IN JAMAICA: CDA report says sex manual in children's homes breached laws.... Six private facilities involved in programme got money

Thursday, June 26, 2014    

YOUTH and Culture Minister Lisa Hanna says appropriate action will be taken against human rights lobby group Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) and the six children's homes where children were exposed to controversial sexual content.

File Photo

In a release to the media yesterday, following receipt of the Child Development Agency (CDA) report on the controversial sex education programnme, Hanna said she was particularly upset that JFJ did not advise the CDA about the 'Realising Sexual and Reproductive Health Responsibly' programme — the title given to the JFJ's pilot intervention in children's homes — and that the programme represented possible breaches of the Child Care and Protection Act and the Offences Against The Person Act.

Hanna, meanwhile, questioned why the homes did not advise the CDA about the programme, although they were visited by the agency's monitoring officers.

"A review of the content of the material found that parts of the training material were inappropriate for the age cohort and a departure from that approved by the Ministry of Education for use in public schools. Legal advice will have to be sought to determine if its presentation contravened any existing laws [as] information gleaned from the focus groups sessions in the homes confirmed that the training material was delivered," the minister said.

The offensive material was imparted to children at:

* Alpha Boys' Home;

* St John Bosco;

* Jamaica National Children's Home;

* Sunbeam Children's Home for Boys;

* Elsie Bemand Home for Girls; and

* Best Care Foundation.

"The administrators of the facilities gave approval to the JFJ for the implementation of the sexual education programme through MOUs. It was confirmed that the six homes each received a monetary contribution from the JFJ for use of their premises for the training," Hanna said.

Each home received at least $10,000 from JFJ, the CDA's investigation found. more

MOST BIZARRE STORY: Missing boy, 12-year-old Charlie Bothuell found alive in parents’ basement, father finds out on live TV.....Was This a Miracle?

DETROIT — An 11-day search for a missing Michigan boy came to a bizarre conclusion Wednesday when he was discovered alive and well, hidden in the basement of his father’s home in Detroit.Finding 12-year-old Charlie Bothuell resolves the key issue in the missing-child case, but the circumstances of his discovery leaves numerous other questions hanging. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig told CNN affiliate WXYZ. “We found him barricaded in the basement, behind boxes and a large five-gallon drum. There’s no way he could have erected this makeshift area of concealment.”Father told on live TVAdding to the drama, Charlie’s father, Charles Bothuell IV, heard the revelation that the child had been found during a live TV interview with HLN’s Nancy Grace.When Grace told him the news, Bothuell became visibly upset, looking dazed and bewildered, breathing hard and clutching at his chest. When he recovered enough to speak, he said he had no idea how his son could have turned up in his house.“I checked my basement,” Bothuell said. “The FBI checked my basement. The police checked my basement. My wife checked my basement. I’ve been down there several times. We’ve all been checking.” more

"JAMAICAN MAFIA" OFFICIAL TRAILER STARRING PAUL CAMPBELL, MYKAL FAX....OUT AUGUST 24, 2014

Post by Bring Back Our JAMAICA, #BBOJ.
"Jamaican Mafia" Official Trailer 2014...Gangster Thriller movie
Coming August 2014......Starring PAUL CAMPBELL, MYKAL FAX, NARDO RANKS, BOBBY CLARKE & More...Jamaican Mafia is a gangster-thriller movie in the vein of Goodfellas and Shottas, which follows Zoolian Anderson (Zoo-Zoo), a frustrated Car Salesman who desperately desires riches and respect, and discovers he's the nephew of a powerful crime-boss when he decides to quit the corporate world to join the illicit organization better known as the 'Jamaican Mafia'.

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: 42 y-o woman, Audrey Taylor accused of pimping 13-year-old out daughter into prostitution denied bail....Taylor's common-law husband threw her out of his house where she and the complainant were living in Mountain View in Kingston.

Thursday, June 26, 2014    

A domestic helper, accused of pimping out her 13-year-old daughter who has not attended school since last September, was yesterday remanded when she appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court.

File Photo

The accused, Audrey Taylor, 42, of no fixed address, is facing charges of living off the earnings of prostitution, failure in her duty to provide care and education for the child, as well as human trafficking.

According to the police, Taylor and the complainant, who has lived with her mother for almost all her life, were left homeless in February after Taylor's common-law husband threw her out of his house where she and the complainant were living in Mountain View in Kingston.

Taylor and the complainant reportedly went to live on the streets, sleeping in an abandoned building and begging strangers for food.

Police also reported that while they were homeless, the complainant formed a relationship with three men who she would have sex with the minor in exchange for money.

According to the police report, the men usually pick up the complainant and take her to their homes after first consulting with her mother, who would then collect money from the complainant on her return.

On May 21, a concerned citizen notified the police of the situation and the mother was taken into custody and charged.

Yesterday, when the matter was mentioned in court, Attorney Shane Williams, who is representing the accused, asked for her to be admitted to bail while indicating that she had an alternative place to stay, but the investigating officer told the court that she would have to verify the address.

Taylor was then remanded and is scheduled to return to court on July 14. more

IN JAMAICA : Lisa Hanna releases CDA report on JFJ's sexual education programme - Homes had no authority to allow lessons

Minister of Youth and Culture,
 Lisa Hanna

Wednesday, June 25, 2014 | 1:02 PM    

Kingston, Jamaica - The Minister of Youth and Culture, Lisa Hanna has received an interim report from the Child Development Agency (CDA) surrounding the circumstances under which the group Jamaicans for Justice implemented its unauthorised sexual education programme in six privately-operated children’s homes. Hanna had instructed the CDA, which has responsibility for the regulation of children’s homes and places of safety, to explain:

A. the circumstances which led to the programme being implemented for eight

or nine months without the Agency’s knowledge;

B. the suitability of the material for the children.

The CDA found the following:

1. The training programme “Realising Sexual and Reproductive Health Responsibly: JFJ’s Pilot Intervention in Children’s Homes” was held in: The Alpha Boys Home; St. John Bosco; Jamaica National Children’s Home; Sunbeam Children’s Home for Boys; Elsie Bemand Home for Girls and Best Care Foundation.

2. The six facilities indicated that they were contacted directly by representatives of Jamaicans for Justice via telephone and later by email and letter.

3. The administrators of facilities gave approval to the JFJ for the implementation of the sexual education programme through MOUs.

4. It was confirmed that the six homes each received a monetary contribution from the JFJ for use of their premises for the training.

5. At no time did the administrators inform the CDA or the Minister, as required by the Child Care and Protection (Children’s Homes) Regulations, 2007.

Regulation 15(2) states:

“Where educational programmes are provided at the home, the licensee shall ensure that-

(a) those programmes are in accordance with a curriculum approved by the Minister;

(b) any substantial deviation from the approved curriculum is entered in the daily journal and a notification thereof is sent forthwith to the Minister; more

GRANNY GETS HELP FROM SCHOOL BOY TO GET AROUND....HOW NICE! #BringBackOurJamaica

Give a helping hand today, so that 
we can laugh and play.

IN JAMAICA: Where's My Baby? Family's Search Continues Days After 3-Y-O, Samunya Bloomfield Vanishes....After falling asleep at 11 p.m., Yanisha awoke around midnight to use the bathroom and noticed her elder daughter, whom she affectionately called 'Poochy', was gone, along with her cell phone.

Martin Baxter, Gleaner Writer Published: Wednesday | June 25, 2014

The pattering of little footsteps, a child's laughter, singing, and occasional crying - all sounds that breathed life into the green board house in Grove Farm, St Catherine - have been replaced by a deafening silence.

Samunya Bloomfield

The quietness occupying Yanisha Brown's two-bedroom home in Old Harbour was yesterday mixed with a solemn disposition that its occupants have been forced to wear since the household's firstborn, three-year-old Samunya Bloomfield, vanished without a trace minutes before midnight last Friday.

On arrival at the cosy yard with two houses standing beside each other,The Gleaner was told the distraught mother of two would soon be out. Almost bedridden by the tragedy that has befallen her small family unit of four, the slow-moving 22-year-old stepped out on to the veranda in a vibrant multicoloured dress that contradicted her mood.

She cut a broken figure as she tried to compose herself and conjure the strength to recount how her family came to be missing its life and soul.

"My babies were on the bed sleeping, both of them. I have a bath and I get out of the bathroom and I still have to pass them, and I stop on the way and I fix them on the bed," she explained, her voice cracking with exhaustion and raw emotion.

After falling asleep at 11 p.m., Yanisha awoke around midnight to use the bathroom and noticed her elder daughter, whom she affectionately called 'Poochy', was gone, along with her cell phone.

NOWHERE TO BE FOUND

"I went to see if I could use the bathroom and come back, and when I enter the room, I didn't see Poochy on the bed, so I turn back inside my room because normally, if she gets up in the night, that's where she would come and curl up in the middle, or she would wake us up. I start calling and I start to look for her when I really saw that she wasn't in the house. I went to the front door, and when I opened it, the lock flied. The door was still closed."

Kris-Nieve Bloomfield (forefront),
father of three-year-old Samunya

Yanisha's common-law husband, 28-year-old Kris-Nieve Bloomfield, was out of the house at the time, but he rushed back home on hearing that his daughter, who will celebrate her fourth birthday on July 2, was missing and called the police.

"That question bubbling over and over in me: 'Why?'" he mumbled toThe Gleaner.

"Not even words can explain. Mi can't even find the words still. Mi nah tek any odda option. Dem gwine find mi daughter."

Neighbour and sister of the missing girl's father, Tashana Henry, was left distressed and despondent about the disappearance of Poochy, who often played with her youngest child, two-year-old Amari. more

Etana, Vegas, Maxi Priest For Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival....The 14-year-old event is set for the Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, New York on Sunday, July 20

Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer Published: Wednesday | June 25, 2014

Live performances from entertainers Etana, Mr Vegas and Maxi Priest, organisers have said, are a sure bet to make the 2104 Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival one of the most memorable events.

ETANA

The 14-year-old event is set for the Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, New York on Sunday, July 20, and the organisers are promising that the family-oriented event will be better than ever.

"Our primary focus is to heighten the experience of our patrons, and we have introduced a new layout of the event to allow for easy access into the festival," said founder Eddy Edwards, who, along with Sydney Roberts, staged the festival for the first time at the C.B. Smith Park in Pembroke Pines back in 2000.

"We have increased the number of food vendors, which reduces lines and provides faster service in the food court area. The 'kidz' zone will have more rides, and we will introduce some traditional games and other cultural activities to engage the children as well as keep them in touch with their Caribbean heritage. There are always some new exciting acts on the cultural stage and the Jerk Cook-Off Pavilion will feature some interesting celebrities as well as chefs demonstrating creative jerk recipes", he added.

MAXI PRIEST

On the entertainment side, Edwards said they went for a line-up of artistes that would appeal to the wide cross-section of patrons that usually turn up for the event. "Selecting acts for the main stage is always a very thorough and deliberate action for us as we try to book acts to cover the diverse audience as well as provide good entertainment for the patrons. Although the event is a food festival, we know that the main stage entertainment plays a vital role, as we want patrons to leave feeling very satisfied from the food, music and the general festival experience," he said. The entertainment package will also feature comedian/actor Christopher 'Johnny' Daley.

The festival had very humble beginnings back in Florida where the first staging had a turnout of an estimated 4,000 patrons. more

ASK THE US EMBASSY: Applying for a student visa....Q: I applied to my dream school in the US and I got in! Now I need to get my visa; how do I do this?

Wednesday, June 25, 2014    

Q: I applied to my dream school in the US and I got in! Now I need to get my visa; how do I do this?

A: Congratulations! American universities and colleges are among the world's best and you should feel very proud of your accomplishment.

Your course of study and the type of school you plan to attend
 determine whether you will need an F-1 visa or an M-1 visa.

First, you'll need to determine the type of visa required for your study. Your course of study and the type of school you plan to attend determine whether you will need an F-1 visa or an M-1 visa. Generally, if you will attend a university or college, high school, private elementary school, seminary, conservatory or other academic institution such as a language training programme, you will need an F visa. If you will attend a vocational or other recognised non-academic institution, you will need an M visa. The embassy and consular officer can also help you confirm this when you come in for your interview if you're unsure of your visa type.

Next, complete the online application. You'll be pleased to know the application for a student visa involves exactly the same procedures followed for a visitor's visa. All applicants must fill out the DS-160 visa application, pay the application fee, schedule an appointment to interview for the visa, and bring the standard visa application documentation to the embassy (a passport valid for the next six months, any previous passports/visas, DS-160 confirmation sheet, appointment confirmation page, a passport photo and proof of visa application fee).

Then, prepare some documentation for your visa interview. While the online application form is the same as the application for a visitor's visa, you'll also need several other items at your interview that are associated uniquely with the student visa. These include:

1. The I-20 form, which your school will send to you once they have processed your admission. Make sure the entry date specified on the I-20 is a date that has not yet passed. If the entry date listed on the I-20 has already passed, or will pass before the visa issuance process is complete, you should obtain a new I-20 from your school or request a letter from the school indicating that you have permission to arrive at school after the date indicated on the I-20. more

TODAY IS 5 YEARS SINCE MJ DIED: King of pop Michael Jackson still reigns five years after death

Michael Jackson died five years ago Wednesday. His music did not.Jackson’s music continues to live on in ways it didn’t, in ways it couldn’t, when he was alive. His death freed his music and allowed it to be appreciated in ways it wasn’t in Jackson’s final years, when he was a tabloid curiosity whose personal baggage overwhelmed his entire artistic output.Now it’s commonplace to hear “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” or “Billie Jean” as the warm-up music at any number of concerts, or “Rock With You” blaring out of a car passing by. In the years leading up to his death, Jackson’s music was appreciated but seldom heard in the public square, as his persona and allegations of child molestation hung over him and sullied his reputation — and his music. This presented a problem: How would younger generations ever understand Jackson and his talent, and would they be able to separate the music from the tabloid caricature he’d become?
But when he died, in the early afternoon of June 25, 2009, many of Jackson’s eccentricities were forgiven or forgotten, and people gravitated once again to his amazing body of music. The drama that surrounded his life hasn’t slowed in his death, through the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray — he was sentenced to prison for four years for involuntary manslaughter and was released last October — and in the Jackson family’s lawsuits over his death. The music, however, drowns it out and can once again be the singer’s ultimate legacy.

That legacy continues to grow. A new album of Jackson’s music, “Xscape,” was released last month, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. Songs were assembled from odds and ends left over by the singer and cobbled together by a team of producers, including Timbaland. It has sold 309,000 copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and has been hanging around Billboard’s Top 10 since hitting stores. Source Detroit News

 

Neville Garrick Puts Colour In Reggae...Garrick is renowned for designing a number of covers for albums produced by Bob Marley and the Wailers in the 1970s,

Melville Cooke, Gleaner Writer Published: Tuesday | June 24, 2014 

Neville Garrick, contributor

Neville Garrick is happily a part of the Jamaican support group for Brazilian football. Just before Mexico tackled Brazil last Tuesday, he told The Gleaner, "I have been cheering for Brazil since Pele days."

Having played as a defender for the University of Carolina, Los Angeles, the team reaching the 1971 and 1972 National Collegiate Athletic Association finals, Garrick is well qualified to speak about football matters. But there is a special link between artistry and football that he has been privy to - off the formal field of play.

Garrick is renowned for designing a number of covers for albums produced by Bob Marley and the Wailers in the 1970s, as well as more than 20 backdrops for the Reggae Sunsplash Festival, from 1981 to 1988.

His album art was not restricted to the Tuff Gong, as Garrick also did visuals for Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear, The Wailers, Steel Pulse and the I-Threes. There was also the standout Haile Selassie I backdrop for Marley's tours. On those trips, the beautiful game was not left behind.

With Marley, Garrick said, "we never went on tour without a football". In the hotel rooms they played 'money ball' - what you broke you played for.

Ziggy Marley

Garrick literally drew his way into reggae's history, honing an art skill which was nurtured at Kingston College and shaped at UCLA, where the 'Black Experience' mural he co-painted with six other students, has been recently restored.

On returning to Jamaica, initially, Garrick was art director at the Daily News. Then, he said, "I created my job with Bob Marley. Nobody was looking at the art."

At that time, Garrick said, there were artistes who would send their music to a company and the packaging would be done without their input.

"They did not have any influence on the cover," Garrick said. more 

IN JAMAICA: Viva The Ward Tuesday..."The Ward Theatre must be saved. I invoke the name of every actor, every director, every performer who ever graced the stage of the Ward Theatre. ASHE!"

June 24, 2014    

THE 2014 Kingston On The Edge Urban Arts Festival's effort to restore the Ward Theatre got going Sunday with an outstanding show at the historic Kingston landmark.

Interestingly, opening the afternoon of eclectic entertainment was the Alpha Boys School Orchestra, produced by Jamaica's most renowned musical cradle (Alpha Boys School) which is also experiencing survival challenges.

The Ward Theatre

The youthful aggregation presented an organised, lively set of ska, jazz and reggae, living up to the lofty standards of the iconic institution they represent.

Then came the Moder-Ashbourne Gang comprising veteran composer/violinst/keyboardist Peter Ashbourne, his Austrian wife Rosina Moder-Ashbourne who plays the recorder, and their sons, drummer/producer Jeremy and pianist Joel. Their performances of Take Five, For Your Love and Biddy Biddy stood out.

Storyteller Jean Small was in fine form with a piece dubbed Relationshits -- a 'dramedy' about a persistent suitor.

The performance company, Street Meets Studio, also went over well with its dramatisation of Relationships: Time, Space, Music People.

Fabian Thomas's spoken word set called Life, was dominated by provocative messages which climaxed with his appeal for the preservation of the Ward.

"The Ward Theatre must be saved. I invoke the name of every actor, every director, every performer who ever graced the stage of the Ward Theatre. ASHE!"

Thomas was followed by the dynamic dub poet Randy McClaren, the self-proclaimed Creative Activist. He also addressed social issues, opening with the call-and-response, A WHO DIS? before going into Armadale Children on Fire.

Venezuelan guitarist/singer, Luis Felipe Bellorin, did well with Caravana (Song of Peace), Song For The Little Children, A Piece of The Conversation, among others. more 

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: 16-y-o boy on murder rap of 18-year-old, David Wilson remanded

Tuesday, June 24, 2014    

A 16-year-old student who, along with an 18-year-old man, has been accused of strangling another man to death was on Thursday denied bail when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court

The minor was arrested and charged along with Romaine Forbes for the June 2 murder of 18-year-old David Wilson of Paisley Road in Kingston.

The court heard that both accused held Wilson and choked him to death during a dispute on Slipe Road in Kingston. It is also alleged that the accused used a machete to chop the deceased man and left him on a sidewalk.

But on Thursday when the matter was mentioned, the juvenile's attorney, Shauna-gaye Mitchell, told the court that her client was innocent during a bail application.

She said that her client and Wilson had a dispute over a petty issue and that Wilson threatened to kill her client. However, she said during an ensuing tussle between her client and Wilson, he fell and was choked to death by Forbes.

"My client had nothing to do with it," she said "And my client did not prompt him (Forbes)."

However, Senior Magistrate Judith Pusey refused the application and remanded the minor in custody until June 27. Forbes was not brought before the court on Thursday. more

Shanique Myrie paid by Barbados Government....Myrie was awarded damages in the sum of US$38,000 by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) after she filed a lawsuit claiming she was subjected to a dehumanising cavity search....However, the money is short of B$1,000

Tuesday, June 24, 2014    

AFTER a frustrating eight-month wait, Shanique Myrie has finally been paid by the Barbadian Government. However, the money is short of B$1,000, Myrie told the Jamaica Observer.

Myrie was awarded damages in the sum of US$38,000 by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) after she filed a lawsuit claiming she was subjected to a dehumanising cavity search by a female immigration officer at Grantley Adams International Airport, locked in a filthy room overnigwht and deported to Jamaica in March 2011.

Shanique Myrie

"My lawyer called me this morning (Monday) and told me the money was in the account. It was a long wait but finally it is over," Myrie told the Jamaica Observer.

The CCJ had also ruled that Barbados should foot the bill of Myrie's legal costs and said the action was a serious breach of her right of entry into that country.

Last week, a frustrated Myrie threatened to file another complaint before the court after the award was not paid, despite promises from Barbadian officials.

Before that, Foreign Affairs Minister AJ Nicholson announced in Parliament that the onus was on Myrie and her legal team, and not on the Jamaican Government, to ensure that Barbados complied with the judgement.

On Friday, Barbados' Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite told the media in the eastern Caribbean state that the money had been paid over but late Friday evening Myrie said the payment did not show up in her lawyer's account.

Her plight was brought to international attention after the Observer reported her ordeal.

She had also complained that she was subjected to derogatory remarks from the female official who told her she was her 'worst nightmare'.

"The lady took me into a bathroom and told me to take off my clothes. I did as requested. After searching me and my clothes she found no contraband or narcotics. She then asked me to bend over, open my legs and spread (my private parts). She said that if I did not comply then she would see that I end up in prison in Barbados," Myrie said. more

IN JAMAICA: Single mom, ANGELITA KELLY thanks God as son overcomes poverty to earn PhD at age 25... Nelson got wake-up call from mom’s warning.....was left to raise her month-old son by herself after his father abandoned them for another woman...From her first job as a waitress, to working as a domestic helper, a shopkeeper and a chicken farmer, Kelly did it all to ensure her son, Peter Nelson, would receive the education she was denied by her father.

BY INGRID BROWN Associate editor — special assignment browni@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, June 23, 2014  

WHEN teen mother Angelita Kelly was left to raise her month-old son by herself after his father abandoned them for another woman, the then 17-year-old said she knew she had to do whatever it took to give her child a better life than the one she had.

Angelita Kelly said it was never easy as a single mother
 to raise her son, but is proud that her hard work paid off.

From her first job as a waitress, to working as a domestic helper, a shopkeeper and a chicken farmer, Kelly did it all to ensure her son, Peter Nelson, would receive the education she was denied by her father, who preferred to spend his money in bars.

Today, her hard work has paid off as her son has exceeded even her own expectations, having become one of the youngest persons, if not the youngest, at the University of the West Indies (UWI) to receive a doctorate in chemistry by age 25.

Dr Nelson, who is also the first to complete both an MPhil and a PhD in three-and-a-half years, also beat out 275 worldwide applicants to claim one of the five doctoral fellowships at Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, beginning this August.

The St Thomas Technical High past student has also been published in seven international journals, including Journal of Molecular Structure, Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, Dalton Transactions and International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

In August 2010, he presented a paper on the Phase Behaviours of Zinc Carboxylates at a IUPAC-sponsored MAM 10 conference and, in August 2012, he gave a presentation on the Molecular and Lattice Structures of Sodium(I) Carboxylates at the American Chemical Society Conference in Philadelphia.

His doctoral thesis, awarded on October 25, 2013, titled The Molecular Packing, Lattice Structures and Thermotropic Phase Behaviours of the Homologous Series of Silver, Sodium and Potassium n-Alkanoates, examines compounds used to make bathing soaps and detergents, which form liquid crystals with the application of heat and are also applicable in liquid crystal display (LCD) devices.

“I am really very proud of him,” Kelly told the Jamaica Observer North East from her St Maarten home, where she has lived for the past seven years.

Dr Peter Nelson shortly after graduating from the University 
of the West Indies with his PhD.

“Everyday ah thank God fi how Him help mi son and had a plan for him, because not even me did dream my son could come out so good,” a grateful Kelly said.

The 43-year-old Kelly said she always drilled into Nelson’s head that an education was the only way out of the impoverished life they lived in the tough St Thomas community in which he grew up.

According to Kelly, her teachers had always pointed to her academic abilities, but she never got the chance to realise her full potential as her father preferred to drink and get drunk instead of ensuring that she had the tools for going to school.

“When I was growing up my father used to drink out the money and mi had to go school without breakfast or any lunch money or books, and so life was very hard,” she recalled. more

IN JAMAICA: A doctorate by age 25....St Thomas youth Peter Nelson also holds hold a bachelor of science, an MPhil and a PhD in chemistry from the University of the West Indies (UWI), wins coveted fellowship to Israeli University as he will take up one of five post-doctoral fellowships at Weizmann Institute of Science....recalled how difficult it was in a single-mother household. He attributes a lot of his success to his mother's advice not to make her labour go in vain.

BY INGRID BROWN Associate editor — special assignment browni@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, June 22, 2014 

PETER Nelson's story is not different from a number of Jamaicans who have overcome adversity to achieve academically. However, not many 25-year-olds here hold a bachelor of science, an MPhil and a PhD in chemistry from the University of the West Indies (UWI).

Dr Peter Nelson flips through the pages of his latest publication.
 (then) NELSON... a lot of the persons who are really successful
 were not born with a gold spoon in their mouth, but what
 they had is a solid mentality to be successful
 (PHOTOS: BRYAN CUMMINGS)

In August this year, Dr Nelson will add another landmark achievement to his name, as he will take up one of five post-doctoral fellowships at Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, having been selected from 280 applicants from around the world for the

coveted position.

"It was very competitive to get into this institute because they told me they had 280 applications for the five positions and so it was really tough on them to decide, but one of the things that helped me to get in was the papers I published in international journals," Dr Nelson told the Jamaica Observer.

However, it is not only the accomplishments that this St Thomas native has amassed at such a young age that make his story unique. Rather, it is that he disproved the stereotype that a boy from an impoverished community who attended a non-traditional high school and was raised by a single mother who worked as a domestic helper would not beat the odds.

And those who may still doubt his potential upon seeing his unassuming demeanour may be further taken aback by the research work he has done, which has gained international recognition. Already he has amassed seven publications in international journals, including Journal of Molecular Structure, Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, Dalton Transactions and International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

In August 2010, he presented a paper on the Phase Behaviours of Zinc Carboxylates at an IUPAC-sponsored MAM 10 conference, and, in August 2012, he gave a presentation on the Molecular and Lattice Structures of Sodium(I) Carboxylates at the American Chemical Society Conference in Philadelphia. He has also made presentations in the Departments of Chemistry at Mona and at St Augustine in Trinidad and is currently preparing two manuscripts for submission.

Dr Peter Nelson shortly after graduating from the University
of the West Indies with his PhD.

Dr Nelson completed the MPhil and PhD at UWI in three-and-a-half years, although the maximum time for a full-time candidate to finish is five years and seven years for part-time.

"It was stressful, more mentally than physically, because you can't get an MPhil or PhD in science unless what you have discovered is totally new because there has to be novelty about it," he told the Sunday Observer.

"Excellence or nothing at all" is the philosophy of life that has guided this St Thomas Technical High School graduate.

"I did a lot of studies because I realised time is critical for pure and applied science students, and there is no pure and applied person who parties a lot and does well, it just doesn't happen, especially those doing chemistry as the pass rate in some of our courses is about 26 per cent, and so you want to get into that 26 per cent," he said.

Dr Nelson, who grew up in Hampton Court, St Thomas before moving to Retreat in the parish, recalled how difficult it was in a single-mother household. He attributes a lot of his success to his mother's advice not to make her labour go in vain. more

URGENT HELP NEEDED, PLEASE HELP BY SHARING HER STORY: Local doctors give up on cancer patient, UWI student, 19 y-o KIRBY CAMPBELL...."We have spent close to $3 million already" and now Doctors in JAMAICA can't help. She has $55,000.00 of medication sitting at home. Re-growth of three tumours in her neck...."Basically what my doctor is saying is that I don't have a lot of time so I have to move quickly," Her goal is to go to USA and get treatment.....

By DONNA HUSSEY-WHYTE Sunday Observer Staff reporter husseyd@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, June 22, 2014

After being diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) cancer in the neck during November of last year and spending six months in the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI),19-year-old university student Kirby Campbell has been told that she has to seek overseas help as local doctors say that they can no longer treat her.

A distressed Kirby Campbell seeks help to go overseas
for medical treatment as local doctors are unsure of the type
of cancer she has.

"I was told by the hospital that they can no longer treat me for anything at all because they don't know what type of cancer it is," a distressed Campbell told the Jamaica Observer last week.

"So they told me that I should try to go abroad because they don't have the facility out here to treat the type of cancer that they think it is. They are thinking it's sarcoma but as to the type of sarcoma, they don't know.

"They know it's a sarcoma based on the behaviour of the tumour. So I'm here up and down carrying out letters begging for support to go abroad because I found a hospital, MD Anderson in Texas, and just for consultation it is J$3.5 million, and that does not include any treatment.

"Another one, Moffitt Cancer Centre in Florida is for US$5,500. The one for $3.5 million they say that is the best in the world. So now I'm just here going around asking for contribution and support. I found five hospitals, but moneywise those were the two that gave me figures. We are mostly focusing on Moffitt because US$5,500 is better than J$3.5 million just for consultation," she said.

Campbell's story was first highlighted in the Sunday Observer of February 2, 2014, when several people made contributions towards her cause. However, the family said that the money has been exhausted.

"We have been helped by persons all around the world," Campbell's mother Sophia Drummond explained. "But we have exhausted the funds. We have spent close to $3 million already, and right now we owe the University Hospital money because we only paid a part of the doctor's fee. You have one medication for $26,000... one medication! I had to buy two sets of that and one is still at the University Hospital," she stated.

"We have thousands of dollars of medication at home, we also have chemotherapy medication at the hospital that they told us to bring back. We have spent vast amounts of money doing radiation," Drummond said. "We are due to do another set of radiation which is $900,000 but the doctors are contemplating on why start the radiation when that is all we can get," she said.

Kirby Campbell and her mother Sophia Drummond.

"They don't want to compromise what type of radiotherapy the hospital abroad will give me," her daughter interjected. "Basically what my doctor is saying is that I don't have a lot of time so I have to move quickly," she said.

Despite the re-growth of three tumours in her neck, Campbell said that the doctors at UHWI are hesitant in administering more chemotherapy since they have no idea what type of cancer they are dealing with.

"I did the first surgery in the first part of March and then I had to go back in April because it started growing back real fast. There are three more there right now. Two can be seen by the naked eye and one is under the surface. I did a scan and it showed that," Campbell explained. more

MARK WIGNALL COLUMN: The poor are being savaged by the dollar slippage....In 1989, J$100 could purchase basic food and grocery items for a family of five for a week....In 2014 that same J$100 can only purchase four minuscule packets of black pepper. In 2014 the Jamaican dollar is worth, at today’s rate, US$0.0089, less than a cent.

In the last year of his prime ministerial run from the violence riddled latter part of 1980 to early 1989 the much unloved, highly autocratic and hands-on Eddie Seaga presided over an economy that saw the Jamaican dollar valued at US$0.18.

In 2014, food items that the poor could always
 fall back on in 1989 are totally out of their reach.

In 1989, J$100 could purchase basic food and grocery items for a family of five for a week.

In 2014 with the still loved and admired Portia Simpson Miller in charge but seemingly disconnected from active governance, that same J$100 can only purchase four minuscule packets of black pepper. In 2014 the Jamaican dollar is worth, at today’s rate, US$0.0089, less than a cent.

Only very few of us will admit that the slippage in matters of governance and the spiral into systemic governmental corruption was given its birth during the disastrous run of the PNP’s Michael Manley from 1972 to 1980. No leader was more loved than Michael, and as hands-on as he appeared to be, he was mostly led by his oratorical skills, his gross misreading of the US, and his appeal to Third World causes on the global stages.

One writer, Donald Howell, captured it in poetic tones when he wrote in early June as part of a continuing series of Facebook, “The introduction of Democratic Socialism in 1974 made the period 1974 to 1980 the age of foolishness, the epoch of incredulity, the season of darkness and the winter of despair.”

MANLEY… was mostly led by his
 oratorical skills, gross misreading of
the US, and his appeal to Third
 World causes on the global stages

Today, the poorest among us would need $200 to purchase a pound of chicken meat. They would need to find $160 to buy a pound of turkey neck and although they would get back $10 change after buying a tin of mackerel, that same $10 cannot purchase a small packet of black pepper.

Chicken back, at $80 per pound, would give back $20, but again that $20 cannot buy a little packet of black pepper.

Last week I purchased from a little corner shop a small tin of ‘bully beef’ and a tin of condensed milk. In general I must confess that, unlike Chupski, I do not know the price of many items. I was, however, bowled over when the lady in the shop said, ‘Five hundred dollars.’ In 1989 the same purchase, which in 2014 can only get me two items, could feed a family of five for five weeks! more

IN JAMAICA: Lannaman's Preparatory School science fair for Grade Six Students....This years' winners were the 'farmer girls', whose project explored whether plants grew faster in milk or water.

Young scientists

Sunday, June 22, 2014    

LANNAMAN'S Preparatory School hosted its annual science fair at the school on June 11, in the form of a competition where grade six students displayed projects with aim of getting the lower grades interested in science.

This year the projects were judged by lecturers from the University of Technology and University of the West Indies, along with engineers from the Jamaica Public Service Company and the National Solid Waste Management Authority.

One of the projects on display

This years' winners were the 'farmer girls', whose project explored whether plants grew faster in milk or water. Second place went to the students who experimented with dry ice, and third place to a group of boys who made enough voltage from Irish potatoes to light up an LED bulb. Here are some highlights from the event: One of the projects on display. A judge inspects these boys' potato project. These boys display their insulation project.

A judge inspects these boys’ potato project.

A judge inspects this hot dog cooking project. Young scientists. more