Students with mild to moderate physical and intellectual disabilities at the Jamaica China Goodwill Infant School in St. Thomas now have an inclusive classroom to further support their educational journey. 'The facility, which was handed over by the Digicel Foundation on Tuesday (September 19), stemmed from a partnership with the Early Childhood Commission (ECC). Speaking at the handover ceremony at...

For 42 years, Melton Bascoe has been a familiar face at the Ocean Village Shopping Centre in St. Ann, where he is responsible for keeping the grounds clean. Armed with a leaf blower, rake, broom and gardening tools, he carries out his daily tasks, which include clearing trash and litter, removing weeds, cutting grass, trimming and watering plants and carrying...

The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is urging farmers to increase their hurricane preparedness activities for this season. The Atlantic Hurricane Season began on June 1 and runs until November 30. With no storms affecting the island since the start of the season, farmers still have a chance to prepare themselves and save millions in damage. Senior Plant Health and...

Tyrone Traille, a blind farmer from Bensonton, St. Ann, has defied the odds to graduate from a farmer-training programme organised by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). The 45-year-old, who has been farming for more than 30 years despite losing his sight at the tender age of seven, is now a shining example of what sheer willpower and hard work...

With school back in session, participants in the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) Summer Internship Programme (SIP) are thankful for the experience they gained. More than 1,100 students were employed under the programme this year at 136 entities across Jamaica. The programme took place over two cycles, with the first batch of interns working from June to mid-July and the second...

The Treatment of Children and Adults with Physical Disability in Jamaica Programme has been giving many Jamaicans a new lease on life. The 14-year-old Medical Mission caters to patients with spasticity, a condition in which muscles stiffen or tighten, thereby preventing normal fluid movement. It means, therefore, that many Jamaicans who struggle with neurological diseases affecting the central nervous system,...

With a passion for social development, 2023/2024 Chevening Scholar, Olivia Shaw-Lovell, is excited to embark on an academic journey made possible through faith and the belief that her heavenly father will direct her path. She will be pursuing a Master of Science in Global Health at St. George’s University of London, in the United Kingdom (UK). Born and raised in...

A feeling of joy permeated the atmosphere in two Portland communities on Friday, September 8, as two deserving families, who were significantly dislocated after their houses were ravaged by fire, received the keys to their brand-new homes. Leroy Grant of Francis Avenue in Buff Bay and Calbert Jones of Panton District in Mount Pleasant, both in Portland Western, are the...

Lloyd Lovindeer’s iconic song, ‘Wild Gilbert’, gives a masterclass in storytelling, as it chronicles, most comically, the passage and aftermath of Hurricane Gilbert over Jamaica on September 12,1988. However, there was nothing comical about the damage and devastation that the Category Three hurricane left in its wake 35 years ago. As citizens who experienced the duration and aftermath of the...