Approximately 650 youth graduated from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and FHI 360 Local Partner Development (LPD) Crime and Violence-Prevention Programme, during a recent ceremony at the Jewel Grande Hotel in Montego Bay, St. James. The USAID-funded programme, which spanned more than three years, targeted young persons from 30 volatile communities islandwide. During its implementation, the participants...

Newly Crowned Female Youth Ambassador for the Portland 4-H Clubs, Chris-Ann Witter, has created what she hopes will be an organic, pioneering solution to treat acne and enhance the skin. The 17-year-old Port Antonio High School student has formulated the Acne and Collagen Crème, utilising components of the Jamaican breadfruit and salicylic acid, which is a recognised acne-fighting ingredient. Speaking...

Hassane Gordon is “heating up her kitchen” as she prepares what she hopes will be a gold-winning entry in the 2023 Jamaica Culinary Arts Competition. The Port Maria, St. Mary native is going for top honours in the “Pan Chicken” cooking challenge, which is one of three new categories of the annual competition organised by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission...

Local investors and manufacturers, particularly those in agro-processing, are being encouraged to capitalise on the benefits to be derived from the recently launched hot pepper value chain project. The initiative, titled ‘Improving Phytosanitary, Food Safety and Market Access Opportunities along the Hot Pepper Value Chain in Jamaica’, evolved from a strategic collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization...

Forty-five students from the Windward Road and Rollington Town Primary Schools in Kingston and Treadlight Primary school in Clarendon have received tablets donated by the Toots Foundation. The tablets were presented to the students (15 tablets to each school) at a special handover ceremony, at the Ministry of Education and Youth, recently. They were donated in honour of the late...

When single mother of five, Stacy-Ann Stevens, got the call that she would be the recipient of a home under the New Social Housing Programme(NSHP), she jumped for joy. “To how mi happy, mi jump so high!," the Manchester native related at a recent ceremony to hand over the completed dwelling. “I have longed for my own home .... I've...

Young environmental advocate, Eleanor Terrelonge, is encouraging aspiring activists to be outspoken in raising awareness about topics or issues that they are passionate about. Drawing on her own experiences, she says that young people should not be afraid to reach out to others in trying to draw attention to and support for their cause. “You know, as young people, a...

Career development officer at the Human Employment and Resource Training Trust/National Training Agency (HEART NSTA/Trust), Dr. Howard Harvey, says the agency is playing a key role in improving the life chances of young people. “As a practitioner in the HEART/NSTA Trust for over 27 years, I have seen literal change, transformation in young people. Where I am at the LEAP...

Former ward of the State and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) high achiever Teana Fuller is encouraging young people in State care to not let their circumstances discourage them from achieving academic success. She says they should instead use their situation as motivation to keep pushing forward. “Just because you’re a ward of the State, that doesn’t mean you can’t...