to her farm in Seaview Gardens, Kingston, where farmers and farm lands are few. Mrs. Smith, a University of Technology (UTech) graduate, shares a meagre plot of land with five other male livestock farmers. “If I could leave...

Trevor Ramikie sees more in his son than his developmental delays. “I love him, not just because he is my son, but because of his character, his attributes, all of that,” he says, rubbing his shoulders against 26-year-old Zane. Zane is affected by Down’s syndrome – a congenital disorder arising from chromosome defect, resulting in intellectual impairment and physical abnormalities....