CARIMAC Times 2016: The JREAM Edition

CARIMAC Times 2016 Edition

Yohan S. R. Lee
Editor-in-Chief
Curt Cawley
Creative Director
Sherrice Lewis
Design Editor
Rasheda Myles
Features Writer
Keshauna Nichols
Features Writer
Tamara Smith
Features Writer
Varun Baker
Donnette Zacca
Marlon James
Tori Haber
Randy Richards
Shaquiel Brooks
Photographers
*Uncredited photos are stock.
© All rights reserved
1Carimac Times

Off The Page
“I believe in every person lives a story
- a gift that can inspire and invoke
change. It has touched me to hear and
see those stories, and I hope that by
writing these words and wrapping them
in the design of these pages, that they
will touch others too.”
Sherrice Lewis
Curt Cawley
“Finding equilibrium in how we would present
the 2016 edition of CARIMAC Times to you
meant pushing ourselves to points, which at
times, felt like the brink. Mounting a magazine,
from scratch, is more than a full-time job. It
becomes your life. And in striving for perfection,
we ensured that the end results would be the
closest representation of what we initially set out
to accomplish. We dreamed big, and hopefully
at the end of the read, you will too.”
“Completing the tasks of investigating
and writing both my stories required
time and willpower. There were external
commitments and distractions, but
sacrifices had to be made. It was hard
but my dedication prevailed. And in the
end, it was definitely worth it.”
Rasheda Myles
2

Off The Page
“I am a person who is very optimistic. I believe
the smallest things can make the biggest
difference. Writing these stories brought me
on a long journey. I met some interesting
people, travelled to places I have never been
and spent long hours trying to bring these
stories to life. I did it all because I know these
stories will burn in the hearts of those who
read them and inspire change.”
Keshauna Nichols
Tamara Smith
“As we share our hard work with you —
‘reviving awareness of what matters’ — it
is my hope that it will be as informative
and educational for you as it has been for
me. And that, now, having involved you in
this experience, your conscience will be
pricked enough to propel you to action. We
all have a social responsibility, and together
we can bring about change.”
3

Photo by Randy Richards
A JREAM Job
If, at this point, you are not feeling too exhilarated
or disillusioned, following the recent general
elections, or are able to exercise unadulterated
fairness, you can recognise the aroma of the
most pronounced lesson taught by the Jamaican
electorate; that is, the seemingly commonplace,
yet complex concept of ‘public interest’ should
be used to guide any activity that affects or elicits
the support of the people. This sort of clarity was
impressed upon the group of print journalists
emerging from the Caribbean Institute of Media
and Communication (CARIMAC) at the University
of the West Indies, Mona Campus. We understand
that public interest has its place, even in discussions
around those issues that some would prematurely
dismiss as trivial. Therefore, we believe it is our
practice to thoroughly scrutinise and mediate
fairly on behalf of those we seek to inform.
Yohan S. R. Lee
Editor-in-Chief
The creative process behind CARIMAC Times
2016, involved nothing less, as a group of six
students [the smallest ever], under the noteworthy
supervision of Dr. Corinne Barnes, over the past
year, reconsidered the function of this studentproduced
magazine in the Jamaican society. A
collective decision was taken to have the identifier
of this year’s edition, not only be a name, but
also a representative philosophy. It has been
designated JREAM, which stands for ‘Journalists
Reviving Awareness of what Matters’. This acronym
indicates the criticality of professional journalists
as agenda setters and mediators with immense
social responsibilities. It is also communique that
says CARIMAC Times is not just a collection of
feature stories but a purposeful course of action.
4

C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
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Photos by Shaquiel Brooks
Illustration by Troydel Wallace
That is, in part, why the JREAM Team, as we
have dubbed ourselves, has endeavoured to,
through the sale of copies of our publication,
make a contribution to the education and
training of aspiring media professionals, who
will take that first step toward becoming true
communication specialists here at CARIMAC.
All proceeds will be invested in the CARIMAC
Students’ Assistance Fund.
The cover of this edition provides extended
commentary on the increasing need for
professional journalists who will go beyond the
surface of damning issues affecting the public.
The image of the magnifying glass hovering above
an illuminated cityscape is a poetic display of
how involved yet dispassionate we have to be,
as we investigate obscured issues of national,
and in some cases, international proportions.
The stories inside explore the themes of abuse,
education, environment, economics with an
emphasis on youth, minorities and public
health. They take you, our readers, on a journey
to explore the ubiquitous nature of bullying,
the politics of identity, the vulnerabilities of the
mind, the ambiguities of language, the pleas
of the Earth and the many layers of humanity.
It goes without saying that we dared not forget
that no greater good in the history of human
existence has been realised without considerable
difficulty, as we trekked towards to the successful
production of CARIMAC Times 2016. A great
deal depended on our ability, as journalists, to
communicate effectively and exercise patience
during investigations. We thank Dr. Barnes
for her guidance and encouragement as she
allowed us freedom to err and triumph in the
face of hardship. This process truly put to the
test how well we could professionally apply
learned theory to a real-world assignment of
this magnitude. Having done work typical of
a group of at least 15 members, we can better
appreciate the intricacies of the journalistic
process. The JREAM Team thanks all those
who have invested in this, a journalist’s dream.
5

The
in Your Eyes
Can you imagine having to go through several hours of school with the label “deviant” stamped on
your forehead, or having to deal with daily doses of oppression at the hands of others?
Text by Yohan S. R. Lee
Photo by Donnette Zacca
10

Twenty-seven-year-old Earl Lee can.
Today, Lee is a resident of the United
States of America, but his story began
in a much different place.
He lived in Jamaica for most of his life, but was
forced to leave as an adult because he feared that
misconceptions about his sexuality could lead to
his harm.
“I knew if I stayed in Jamaica, it wouldn’t have been a
great growth process… Seeing all these documentaries
and hearing stories of [perceived] homosexual
individuals in Jamaica who have been killed… I
didn’t want to become part of the statistics…”
On his first day at an all-boys traditional high school
in downtown Kingston, Lee was confronted by an
older student while having lunch. He was sitting
alone in a crowded lunch area, as he was not yet
able to make friends.
“Sissy, give me your money!” the physically larger
third year student shouted at Lee.
He refused and the student hit him in the face. The
soft-spoken Lee sought the assistance of his older
relatives; but instead of intervening, they insisted
he learns to defend himself.
“I was bawling my eyes out, and they told me I have
to ‘man up’ and defend myself; they wouldn’t be
able to defend me all the time,” Lee recalled, with
a hint of bitterness in his voice.
Lee felt he had no other option but to report the
violent incident to his form teacher, who he said
assisted him willingly. However, that incident was
not his last brush with the ire of his peers as the
days ahead were no easier.
11

“I knew if I stayed in
Jamaica, it wouldn’t
have been a great
growth process.”

Over the next year, Lee said there were no major
incidents. He became more assertive during
that period but was still not comfortable in the
school environment.
When Lee got to third form, he had to take on a
new range of courses, which included Technical
Drawing — a course that was traditionally
taught to male students. He recalled having a
teacher who showed disdain towards him and
other students who had similar ‘behaviours’.
She considered them effeminate. Lee said her
disapproval was communicated through her
gestures and facial expressions.
“She used to bully me and other people in the
class who were less inclined to be in a technical
drawing class. We weren’t manly enough for
her. She was not pleasant and would act like we
didn’t exist and [would] focus only on certain
students. She definitely had a nasty tone [in
response to] when I asked questions, and it
was like I was a bother to her.”
A year later, Lee found himself locked in the
guidance counsellor’s office after he was ‘outed’
as gay to the school population by another student
with whom he was friendly. This happened only
days away from his 15th birthday in September.
The student told everyone that Lee sent him a
number of suggestive text messages. Lee said
he recognised this as the student’s attempt to
deflect attention from himself. In spite of this,
the student body did not question the rumour.
Perception quickly became fact.
“People were banging on the [office] door
while they shouted ‘Release di [the] b-man
[homosexual]! Mek [Let] di faggot come out!’ ”
The students were not only armed with caustic
slurs to describe Lee.
Amidst the chanting, Lee thought about the
dramatic turn his day had taken: “I spent the
whole day locked in the guidance counsellor’s
room. They had sticks and stones. They wanted
to beat me,” Lee said.
In hindsight, he now regards that moment as
the catalyst for a series of events during which
he was bullied by his peers in plain sight, on
school grounds, in the care of adults. Instead
of focusing on what lesson would be taught on
any given day, he pondered what other struggles
he would have to face next.
Earl Lee is only one of many students who have
experienced bullying on the basis of perceived
sexual orientation while in school.
Jamaica’s children oppressed
In a recent study commissioned by the Child
Development Agency (CDA) titled, ‘Investigating
the Prevalence and Impact of Peer Abuse (Bullying)
on the Development of Jamaica’s Children’, it
was reported that six out of 10 students are
bullied at school. Approximately 57.6 per cent
of respondents said they were teased or called
names; 31.5 per cent noted they had been hit,
kicked or shoved; and 28.6 per cent indicated
being lied on. Meanwhile, 13.7 per cent shared
experiences of being excluded or ignored.
The study found that among the common profiles
of the victims of bullying is the description
“perceived as lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgendered (LGBT)”. This perception is
arrived at from physical appearance, behaviour
and speech.
13

Bullying in schools often takes the form of
‘gay bashing’, which happens on the basis of
perceived sexual orientation. It is one type of
school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV).
The United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) found that this is prevalent
in developing countries where there is steady
devotion to traditional cultural beliefs and
attitudes about gender roles, particularly with
regard to male and female sexuality.
As a social issue, bullying is at the centre of
intersections of education, gender, public
health, and other aspects of society. Based on
studies cited by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
in 2012, it is said that actual or perceived LGBT
youth are more likely to experience bullying
while at school than at home.
According to Dr. Annecka Marshall, lecturer and
specialist on gender and sexuality at the Institute
for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) at
the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona,
there are unwritten rules in the Jamaican society
that dictate how people are expected to obey.
There is a cultural requirement that individuals
should not only identify as heterosexuals but
portray themselves as such.
This is firmly upheld in schools.
“There is a sense that if you are talking about
this campus [UWI, Mona], it’s a heterosexual
space; and that anyone who is not seen as
heterosexual is seen as an invader. The other
who should either hide their sexual orientation
or make sure that they keep to themselves,” Dr.
Marshall explained.
Institute for Gender and Development Studies
at the University of the West Indies, Mona
Photo by Tori Haber
14

Dr. Annecka Marshall
Photo by Tori Haber
As obtains in organised societies, there are
consequences for breaking the rule of law.
Dr. Marshall said it is accepted that students
who are perceived to be homosexual do not
conform to heteronormativity — the belief
that heterosexuality is not only normal but is
the preferred sexual orientation. Therefore,
sexual activity should only be between a man
and a woman, and never two people of the same
sex; opposite sexes complement each other.
Heterosexuality as normative, also calls for
men and women to be cisgendered — that is,
their gender identity [masculine or feminine]
should correspond with their biological sex
[having a penis or vagina]. Those students who
identify as heterosexual, and by extension are
cisgendered, assume the role of enforcers of
the unwritten rule.
“The implication is if they don’t do this [conform]
then other students who are heterosexual have
a right to attack them. ‘You have bypassed the
unwritten rule. You shouldn’t be here. You are
invading us. You are upsetting us.’ ”
Bullying on the basis of perceived sexual
orientation can take several forms. It may
manifest as sexual, psychological or physical
violence. However, as Dr. Marshall explained,
all three forms exist because of stereotypes that
15

are derived from expected roles and norms
attached to males and females in a given culture.
Back in 2009, a study done in part by Angela
Gordon-Stair, senior counsellor and head of the
Counselling Unit at the UWI, Mona, utilising a
population of 225 Jamaican university students,
found that both peers and educators are equally
likely to bully. The students recounted their
experiences with bullying at the primary and
secondary levels.
Dr. Marshall concurred with this finding and
further explained that teachers indirectly bullied
students when they did not treat with the issue
in the same way they responded to other issues.
“There have been instances where students are
told this is bad behaviour and that’s it. Students
[perceived to be homosexual] have felt isolated
by lecturers. The fact that they [lecturers] allow
homophobic discussions in itself can be seen
as a form of bullying. Because a lecturer should
be able to say, [No! Stop!] in the same way other
discussions shouldn’t be allowed — blatantly
sexist comments for instance.”
She stated that educators are charged with
safeguarding the best interest of their students.
“Lecturers have a responsibility to make sure
that the classroom is a safe space. Very often
what happens is that students feel that they can
16

just say anything; and then after that I will have
students coming to me and say, ‘Well, actually,
I feel very uncomfortable… and that they are
basically giving me a message in the class, in
terms of saying, ‘Well, you know, we know what
your sexual preference and we don’t like it.’ ”
A perception permeating parishes
Akilesh Johnson, 27, had to deal with the scourge
of bullying on the meager basis of perception
as it was plentiful in three schools he attended
across two parishes.
At the secondary level, he attended a private,
Christian, co-educational high school in the
parish of Portland. He told CARIMAC Times
that his earliest experience with bullying was
in the seventh grade, and it took the form of
physical intimidation. Students who were much
bigger made a habit of using insulting terms
instead of his name.
“They would call me ‘girly’, ‘sissy’, ‘b-man’,
and ‘faggot’. Sometimes I was afraid to use the
bathroom because the bigger boys would be
in there. At times, I [held my] urine to avoid
going into the male bathroom. I didn’t want
to go around there and they do something to
me,” Johnson said.
Throughout the next two years, he would be
reminded each day that he did not behave in
the way expected of males. Johnson said there
was no hesitation to let him know he was too
soft-spoken; the sentiment expressed was that
he spoke like a girl. The way he walked was
also up for scrutiny, as the boys at school often
confronted him on the basis of their perception
that he walked like a girl.
“I can remember when a guy who came from a
different school [transfer student] did something
in class, and the teacher asked who it was that
did the act. I wasn’t going to take the blame, so I
told the teacher who it was. He retaliated saying,
‘Dis [this] ya b-man ya come call up mi name.
Watch me and yuh [you] when school over.’”
Johnson explained with a sense of newfound
clarity, that this particular moment was
particularly devastating because he believed
the student would fulfil his threat.
“After I left school, he and his gang of friends
were waiting on me on the road. But because
I was walking with a group of girls, it kind of
shielded me.”
Johnson’s parents later became involved and
aware of his experiences.
He recalled, in a seeming nonchalant tone, that
for most of his time in high school there was
regular name-calling - giving the impression
that he thought it was usual.
He experienced near apathy toward what he saw
as a more latent form of bullying. To Johnson,
it was unfair to be treated differently because
he paid the same fees as others to occupy that
space.
“At one point, I did feel like I didn’t want to
go to school, because I felt tired of it [namecalling];
because at that time I didn’t identify
with what they would say. Why should I have
to feel different all the time?”
As he continued to explain, the discomfort he
felt back then, resided on his face once more.
17

Johnson said the experiences in high school
took him back to moments in primary school
when even his childish interests were used
against him.
“I usually loved [to play] dandy shandy… Every
break time [recess] and lunchtime I always
played that game. I was the only boy playing
so the bullies made light of that. They used to
call me ‘Ak-stoosh’. ”
After a brief struggle, Johnson recalled another
tag students attached to him. He told CARIMAC
Times that students also referred to him as
“shim” — a portmanteau word of the third
person female subject pronoun ‘she’ and the
male object pronoun ‘him’ used to connote both
maleness and femaleness. It is a title he thought
was uncommon, but that did not prevent the
infliction of a great deal of hurt.
As a fourth form student, the time to sit the
Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate
(CSEC) examinations drew near. It was also
a time when feelings of what Johnson viewed
as depression and anxiety began to consume
his days.
“It [experience with bullying] was probably why
I did so badly in my exams. The criticising and
the name-calling did affect me in the last part
of my school life.”
Despite the negative impact on his academic
achievement, Johnson still managed to matriculate
to a tertiary level institution, but the transition
was not smooth.
Due to his parents’ fear for him attending
school in a distant location, such as Kingston,
he enrolled at an established institution in his
home parish, Portland.
The childish ways of primary and secondary
level students would haunt him on his pursuit
of higher education. Bullying in the form of
name calling and ostracism greeted Johnson
even before he could lay his eyes on the topic
outlines for his prospective courses.
“Man nuh fi [must not] walk like girl. Man nuh
fi talk like girl. Weh yuh deep vaice deh [where
is your manly voice]?”
Like dandy shandy, only girls are expected to
participate in cheerleading. However, Johnson
had an affinity for the sport, which became
another source of contention in his school life.
“I was at a football match and they threw one
bucket of water on me while I sat. Because it is
something regular for them; they always want to
catch you in that kind of way. I didn’t normally
go to those events; and the one evening I went,
that happened.”
Johnson said those behind him would have
seen those responsible for him being soaked,
but no one offered information. He reported
it nonetheless, but nothing came of it.
Violent recourse
Unlike Johnson’s case, the boys who bullied
Lee had a preference for missiles of various
material.
Following his forced retreat into the guidance
counsellor’s office, Lee’s experiences with bullying
became more frequent and calculated.
18

As he continued to navigate the rigours of
fourth form, he found himself more alienated
than before. He became a virtual target for his
schoolmates.
“They burned the top of my desk. They used to
throw things at me in class. They didn’t want
to sit next to me because gay is contagious;
they would catch it if I sat next to them. And if
I looked at anyone, they would say I want [to
pursue] them.”
Although he seemed to be up against the world,
Lee said he placed second in his form class and
second in the entire form for that academic
year. He explained to CARIMAC Times that his
motivation moved from trying to make friends
to being academically strong.
Success or not, the other students were not
deterred from their agenda to apply ‘vigilante
justice’ against the deviant, enemy even, in
their midst.
“It was about fifth or sixth form when I was
walking and someone threw a chair, an iron
chair [frame] from the fourth form block … If
I did not make that one step [forward], I would
have splattered in the middle of the school,” Lee
recounted as he seemed to mimic the enthusiasm
of those who wanted to see his end.
Cartoons targeting children commonly have
scenes of heavy objects falling on top of an
individual who is being hunted in a bid to
eliminate him or her.
Dr. Anthea Henderson, lecturer and researcher
at the Caribbean Institute of Media and
Communication (CARIMAC) at UWI, Mona,
19
The Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication
at the University of the West Indies, Mona
Photo by Tori Haber

says the messages children consume in the
media are problematic.
“The media plays a crucial role in providing
entertainment that is marred with violence,”
Dr. Henderson said in relation to the various
cartoons and animated shows that parents
allow children to watch for extended hours.
She explained that, as children mature, they
seek out content that has a greater degree of
violence.
“As children get older, and their taste for
entertainment becomes more sophisticated,
different forms of programming that have other
more graphic instances of violence become
problematic.”
According to Dr. Henderson, media present
ideologies that do not correspond with the
Jamaican context and cultural psyche. Ideas on
gender relations as well as sexual orientation are
embedded in content that originates largely in
the United States. She said the impact of these
messages can be either positive or negative.
Those who are of differing views on whether
the heterosexual orientation is really the ideal
for society, or being homosexual is a right, find
themselves at loggerheads.
“In a way, what media has done is opened up
the discussion, but it hasn’t really resolved it.
We do not yet have consensus as a society on
how do we treat with the issues … Looking at
the matter of gender and sexuality, and using
programming and content of different kinds
to tease out those issues is becoming, I think,
a big cultural war…”
Based on her research, Dr. Henderson said
societies have to think about media as people
in the sector and interrogate the content
produced to ascertain what is being promoted
and facilitated as well.
“When we are talking about issues of perception,
attitudes and stereotypes that we have adopted,
the perspectives that we have, the ideas that
we have about what is ideal and who is straight
[heterosexual] and who is not straight, we’re
not looking at one thing.”
She said it is important to acknowledge that
Caribbean societies are largely homophobic.
“You also have the issue of, for example, Jamaica
being a violent society generally. We are very
aggressive at times; very ‘in your face’ … and
we can be vicious.”
Voice of a perpetrator
Davian Prince*, 22, confessed to CARIMAC
Times that he was once guilty of bullying
his schoolmates while attending an all-boys
traditional high school.
The bully, Prince, and the bullied, Lee, attended
the same high school, but at different times.
They would not have met each other but are
joined by a common thread.
I asked Prince what his motivations were for
meting out gender-based violence against others
he shared space with at school. He said his
decision to bully other students was influenced
by his peers and the behaviours of his targets.
“Back in high school, I was part of a gang, and
we would take advantage of anybody with a
20

Dr. Anthea Henderson
Photo by Tori Haber
weak character… we would just try to be unruly
in every way, especially when it comes on to
defending one another.”
Prince’s idea of ‘weak character’ at the time
was inextricably linked to the notions of what
a man is supposed to be. A male student who
did not behave ‘like a man’ was considered
homosexual.
He and his friends developed a system for
deciding who was homosexual.
“I would identify someone as homosexual by their
verbal and non-verbal communication; verbal
in terms of how they speak, if it is masculine or
feminine, and non-verbal by their actions and
expressions … I consider masculine behaviours to
be actions that possess qualities … traditionally
attributed to men. For example … strength,”
Prince related.
Prince, like the boys who bullied Lee, also assessed
his peers against what others would have said
about them without regard for the truth.
Dr. Marshall explained that this kind of ignorance
is perpetuated because of the cultural reliance
on stereotyping.
“People, in general, make up generalisations.
In a class I had a few days ago, students were
21

“I would identify
someone as
homosexual by their
verbal and nonverbal
communication.”

talking about lesbians holding hands and kissing
all over campus, and I was like, ‘I’ve never
seen that.’ And [they speak of] flamboyant
gays ridiculing us [heterosexual people]… by
asserting their sexuality in a way that they know
we feel uncomfortable with… When you probe
deeper, it’s one person that’s said something
like that… [and] you find that a lot of cases are
just hearsay.”
She said such cases of misrepresentation and
misinformation are cause for concern because
of the rate at which LGBT-related news spreads.
“Once it comes to LGBT issues, anything negative
they will believe … That is seen as being the reason
why bullying can be [considered] appropriate
behaviour.”
It is not always clear what reasons people have
for bullying someone, particularly on the basis
of perceived sexual orientation.
For Prince, it was also not clear.
“Thinking back on it now, I’m not really sure what
was my intention then, but I guess it would be
closer toward them changing their behaviour.”
He made attempts at changing the behaviour of
his peers in a number of ways. Some of those
ways are very familiar to Johnson and Lee.
“I usually call them names, make fun of them.
For example, I would ask them when they plan
to get a girl or play a Buju Banton song that
they could hear.”
He would play ‘Boom Bye Bye’ because it has
lyrics that give vivid depictions of the murder
of homosexuals.
But Prince also found further innovative ways
to bully his peers.
“If they were in a fight, I would part the fight
then help to beat them.”
He was a bully without reservations.
Equitable bullying
According to the results of the 2010 Global
School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS)
that was commissioned by the World Health
Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), 39 per cent of
girls admitted to being victims of bullying. Only
one per cent more boys did the same.
Twenty-two-year-old Amelia Rhoden can recall
being bullied by the time she was 10 years
old. She said she would spend a considerable
amount of time hanging with boys, a practice
for which she was often scolded. They called
her several names at the time, all of which she
cannot remember.
Over the next year, Rhoden experienced some
semblance of reprieve, as there were no significant
incidents that immediately followed those
experiences.
Two years later, it was time for Rhoden to
depart primary school and begin high school
at a traditional all-girls institution in St. Andrew.
There, students attacked her in a way that echoes
Lee’s experiences — with a rumour.
Before she spoke with CARIMAC Times she
walked toward me with her head down as she
focused on her phone. She had cornrows and
wore a loose-fitting T-shirt with baggy jeans.
23

When she began recounting her experiences,
her words were barely audible.
“Everything started with a rumor,” Rhoden
said in a very hushed tone.
Her reserved disposition upon meeting was
quickly driven away by the onslaught of painful
memories the conversation would unearth
from a burial place.
“News started spreading that I was hitting on
one of them [her classmates], and everyone
started to see me differently, even though that
wasn’t the case.”
Thereafter, it got to a point where her classmates
began to use what little Spanish they knew to
taunt her.
“In every class they would call me ‘el pescado’.”
In English, this means ‘fish’ — one of several
terms used colloquially to describe people who
are perceived to be homosexual.
Rhoden, who played football, said she was too
manly for the girls in her class. They would
keep their distance because they automatically
assumed she would hit on them. This persisted
and progressed further as she began to make
friends. Rumours began swirling around
school that Rhoden and her new friends were
romantically involved.
“All of a sudden I started hearing that I wrote
a love letter in Spanish to one of my friends,
and then she stopped talking to me after that. I
reported it, but the teachers didn’t do anything
about it… said I should just let it go.”
However, things changed later when she found
a teacher who could empathise.
“I got close with one teacher, and I could
express myself to her in a different way, and she
understood ‘cause she used to go through the
same thing… I could talk to her about anything
and she would give me advice on how to go
about it …”
The teacher told her to isolate herself, focus on
her work, and to not let anyone have an effect
on her. But the effectiveness of that strategy
was short-lived.
“I was very emotionally depressed… It did drive
me over the brink for a while.”
The hurt lives on
Things got worse for Rhoden when her mother
learned of rumours concerning her daughter.
“My mother came to school. She tried to pull
me from football; went to the teachers saying I
was not to participate in anything and I should
stop being in the company of a certain person…”
Her mother believed the rumours and proceeded
to beat her at school before the football coach.
At this point in the interview, Rhoden started
to cry. I asked her if she needed some time to
compose herself. She replied: “Yes, a whole lot
of time; probably like three years.”
With tears still streaming down her face, she
explained how that moment and past experiences
resulted in an “unintentional suicide” attempt.
24

Dancehall artiste Buju Banton
Photo by Jonathan Mannion
“I didn’t want to [commit suicide] but I just
wanted to relax for a while. So I took a few pills
with alcohol.”
The CDA-commissioned study noted that
the most common effects of being bullied are
“fighting, loss of trust, depression, feelings of
hopelessness, and suicide”.
Dr. Marshall explained that there is a range
of responses from those who are victimised
because of issues related to their gender. She
says there are a few who assert themselves
when faced with bullies but a majority tends
to fold in the face of oppression. Dr. Marshall
says effects tend to be long-lasting.
Once Rhoden had composed herself, she told
CARIMAC Times she was surprised by her teary
response to talking about her past experiences.
“I never thought I would actually cry when I
talked about these things again. I thought I
was over it.”
The same can be said for 21-year-old Adrian
Mundie*
Mundie attended a co-educational, nontraditional
high school in Kingston and made a
journey similar to Rhoden’s. For him, experiences
with bullying started in primary school as well.
He was nine years old. He said students jeered
him because he spoke in Standard English and
25

“I never thought I
would actually cry
when I talk about
these things again. I
thought I was over it.”

efused to stay after school to play football in
his uniform with the other boys.
According to Mundie, the bullies were primarily
students and mostly male.
“They were usually the ones who had this kind
of alpha male persona and they were highly
homophobic… They were just violent for no
reason.”
Similar to Lee, Mundie recounted memories of
teachers who had a hand in his experiences with
bullying. They were careful in their expression,
but once they were huddled Mundie said they
would discuss him and other students they felt
were like him.
“I can say that teachers also bully, but they don’t
do it openly. They would do it kinda secretly.
Among themselves they would talk about the
students and who they think is gay.”
Asked how he knew this, he responded: “I was
close with teachers who would tell me.”
Mundie said he questioned for some time why
people felt the need to treat him differently.
As a result he was forced into isolation — a
mechanism that Rhoden once used. And, like
her and Johnson, he was soon overcome by the
daily bullying.
“I remember one particular instance when I
went to church and I felt so bad that I came
out and I was bawling my eyes out because I
could not understand why these people don’t
get me. And it was the same in high school. I
remember I didn’t have any friends. I always
sat at the back of the class. I was ostracized …”
Mundie told CARIMAC Times that this is the
first time he has shared that memory.
“I [eventually] felt I had to transform who I am,
or my personality, so that I am not a victim to
being bullied every single day. I put myself in a
situation where I know who I am, but I have to
ignore that side of me which I find to be more
real and accept something and mask that with
being more aligned with what society thinks
males should act like, should look like, should
sound like,” Mundie explained as tears welled
up in his eyes.
Dr. Marshall said students who are bullied are
likely to find someone they trust to confide in
because they are essentially prevented from
participating in society as they would like.
Lee shared that his guidance counsellor at the
time had an open door policy. He would often
visit her, close the door, and then cry.
CARIMAC Times asked Mundie to share his
most significant memory in this regard. He
shared this experience:
“I met this preacher, who I believed I could
confide in. I did [confide in him]. I told him
everything I experienced and questions I began
to ask about myself. Until one day, he broke my
trust. He called my sister and told her everything
I told him. And my sister called me and asked
if it is true … I said ‘yes’… My father, who was
not there for years, got involved because my
mom found out and my mother carried me to
my father and told my father … what’s been
going on, and he actually said out of his mouth…
‘You can’t be my son.’ That was really painful.”
27

Tears took over. Mundie’s lips trembled and
he was silent.
Mundie said, before that painful episode, his
sister was the person he would go to for help.
His sister attended the same school.
In a moment that is reminiscent of Lee’s request
for assistance from his relatives who attended
school with him, Mundie sought help from his
sister when a bully began to torment him. He
said he could take no more.
“One day, I said to my sister, ‘Hey, this guy keep
on picking on me and keeps on taking away my
lunch money and calling me names,’ and she
actually got her friends who were also males
but were way older than this guy to talk some
sense into him … beat him around a little bit
and he never messed with me again.”
Lee also reached his boiling point when the
same student who ‘outed’ him at school slapped
him with a T-square on his buttocks.
“I picked up a rock, and he was running about
and screaming… I just walked him down. And
thank God for that guidance counsellor. She
came out and she saw me. And she was like, ‘Mr.
Lee! Mr. Lee!’ Then she was like, ‘Earl Lee!’ and
I was like, ‘Yes!’ She said: ‘Put the rock down!’
I said: ‘No! He hit me with the T-square.’ I was
enraged. I was ready to throw the stone at him …”
28

The flaw in perceptions
Kimberly McDermott is 22 years old and describes
herself as a tomboy.
Before the interview began, McDermott walked
by Rhoden with whom CARIMAC Times had
an interview earlier. There was one major
difference between the two. That difference
was that McDermott walked with her head
held high, unlike Rhoden whose posture was
less upright.
She sported low cut hair with faded sides, similar
to an army cut, wore loose-fitting pants and
spoke in an assertive tone.
McDermott attended a traditional co-educational
high school in St. Andrew and said, while students
would refer to her as a tomboy, that was the
extent of her negative experience.
“I was a Christian at high school. Because I was
so Christian, even though I was a tomboy, they
didn’t see the need to call me a lesbian.”
She said at her high school, the principal gave
regular talks to students on the importance of
respecting the difference in people.
“At [school name withheld], they do not encourage
discrimination. If you’re a boy who acts feminine,
people don’t bully you. People pay attention to
your work and what else you have to offer like
your talent.”
McDermott, who plays football told CARIMAC
Times that she recognises she fits the profile of
a female who would typically be bullied because
of her appearance. She said she did face some
jeering from people on the street, but never
while in school.
“Bullying has no place at [school name withheld].
There, we are focused on doing well in school…
We look at that as barbaric.”
Speaking to me via Skype in the lounge area of his
place of employment, Lee said he has managed
to somewhat let go of the bad experiences he
had. His demeanour supported this. He seemed
relaxed and free to express himself in his own
way.
But, despite his positive outlook on the days
ahead, there is still the impact of his experiences.
“It makes me resent high school. I have limited
friends from high school. So when I hear
others talk about wonderful friends and great
experience[s] in high school, I am just, ‘Ugh,
that was the worst time of my life!’ Absolutely
horrible! So I think if I didn’t have the attitude
I have now, it would affect me more.”
Lee said he is happy he made the decision to
leave Jamaica, but he fears for those who do not
have the opportunity to do the same.
He shared some words of advice:
“If someone is bullying you and you feel
comfortable standing up to that bully, you
should. If you think you need support at your
high school, find someone that can support
you. Be comfortable in who you are.”
*Names changed to protect identities.
The author does not share a relationship with any
subject within this story.
29

Scared & Scarred
Children are known to have their share of cuts and bruises and the children at Strathmore
Gardens Place of Safety are no different …
Text by
30
Sherrice Lewis
Photo by Donnette Zacca

The children are alive with the energy
of youth. On their playground of
sand, they run and leap, they slip
and stumble, they fight and fall.
This is why this interviewer did not
question the web of cuts etched into 14-yearold
*Christina Mallory’s hands. But one day,
she took the knife and cut her hands as she
casually continued her conversation with the
chef, until he turned, saw, and snapped at her.
Mallory’s action signified much deeper wounds.
For her, and many other children at Strathmore,
they bear the internal scars of abuse, aggression,
and neglect.
Christina Mallory’s story
When I asked Marvia Sterling**, a supervisor
at the children’s home for 14 years, what she
thought of Mallory, she scoffed and said:
“Mallory only care about man and baby.”
However, Mallory cared for many things, but
school was not one of them.
“On weekdays, while the other children attended
school, I would find Mallory lying down inside
the girls’ dormitory or outside, sitting and
chatting with other girls her age who claimed
to be sick or too tired for school.
“She doesn’t love school, whenever you send her
to school, she go[es] and rest[s] her head on the
desk and she tell[s] you that school is boring,
and she can’t bother,” Sterling continued, “so
even if she go[es] into the classroom, she’ll sleep,
sleep, sleep for the whole day and do nothing.”
Sterling said Mallory came to Strathmore for
various reasons, but she refused to reveal
them. Without expression, Mallory said she
was placed in the home because gunmen had
broken into her house and raped her.
Most of the time, Mallory bristled with energy.
She loved to sing and dance and dreamed of
becoming a singer.
Like all the children, she was fascinated by
phones, which are only given for specific
and approved purposes. Mallory requested
to borrowing this interviewer’s phone. She
scanned Facebook profiles of girls who shared
her name, commenting on their attractiveness,
their fashion choices, and their posts.
But the women Mallory admires the most are
the ones in her family. Her face became excited,
her pitch high, and the rhythm of her speech
fast as she showed profiles of her foster mother,
birth mother, and grandmother. She boasted
of how youthful and attractive her family looks,
especially her biological mother, whom she
claimed is 25, and has four other children, of
whom Mallory was the oldest.
But on other days, Mallory bitterly said she
hated her mother, adding that her mother
does not care for her. In the one rare moment
she mentioned her father, but there was little
resentment in her tone. Just minutes after
saying her father had raped her mother, Mallory
expressed the desire to see him.
“Just ‘cause ah rape don’t mean mi ago mek
[let] that ruin mi relationship with mi father,”
she said.
31

Mallory insisted it was her mother’s fault for
getting raped, since, according to her uncle,
her mother would often loiter on the streets
after school.
She said her mother had also grown up in
Homestead Home for Girls.
When CARIMAC Times spoke with child
psychologist Dr. Gemma Gibbon, she explained
that Mallory is struggling with how to feel toward
her parents, as she only thinks of their role as
her parents, and not the actions they have done.
Like many abused children, she is conflicted
with the desire to love her parents the way they
think parents deserve to be loved.
“She’s clinging to the hope that one day everything
and all the family will be as she dreams about
them, but the reality of her situation is that her
mom has caused her distress or enough problems
that she’s not with her,” Dr. Gibbon said.
“It’s inherent in us to want the best in our parents,
but the reality is we sometimes have different
opinions at different times,” she continued.
Even outside of her strained relationship with
her parents, Mallory has suffered instability
for years. For her, home was never truly a
permanent place. In her earlier years she had
lived at Strathmore, but returned to her mother,
then was sent to Homestead, only to return to
Strathmore once again.
32
Photo by Varun Baker

According to The American Academy of Pediatrics,
for a child to develop into a psychologically
healthy human being, he or she must have a
long-lasting relationship with an adult who is
nurturing and protective. The Academy added
that children who are shuffled from home to
home often develop attachment disorders, an
inability to trust, and an inability to cope with
the trauma of their childhood.
But Mallory was friendly on the surface.
Sterling said Mallory had been as rebellious
as any other children when she arrived at
Strathmore, but after her transfer, returned
worse, with several behavioural problems.
While Sterling refused to disclose those exact
‘behavioural problems’, another girl at the home,
*Shantal, said Mallory had engaged in sexual
activities with the older girls.
The next day, Child Development Agency officials
met with the girls, and Mallory was once again
whisked away to Homestead. Although Mallory
said the girls at Homestead are more violent,
she longed to go back. But her greatest desire
was to return to her foster mother, who lived
in Portland.
When Mallory spoke about her foster mother,
she smiled and clapped her hands as her words
rushed into one another excitedly.
One day she begged me to call her mother.
As Mallory spoke, her voice receded to a
whisper, and the light that once permeated
her expression faded. Her mother was sick,
immobilised by kidney disease and unable to
go to the hospital, or visit Mallory at the home.
As the call ended, tears trailed her cheeks, but
Mallory said nothing.
Akayla Noel’s story
When you look at Akayla Noel* you see a small
child, missing two front teeth, but her bright
smile is full of warmth. On the first day at
Strathmore, Noel greeted this interviewer with
the statement that her mother was dead. Like
someone making polite conversation, she told
me her mother had been chopped seven times.
It was only later that she said quietly to herself,
“I wish my mother were alive.”
Noel was quick and eager to share her past.
Smacking her lips and rocking happily side
to side, she said, at Christmastime, she was
with her family. She played with toys and ate
meals and received gifts for her birthday in
December. But when it came to her mother,
her voice softened.
“Dem tek out dem cutlass… Dem get fi cut up
mi mother…” she said.
After her mother’s death, Noel left her stepfather,
three sisters and younger brother to live with
her grandfather and aunt whom she claims
did not want her.
To Noel, the feeling was mutual: “I don’t want
a grandfather. Mi have a grandfather, but him
rude to me,” she said.
Noel recounted that at her grandfather’s, she
was forced to clean the yard and the house.
She said her grandfather and her aunt were
“wicked”, so she said she was wicked in return.
33

She described the day her aunt gave her food,
although Noel told her she did not want any.
Out of her aunt’s sight, Noel threw the food into
the bushes, washed the plate clean, and told
her aunt that she had eaten the food. But the
next day, Noel said her grandmother brought
her to the home. She has not seen or heard
from her family since.
“Mi bawl; mi bawl fi mi mother, mi father,
and mi sister. Mi cyaan bother, mi want [to]
go home.”
Noel often asked if I knew a woman named
‘Miss Green’ or ‘Aunty Green’, a friend of her
grandfather’s she had stayed with for some
time, and whom she spoke of happily. She
hoped Miss Green would take her back home.
“Mi don’t want Aunty Green bring me back
there. Mi want Aunty Green bring me back
home; not to my grandfather …”
She asked if this interviewer knew her stepfather
who lived in St Ann. In her childlike innocence,
she could not understand how he or Miss Green
was not known, despite only offering vague
descriptions and general information of the
areas in which they supposedly lived.
Yet, she remembered her stepfather’s number
with remarkable accuracy, and begged this
interviewer to make contact with him - again,
not understanding why this was not successful.
On the first meeting, Noel asked if this interviewer
wished to take her home, or if family members
wanted a little girl.
She had little interest in the other children.
CARIMAC Times found her sitting by herself,
as she often did. She said she did not play with
them and had no friends. She only desired her
family and to be home.
Aggression
Six-year-olds Tiffany Dwyer* and Mikael
Williams* were also antisocial at first. On different
occasions, this interviewer found them sitting
alone, staring on as other children played.
When an enquiry was made into why they
were not playing, both had the same response:
“Sometimes they beat me up.”
Aggression was common at Strathmore, and
Dwyer and Williams were not the only victims.
CARIMAC Times could not count the number
of times one child was seen hitting another at
the home, whether playfully or in anger. The
number of times an insult or mocking nickname
was heard were also too many to count.
A staff member was no different, as he mocked
a boy with Down syndrome.
Jordan Wyatt’s story
On his third day at Strathmore, Jordan Wyatt*
ran around the yard, chasing 14-year-old Onicka
Samuels* and attacking her with sand.
“Jordan, stop! Mi ago tell Miss Crawford!” she
yelled.
Wyatt ignored her, and both fell into the sand.
Wyatt gripped her around the neck, holding her
down, while the maintenance worker, Andre
Beckham**, looked on.
34

“Jordan, let mi go!” She screamed.
After a few minutes and more threats of calling
the Head Supervisor Judine Crawford**, Wyatt
finally let go.
On another day, Wyatt chased Allan Thomas*
around the schoolyard. At first it seemed like
play. Thomas sought safety with CARIMAC
Times, but Wyatt pried him out. He then
mercilessly pounded his head with his fists,
while the younger boy squealed and tried to
shield himself.
As the blows continued, Thomas begged him to
stop; his squeals then turned into cries. Wyatt
rubbed his head, quickly trying to comfort him
when Thomas threatened to tell Crawford.
Even during school Wyatt was restless, leaving
his seat and escaping the classroom to tease
and hit younger pupils next door.
To some, Wyatt’s aggressiveness may be an
example of “boys being boys”, but to Dr. Gibbon,
it is cause for concern, and a major sign of
insecurity. She said those who tease others try
to create a sense of empowerment, because
they feel sad and insecure within themselves.
But Wyatt never let this show, and Dr Gibbon said
this is because of how society has raised him.
“We don’t allow our boys to have any other
35

“We don’t allow our
boys to have any other
emotion apart from
anger.”

emotion apart from anger. We don’t teach
them to be worried, anxious; we teach our
girls every single emotion,” she said, “but boys
if they cry, they’re not allowed to … So we’re
stopping boys from reaching their emotions
and understanding them. Therefore, they’re
quite dysfunctional emotionally.”
After two weeks at the home, Wyatt’s aggressive
spark faded to an ember, and he became a
shadow of the boisterous boy he had been
before. One day, he sat and walked aimlessly,
quiet and alone. When asked why he was not
his usual self, he bluntly said, “Mi hungry,” and
walked away.
In a rare moment, Wyatt said his mother was
in America, his father in Cuba, and his sister
in Barbados. But he said they would send for
him soon.
He, like Noel, did not like Strathmore.
“Mi don’t like how you haffi [have to] stay one
year before you go ah [to] outside school,” he
said.
But the teachers, Laurissa Newton** and Darlene
Moore**, insisted that the Child Development
Agency is responsible for assessing the children
annually and determining whether they were
fit for school outside the home. As a result,
many have a long wait.
Shantal Norris’s story
“I cry every morning, every night, because I’m
used to being with my family and my friends,”
14-year-old Shantal Norris* said.
She had only been in Strathmore for a month,
placed there for her safety after being raped by
an older friend. She said men with guns had
come to her school searching for her, but she
had stayed home that day. She was forced to
stop all contact with friends and was unable
to tell anyone where she was. Only her mother
visited regularly.
Norris is an addition to the 278 cases of child
sexual abuse seen by the Centre for the
Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child
Abuse (CISOCA) since the start of 2015. And,
for each, the trauma of being sexually abused
as a child is different, but always horrific.
“Some people could never have a sexual
relationship again. Some people have millions
[sic] of sexual relationships because they’re
trying to be in control, and they want to get
sex before the man gets it from them,” Dr.
Gibbon said.
“There’s self-validation through all kinds of
things. There’s taking the pain away with selfmedication,
drugs, or bad lifestyle … As much
therapy as you can possibly ever get throughout
your life will never ever take away the pain and
the scarring from being raped as a child.”
Norris coped by pouring her pain into the pages
of her journal, in which she wrote poems and
prayers and entries regarding her life.
“I have not been with my family for a month.
The one month that I missed, not being with
my family, is driving me crazy. It makes me feel
down. It makes me feel empty. It makes me feel
like I am no one,” one entry read.
37

On another page, in a list of questions, she
asked why her uncle raped her, and why she
was molested by the teenage girls in the home.
She told CARIMAC Times she had reported
the girls’ sexual behaviour to the staff, and
one of the girls retaliated by hitting her in the
eye. Norris said the staff members did nothing
except scold her attacker, and they did not
report the incident.
This only added to Norris’s desperate desire
to return to her family and friends. She, like
Mallory, eagerly showed her friends pictures
of those she held dear on Facebook, as well as
her own pictures.
In her messages, Norris wrote to a 21-yearold
man. Their relationship was conflicting,
sometimes antagonistic, other times flirtatious
and sexual. But when he asked for a sexual
favour she disapproved of, she shunned him.
And the conversations ceased there.
To her friends at the home, she spoke excitedly
about past boyfriends she had who were same
age as she was. And before leaving, she told this
interviewer that she had a different boyfriend
who attended her high school, whom she longed
to see.
On the eve before her court date, and her official
release from Strathmore, Norris was brimming
with joy and bubbling with laughter. She danced
about the property, taking pictures with staff
and children she may never see again. She said
her experience at Strathmore had not been
too bad, and the staff had treated her well, but
“dem [they] shout too much.”
When asked what her plans were when she
returned home, Norris said she planned to
go out on the day of Christmas, but she also
planned to change her behaviour.
“When I go home, I’m thinking about to give
my life over to the Lord and just stop the ‘backanswering’
when people talk to me,” she said.
“I learnt that just when you listen, that’s the
best way… You get into less trouble when you
stay outta ‘friend and company’. My mommy
and daddy always tell me that.”
While Norris has a home to move on to, the
future for other children leaving the home
is questionable. Newton said it is a difficult
transition for both the staff and the children.
“It’s hard, ‘cause sometimes they get attached
to us so much and it is not easy to release them.
Sometimes Miss Crawford herself has to sit
them down and give them a talk-through of
what is going to come… It’s not easy, but she
tries her best to show them that, even though
they are leaving Strathmore, they will be still
taken care of.”
Is a home truly a home?
Some children, like Norris and Mallory, do not
stay very long. But for the children who stay,
Strathmore tries to be a home as much as it can.
It attempts to structure the lives of children
who were raised in dysfunctional homes. There
are 15 workers, most of whom are caregivers
split across working shifts. Crawford has seen
many children come and go in her 15 years at
Strathmore. She said all staff need certificates
in childcare and development, and they try to
raise the children as their own.
38

Photo by Varun Baker
“You perform just like a mother would…
Everything that you’d do to your child at home,
it is [expected] here. You start out with bathing,
combing hair, see that their teeth [are] properly
cleaned, and you look after their meals. You
send them out to school just like your own
child,” she said.
The children wake up at 5:00 am to shower
and eat breakfast prepared by their caregivers.
They journey to schools in Spanish Town and
Kingston, and those who are still there at 7:00
am gather for devotion.
By 8:30 am, the 21 children attending home
school get dressed and walk the few feet to the
schoolhouse on the property. The girls are a
sea of blue, some in shirts and skirts, others
in tunics of various designs.
The boys are in khaki uniforms, some their pants
seem to be held up by makeshift cloth belts.
The children line up and receive their shoes at
the doorway, a privilege awarded only to older
children who are fit to take care of them, and
this completes their ensemble.
For the rest of the day, while the staff cleans,
the children are taught by their teachers in two
classes separated by blackboards. At 1:00 pm,
the children form a line, are given soap to wash
their hands, and are then served cold porridge
or biscuits spread with jam. When school ends
at 2:00 pm, the children relinquish ownership
39

“I cry every morning,
every night because I’m
used to being with my
family and my friends …”

of their shoes, which are locked away in the
schoolhouse for the next day.
By 3:00 pm, they are served a full dinner, often
stewed, curried, or baked chicken, all with
rice, no vegetables. Supper, served at 6:00
pm, is jam and biscuits again. On rare days,
visitors from Christian organizations bring
boxed lunches. Strathmore, being partly owned
by the Government due to its alignment with
Child Development Agency, also gets help from
non-profit organizations or private companies.
On weekends, the children are dolled up,
dressed in their best clothes and board buses
to attend churches in the neighbourhood,
some on Saturday, others on Sunday. When
they return, their best shoes are put in boxes
and put away, and the children are then free
to run barefoot through the dirt yard, quickly
becoming covered in dust and stains. It is times
like these that one remembers that they are
just children. But other days, the children at
Strathmore are taught to fend for themselves.
Despite being offered help, six-year-olds
Janine Bryan* and Odel Morgan* thoroughly
washed their hair themselves. Unless there are
volunteers, the children help each other with
combing their hair. They help in the kitchen,
clean the schoolhouse, and sweep the yard, like
any child who has to do chores. In the classroom,
some children are still just as independent. Most
days, at least one teacher is absent, leaving one
child to supervise eight others.
In the schoolhouse, the children are surrounded
by charts of every subject and colour. They cover
the walls and hang from the ceiling.
Janine points to each one with a ruler almost as
tall as herself, leading her classmates in reciting
the words and numbers. When her classmates
misbehave, she assumes the role as teacher
and slaps them several times with her ruler;
copying the actions of her caregivers.
On another day, the teachers leave 10-year-olds
Ricardo Adams* and Wyatt to teach the “little
class” for the entire afternoon. Darlene Moore**
sat with the “big class”, teaching nine-year-old
Tavia Stephens*, two students with mental
disabilities, a boy with Down syndrome, and
several other children ages 10 to 13.
In the meantime, the boys teach ‘spelling’ to
three-year-old Rory Douglas* who, at times,
runs around excitedly. Six-year-olds Ashley
Beckham*, Noel and Janine*, rest their heads on
the desk. They sit beside Thomas, a hyperactive
boy who has never been to school, and six-yearold
Mikael*, who has a mental disability. By the
wall, 13-year-old Danielle Moses* sits quietly.
Newton informed CARIMAC Times that Danielle
has brain damage, a severe speech impediment,
a heart condition, and diabetes resulting from
her obesity. When she first came to Strathmore,
she could not speak, and due to her obesity,
could not run around like the other children.
In addition to her physical problems, Danielle
regularly steals items from the other children.
Crawford said they have tried to help her, but
their efforts have been futile.
Danielle stole snacks and four children descended
on her. They kicked her as she screamed.
Crawford looked on silently, a hint of exhaustion
on her face. Eventually, she intervened and
commanded them to move her so she does not
block the doorway. They drag Danielle out of
the way, but she remained on the floor. She fell
asleep and stayed in that one spot for the rest
of the afternoon.
41

Strathmore, being a place of safety, is not a
special needs home, but Newton said the Child
Development Agency (CDA) nonetheless sends
children with special needs there. Although
both teachers are trained and have worked at
Strathmore for a decade, they admit they are
not fully qualified to deal with special needs
children.
Newton said she has tried to enrol Danielle in
a school for children with disabilities, but the
paperwork and process has been slow due to
their dependence on CDA’s approval.
Until the CDA assesses them, and deems them
fit to leave, the children continue to be taught
together, in a disorganised environment,
sharing their conflicting backgrounds, and
limited resources.
Scarcity
Without the supervision of the teachers, classes
erupted into numerous squabbles for rubbers,
crayons, pencils, and books.
Outside the classroom, the children craved food,
toys, and more. They clung to this interviewer’s
leg and asked for money to buy bagged juice
from the nearby shop. Older children, while
less affectionate, pleaded for money, clothes
and accessories.
Allan Thomas was new at Strathmore when
CARIMAC Times visited. Without knowing
this interviewer’s name or purpose, he asked:
“Miss, yuh can buy mi a bag juice, please?” This
became his standard greeting at every visit.
Sharing and ownership are blurred concepts.
Some children bring clothes from home, but
eventually have to share with others. CARIMAC
Times brought a bundle of clothing to the home
and a girl was seen wearing a pair of shorts
from it an hour later.
When given markers, crayons and construction
paper, the children smiled and crowded around
to receive their gifts. Many, however, were
hesitant, looking up and meekly asking which
ones were theirs.
Others quickly lay claim to markers, causing
tension, disagreements and, at one point, a
physical fight between two girls. Jody King*
snatched the markers from her younger, mentally
challenged peer, Alicia Henry*. Brandishing her
fists, Henry screamed and attacked the other
girl. When Crawford came, she slapped Henry
and forced her to go to her room. That same
week, the girls fought again because King saw
Henry wearing her clothes.
The limited resources only continue to paint
the picture that nothing at Strathmore is ever
truly permanent. Children come and go. You
tuck your shoes away for another day. You
put your emotions on hold. Toys, books and
clothing are luxuries you share. But the scars
from the children’s past are ever present and
only continue to grow.
Lacking in love?
Crawford and Newton both rated parental
support three out of 10.
“Some parents are not loving; some parents
are not understanding,” Newton said.
“They don’t listen to their kids either and kids
haffi [have to] talk; kids have their right. And
42

sometimes, because the parents are not listening
to their kids, they tend to go out and find persons
who will listen to them. And because they will
listen to them, persons lead them in the wrong
way, and so they end up doing things [to their
own detriment]. So parents need to listen to
their kids more and they need to show their
kids more love.”
However, Dr. Gibbon said it is best some children
never see their parents at all.
“They usually could be the problem to why
they’re there in the first place … The child
might see their parents three times a year,
and they might be alright with that. But if it’s
unreliable, and they look forward to that time
and then it doesn’t happen, then that’s when the
real damage is done — when they’re promised
something that is not delivered.”
Crawford, Newton, and Moore all report they
came to Strathmore due to their love for children.
They agree it has been rough, especially with
older children who talk back to them, and
children with abusive backgrounds. The staff
at Strathmore hit the children, but they hug
them. They push them away, but sit by them
and share in their sadness. They shout at them,
but tend to their wounds. In many ways, the
staff are the parents — they try to be. And Dr.
Gibbon said, it is this bond that is necessary
for children like those at Strathmore.
“As long as a child has been given the tools and
the support to build their self-esteem, reach
their academic potential, eat right, sleep right,
wherever they are in the world they will thrive.
If you take any of those out of the equation, their
ability to function as normal human beings
decreases with each thing they don’t have. But
I would say belonging, feeling like you belong
somewhere, and people ‘own’ you, you’re part
of a family, is one of the most important things
to emotional health.”
43
Photo by Wayne Tippetts

A Parent’s Dream,
A Child’s Nightmare
Twenty-two-year-old Peta-gay Green* wore a smile. We were meeting for the first time and her
beady black eyes stared at me to confirm my identity. I greeted her with a smile. “I am Keshauna
Nichols,” I said. “I am Peta-gay, an actuarial science major from the Faculty of Science and
Technology,” she responded. Her teeth have a gap that complements her smile — a smile she said
turns into a frown each time she enters the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI).
Text by
44
Keshauna Nichols
Photo by Eline Hullebusch

on this campus reminds me of
how I have to endure doing subjects I
am not interested in doing; and the fact
that I have to come here and do them
stresses me out a lot. And then I become
“Being
depressed,” Green said.
Her life took a turn for the worse the day she decided
to give in to her mother’s aspiration of becoming an
actuary, abandoning her dream of studying forensic
science. She said, in order to cope with what she
described as stress and depression, she resorted
to an unhealthy and dangerous habit that nearly
led to her death.
She began smoking marijuana twice per day.
On the day Green nearly lost her life, she was at the
Department of Computing in the faculty surrounded
by her peers.
“I didn’t smoke [on the day], but I ate marijuana
brownies which are way more concentrated. Normally,
a person must not eat a lot of them, but I was very
stressed that day,” Green explained.
Nicolette Laird, one of Green’s close friends, said
after she ate the marijuana brownies, she began to
behave in an unusual way. Laird noted that Green
seemed to have not had much control over her limbs
or what she was saying. She said Green walked up
and down lurching as if she were a zombie. Then she
jumped high and low continuously and screamed at
people as they passed by, calling them names and
using expletives.
Green shared that after she stopped walking about
and jumping, her legs felt shaky and she thought
that she was running. Everything had been moving
fast around her. She eventually fell to the ground as
if having a seizure.
While unconscious, Green was taken to the University
Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). She was later
told she had overdosed on marijuana.
This story highlights the brutal realities of children
whose parents make attempts to live their dreams
vicariously through them — a practice that has
affected the lives of many people like Green.
A study conducted by Brad Bushman, a psychologist
at Ohio State University, and Eddie Brummelman,
a doctoral psychology student at Utrecht University,
found that some parents do hope to live out their
unfulfilled ambitions through their children. A total
of 73 parents — 89 per cent of whom are mothers of
children aged eight to 15 — participated in the study.
Bushman said the problem lies in the fact that “some
parents see their children as extensions of themselves,
rather than separate persons with their own dreams.”
The researchers concluded that the more parents
perceive their offspring to be extensions of themselves,
the greater the tendency to live their unachieved
aspirations through their children.
He said, when the child excels, the parent might
bask in the glory of the child’s accomplishment,
thereby losing some of the feelings of regret and
disappointment that he or she had from not achieving
similar goals earlier.
Moreover, Dr. Kai Morgan, clinical psychologist at
the UHWI, pointed out that unfilled desires form
part of the most predominant factors that cause a
number of parents to live their dreams indirectly
through their children.
“The parent may not have had their emotional needs
met when they were growing up and so, as an adult,
they try to fulfil this through their children.”
45

The Faculty of Science and Technology at
the University of the West Indies, Mona
Photo by Tori Haber
The decision
Green told CARIMAC Times that her mother made
the decision for her to pursue actuarial science, as
she wanted to become a teacher of mathematics
when she was younger. However, her mother, as a
girl, did not get the opportunity to do it because her
parents could not afford tertiary education.
She explained further that her mother loves mathematics
and would do anything related to the field. Green
shared that one day her mother was watching a
television programme in which the presenter spoke
about a lack of actuarial scientists in Jamaica. As the
presenter spoke about the criteria for profession,
her mother understood that it is math-based and,
therefore, thought of her daughter engaging in this
course of study.
Green’s eyes beamed with pride as she said her
mother is now a fashion designer. She pointed to
the black and white striped open-front cardigan
she wore. It was difficult to miss the hems as they
were done using white lace and adorned the bottom
of clothing. Her mother made it.
Dr. Angela Gordon Stair, senior counsellor at the
University of the West Indies Health Centre, said a
46

child could feel obligated to do what his or her parent
asks because they want to please him or her. As a
result, they become involved in careers that are of
little interest to them.
She mentioned an example of a student who was
enrolled at the Caribbean Institute of Media and
Communication (CARIMAC) because that was what
the parent wanted him/her to do. She added that,
while the child may have the technical capabilities
to do the work, he or she does not have the passion
for the particular area of study.
Green knew what it meant to lack passion, as the
sparkle disappeared from her eye when she said,
“I was upset because I didn’t want to do actuarial
science… I kept thinking that I was doing this to
make her happy. What if I failed? That’s not going
to make her happy. It was a really confusing period.”
The challenges of the course
Green had to read for economics, accounting, and
financial management courses, which made her
worry about failing because she was not familiar
with those subject areas. Prior to attending the UWI,
her educational background was characterised by
the natural sciences. She enjoyed doing chemistry,
biology and physics.
“I started to become stressed and depressed often.
I started to cry more than I normally do, especially
when I had to do an exam or presentation.”
The actuarial science major confessed that adapting
to the social sciences posed a great challenge for her.
She blamed her mother whenever it felt like she was
going to fail a subject.
Dorette Blake Campbell, a mother of one, quickly
changed her welcoming smile to a sad, concerned
look after being told Green’s story. She expressed that
she would never suggest or force her daughter to do
anything she did not have an interest in doing. She
added that a child should be able to speak with his
or her parent, tell him or her what he or she wants
to do and, regardless of what the child chooses, the
parent should encourage that child.
“It must have been a very stressful situation for the
child, and it is a bad decision on the part of the parent.”
Campbell commented.
‘Red flags’ everywhere: The aftermath
After Green was released from the hospital she
noticed that it was increasingly difficult for her to
focus and remember things. If someone shared his/
her name, she would have to ask him/her again five
minutes later.
In order to keep track of things, her phone became
her best friend, because she could not remember
people’s faces and phone numbers. She said this
condition affected her academic performance
immensely. Her mid-semester grades, especially,
showed the effects of her overdose on marijuana.
“My mid-semester grades were horrible. I kept scoring
ones and threes out of 15 and 30,” she said.
To find out the cause of the problem she faced, Green
did a computerised tomography, commonly known
as a CT scan, on her brain.
When the doctor told her had suffered brain damage,
Green said it felt as if she could not breathe.
The doctor explained to her that when she ate the
marijuana brownies, it caused a strain on her heart
47

“... I kept thinking that
I was doing this to make
her happy. What if I
fail?”

which damaged the nerves on the frontal lobe of her
brain, resulting in the symptoms she was experiencing.
She told CARIMAC Times that, at that moment, she
wondered if her life would ever go back to normal.
But when the doctor said the problem could be
corrected with a minor surgery, the joy she felt was
unexplainable.
“Even though I’m OK, most of the time, my fingers
tend to shake a lot,” she said while pointing to her
noticeably trembling fingers.
Green said, once the surgery was done, she began
therapy to help deal with the reason she started
smoking, and hoped it would help her to move past
her experiences. But she expressed that the hardest
part of her experience was facing the people who
saw her when she had the seizure.
She remembers one girl who said she screamed at
her and called her names and, as a result, the girl
refused to speak with her, although most people gave
her a hug and asked if she was doing well.
Despite Green’s experience, she still plans to study
forensic chemistry after she completes her degree
in actuarial science.
Almost bound by tradition
Sean-Michael Salter describes his parents as being
very traditional and controlling. He said both of his
parents are in the business field. His mother is a sales
representative and his father is an accountant. In
addition, his father is also the pastor of Praise Chapel
in Montego Bay and his mother is an evangelist.
He explained that when he was younger, his parents
made all the decisions in his life and he did not
mind. But, as he got older, instead of allowing him
to make his own decisions, they wanted to exercise
even more control over his life. A major decision his
parents made for him was with regard to his career
path. It was a decision he wished they did not make
and were not hell-bent on imposing on him.
He said his father has been an accountant for over 35
years and he does not see his children in any other
profession but accounting.
Twenty-three-year-old Salter said he was encouraged
by his father to do accounting from grade nine. He
added that he enjoyed the subject at the time because
it was new to him. But he realised, as time progressed,
he did not like it.
The seemingly shy young man spoke with conviction
when he said he does not want to become an
accountant like his father, nor does he want to do
anything in the business field. He wants to study to
become a graphic designer.
Salter said he was in sixth form when he told his
father he did not want to do accounting anymore.
He was having dinner with his family in the living
room. His father became extremely upset. The casual
conversation he had hoped to have with his father
turned into an argument. He said he quarrelled
with his father that day because he was frustrated.
“I was just tired of doing accounting. I didn’t want to
do it anymore,” he said in a sad tone.
Dr. Gordon Stair said a scientific term has not been
coined to refer to the practice of parents living their
dreams through their children, but psychologists
consider such parents to be “helicopter parents”.
“The parent is not only living their dreams vicariously
through their children but is also deeply involved in
49

the decision-making in the lives of their children in
a controlling way. If the child is to fill out a form to
go to college, the parent does this for them.”
She further explained that very often, these children
never get the chance to grow up. They also do not
know how to face the world and deal with challenges
because their parent has always been there doing
everything for them.
Frustrated and unhappy
Salter noted that he did research and presented
it to his parents in an effort to convince them that
graphic designing is what he wants to pursue. In the
research, which explicitly highlighted the passion he
had for this career, he presented information that
showed graphic designing is a feasible field, with
the availability of jobs, a decent salary and several
added benefits.
He had a look of despair on his face as he said his
parents were not convinced. At that time, his older
sister — who is an accountant in the United States
of America — was gaining a lot of success.
“It’s their money spending anyway, so I can’t really say
no or I am not doing this or doing that. I was just so
tired of trying and ended up doing what they want
me to do,” he said as he turned his head and looked
at the people walking by.
He said his father is a very stubborn person. After
finishing sixth form, he enrolled at the UWI and
started reading for an accounting degree, just like
his father wanted. His father was delighted, but he
was not.
During his first year at the UWI, he said he lived on
campus and did not speak with his parents for a year.
50

“I did not go home. And when they called, I did not
answer my phone. I did not care because I was not
happy about how things turned out,” he said.
Dr Gordon Stair said some children are able to cope
with the problems associated with trying to fulfil their
parents’ dreams, but there are those who do not cope.
“Some of them may become unhappy … and depressed.
Some children see it as ‘this is what my parents want
me to pursue, and as long as they have the power, I
am going to do it. But as soon as I am finished, I am
going to do what I want to do’, ” she said.
She mentioned a number of cases of which she is
aware: a student who completed medical school
but never practised a day of medicine, and another
student who completed two years of medical school,
got straight A’s but stopped because it was what
the parent wanted. It was not what they wanted for
themselves.
In addition, Dr. Richard Horowitz, founder of
Family Centered Parenting, located in Florida, said
in an article titled, ‘Some Parents Live Out Dreams
Through Their Children — Study Confirms’, that a
child’s accomplishments can serve as validation for
a mother or father’s parenting.
A recent survey he conducted on high school coaches
revealed that parents who wanted to become an
athlete were the most difficult to deal with. These
are the parents who are living through their children
to enhance their self-worth.
Currently, Salter is a postgraduate student at the UWI.
He graduated from the undergraduate programme
in October 2015 and is now pursuing his master’s
degree in accounting.
Salter said he performed better in his courses that
had nothing to do with accounting. He admitted that
he did not fail any of his courses, but his performance
did not reflect his full capabilities.
“Most of these children are extremely smart people
who can do well in any field. There are also those
who are extremely bright people who refuse to do
well because it is their way of rebellion,” said Dr.
Gordon Stair.
Salter said he is warming up to the idea of becoming
an accountant.
“We are in a society now where jobs are hard to find,
but most of the jobs available are accounting jobs
or business based jobs… I have come to accept that
even though I don’t love it and it’s not my passion, I
might have to do it for a period of time before I get
to do what I really want to do,” he said.
However, he said he has been searching for a job
in accounting, but he is yet to find one. He shared
that if he had done graphic designing he would not
be searching for a job because, upon leaving Edna
Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts,
he would be able to create a job for himself.
“There are many party promoters who want their
flyers to be done. Many businesses want to advertise
their products and services. Many people who have
online businesses want someone to monitor their
website for them. Many manufacturing companies
want someone to design their product [packaging].
And there are many real estate companies who want
someone to design houses for them,” he said. Graphic
designing does not mean documents only. It goes way
beyond that, he assured. It can be industrial design,
technical design, among other things.
51

As he spoke, the passion he had for this field was
evident in his voice.
“My parents are kinda one-sided. They don’t consider
anything else. I used to complain to my art teacher
a lot in high school, but he used to say it’s best if I
adhere to what they want.”
The young accountant said, despite all his studies,
he plans to pursue graphic designing in the future,
after he works as an accountant for 10 years.
Neville McIntosh, a parent, told CARIMAC Times with
great pride that he is 100 per cent not in support of
those parents who tend to live their dreams through
their children.
When asked if he would force his children to do
what he wants them to do, he replied, “A parent
can provide their children with advice, but it’s the
children’s decision to choose what he/she wants
to become in life, whether it is a doctor or teacher.”
CARIMAC Times asked, “Do you have a son?”
“No,” he replied.
“If you had a son, would you convince him to become
an electrician like yourself?”
He echoed the answer “No” three times.
“But if my son grew up with me, seeing what I do
and if he likes what I do, he can do what I do. But
I don’t think I would convince or force him to do
what I am doing.”
Nineteen-year-old Joshanna Anderson is a first-year
student at the UWI in the Faculty of Humanities and
Education, the faculty in which a majority of her
family members have sought to pursue a career.
She said that practice has become mandatory for
all family members, including her.
She said while most of her friends wanted to attend
university and study to become accountants, social
workers and lawyers but not her; she wanted to
become a cosmetologist and a fashion designer.
Anderson said she plans to own a beauty salon
someday. She stated that her interest in cosmetology
came from dressing up, putting lipstick on her doll
and combing their hair when she was younger.
However, her plan of becoming a salon owner will
have to wait until she completes her Bachelor of Arts
in Literatures in English.
Anderson’s mother insists that she studies to become
a teacher since it is a profession that most of the
females in their family, including her grandmother,
cousin and older sister, have done. Furthermore,
Anderson mentioned that her mother wanted to
become a teacher but did not get to because of
reasons she did not wish to reveal.
Dr. Kai Morgan said the theory of cognitive behavioural
perspective can be used to explain the behaviour
of some parents who live vicariously through their
children. The theory explains that the parent may
have some automatic negative thoughts about his/her
experience and this may cause him/her discomfort
because he/she did not live up to that expectation.
The cognitive behavioural theory speaks about the
person who is the parent having a thought, which
produces a feeling, and then this feeling produces
a particular behaviour.
“The thought of the parent may be ‘I have not lived up
to an expectation’ and the feeling would be that ‘I am
52

saddened and disappointed by that’. The behaviour
is, ‘OK, I am going to push my children to make sure
that they do not have a similar experience’,” she said.
A burdensome and stressful time
When her mother told her that she should become
a teacher instead of a cosmetologist, Anderson said
it was stressful for her. She added that, although she
had the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate
(CSEC) subjects that would allow her to matriculate
into the teaching department at the UWI, it was not
something she found interesting.
She admitted that being at the UWI and pursing this
degree feels like a burden to her.
She said most of the time she feels depressed
because she is not passionate about what she is doing.
Anderson opened up about her feelings of sadness
and loneliness. She developed a tendency to cry
when she has coursework that is not yet completed
but is almost due.
“It’s a strain on me, because it’s not like tomorrow I
can say I have a new client to work with to try new
stuff or do a new design.”
Anderson said her mother chose her older sister’s
career as well. Her sister wanted to become a
veterinarian, but from the ninth grade, she was told
to aspire to teach.
Dr. Gordon Stair said there is no distinct career field
that most parents want their children to pursue.
However, she said many parents do not want their
children to become involved in the music industry,
but there are some parents who do and will, therefore,
try to fulfil their dreams there too.
53

“I would love to
see those parents
encouraging their
children to do and be
the best ...”

Anderson giggled as she said her mother is what
she would describe as ‘bossy’. She said she is only
doing literatures in English to make her mother feel
happy and proud.
With a smile, she said, if she completes her degree in
literatures in English, she does not plan to use it in
the future. Anderson did not hide the fact that there
is a chance she could change her major in her second
or third year of study because it is a burden to her.
The practice of parents living their dreams through
their children, Dr. Gordon Stair said, is not uncommon.
She also acknowledged the fact that there are also
parents who have aspirations for their children but
do not force it on them. She conceded, though, by
noting that there are still quite a few parents who
are trying to make their children into replicas of
themselves.
intention of wanting what the parent sees as being
best for the child. In some instances, though, it could
be regarded as abuse out of ignorance. People don’t
recognise the harm that they can create. “I just want
what’s best for my child”, is the typical statement you
will hear in defence from parents.
Dr. Gordon Stair’s advice to parents who have a
tendency to stifle their children’s input in what
career path they take is: “I would love to see those
parents encouraging their children to do and be the
best at what the child wants to be and not what they
want them to be.”
*Name changed to protect identity
“I can’t speak for the entire Caribbean, but if the
students who I see here are anything to go by, I do
see kids coming from other islands who are doing
courses that they don’t necessarily want to be involved
in but are doing it because their parents hold the
power (purse) strings.”
She explained that gender may have something to
do with the likelihood of a boy or a girl doing what
the parents says.
“Chances are girls are more likely [to agree]. I don’t
have any statistics to back that up, but my intuitive
feeling is that girls are more likely to please others.
We have socialised our women into thinking they
are to please everybody, compared to a male.”
She said the practice may be considered abuse
depending on the situation. Oftentimes it is the
55

Living On
Neglect
The gate is ajar and unmanned. Nurses are hustling to different rooms with servings of
cornmeal porridge while Rafael Wright, a man with a physical disability, lies on a cot
covered by a discoloured sheet. He lies in silence with his eyes closed. His ‘solitude’ is
interrupted to feed him his breakfast.
Text by
56
Rasheda Myles

Wright was the last of 30 residents
to be fed, and his serving of
porridge was cold; cold until
it began to sweat and curdle.
The meal was an undesirable
meal, but it was all that was provided. Half an
hour later, the bowl was empty and he went
back to a foetal position.
From its White Marl, St. Catherine location, the
St. Monica’s Home for the Aged provides what
food and shelter it can to elderly residents who
are homeless and or have been abandoned. The
brown and yellow-painted facility on Mandela
Highway has only 10 rooms to accommodate
its many residents.
The male and female wards stand opposite each
other and three people are made to share a
room. Each room is outfitted with three cots
and a ceiling fan. There are two bathrooms and
both are situated at the end of the wards. The
privately operated facility also has an office, a
washroom and a recreational area, although
the latter is hardly used by the residents.
Similar to other nursing homes, St. Monica’s
fails to provide the quality of care that elderly
residents deserve.
The scent of a mixture of urine, filth and sweat
lingers in some rooms of the facility. Swarms
of flies were an ever-present visual. The flies
would attack uncovered food and drink left by
residents, presumably to be consumed at a later
time. Flies found landing spots on the lips and
faces of residents. Workers and visitors were
not spared the nuisance.
Eighty-year-old Allan Edge was sitting in a
wheelchair with no shoes as the flies swarmed
his dirty dress pants that he had been wearing
for a week. He remained unbothered by the
insects pitching on his lips and dirt-crusted toes,
as there were no visible attempts to repel them.
Instead, he continued to look at the passing
cars in silence.
Analyses of Jamaican media content would highlight
that neglect of the elderly is not uncommon
in nursing homes across the island. In 2011,
a newspaper article exposed the inhumane
treatment of residents at the governmentoperated
Vineyard Town Golden Age Home in
St. Andrew. They found that “several disabled
residents were left to wallow on dirty floors and
there were more flies than the 427 residents
living there at the time”.
Unsanitary conditions is but one of the challenges
that plague nursing homes in Jamaica and, as a
result, health inspectors are tasked with ensuring
that conditions in these facilities are conducive
to a healthy lifestyle.
Jean Scott, supervisor at the St. Monica’s Home
for the Aged, said health inspectors visit the
home every six months and three janitors are
employed by the facility.
One of the three, Tanya Daley, works from 6:00am
to 3:00pm each day. She told CARIMAC Times
that staff are required to clean twice per day
and she does so in the mornings and afternoons.
However, during a month-long stay at the home,
the floors were observed being mopped only
once each day.
57

Photo by Sherrice Lewis
Asked about this, Daley responded, “I am not
the only one who should mop …” and abruptly
walked away.
Unhygienic
Notwithstanding the near-unbearable stench, St.
Monica’s is home to several unsanitary conditions,
including beds that are dressed in dirty sheets.
It was Friday when CARIMAC Times walked into
his pink-painted room and found Rafael Wright
lying on the same striped blue sheet that was on
his bed the week before. It had stains from the
stewed pork meal and Kool-Aid drink that had been
served at the start of the week.
But Wright was not the only one who slept on dirty
sheets, as a CARIMAC Times investigation unearthed
other instances where other residents at the home
slept on soiled sheets for more than a week.
Like Vineyard Town Golden Aged Home and St.
Monica’s, the St. Catherine Infirmary operates under
conditions that leave much to be desired. Visits to
the facility that is also a state-run nursing home,
revealed that its facade is well-kept, but a further
look inside the residents’ quarters revealed heartrending
conditions. The floors were stained with
dirt and, like St. Monica’s, there was an abundance
of flies.
At the St. Catherine Infirmary and St. Monica’s
58

Home for the Aged, a frowsy odour hung in
the air and seemed to cling to the residents.
From what I observed, Wright, who has been
at St. Monica’s for over seven months, only
had his clothes changed twice per week within
the month under observation. Throughout this
time, his nails had darkened with dirt.
But he is not the only resident who faced this
ordeal, as the same were the circumstances for
other male residents, such as George Stanbury
and Allan Edge, who both wore the same clothes
for no less than a week.
Residents with physical disabilities, Wright,
Edge and Stanbury need special assistance to
move around. As a result, they depended on
caregivers for baths, food, and to take them to
the bathroom to relieve themselves. Without
this assistance, they remain dirty, as was often
the case.
Challenges to proper care
In an article published last year under the
headline ‘Nurses in Aged Care’, medical doctor
Michael Wynne said, “Businessmen would create
and promote the myth that you do not need
training to wipe bottoms, feed, lift, and hand out
pills to people, and that employing expensive
trained staff was inefficient and wasteful.” These
“businessmen” then hire cheap, underqualified
staff who have no motivation to care for residents
who rely on their expertise.
But not all nurses buy into the neglect of their
patients as Wynne suggested. One nurse at St.
Monica’s said, her work was driven by her love
and passion for the elderly.
Jodine Taylor*, a practical nurse at the facility,
defended herself by insisting that she bathes her
three patients every day and routinely changes
their clothes.
“In my first week, I found filth in my patient’s
room one morning when I came, and it was
there from the night before because the nurse
who worked the night shift didn’t want to clean
it,” Taylor added.
Nurses being unable to properly tend to their
patients is another issue that affects the quality
of care elderly residents receive at nursing
homes in Jamaica.
Wynne reported in his article that studies show
the quality and level of training of staff affect
the standard of care given at nursing homes.
He added that there is a reluctance to pay staff
adequately and, as a result, staff are unwilling
to care for residents sufficiently.
While cheaper, underqualified staff benefit the
business, it is only to the detriment of residents.
But Taylor said money is not her reason for
doing her job as required.
“The money isn’t everything, I love what I do, and
I do it well because I know that sickness is not
something you buy, and everyone needs to be
treated with love and dignity,” Taylor explained.
In addition to unhygienic conditions and
inadequate care, residents at nursing homes
such as St. Monica’s also face improper nutrition.
The residents there receive three meals per
day: breakfast, lunch and supper.
59

Jean Scott, supervisor at St. Monica’s, said there
are two chefs employed to the home. The chefs
have the responsibility to create a menu for the
week based on the food that is available.
On some mornings, I witnessed the combination
of tinned mackerel and white hard dough bread
or frankfurters mixed with beans, being served
for breakfast. Also festival and callaloo with fried
dumplings were served to residents. On other days,
there were no vegetables to balance the starchheavy
meals.
A 2010 study conducted by the United States National
Library of Medicine (NLM) found that “despite
high prevalence rates among geriatric patients,
malnutrition and nutrition-related problems are
rarely recognised and treated.”
Rafael Wright was given his share of a cold mackerel
sandwich, and his disapproval was evident.
“A weh yuh get this yah from ah come gi me?” Wright
asked with knitted brows.
“No sah, ah must outa road yuh tek up dis an’ ah
come gi me.”
Since the residents at the facility are homeless
and abandoned, the operator of the home does
not receive any assistance from their relatives. As
a result, providing regular nutritious meals is one
of the greater challenges of the facility.
“Our food comes from donations from different
sponsors... The rest, like callaloo, would come from
our garden,” Scott informed.
Ravon Brooks has been a chef at St. Monica’s for one
and a half years. He prepares whatever is available
and it is shared among staff members and residents,
some of whom are hypertensive and/or diabetic.
60

“I don’t use a lot of seasoning and salt when I
am cooking, I just add a little bit and anybody
who think dem food fresh can add salt to it,”
Brooks said in defence. But he would not say
how he catered to diabetic residents.
It is not just nutrition but also the overall health
of residents in nursing homes that is concerning.
According to the American National Institute of
Health (NIH), researchers Ana Montoya and Lona
Mody, found that the most common complications
in nursing homes include gastroenteritis, influenza
and skin infections.
At St. Monica’s, 93-year-old Rupert Dailey
suffered from gastroenteritis for three days
while another resident, Daphne Brown, had
the flu for four days.
Unlike Dailey and Brown who had speedy recovery
periods, 85-year-old Beryl Johnson had the flu
for more than eight days.
There are two doctors assigned to the facility;
a medical doctor and a dermatologist who visit
monthly to check up on residents. In case of
emergencies, residents are transported to the
Spanish Town Hospital.
In her eighth day of having the flu, Beryl Johnson
sat outside her room in a rocking chair. She
was slouching in the chair, resting her head
against the wall beside her.
“Hello, Ms Beryl. How are you?”
“Not too well, I still have the flu,” she responded
in a frail voice.
“Have you seen a doctor?”
“No, but I took some pills; but they’re not working.
I feel so weak,” she said in the same tone.
Culture of neglect
Health conditions of residents vary at the home.
There are residents who have difficulty seeing
and the assistance they receive from nurses is
insufficient and next to nonexistent.
One such resident is 90-year-old Sonia Thompson.
She was left to go to the bathroom by herself,
and oftentimes, she would walk into a wall or
an object due to her poor vision.
I watched her fumble from her room, bumping
into people and objects as she used the wall
and chairs as guides and support to find her
way to the bathroom.
“Nurse, mi reach di bathroom yet?” Thompson
asked loudly.
“Yes, you’re right there,” caregiver Tanya Daley
responded.
She walked away without assisting Thompson
to the stall.
Thompson fumbled for about five more minutes
until she reached inside and got to use the
bathroom.
Thompson is not the only one who is neglected
in this way by workers, as Beryl Johnson, who fell
and broke her hip before coming to St. Monica’s,
faces a similar situation.
Johnson’s hip is not fully healed so she walks
in a hunched position to get things done.
61

Photo by Jennifer Smith Green
Seven minutes had passed and Johnson was
still trying to take up her hot cup of mint tea
and her serving of stewed peas that she had just
warmed herself. In one hand, she tried to hold
the cup and in the other she held the plate. As a
result, she could not find the space to hold the
cane she used to walk. Several nurses walked
by without providing any assistance or giving
her as much as a second glance.
“Thank you very much,” Johnson said when
assisted by CARIMAC Times.
“Are you new here?” Johnson asked. “… you helped
me, so you must be new, because the other
nurses would just walk pass like they always
do,” Johnson added in a quiet voice.
Jean Scott spoke about the lack of family support
residents receive at St. Monica’s Home for the
Aged. She added that elders are not able to
share in the joys with their family and loved
ones during holidays, or share in the sorrows
during moments of sadness because they are
abandoned.
“Some residents here are homeless while others
are taken here by their relatives and from the
62

day they left them here, they [relatives] don’t
return. Everything we have here is people donate
it,” Scott said.
Rupert Dailey is one such resident who has
been neglected by his relatives. He was taken
to St. Monica’s by his daughter who, after eight
months, still has not returned to visit him.
Beryl Johnson shares a similar experience as
she claimed her brother only visits when he
wants her to sign a document that would give
him authority over her finances and assets.
“Him only call when him want mi sign over my
bank account; but I won’t do it, so he said he’s
not coming back,” Johnson said.
“My niece, Stephanie, she would call but she is
going overseas now so I won’t see her again,”
Johnson continued.
Another resident left her house to come and
stay at St. Monica’s in hope of getting better
treatment than she was getting at home.
telling people that they are not caring for her.
“I would come to St. Monica’s in the day and stay
here just because I was lonely at home and I
asked Nurse Scott if she had any vacancy and
she said when she does she will call me. I got
the call nine months ago and I’ve been here
since,” Brown recalled with teary eyes.
Brown shared that her brother told her with
certainty that he would not visit her at St. Monica’s
because she left their home on her own free will.
“I sit right here and watch my brother and my
sister-in-law drive pass here every day, and
none of them stop, because them have me up
[disapprove]. I just pray that God be with them,
because they don’t know how much they are
hurting me. It is God who keep me each day,”
Brown reasoned as tears welled up in her eyes.
*Name changed to protect identity
“My husband died and I got chikungunya and I
couldn’t really walk around the house anymore,”
Daphne Brown told CARIMAC Times.
“I was making some tea one morning and I felt
dizzy and the hot water spilled over and burned
me on my legs because I fell while pouring the
water. I had to call my neighbour for help and
she couldn’t stay with me very long because
she had work,” Brown said.
Brown said her brother came to visit her a
week after the incident and told her that she
should stop making the family look bad by
63

On the Edge of Hope
Imagine having three or more children and being paid $6200 [Jamaican dollars] a week.
Do you think this amount can provide a satisfactory standard for living?
Text by Keshauna Nichols
Photo by
64
Keshauna Nichols

Claudette Moncrieffe sat on her
verandah clad in a blue blouse
and jeans skirt. Her dark, heavy
eyes were small and spaced evenly
apart on her circular face as they
stared like darts.
The laughter of children can be heard in the
distance as they play in the street in Moncrieffe’s
community of Hermitage, St. Andrew.
Her sturdy figure shuffled in the seat a number
of times and finally got still when she seemed
comfortable. Then she extended her right arm
upward and moved a lock of hair from the front
of her face.
She makes eye contact. Her voice, soft and low,
reveals the number she wants to be remember
— $6,500.
That is the amount she is paid per week for
working 40 hours at a wholesale store in
downtown Kingston.
Moncrieffe told CARIMAC Times that she works
five days per week, sometimes six, depending
on the work schedule. Yet, she is unable to make
ends meet. The amount she earns is not enough
to take care of her and her family.
“Di amount weh mi mek weekly cyaan [cannot]
pay mi bills, send mi son go school, buy
food, and pay mi bus fare fi go back ah work,”
Moncrieffe said.
The 40-year-old lives in a blue and white house
that has a small piece of tarpaulin hoisted at the
right side of the verandah. In the four-bedroom
house, Moncrieffe and her two sons occupy one
room. The elder of her two children is Ricardo
Campbell. He is 25 years old. Her second child,
Mark Finson* is 12 years of age.
However, Moncrieffe is not the only person
whose insufficient income directly affects his
or her quality of life.
Twenty-year-old Danielle Phang is also a lowincome
single parent from the community of
Hermitage. She has one child, Jerome Mitchell*.
He is eight years old.
The income both women earn, coupled with
the high cost of living, has placed them at a
great disadvantage in caring for their families.
And they have decided to share their stories
which highlight some of the challenges faced
by low-income families across Jamaica.
According to a research carried out by the Urban
Institute in Washington, DC, United States of
America, a vast majority of low-income families
today are working but still struggling to survive.
They find it difficult to keep up with their bills,
including paying for health care and housing.
Their ability to provide opportunities for the
children they raise is markedly compromised.
They are also more financially vulnerable.
In addition, the Urban Institute has found
that low hourly wages account for why these
working-poor families have low incomes.
A country’s national minimum wage is a major
determinant of the standard of living its citizens
can afford. In Jamaica, the National Minimum
Wage was recently increased from $5,600 to
$6,200 for a 40-hour workweek, while the
minimum wage for industrial security guards
moved from $8,198 to $8,854.
65

Moncrieffe noted that her weekly income plays
a significant role in her inability to adequately
provide for her family.
“If mi did ave ah betta job, mi wudda can gi mi son,
Devani bus fare everyday so ‘im nuh haffi ah walk
to an from school inna di hot sun wen mi nuh ave
it. Mi olda son, Ricardo, coulda guh university guh
study an betta ‘imself insteada fi ah work and buil’
people house,” Moncrieffe shared.
The single parent of two said she does her best
to stretch the dollar by purchasing items that are
low-priced, such as chicken back and neck, retail
oil and syrup, and cheaper brands of tinned foods.
She admitted that sometimes she wants to buy extra
items but cannot because the money is not enough.
Data from Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) study
done in 2014, titled ‘The Current and Emerging
Vulnerability in Jamaica’, provides empirical
evidence that citizens in Jamaica are living in
poverty. The study found that the percentage of
the population living below the poverty line in
Jamaica increased to 17.6 in 2010 from 16.5 in 2009.
In addition, it concluded that poverty is higher in
female-headed households. And the average per
person consumption is lower in female-headed
households than that of male-headed households.
Phang, who is a certified cosmetologist, specialising
in hairdressing, works from home and sometimes
at her mother’s hair salon in her community. The
young hairdresser said she works every day of the
week, that is, as long as work is available.
She added that though there are times when business
is promising, there are also instances when what
she earns is insufficient to take care of her family.
66
Photo by Varun Baker

“Inna di holidays di business move fast, but
differently from dat, sometimes all days mi
deh ere and nothing. Sometimes mi do all
construction work cuz mi ave ah cousin weh
a di boss. When ‘im get like any likkle work
‘im always like bring mi on it, and dat’s how
sometimes I see my way through,” Phang
explained.
When work is unavailable in hairdressing
or construction, Phang said she engages in
bartending.
Environment and security
The walk from the University of the West Indies
(UWI), Mona Campus, to the community of
Hermitage, reveals the socio-economic conditions
prevalent in this community. There were no
grand mansions adorned by picket fences,
extravagant swimming pools, well-manicured
lawns and well-kept gardens.
The walk to Moncrieffe and Phang’s house
reveals the challenges of the residents. A large
unfinished church, built on a hill, could be seen
from afar. It was located at the entrance of the
community on the left side of the road. The
church sat opposite a sign made from concrete
that was approximately three feet tall. It read
‘Welcome to Hermitage’.
The sign had holes, and the edges seem to
have been abraded. The paint on its surface
had faded and begun to peel, which made the
letters less visible.
Joy Harrison, a social worker with the Department
of Community Health and Psychiatry at the
UWI, Mona, said the environment in which
an individual is raised can affect his or her
development socially and/or psychologically.
According to Harrison, if a person grows up
in a nurturing environment, he/she is more
likely to become nurturing. On the flip side, if a
person grows up in an aggressive environment,
he/she is more likely to become aggressive.
“People learn what they see, and children are
very impressionable ... Whatever is in the
environment, it impacts them,” Harrison said.
Walking on the sidewalk, I realised that some
sections were badly damaged. The wind created
a blanket of dust over everything. Plastic
bottles, juice bags, and other garbage were
inappropriately disposed of in the community.
Goat, dog and cow faeces with swarms of flies
were also seen.
Most houses were built from blocks and steel,
but some from board. Vibrant, warm, and dark
colours were used to paint the outside of the
houses; some were slightly faded while others
were freshly painted. The houses were built in
different shapes and sizes, each with its own
unique personality. Sheets of zinc were used
in some of the yards as perimeter fencing.
A number of the houses had small shops made
of board. The shops appeared to be places of
relaxation for residents. Mostly men were seen
gathered at the shops talking, laughing and
smoking. They were dressed in jeans, some
cut at the knee, mesh ‘merinos’ [tank tops],
T-shirts, sneakers and slippers. Their hair was
in cornrows, plaited or cut low. The stud gold
or silver diamond earring in a few of their ears,
glistened in the sun. And the dark ink from the
67

Photo by Keshauna Nichols
tattoo designs on some of their skin was more
visible because of skin bleaching.
The smell of marijuana lingered in the air. It
was strongest when passing some of the board
shops.
The activities that are done by some residents
in a community may influence the behaviour
of others, especially children. In communities
where bleaching, smoking and scamming are
prevalent, this can have a positive or negative
impact on the children who live there, Harrison
commented.
“Children may look at someone who is a scammer
and imitate the person because his/her standard
of living is higher than theirs, while some
might look and say ‘I don’t want to be like that
because it is illegal’.”
The small house in which Moncrieffe lives
is separated from her neighbour’s by a wall.
From the gate a concrete walkway leads to
the verandah. A white three-seater chair, with
cushions, occupied a large section of the space
on the verandah. And most of the yard space at
the back of the house was being used to build
additional rooms.
Moncrieffe shares the home with her mother,
father and two older brothers. The house
68

has piped water and electricity. A queen-size
and single bed takes up most of the space in
Moncrieffe’s room. A dark brown chest of
drawers with small scratches on it, two large
plastic clothes baskets, a black standing fan
and a shoe rack occupy the remaining space.
The crowded room is a major problem for
Moncrieffe. She said her wish is to have her
own home so that she is able to provide a safe
living environment for her family. In addition,
she wants to have her own space.
Moncrieffe said sometimes she would like to
relax and have a moment to herself but is unable
to because someone is normally in the room.
Phang’s house is located further in the community,
close to a place called Goldsmith Villa. The view
of the house was slightly blocked by two mango
trees on both sides. A lit garbage heap on the
left side of the house filled the air with smoke.
When CARIMAC Times arrived at the house,
Phang, her best friend, and a cousin were
chatting and eating a meal of steamed fish and
rice. Toys, bottles, slippers and other objects
were scattered on the brown soil in the yard.
The wall of the verandah had tiny blood stains
from dead mosquitoes, dirt, pencil and pen
marks all over. Educational charts with the
alphabet, counting numbers, animals, and
shapes were taped on the left side of the wall.
A baby creeped on the verandah floor that was
covered by red polish.
As with Moncrieffe, Phang lived in one room with
her son. The house had the basic amenities of
water and electricity, along with Internet access.
Nine people live in the four-bedroom house.
Phang’s room had a queen-size bed, dresser,
television, a tall three-layered glass stand with
framed pictures of her son, a plastic chair,
clothes baskets, and a standing fan.
Harrison explained further that families from
lower socio-economic stratum normally have
improper accommodation, poor nutrition,
large households, and low educational levels.
“They get by even though they might be in a
depressed community and their dwelling might
not look at a standard where we consider them to
be of good stock. You find that sometimes, more
often than not, they do have basic amenities,”
Harrison said.
Russell Percival Clayton said he is proud resident
of Hermitage. He has been living there for over
50 years and describes himself as one of the
founding residents. The community, he said,
used to be a wonderful place to live and raise
a family, but politics created a divide among
the residents, which increased the occurrence
of crime and violence.
Clayton told CARIMAC Times that the community
lacks social facilities that can provide cocurricular
activities and impart positive values
and attitudes.
“There used to be a park where people hang
out and relax, but Hurricane Gilbert came and
destroyed it. After the hurricane no one fixed
the park, so people build house and shop on
the land.”
He explained that the late sociologist Professor
Alston “Barry” Chevannes of the UWI, established
69

social programmes in the community. He got
members, especially the young people, involved
in acting. They would perform at the theatre
facility on UWI’s Mona Campus and in venues
across different parishes.
He added that this initiative had a positive
impact on the community because it kept
young residents meaningfully occupied; kept
them out of trouble.
Education
Moncrieffe and Phang believe that in order for
their children to be successful, they must also
be educated.
Moncrieffe’s son, Finson, is a grade six student
at the Mona Heights Primary School. He will be
doing the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in
March. She said she tries her best to ensure that
he attends school every day. However, that is
not always possible since there are times when
she has no money. When money is available, she
gives him $200 to $250 to buy lunch and pay for
transportation. At times, when she gives him
money, she gives him snacks and water as well.
She said, at the beginning of the school year,
when she gets a booklist, she would ask the
teacher what are the most important books
and then she seeks to get or buy those second
hand in the community.
Fabian Mahabeer, principal of the Mona Heights
Primary School, said the academic performance of
students from low-income families is negatively
affected in a number of ways.
“You will find a number of students who don’t
70
Photo by Marlon James
Photo by Keshauna Nichols

come to school with the required learning
materials ... You will find that students don’t
attend school as regular as they ought to. And
you will also find that students don’t perform as
well, given they don’t have the right nutritional
needs in order to enhance their education,”
Mahabeer said.
Moncrieffe sends her son to extra lessons at
Mona Heights Primary at a cost of $700 for
four days. She does it because she is usually
not around to help him.
Finson told CARIMAC Times that he wants to
attend Jamaica College, which is located on Old
Hope Road in Mona because “it is the better
school”. However, for his mother, it is the bus
fare cost that is important in deciding which
school he attends.
“Mi want him pass for a school where ‘im tek
only one bus guh and one come back home,”
Moncrieffe reasoned.
Meanwhile, Finson said he wants to become a
pilot or a soldier.
Harrison said being born into a low-income
family does not necessarily affect a person’s
chance of breaking the cycle of poverty. It all
depends on their personality, temperament
and what the person wants to achieve in life.
She gave examples of students who are from
low-income families who attend the UWI and
work relentlessly to better their lives. One case
speaks of a student in the medical sciences who
has received a scholarship. She works full-time
and is a full-time student. That student also
sends her younger brother to school, and takes
care of her mother and other family members.
The caveat is that she does not get enough
sleep because of work and school. But she still
manages to push forward.
“There are cases where the resilience factor is
so strong that the child says, ‘Listen, I know I
am not gonna be poor always. I am not gonna
stay here,’ and so this child does well because
this child is internally motivated to do well,”
Harrison continued.
Phang’s son, Mitchell is in the second grade.
She describes him as a very shy child and, as
a result, he does not participate in class, or
school activities. However, she said he is doing
well in school.
“I don’t see what he doesn’t know. He is not slow;
very quick on things,” Phang beamed.
Her face reflected the pride she felt as he
advised that his school average is 88 per cent.
Two years ago she gave him a tablet for his
birthday. She said she wants him to use it for
school and his own enjoyment.
“Mi buy it because like wen ‘im get projects and
all those things, I can go on it and look up it.
And sometimes wen ‘im get a word and don’t
know di meaning, ‘im can just Google it and find
what’s the meaning of the word and so forth.
He is a child like dat enuh. If ‘im see a word an
don’t know it, ‘im is like ‘mom, mommy what
is the meaning of dat word, or wat dat word
mean?’” Phang explained.
She noted that shortly after she bought him
the tablet, she installed the Internet at home.
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Dr. Tana Ricketts Roomes
Photo by Keshauna Nichols
The main reason was also to help her son with his
homework.
“Wen im get di projects dem, mi nuh haffi go to no
library or Internet café,” Phang said.
However, paying the Internet bill is a problem for
Phang, because she does not have the money to do
so sometimes. But her family members try to pay
whenever she is unable to.
Harrison said there are a number of government
initiatives that provide support to these families,
including the Programme of Advancement Through
Health and Education (PATH). They give cash grants
every two months to children between ages six and
18, sometimes older if attending a governmentfunded
secondary institution. The Cost Sharing
programme in schools is a component of the PATH.
It provides children with a warm meal at school.
The Poor Relief Department also operates another
programme that helps with back-to-school supplies
for children.
Health
Moncrieffe said the health of her family is very
important, but she is unable to properly care for
their health the way she wants. She said the money
she earns is spent on food, bills, transportation,
and school.
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Dr. Tana Ricketts Roomes, medical officer in
the Department of Community Health and
Psychiatry, concurred that low-income families
are unable to adequately cater to their family’s
health needs.
“Family members who are employed often have
jobs that are very low paying and health care is
expensive. This tends to hamper their healthseeking
behaviour.”
Roomes added that low-income family health is
also affected by the levels of education received,
as it tends to affect their health literacy. This
is the ability to understand their conditions
when it is explained to them, make decisions
and follow up on instructions that are given
by the doctor.
Both Moncrieffe and Phang were asked: “How
often does your family visit the doctor for a
check-up?”
Moncrieffe said her family does not visit the
doctor very often, but Phang said she tries to
visit the doctor at least once a year.
According to Ricketts Roomes, a lack of visits to
a doctor can lead to poor health conditions and
poor management, especially in children. She
said, if children do not visit a doctor for regular
check-ups, they could become malnourished,
especially if the parent does not know what he
or she is doing. This can affect their growth and
development, especially with regard to learning.
Adults, on the other hand, may develop noncommunicable,
chronic illnesses such as
diabetes and hypertension from their eating
habits and lifestyle.
Moncrieffe said her family only visits the doctor
when someone is very ill.
Ricketts Roomes said patients from low-income
families tend to visit the doctor only when they
are seriously ill, rather than as a way to ensure
they are maintaining good health.
Despite this, she said when it comes to
immunisation, the parents tend to make it a
priority to take their child to the health centre
to get vaccinated. At the age of six, when the
child is fully immunised, the visits begin to
decrease.
“They are not the major concern because they tend
to focus on their children a lot, and, sometimes
to the neglect of themselves; because they have
to choose ‘is it my child or me?’ Sometimes
that’s what happens, especially with the women,”
Ricketts Roomes shared.
Phang said when she was infected with what
she believed to be the chikungunya virus, she
could not walk because both of her legs were in
what she described as excruciating pain. The
virus, also known as chik-v, is transmitted to
humans by infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
It caused fever and severe joint pain for many
Jamaicans in 2014 as it reached epidemic
proportions.
She told CARIMAC Times that she wanted to
visit the doctor to get prescribed medications
to relieve the pain but could not because she
did not have any money. Instead, she used an
old fashion remedy to get rid of the pain.
“Mi grandmadda did ave ah home remedy, so
she get some rum and she put pimento seed
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Community Health Centre at the University of the West Indies, Mona
Photo by Keshauna Nichols
and all those things inna it. Where di pain is she
tek it and she like sap your foot with it,” Phang said
as she demonstrated her grandmother’s actions.
She seemed to be unaware of the fact that she had
the option to take over the counter painkillers,
which would have been cheaper to access.
Both women said they do not have health insurance.
Whenever they are sick, they pay by cash.
Ricketts Roomes said there is evidence that suggests
many low-income families do not have health
insurance, especially private insurance because
it is very expensive.
She explained that health insurance, for some of
them, is provided through their job; but a large
number of them are contract workers and, as a
result, they are not afforded the privilege of having
health insurance assigned to them.
For those without health insurance, she said they
should register for the Government of Jamaica (GOJ)
Health Card. The card is available to all Jamaicans
and will give patrons of public health facilities ease
74

of access to medications on the Vital Essential
and Necessary (VEN) drug list at no cost.
Moncrieffe and Phang said when they have to
visit a doctor, they usually go to the Community
Health and Psychiatry Health Centre that is
located on UWI, Mona campus. The Community
Health Centre is owned by the Government
and the University of the West Indies. The cost
to see a doctor is $50 for a child and $200 for
an adult.
Pap smears and post-natal visits are the most
expensive service offered, costing $500 each.
Even though the cost is so low, many of the
patients still complain about it. Ricketts
Roomes recounted that when the adult price
moved from $100 to $200, many people were
displeased. They communicated this by cursing
staff members, describing them as wicked. The
point they kept emphasising is that they did
not have any money.
Ricketts Roomes said parents who are unable
to cater to the health needs of their family
must seek help.
“They are to take advantage of the free health
care that is available. I know it’s not perfect,
but it’s better than having nothing.”
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Cloudy with a Chance of
Sunshine
A large canopy of trees hung overhead as she swept leaves into a pile, next to the fence,
which surrounded the yard. The rake fell from her hands and landed on the leaves.
Text
76
by Tamara Smith
Photo by Donnette Zacca

She stared at it, turned, and then
walked away. She headed to a chair
that was placed next to the fence,
sat, and watched as cars and groups
of people moved along the road on
the other side.
As she spoke, she nodded. Her eyes were fixed
on the road. She stood, removed her blouse,
skirt and undergarment. She returned to the
chair and sat, nude.
On that day, Natalie Irving, 43, experienced
her first “major” psychotic episode. She later
discovered that she had a mental illness —
schizophrenia.
Then 30-year-old, Irving is among the 27,000
individuals living with Schizophrenia in Jamaica,
a small-island state with an estimated population
of 2.7 million people.
According to the Ministry of Health, schizophrenia
affects approximately one per cent of the
population, with the first signs usually manifesting
in people who are between the ages of 15 and
34 years.
Sounds of change
“I was hearing voices. I was there talking to
myself and suddenly the voice told me to take
off my clothes, so I took off everything. People
were passing and staring at me, and my son
was crying and pleading with me to get dressed,
but I ignored them,” she recounted.
Irving’s 14-year-old son asked his uncle to
intervene, as he was unable to convince his
mother to get dressed. He, along with other
members of the family, made efforts to take
her to see a doctor, but she refused.
“I was suspicious of the doctor and didn’t want
to go. So my family got him to come to me.
He recommended that they take me to the
psychiatry department at the hospital.”
Irving was told information she was not
prepared to hear.
“The psychiatrist there asked me many questions
about my life. And based on what he was asking
and what I was answering, I [too] realised that
something was really wrong with me. I was
diagnosed with schizophrenia,” she said, adding
that, for her, schizophrenia is hereditary, as
other members of her family have also been
diagnosed.
Irving explained to CARIMAC Times that her
relationship with her children had suffered as
a result of her being ill.
“My son remained with me, but I couldn’t manage
to take care of my last child, who was a baby
at the time... she had to live with her paternal
grandmother. And I lost my second child in a
custody battle. Her father used my illness to
his advantage.”
The child’s father painted the picture of a
dangerous woman who is of unsound mind and,
therefore, incapable of caring for herself and
others, especially a child. The court acquiesced.
“She was also very scared of me, and whenever
I would go to look for her, she would run away,
scream, and hide. It affected her negatively
and was really painful for me. Even to this day,
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she tells me that people treat her differently
because of me,” stated the mother of three as
her eyes welled with tears.
Irving expressed that community members
treated her negatively as they sought to make
life “more miserable”. They not only jeered her
but also attempted to “sabotage” her business.
“I had a thriving restaurant in the community
before I became ill. But [I] had to close it down.
When my condition improved, I received
assistance from family members to reopen, but
I had no clientele. Everyone in the community
that used to buy from me, stopped… They made
sure to tell others not to buy from me because
I am a mad woman.”
Amidst her struggles, Irving explained that she
had to take steps to market and promote her
business outside of the community. However,
her detractors were determined to influence
those people as well. It was clear that keeping
her business afloat is a priority, as she paused
the interview to greet a stream of customers,
with whom she joked as she attended to them.
“The business has picked up now and I have
customers from all over. I have some that if the
food wasn’t good, they wouldn’t buy. Because
of what they’ve heard dem come pon one big
inspection. Sometimes, I open the [kitchen]
door so that they can see what’s happening
and don’t have to think anything bad.”
This negative attention takes a toll on Irving as
she continues to come to terms with her illness.
“Mi feel terrible. Nuff time mi seh it wudda
betta if ah AIDS mi did have, because mi cudda
have AIDS and people nuh know seh mi have
it,” she reasoned as she slapped the top of a
table before her in the kitchen.
The race for survival
Irving outlined that, despite the social
discrimination, she has worked hard to improve
her condition with regular clinic attendance
and correct intake of prescribed medication.
Having lived with schizophrenia for 13 years,
Irving said, she attends clinic every three
months — reduced from every month. She
is also down to two pills per day, which is a
significant reduction from the 15 pills per day
that she took in the initial stages of her diagnosis.
She pointed out to CARIMAC Times that she
feels empowered as a businesswoman and is
comfortable with the support from her family,
including her common-law husband.
“I feel more independent now because I can
operate my business, and it helps my condition
that I have support from my family, even [if it
is] just to talk... My mother calls every day to
see how I am doing and hear what’s happening
with the business,” she said, adding, “People
with schizophrenia don’t just need financial
support, we need strong family bonding as
well, so that we don’t feel like outcasts.”
Based on information found on the National
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)’s website,
family and friends are cited as instrumental to
the process of helping those who are afflicted by
schizophrenia, to set practical goals and learn
to function in the world. Each step towards
these goals should, however, be small and
incremental.
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Photo by Varun Baker
The individual, the institute outlined, will need
support during this time as, when people with
a mental illness are pressured and criticised,
their improvement is stymied. Often, their
symptoms may get worse. The Institute instructs
that telling the individual when he or she is
doing something right is the best way to help
them move forward.
Mental Health Officer Patricia Rose, who did
not wish to disclose the institution to which
she is attached, explained that, when it comes
to any kind of psychiatric condition, one has to
examine the “biological, psychological, social,
and cultural factors”.
Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling
brain disorder that is caused by several factors,
which range from genetics and environment,
to different brain chemistry and structure.
“When you look at social factors, you have to
look at substance abuse and marijuana. The
THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) in marijuana is
known to influence the way the brain functions.
Anything that affects the normal function of
the brain can result in mental illness,” she said.
Rose noted that in order to diagnose a person,
he/she has to manifest certain signs and
symptoms over a period of time. These include,
79

hallucination, delusion, disorganised behaviour,
disorganised speech, and other symptoms.
“The best person to diagnose the condition is
a psychiatrist, but this can only be done after
a medical doctor has completed a medical
assessment with blood investigation to rule
out straight-cut medical conditions, then a
referral is made. [sic]”
Rose insists that if a practitioner is not very
competent on the intricacies of the illness, he
or she can misdiagnose.
“A person might come to you and it seems like
they have depression. They aren’t talking, they
don’t have any interest in any pleasurable
activity; lack of energy ... These are classical
signs and symptoms of depression, but can also
be symptoms of schizophrenia, so you have to
do an in-depth history-taking.”
She further outlined that, although individuals
with schizophrenia may exhibit violent tendencies,
it is not prevalent, but commonly occurs when
the condition is untreated.
“Sometimes the violence is as a result of the
delusion or the hallucinations. The voices will
tell them to do things or sometimes because
their thoughts are so skewed, they think that
somebody is trying to hurt them when that is
not the case. They may lash out at somebody.”
According to the mental health officer, there
are different types of schizophrenia and levels
of severity, but the condition is typically treated
with antipsychotic medication and psychotherapy.
“Depending on what is identified, you might have
behavioural modification like cognitive therapy.
For social issues, you might have a social worker
coming in. Then you might have occupational
therapy where persons need to learn skills.
Some persons might need to be referred to
social agencies to get some assistance.”
Illness and vulnerabilities
Elaine Clarke, 54, was diagnosed with schizophrenia
at age 23. Like Irving, she has battled with
stigma and discrimination, which she said
has prevented her from securing permanent
employment. She shared with CARIMAC Times
that, although she received assistance through
the Programme of Advancement Through Health
and Education (PATH), on various days she is
unable to purchase food.
PATH is a conditional cash transfer (CCT)
programme funded by the Government of
Jamaica and the World Bank. It is facilitated
by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security
and is aimed at delivering benefits through
bimonthly cash grants to the most needy and
vulnerable in the society.
“Many nights mi go ah mi bed without food
because the likkle money [from PATH] mi get
every other month cyaan do. So mi haffi go ah
road every day go beg,” she said.
Clarke said she is repeatedly refused employment
because of her illness.
“Nobody nuh want fi employ mi tru dem know
seh mi sick. Mi used to sell newspaper fi wan
lady and she rob mi and stop mi from work.
She seh mi cyaan manage it, and she same one
used to seh mi sell di paper dem good,” she said.
80

The difficulties she faces are many.
“Mi family abandon mi. Dem tek weh mi pickney
dem from mi and ah two time bwoy pull mi
weh inna bush and rape mi wen mi sick,” she
bemoaned.
She explained that, when she was out of
medication and did not visit the psychiatric
clinic, she wandered the streets and was abused
by community members.
Winston Clarke, 56, has been in a relationship
with Elaine for some 15 years. They have been
married for seven. He has been aware of her
illness since then but is not bothered by it.
“When I met her, I knew she had the illness,
but I didn’t understand it. I didn’t know that
it would be an ongoing thing. She wasn’t even
seriously ill at that time because she was on
her medication,” he said.
Clarke confessed that he is unable to give her
the required financial support and is, as a
result, frustrated.
“I only realise something was wrong when I
caught her drinking a bottle of cooking oil. She
was out of medication at that point because,
although the Government provided it free of
cost, at times the pharmacy was out of stock,”
he explained.
81

“Nobody nuh want fi
employ mi, tru dem know
seh mi sick …”

He took her to the doctor and it was at that
moment that he received information and,
thereafter, developed an understanding of
the condition.
“Honestly, sometimes I feel like ending the
relationship. But then I consider that she
wouldn’t have anyplace to go and would be
back on the streets wandering. She might even
end up dead.”
He clarified his stance as he said, although he
is hurting, he has made the decision to adjust
to the lifestyle and stay with his wife.
“I am already in it, so mi just mek up mi mind
fi stick with her. I am used to it by now, so I
know how to adjust. I know that when she is
sick, I have to keep a close eye on her because
sometimes the medication doesn’t work,” he said.
Clarke reiterated the claim of rape his wife
made against young men in the community.
He said they tend to target her when she lapses
and in response, he is more vigilant.
He told CARIMAC Times that when his wife
was beaten and raped, he reported it to the
police but nothing was done. He was instead
threatened by the alleged rapist.
“When the police realised that she had that
type of illness [schizophrenia], they ignored
us and the boy even offered to shoot me, so
I left it alone. I just see to it that she gets her
medication and [goes to] the clinic. I can barely
provide for myself, but I try to protect her.”
Strained relationships
Donna Bennett also expressed frustration as
she has a relative with schizophrenia. Her son,
Odane Campbell, 29, was diagnosed with the
condition 14 years ago.
“I have given up. I have done a lot and tried really
hard with him and there is nothing else I can
do. He has attacked me so I [had to] put him out
of the house. I cannot live with him,” she said.
Though she still loves her son, she said she is
unable to offer him the care he requires.
“He is on the streets and I have called the
police to come and remove him because he
is a threat to people. I have had many reports
from community members, but when I call
the police they say it is not their job and they
aren’t trained to handle mad people.”
Despite her son’s obvious illness, members of
the community have not hesitated to hurt him.
“On another occasion, a man in the community
threw gas on him and set him on fire. He
received third-degree burns and I had to take
him to the doctor. However, even during that
time the police still refused to assist me. We
even gave a statement to them [police], and to
this day that man hasn’t been arrested,” she
expressed with great disappointment.
Bennett, explained that her son continued to
smoke marijuana as he refused prescribed
medication.
83

“The doctor told him to leave it [marijuana] alone.
He has instead [stopped visiting] the clinic and
won’t take his medication. So I have left him
to the choice he has made.”
Substance abuse officer at the National Council
on Drug Abuse (NCDA), Shirley Platt, said
marijuana, or ganja as it is commonly called, and
other drugs can trigger, as well as, exacerbate
the symptoms of schizophrenia.
“I find that when they use ganja, any underlying
mental illness is highlighted; it makes it stronger.”
She disclosed that some individuals use drugs
because they have mental illness or the drugs
bring on the mental illness. Drugs act as both
a trigger and an aggravator.
Platt told CARIMAC Times that medical
studies have found that the manifestation of
schizophrenia in many patients is linked to
drug use.
“It is documented. It is presumed that they are
treating their illness with drugs. According to
them, the drugs make the illness less stressful
and I have had them tell me that.”
She recounted the experience of a young man
affected by the illness.
“He told me that he hears voices in his head…
and when he smokes ganja, he doesn’t hear the
voices as bad. He still hears them but not as
bad. He uses it to treat himself; self-medication.
The medical community calls it self-medication
when somebody uses illegal or unprescribed
drugs to help their condition,” she said.
She cautioned that marijuana is unlike other
drugs.
“Most drugs have one action. They are either
depressants [slow down brain activity] or
stimulants [increase brain activity] or hallucinogens
[alter what is seen/heard]. Marijuana can do
any of these. It can make things worse, but it
can also make things seem better. It is about
perception. But it cannot cure mental illness.”
Platt noted that, while ganja is known as a
painkiller and has been popularised as such in
Jamaican culture, it is well-documented that
it exacerbates schizophrenia.
“They will tell you that it can relieve their
symptoms, but I have found that people who
use drugs can’t accurately tell you about the
effects of the drug because it masks itself,”
she concluded.
Meanwhile, Rose, explained that although men
and women are affected by schizophrenia in
the same manner, symptoms start earlier in
men than women. The condition has occurred
in “slightly” more men than women. However,
the onset of symptoms is uncommon in people
younger than 10 years old and those older than
40 years.
Dr. Afzal Javed, consultant psychiatrist at Coventry
& Warwickshire NHS Trust at Nuneaton and
clinical associate teacher at Warwick Medical
School, University of Warwick in the United
Kingdom, found Schizophrenia in men may
take a chronic course and be more severe but
with typical symptoms. For women, however,
negative rather than depressive symptoms
are likely.
84

Photo by Donnette Zacca
Rose added that in the case of Bennett’s son,
the police were mandated by law to remove
and transport him to a psychiatric facility.
According to The Mental Health Act (1999),
section 15 (1): “Where a constable finds any
person in a public place or wandering at large,
in such manner or under such circumstances
as to indicate that he is mentally disordered,
the constable may without warrant take such
person in charge and forthwith accompany
him to a psychiatric facility for treatment
or forthwith arrange for him to be conveyed
with all reasonable care and dispatch to that
facility; and the constable shall, within 30 days
of accompanying such person to the psychiatric
facility or arranging for him to be conveyed to
such facility, make a report thereof in writing
to the Review Board.”
In February 2012, then Police Commissioner
Owen Ellington said that the police should not
neglect their duty to the public in dealing with
mentally ill individuals.
“On no account must a member of the public
be told in [the] future that the police cannot
take action against a mentally disordered
person, unless the mentally disordered person
committed an offence,” Ellington wrote in his
weekly Force Orders.
85

“... Education and
awareness will help to
eliminate stigma and
discrimination ...”

Ellington said he had received complaints that
police personnel were neglecting their duties
by not responding to such incidents.
“Future complaints of the police’s failure to
effectively deal with reports against mentally
disordered persons will attract the harshest
sanction, where the report is confirmed,” he
warned.
Cost of stigma
Mental Health Officer Rose stated that these
individuals are able to live normal and independent
lives, but stigma and discrimination challenge
the process. She also concurred with Irving’s
point that individuals with schizophrenia do
well with family support.
“People call them mad and just don’t want
to have anything to do with them. However,
education and awareness will help to eliminate
stigma and discrimination, which is the main
challenge they encounter. Some persons are
quite functional and can live on their own. They
are able to live a normal life, get married, have
children and go on about their daily business.”
but the answer is not institutionalisation. When
I asked if it is the best option, she responded
saying, “Absolutely not!”
She, however, conceded that an individual who
is acutely ill needs to be in hospital.
“This person is very sick and may be violent.
Sometimes they are sick to the point where they
are a threat to themselves and other persons.
In that case the person needs to be in hospital,
but only until they are stabilised, then they are
returned to their communities.”
She advised that the aim is to reduce stigma
and discrimination.
“If you institutionalise these individuals, you
are just going to be adding fury to it. Persons
are already of the view that [such individuals]
should only be in a particular place [mental
facility]. You want the person in the community
functioning so that community members can
actually accept them; this person is mentally
ill, but he/she is still quite capable.”
Family support is also vital.
“We even have persons who are going to colleges
[but] they are on their medication. That is the key
component. They need to educate themselves
about the condition; they need to be aware of
the condition. They need to be aware of the
medication. They need to be aware of help …”
she said.
Rose further outlined that it is understandable
that families with mentally ill relatives are affected,
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It is hard to miss her bold zebra-striped
leggings as she takes her seat, crosses her
legs, and taps her phone with brightly
coloured, manicured nails. When she
walks the streets, no one knows that,
just a year ago, she lived under the name
Jermaine Burton.
Even those who know her find it hard to forget
this name. I learnt this the day I approached the
receptionist at the agency I would be meeting
Burton, and asked for the name “Jessica Burton.”
The receptionist eyed me for several seconds,
frowning with confusion.
“Jessica?” she asked.
“Jessica Burton.” I repeated. The receptionist
scanned her papers, mumbling the name to
herself. A minute or two had passed before
the recognition registered on her face.
“Oh! Jermaine!” she chirped.
Later, Burton explained that “Some still aren’t
used to it”; it being in reference to her identity,
her appearance, and her name.
‘Jermaine’ was the name given to her by a
traditional, faith-based family, which consisted
of eight children living in Kingston. Even a child
can separate the day from the night, and young
Burton knew she was not like her six brothers.
“Between the ages of three and four, I could
remember vividly that I liked to play with dolls,
and I always wanted to be the mother, the auntie;
but I never wanted to be the father,” she said.
88

On the Other Side
Jessica Burton strutted down the hall, an image of poise and power. Her bleached
blonde locks trailed past her shoulders, brushing against her earrings and framing her
smooth, smiling, contoured face.
89
Text by Sherrice Lewis
Photo by Marlon James

Growing up, Burton said she did not know
the words gay, transgender or bisexual, or the
depths of their meaning.
The 2014 Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson
poll revealed that, 72 per cent of Jamaicans do
not support equal rights for transgender people.
The figures for other LGBTQ people were just
as jarring; 68 per cent did not support equal
rights for gay men, and 65 per cent did not
support equal rights for lesbians.
“I knew within myself, I knew I was a woman.
I am a woman,” Burton said, “I like to say
woman, because people will say, since you’re
transgender, you’re not yet a woman. So even
if you go and do your sexual reassignment
surgery, get a vagina, you’re still not a woman
because you’re not born with it. So I don’t like
to be called transgender.”
Burton said she had an image of who she
wanted to be when she was young, and how
she wanted to be seen. She adorned herself
with her sister’s clothes and her mother’s heels,
even sported her mother’s slippers to the shop.
Her parents acceded to their child’s ‘quirks’,
but the scrutiny of other parents became too
strong. They said, “Jermaine is not behaving
the way society dictates a man should behave.”
In time, the streets grew into a battlefield, where
her neighbours hurled insults and nicknames.
At home and at Church, her mother’s “prayer
warriors,” as Burton called them, descended
with a storm of prayers in the hope to “save”
Burton from her “demons”.
While the warriors raged, a battle raged within
Burton as well — doubts arose from her religious
upbringing and society’s expectations.
90
Transgender pride flag

“When society is telling you that you’re wrong,
then you battle with yourself ... you’re trying to
be something else because society states that
it’s a choice,” she said, “You have to act like a
man, so they start putting these lists of things
that you need to do, and I tried to facilitate it
for my own safety, and for acceptance as well.
So it was a battle.”
Blurred identity
Burton said her family still sees her as a gay
man, but she stressed that there is a difference.
“It’s very hard for a trans [person] to just be
themselves. It’s way harder than just being
gay,” she said.
Executive director of the Jamaica Forum for
Lesbians, All Sexuals and Gays ( J-FLAG), Dane
Lewis, echoed Burton’s sentiments. He said the
concept of being transgender is still not well
understood, even by members of the LGBTQ
community.
“Trans identity is not as simple as saying [it is]
a man who puts on a dress,” he said.
This is a fact Dr. Karen Carpenter knows as
well, after working as a sexologist for 25 years.
“Being transgender is entirely different from
being same-sex attracted,” she explained.
Carpenter describes the word “transgender”
as an umbrella term, under which several
identities exist, such as transvestite, transsexual,
intersex, among others. But being transgender
in itself, she stressed, is a psychological
condition, not a mental illness.
“A transgender person is living in a body that
they see as opposite to their gender identity;
so the genitals they have — penis or vagina —
do not match with what’s going on with their
head. When they get up in the morning and
look at themselves in the mirror, they don’t
see the first thing that they contain in their
head. It’s like having someone who’s black, get
up every morning and say ‘Why am I black? I
thought I was white’.”
Burton explained that transgender had a multitude
of psychological and physical challenges.
“It’s mental, bathroom, public facilities. You wake
up in the morning, you have a penis and you
don’t want to see the penis. Some transgender
would not even look at it. They don’t even take
care of it,” she said.
Traversing homelessness
Burton had many challenges throughout school.
She had few friends, but many abusers. Her
grades suffered, but it was the emotional toll
that was worse.
When most high school children were preparing
for their Caribbean Secondary Education
Certificate examinations, Burton’s life took an
abrupt turn at the age of 16.
“One day I went to school and came home late
and [my mother] said, she can’t take it no more.
She said, ‘You can’t stay; you need to leave.’ I
turned to her and said, ‘The stone that the
builder refuse shall be the head cornerstone.’ ”
Burton left her home and walked to the Kingston
Waterfront. With the sky as her roof and the
91

“Trans identity is not as
simple as saying [it is] a
man who puts on a dress.”

ocean her new walls, she sat down and cried.
She said she could have jumped into the water
right then and there, but reality sunk in.
“I sat there, and I realised that I was homeless,
and I had nowhere to go. I had no family member
... and I needed to try to survive.”
Like many of Jamaica’s homeless LGBTQ youth,
Burton navigated the streets of Kingston in
search of food, shelter, and care. She said
she went to motels and small villas, seeking
shelter from storms and hurricanes, but often
landlords balked at her, demanding to know
how a 16-year-old would pay their rent.
Dane Lewis reported that 30-40 LGBTQ people
have come to J-FLAG seeking shelter.
But he said smaller groups exist elsewhere
throughout Jamaica that have not been as visible.
J-FLAG has been trying to establish a shelter,
but its efforts so far have been stymied, leaving
those like Burton to keep wandering.
“The challenge is that J-FLAG does not have the
resources to house people. We’ve been trying
to establish a shelter since 2011 which has been
unsuccessful in the many attempts that we’ve
made for various reasons,” Lewis explained.
Lewis said securing a space was difficult
because of J-FLAG’s identity, and reports of
petty crimes committed by the homeless LGBTQ
youth. The publicity served as a barrier rather
than a push to social change. However, some
have been able to find shelter in Open Arms
and drop-in centres. Additionally, J-FLAG
has made referrals to areas where individuals
might stay, but otherwise, facilities are limited.
“Even when we look at the issue of homelessness
generally in Jamaica, the Government’s response
has been less than adequate,” Lewis said, “We
still have over a thousand Jamaicans that are
homeless who are not residing in any shelter
much less to think of the 30-odd LGBT members.”
Lewis added that without a real change in their
daily physical environment, after each intervention,
they return to a state of homelessness.
Homelessness created other issues for Burton.
The scrutiny continued, and Burton tried to
escape the attention of authorities, such as
police officers, especially those from the Centre
for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and
Child Abuse (CISOCA).
“They didn’t understand I didn’t want to go in a
home, because I see people who went through
homes, and got raped and abuse, even kill
themselves,” she said.
Burton made every open lot in Kingston she
could find her home. But she feared the insistent
fury of the elements; rain, the intense heat, and
hurricanes. She shared her home with insects,
rodents, and the constant threat of illnesses
such as chikungunya and leptospirosis. But in
addition to her natural environment, social
stigma pressed on her.
“It’s like you[‘re] dead already,” Burton said,
describing the emotional impact of homelessness.
She said, those who are more flamboyant are
“marooned”; forced to hide in cemeteries and
abandoned places in the day. She only braved
the public at night.
93

“Even though you’re alive and outside and you’re
supposed to be able to roam free; it’s like you’re
in a country within a prison.”
People branded Burton with scorn and contempt.
She said she tried to ask others for help, but
often they paid her with only harsh words.
“Even now when you go on the road and see a
young guy begging somebody, they say, ‘Gwaan
a yuh yaad. All you want do a dress up inna
woman clothes and ketch man’,” she said bitterly.
Her voice darkened as she added, “I decided
in myself I will never stretch a palm again.”
Over time, Burton realised the LGBTQ community
offered little support as well.
“When I was homeless, I thought the community
would be ‘one’. But it’s not, because you have
layers of stigma and discrimination. You get
it from the wider society, but then in the
community, they look at you and say, ‘you’re
nasty, you’re a virus’... They call you all kinds
of names and they look down at you.”
Burton explained that most of the discrimination
within the community stemmed from classism.
“If you[‘re] gay and uptown, you[‘re] okay. If
you’re gay and downtown, and on the street,
it’s a battering.”
Lewis agreed that transgender individuals
also experience extreme discrimination from
within the LGBTQ community, mostly due to
Jamaica’s classist environment. For those who
are homeless, the stigma is worse.
“We see how people treat guys who wipe [car]
windows; there’s that added layer of discrimination
because people know that they’re homeless.
So certainly for those who are homeless, they
face more than just homophobia; they face
added layers of discrimination because of their
status,” he said.
With the lack of support from society and
the LGBTQ community, Burton’s situation
darkened. She said things became so serious
that she became involved in sex work.
“It wasn’t a choice, like I wanted to go and do that,
but circumstances put you in that direction,”
she insisted.
The job added its own challenges. Burton noted
that there were many “imposters”, people who
feigned interest in paying for sex, but robbed
or assaulted her instead. Others demanded
unprotected sex. But it was a demand she was
forced to supply.
“Hunger can be a very, very, very, cruel thing.
Hunger would let you can’t think. So if someone
comes and they say they want to go unprotected
with you, and you think about safer sex, it
would be a secondary option… Primary option
is money and food and clothes, and maybe a
place to stay, but protecting yourself from HIV…
that would be the last.”
Burton said, it was not only the hunger that
impacted her decisions, but the negative energy
thrown at her by society, and her own lack of
self-esteem.
“Men might say ‘After you nuh good’ [But you’re
not good at this], kiss dem [their] teeth, and go
down the road and get it [sex] at a cheaper price.
94

So now you feel bad because he’s telling you
that you’re not good enough, society is telling
you that you’re not good enough, you yourself
is telling you that you’re not good enough… so
hence, you break down.” [sic]
During her address at the Larry Chang Human
Rights Symposium in 2014, Burton revealed
that she was diagnosed with HIV at 16 years old.
“I was very angry. I wanted to kill myself. I
thought of myself as worthless, valueless, cheap,
and nasty. I became the monster society said
I was,” she said, her voice breaking.
Like the streets, Burton found herself navigating
the health care sector with a fearful heart.
“It was horror,” she said.
The location of the public hospitals and clinics
were dangerous, she described, especially for
those who were flamboyant, “looked a certain
way”, or “acted a certain way”. Once she walked
into health care facilities, she said, people would
gossip and information would travel outside.
“I decided not to go anymore because it was too
risky and I couldn’t manage it. You have some
persons; you think that they mean you good,
but they mean you bad.”
Burton said she first turned to the Comprehensive
Health Clinic, then sometimes visited the
University Hospital of the West Indies, until
finally going to the Jamaica AIDS Support for
Life ( JASL).
Despite the shortcomings of the health care
95
Graphic by Alexis Halsell

“It’s very hard for
trans people to just be
themselves. It’s way
harder than just being
gay,”

system, Burton found help in other aspects
of her life while homeless, particularly from
various agencies, clinics and centres — Food
for the Poor, Open Arms, Poor Relief, JASL,
J-FLAG, Red Cross, and Mona Baptist Church.
Burton started going to the Mona Baptist
Church when she officially came out, and said,
despite their acknowledgement of her identity
as “sin”, they have embraced her.
“They respond very well… They never really
tried to discriminate me. They tried to use
scriptures that empower me, like ‘God loves
you, you’re not different from anyone else’.”
Burton said people are often surprised when she
tells them she is a Christian, and she recalled
one woman who scorned her as if she was not
worthy of the title.
“She called it sin, like me worse… But I have
proven over the years that [God] has answered
my prayers, because where I was coming
from and where am I now, I can say, ‘Yes, He
answered my prayers’.”
Her greatest blessing came in her teenage
years. Burton chuckled as she began telling the
story of a woman she met who refused to give
her money unless she started school. At first,
Burton agreed to the woman’s request, but
school was the last thing on her mind. Often,
the woman visited the park where Burton slept,
asking if she went to school.
“... I never planned to go down to no school and
register. Every day I’d give her another story,”
Burton said.
One day, the elder woman became adamant.
“She carried me down Boys’ Town, and at first
I was so scared of starting school, because of
where the school was located,” Burton said, “I
was afraid, but she carried me in. She talked
to the teachers ... And I started off then.”
Burton studied food preparation and took her
reports to her new provider, who continued
supplying her with money. Over time Burton
finished level one, level two, and to her own
surprise, level three.
“I said: ‘Oh my God, I have achieved something
in life’, because I did not waste all that time
sitting around,” she said, grinning, “I just went
back to school and did something and this is
what I got.”
But, Burton said her friend never returned to
their spot.
“I would search the whole Jamaica to find that
lady to tell her thanks, because, trust me, she
made a difference in my life,” she said tearfully.
After gaining her certificate, Burton began
volunteering. Later, she searched for employment,
and found work at JASL, Red Cross, the National
Council on Drug Abuse, among others. But
the stigma of being transgender still followed
her success. She recalled working at a private
organisation and presenting as female, much
to the chagrin of her co-workers and employer.
“You know that you get call in office immediately,
and the whole place get turn upside down.
They want to tell you that, ‘I think we have to
discontinue your service’, and they find all kind
97

Jessica Burton (right) awarded by Dane Lewis (left) for her project
improving the livelihood of the trans community, at Colour Pink
Group’s Media Launch in February 2016
Photo courtesy of Jessica Burton
of way to say you’re not performing well, and
you lose your job,” she said.
But she did not let the negativity discourage her,
and continued to navigate the working world
as she once traversed the streets, eventually
rising to manager of an organization.
“When I started working as a manager, I said
that I wanted to give back to the community,
and that’s how Colour Pink Group started out.”
Burton said she founded the group to serve
as an empowerment programme to help the
poverty stricken, and homeless, sofa-surfing
community of Gay Men, Men Who Have Sex
with Other Men (MSM), and the Transgender
population (GMT). Their work started on the
lush green lawns of Devon House and blossomed
with the help of J-FLAG, JASL, and the Ministry
of Health.
Burton noted proudly that the group has changed
the lives of many by providing education, skills
training, and assistance with employment.
Despite her work with the LGBTQ community,
and presenting as a female doing sex work for
years, Burton said she never officially came
out as transgender in her professional circle
until the age of 27.
98

“To come out you need financial support, you
need support from community, friends, coworkers,
employers. You need that support
and you need that encouragement,” she said.
Lost in transition
She officially began her physical transition in
2014 — a hurdle she had never been able to
reach, once again to the shortcomings of the
health care system.
“There’s no enabling environment, so you have
to create that environment. For me, I had to
create it,” Burton said.
“But there’s a lot of work that needs to be done.
When you look at the cascade of health care
services, there’s no room apart from certain
medical treatment for transgender [people].”
Transitioning is a long and complex process.
While it is a type of treatment, Karen Carpenter
stated not everyone acquires the same type
of treatment. She said some individuals are
content with only hormones, while others
are content with top surgery — acquiring or
removing breasts — and some wish to perform
bottom surgery to change their genitals. Jamaica
provides all methods except bottom surgery.
Burton noted that there are many challenges
in transitioning outside of surgery, such as
hormones and dermatologist appointments.
She said although many transgender women
may “look and pass the test” by appearing
feminine, they still speak with a masculine
tone, meaning vocal training is required as
well. The combined expense is a burden on
many seeking to transition.
“Some persons may be on minimum wage, some
persons can barely find food to eat. They don’t
have money to go and do all of that, so they will
always look like the worst …” she said.
She mentioned that she felt insulted by
depictions of transgender people in the media,
especially those by popular Jamaican editorial
cartoonist Clovis.
“Sometimes when Clovis draws them with the
big lip, and ears bore, and face bleach out, it
hurts me. Why? Because he’s drawing the reality.
But what is in place to change that? What is
there to create positive health and dignity so
that people may not look like that?” she said.
Burton added that the desperation often
leads some to get hormones through reckless
means, such as having a female friend get a
prescription for them, or buying hormones
online. But they risk taking incorrect doses,
and possible overdose.
She urged other transgender individuals to be
careful and wait until they have the support
needed to transition.
“For persons who are transitioning, I will try my
best to tell them that it’s better if you’re selfemployed,
better if you had support, because
even when you have the financial help, support
is very critical... You need that support system
and financial help, and you need to speak with
a psychologist.”
For Burton, family is one of the most important
forms of support for any member of the LGBTQ
community. She dreams of raising her own
family one day, a desire she attributes to her
own rough family life.
“One major thing that I want to tell parents
99

“Please don’t put out
your child.”

Photo by Marlon James
is, ‘Please, don’t put out your child. Nuh care
what the community want say, nuh care what
pastor want say, nuh care whosoever want say.
Ah your pickney, make dem stay where dem
deh. If so be the case, where you fear for them
to die, seek help and try to support your child
as best as possible.’ ”
Romario Wanliss
Burton’s message may have helped Romario
Wanliss, had his parents heard it years ago.
Like Burton, Wanliss’s parents were content
with their child’s whims. To others, Wanliss was
considered a tomboy. But Wanliss described
himself as adventurous, a child who loved to
play outside, and a child who loved to be the
“bad guy” in a game of cops and robbers.
“In my eyes, I was just me,” he said.
Wanlisss was born and raised in Montego Bay,
the eldest of six children. When his mother
migrated to England and took his brother, fiveyear-old
Wanliss was left with his other brother
and father. Wanliss said his father was strict,
and he and his brother spent most of their
time in the confines of their yard, forbidden
from wandering on the streets. As a result, he
never truly experienced discrimination from
his community.
101

Photo courtesy of Romario Wanliss
However, he recalled one notable experience.
“I remember one man who told me ‘If I ever see
yuh inna pants again, mi ago kill yuh.’” he said.
That moment left him terrified to brave the
streets for some time.
At home, Wanliss never felt pressured to be
feminine. He said his father never had an issue.
But that all changed when at age seven, Wanliss’s
stepmother came into the family’s lives.
“[My stepmother] was the one who introduced
religion into the household, and with that
introduction it almost felt instantly oppressive,
because now you have to carry yourself a certain
way, you have to talk a certain way and, of course,
I didn’t fall under that category… I think that
brought on depression, which followed me all
the way up into my adulthood, and ultimately
led me to be a very reclusive person,” he said.
Bullied out of boyhood
Wanliss said the darkest times of his life
involved school.
“From kindergarten all the way up to high school,
those were dark times in my life… Because I
felt so bullied and I don’t understand why I was
bullied… I couldn’t see my differences, because
when you growing up, you just know yourself
to be how you are. You don’t question yourself
unless other people start questioning you.”
102

Going to an all girls’ high school only made
Wanliss more aware of his identity. He recalled
flirting with a girl, only to be treated with shock
and disgust in return. She reminded him that he
was a girl, but the description felt alien to him.
“I just thought I was a different kind of boy,”
he said.
Wanliss said students bullied him for being quiet,
untidy, and most of all, for being masculine.
He never shared his grievances with his family,
and only confided in one friend, who did not
think he was serious about being transgender.
“I just never felt this strong urge [that] I need
to talk to people about it, because if people
don’t understand lesbian and gay issues, how
are they gonna understand transsexual issues
or transgender issues? They’re not gonna
understand that concept.”
Now, he no longer dwells on his past, and for
him high school has become a blur of bad
memories he would rather forget.
“I always describe that as five years of prison…
In prison, you go through a routine: you wake
up, you go in and out, in the yard, you eat food…
It was just a robotic motion. I didn’t leave with
any massive form of education, I didn’t leave
with any life-altering experience …” he said.
By the time he left high school, however, he did
leave with a renewed outlook on life.
“Once I started to laugh at myself and give myself
jokes, it didn’t hurt as much what people said.
Ever since then, it’s just more difficult for
people to bully me,” he said.
From high school to homelessness
Although Wanliss had learned to deal with the
bullying from his schoolmates, tension still
clouded his life at home. During a martial arts
sparring match with his father, things became
too aggressive, to the point that Wanliss said
he felt he was being abused.
“When I had the altercation with my father, I
thought it was [due to] my sexuality, and his
perceived idea of my sexuality… [But] in his
mind he just thought he was teaching me a
lesson.”
For Wanliss, it was the last straw.
That night he left his home, but had nowhere to
go but to wander the streets and dark alleyways
of downtown Montego Bay. Surrounded by
pitch darkness, fear gripped him.
“I didn’t even sleep, because I was sh*t scared
to sleep in Jamaica … It was scary in the sense
that I didn’t know what was going to happen
next. I didn’t know where I was going to go.”
Wanliss spent one night on the streets of Jamaica
before he found refuge in a former classmate’s
home. He stayed for up to two months, but it
was anything but comfortable.
“It was a very dirty house, but if you cotching
[staying with a friend], what can you complain
about?” he said.
At the time, Wanliss worked at a resort, getting
low pay, and desperately trying to find a way
to improve his circumstances. Although he
103

“Once I started to laugh
at myself and give myself
jokes, it didn’t hurt as
much what people said.”

eventually secured enough to find his own place,
he barely had enough to buy food on a regular
basis. Work was the only thing that saved him.
“Luckily at the time my manager gave me some
extra lunch tickets to get free meals. So I used to
go to work early in the morning, get breakfast,
lunch, or dinner; depends on however long I
was there. On the days when I wasn’t at work,
it was literally one slice of bread.”
Despite the initial fear, and the subsequent
struggles, Wanliss felt freer than he had been
at home.
“I wasn’t sad, I wasn’t depressed. I felt very
liberated. I felt like I was shackled [before] …
and I started to develop my own sense of ‘me’
now,” he said.
From hope to harder times
When Wanliss’s mother heard of his circumstances,
she sent for her child immediately.
Wanliss moved further away from home to a
land that was strange and cold to him, and a
mother he had not seen since he was about
nine years old. However, England presented
new opportunities for him. He thought about
starting his process to transition and felt it was
time to discuss his identity with his mother.
“It was rocky at first, when I told her about my
transition. She didn’t take it very well. On the
surface she did, but ultimately she found it very
hard to swallow because she felt like, ‘Was it
me? Was it because I left you? Is it my fault?
Did I do something?’, and she wanted to hide
away from family members; not want people
to find out about me.”
Their relationship broke down, and it was then
Wanliss found himself homeless again — this time
in a foreign country he could not understand.
He knew no one, or where to turn. He sought
help from England’s hostels — shelters and
housing for homeless people — but it was
difficult to find one that would accept him, as
he was working two jobs. But neither of those
jobs provided him with enough to pay rent. He
lived on the streets for three days before he
found one hostel that took him in — a women’s
accommodation.
“I had to go into a women’s accommodation
because I was scared to tell people I was trans,
and I wasn’t sure I’d get somewhere to stay.
And to go into the men’s hostel would have
been a danger to myself, because I didn’t start
hormones yet.” he said.
Wanliss lived in the hostels for four months,
until the British Government provided him with
a house where he could pay rent. During his
stay in the hostels, he began the long and slow
process of transitioning. But even in England,
this proved frustrating.
“To transition [in England] you have to see a
counsellor. You have to get signed off to tell you
you’re sane enough, and then they write you a
letter to give to your GP [doctor], and the doctor
prescribes you testosterone. I had all [of] that,
and my doctor said, ‘Sorry we do not do this.’
They didn’t feel comfortable giving it to me.”
Wanliss said the area at the time was very
religious, and he feels it may have been the
reason for his roadblock. Desperate, he called
a charity seeking help, but they too offered
nothing. Impatient and frustrated, he spiralled
deeper into anger and depression.
105

Photo by Varun Baker
“I left that place very angry, very suicidal. [But]
in the end I didn’t do it [commit suicide], and
I don’t know if it’s because I picked up my
camera, and I started just venting.” he said.
“I realised that I almost never survived that
moment, but I did. And I realised that some
people probably didn’t. There is absolutely no
support or anything of that sort, and here’s
a charity who didn’t even help me. What if I
was the type of person who actually did end
up killing myself? Then what? Nobody would
have known that I’d reach out to somebody.”
After his near-suicide attempt, Wanliss felt
compelled to help others who shared the
same struggle. Like Jamaica, he said the “trans
scene” is still developing in England, and trans
specific services and events are not common or
accessible. The lack of groups for transgender
people in England caused Wanliss to create his
own. He founded the company Pure Gender,
which acts as both a support group and a store
specialising in the sale of products for trans
people. Now he is dedicated to bringing about
social change and unifying the trans community.
His efforts have been welcome and praised.
106

“People really feel inspired because the products,
the services, and the health care that they need
is really, really important for trans people,”
he said.
Coming of age
Wanliss began his transition four years ago,
and now, in his 20s, he has no regrets about
transitioning.
“I’ve enjoyed the changes, I’ve enjoyed my life
now. I feel like I hit puberty now. I felt like I
was 12, and now I’m grown,” he said.
Wanliss said those who learn about his
transition now are often surprised or struggle
to understand and accept it.
“Sometimes it’s the people who you expect to
support you the most that actually turn around
and they’re quite aggressive towards you, but
that just comes from a place of love. They love
you so much that they don’t want you to be so
different. They want you to be like them, and
that’s scary. They think about all those bad things
that are gonna happen to you, and ultimately
they project that badness unto you. And the
people who you don’t expect to be supportive
tend to be the ones who are supportive.”
This was true for Wanliss when his family
responded to his transition. Most of his siblings
became aware due to social media, and now
he describes their relationship as close. He
said his mother, in particular, has become
very supportive, despite their initial dispute.
But his sister still has mixed feelings.
“My younger sister was a bit conflicted... She
has this strong belief that it’s [transgender]
wrong. But because I’m her sibling, she’s like
‘Well, I still love you, but it’s wrong’,” he said.
Wanliss was much more apprehensive about
meeting his father this year. Accompanied
by his friend, Wanliss took part in the British
Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Newsbeat
documentary, “Transgender: Back to Jamaica”,
and travelled to see his father and stepmother
for the first time in a decade.
“I thought maybe I would be met with aggression
… But it turned out they were actually really
remorseful,” he said.
Wanliss said he and his father are now on
speaking terms, but rebuilding their relationship
will take years of repair. The physical distance
also makes it more difficult, but he believes the
worst has passed.
“That conversation has allowed me to heal,
and I’m forever grateful for that opportunity,
and I know in the future I will have a better
relationship … It’s just something that will take
a lot of time, but the hard work is over in the
sense that we’ve now addressed the elephant
in the room, and now we can all start to move
forward as a family.”
Wanliss plans to move forward with his life as
well, making music, and working in media, but
most of all, he hopes to take his social cause
to Jamaica soon.
The path to change
Even with efforts to provide health care,
education, and resources by J-FLAG and Colour
107

Pink Group, help for LGBTQ is continually
impeded by many factors. One recurring issue
is the lack of finances for the few outreach
groups in existence.
“One of the main things is getting funding,
because we can do so much and no more if
we don’t have the money to drive what we’re
doing. So that is one of the most cruel, hardest
things.” Burton said.
But social stigma also continues to be a persistent
shadow looming over the LGBTQ community,
preventing the acquisition of funds and other
aid. The issue, Dr. Karen Carpenter said, is how
society perceives male and female relations.
“I think we’re homonegative, and I think we’re
also heteropositive … We’re not afraid of samesex
attraction; we’re not afraid of any sexual
attraction. We are, however, not happy about
non-reproductive sex.”
Carpenter stated that this attitude arises from
Jamaica’s cultural perception of children as a
source of wealth, and the subsequent desire
to have many children. As a result, Jamaicans
tend to have a bias against LGBTQ activities.
108

But she stated there is an additional fear. When
males pass as females, whether as effeminate
gay men, cross-dressers, or transgender women,
heterosexual men fear being fooled into believing
they are ‘real women’. In this case, they are not
able to express their heterosexuality.
“So we’re not afraid of other people being
homosexual, we’re afraid that we may be
homosexual,” she said.
But Carpenter explained that, despite this
cultural context, those who are LGBTQ should
be allowed certain rights and services. She
found that the biggest issue related to these
individuals is what she calls “sexual citizenship”.
“I don’t see how you can exclude a person’s
sexuality from issues of access as a citizen. If
I am transgender and I come to the clinic for
any kind of treatment and I have a job and I’m
paying my taxes, I don’t see how you can tell
me that I must get less services than somebody
else,” she said.
On a similar note, Wanliss felt the Jamaican
Government needed to take action to ensure
LGBTQ people are protected and given equal
rights.
“The only difference between Jamaica and UK
when it comes to being transgender, gay or
lesbian, is that in England there [are] laws
that protect people from being discriminated
against; and there are consequences for those
actions. In Jamaica, there is none. If there
was a law passed in Jamaica that stated that
these people — gay, lesbian and transgender
people — they do have some status, they’re
just like us, they’re just average people who
109
Graphic by Mellissa Woods

“... I’m not defective,
and even if I am, it’s
okay, because there are
a million other defective
people out there too.”

going about their business, wanting to work
and contribute to society, nobody wouldn’t do
it [discriminate]. And even if they did, people
would get consequences for it.”
Burton, Wanliss, and Carpenter all believe that
before policy can be enacted, attitudes must
be changed.
“When we recognise that these are our brothers,
our sisters, our children … we can stop pointing
fingers. As long as we deny our relationship to
persons who are in this situation, we’re going
to be able to say it has nothing to do with me.
It has everything to do with us, because if you
want justice and you’re only willing to fight for
the people in your group, you don’t actually
want justice.” Carpenter said.
“My mantra in life is share a story, save a life.
Continue to tell your story, because somebody
out there may be listening, maybe waiting on
that story. Someone might read an article and
say ‘I’m not gonna kill myself today, cause I
realise I’m not the only person. I’m not defective.
And even if I am, it’s okay, because there are a
million other defective people out there too.”
The author does not share a relationship with any
subject within this story.
Burton expressed this desire as well.
“I want people to learn that the same blood that
runs in my veins is the same that runs through
everyone’s vein. And people have rights. Sex
workers have rights. People with disabilities
have rights. Drug users have rights. They
have rights to health care. They have rights
to treatment. They have rights to every social
service, access to police officers; everything,”
she stressed.
Wanliss said he hopes more people raise
awareness of all LGBTQ issues and that more
people within the community will share their
own stories. He said there is a tendency for
many, especially trans men, to hide under the
radar to avoid discrimination. But he believes
the narrative may help others who are in a dark
state like he was.
111

Speaking in
Rebellion
“You will be speaking in English and they look at you as if they don’t know what you’re
saying. It’s like a totally different language,” 20-year-old Jordon Grant said.
Text
112
by Yohan S. R. Lee
Illustration by Jaimey McGill

Grant, who has always lived in a
lower-income community in St.
Andrew said, “… you just come off
as feminine even when you’re not
using it in a certain tone. English
to some people is just feminine,
or not masculine enough …”
“I live in a certain area. I use English there…
The shops are normally in areas you would
consider ghetto[s] … I went to the shop, said,
‘Good afternoon’ and was asking for something.
I don’t quite remember what I was asking for,
but me saying good afternoon and the way I
asked for what I wanted in English, two guys
[who] were there asked: ‘Yo dawg, ah how yuh
talk suh [Why do you speak like that]?’ So I
was wondering how I talk. He said something
that basically suggested it’s women who talk
like that.”
Grant explained that this is also a common
experience in popular fast food restaurants and
on public transportation, buses in particular.
He said it is just now that he is understanding
that many people in Jamaica believe it is only
acceptable for women to speak English and
men must use Jamaican patois.
Grant said he is forced to speak the Jamaican
Language in order to fit in with the members
of his community.
“Whenever I go back to the shop, I only use
straight Patois; not even good morning I can
say to them, because it is not normal to them …”
But language use in his home is not as rigid.
Grant grew up and lives in a home in western St.
Andrew with his mother, father and a younger
sister.
His mother speaks English, but not consistently,
and his father never uses it. However, his sister
rarely uses the Jamaican dialect.
Grant’s story is not unique, as several other
Jamaican men who spoke with CARIMAC
Times said they are at odds with the English
Language; they have been forced, in some way,
to romanticise Jamaican patois in a bid to put
forward the manliest version of themselves.
Crisis, culture and context
In recent times, Jamaican media highlighted
the results of a 2015 British Council survey that
showed Jamaican boys and men believe there
is a relationship between being proficient in
the English language and effeminacy.
The report presented findings of an increasing
preference for patois among Jamaican boys — a
move, which has contributed to what is said to
be a decline in their performance in mastering
the English Language.
Professor Silvia Kouwenberg, lecturer and
researcher in the Department of Language,
Linguistics and Philosophy at the Mona Campus
of the University of the West Indies (UWI), told
Carimac Times that before any conversation
can be had around the attitudes of Jamaican men
to particular languages, the context in which
the languages operate must be understood.
“… Jamaica is bilingual in the sense that two
languages operate in the society. One is Jamaican
113

The Faculty of Humanities and Education at
the University of the West Indies, Mona
Photo by Tori Haber
English, the other is Jamaican Creole, popularly
known as patois. The thing about having these
two languages in the society is that they don’t
do the same thing. They perform different
functions … When we look at the functions
performed by the two languages, it depends a
bit on the individual’s background, but for the
majority of Jamaicans we can say that Jamaican
Creole is a language spoken at home, a language
spoken with friends, a language spoken in
informal contexts …”
She said, English, on the other hand, is what
most Jamaicans consider a formal language. It
would be associated with education, government
and business contexts, for instance. Jamaica is
experiencing a rebellion against the English
Language.
According to Melva P. Davids, teacher and
researcher in linguistics at the Edna Manley
College of the Visual and Performing Arts in
her work, ‘Languages as Socio-cultural Capital
in the Context of Contemporary Linguistic
Reality of Jamaica’, despite statistics that show
97 per cent of Jamaicans as speakers of Jamaican
Creole, there are prevailing notions of the British
colonial-derived English as ‘high’ language.
114

The Faculty of Humanities and Education at
the University of the West Indies, Mona
Photo by Tori Haber
A creole language is understood as the product
of the intermingling of two or more languages,
usually involving traditional European languages
such as English, French and Spanish. The byproduct
language or dialect as it is commonly
called, has elements of those European languages,
and constitutes the ‘mother tongue’ of the place
in which it was created.
Jamaican Creole was created in a context within
which Africans taken from their homeland to
the Caribbean [formerly the New World] were
forbidden to speak in their native tongue. They
were bombarded with the language of the slave
and colonial masters but could not master it.
Therefore, a ‘bastardised’ or broken form of
English came to be.
However, Carolyn Cooper, professor of literary
and cultural studies at the UWI, Mona Campus,
said the way in which the English Language came
to be in the Caribbean — through colonialism
— in her estimation, is not the most important
point of analysis in seeking to understand the
attitudes of males in favour of Jamaican Creole.
“I don’t know that we need to go as far back as
slavery or even colonialism … In the Jamaican
115

context, English is the language of respectability;
the language of schooling. And because girls tend
to do better at school than boys, then English
becomes feminised … The whole culture of
school has become associated with femininity …”
Merris Murray, executive director at the National
Council on Education, has found that there is,
in fact, a characteristic resistance of Jamaican
boys to learning, particularly in respect to
English.
Murray said that learning in the Jamaican
education system is expected to take place with
the assistance of the English language, and
the resistance to learning manifests in terms
of how they view Jamaican Creole as opposed
to the Jamaican English.
“Jamaican boys have increasingly resisted
schooling as “girlish”. This hard image, which
has been embraced by the Jamaican male not
only contributes to the resistance to school but
is also directly linked to the creole language
which is generally spoken by males. This
practice has placed the boys in an increasingly
disadvantageous situation, given that English
is our instructional language.”
Language use as performance
Davids said Jamaica has historically been a
site of linguistic battles between the English
Language and Jamaican Creole. This often
takes place on an individual basis.
“Many of our students, especially those from
creole-speaking backgrounds are left scarred
linguistically and have developed a warped sense
of self-definition as they try to reconstruct
and make sense of their language space and
identity.”
She explained that, because there is a struggle to
conform and speak in English, the relationship
between some individuals and the language
is strained.
Professor Kouwenberg said one way in which
Jamaican men deal with this strained relationship
with English is to resort to speaking only patois,
because it allows for them to be ‘rude’. She
explained that this rudeness is not arbitrary.
It is a cry for help.
She shared that though it is not unusual for
there to be expectations in schools that dictate
behaviour and how students are to respond
in the learning environment, the problem is
that the expectations are all tied to the use of
English.
“If you want to do well in school, you have to
meet this whole set of expectations. It may
be difficult for Jamaican children to meet
these expectations when they are comfortable
speaking creole and not comfortable speaking
Jamaican English … If you find it difficult
speaking Jamaican English because you are not
comfortable with the level that is expected, what
are your options? One option is to try really
hard, pay close attention to what happens on
the board, pay attention to the teacher and show
the teacher that you’re really trying. Another
option is to try and steer attention away from
language by behaving badly…”
However, Professor Cooper explained that it
is the construction of the English Language,
in addition to its association with the culture
116

Professor Carolyn Cooper
Photo by Tori Haber
of learning, that makes Jamaican patois more
appealing to men.
She said it is her intuition that because there has
been a systemic stigmatisation of the Jamaican
Language [creole], it has been turned it into a
space of rebellion, which many Jamaican men
find attractive.
“I think part of what is attractive to young men
about Jamaican patois is that it is seen as an
outlaw language. It’s a sign of ‘badness’… It’s
part of the hype of masculinity not bowing to
the standards of respectability …”
Twenty-four-year-old Ricardo Russell, a firstyear
university student, told CARIMAC Times
that, in his view, the use of English Language
is not the best suited in the context of what he
calls the inner city.
“In my experience, English would mean that
people from inner cities, when they hear someone
speaking English, they would think that ‘oh,
that person is pampered,’ so they’re easy target
or when males use the English Language, they
think that “ ‘im nuh ruff; ‘im a talk like a girl
[he’s not rough; he talks like a girl] … ’ ”
117

“I think part of what is
attractive to young men
about Jamaican Patois
is that it is seen as an
outlaw language.”

Russell said, as a result, he prefers to speak Patois
when he is with his friends in his community or
while communicating in the streets of Jamaica.
But his reasons are mixed.
“When with your friends, it’s easier to rap that
way and some of them are from inner cities,
so they won’t really get the English. When
you’re on the road now, you have to use patois
sometimes to give off a sense of aggressiveness
so you won’t become a target of violence …”
He shared how his community tends to react
to a man using the English Language: “People
in my community react normal to when you
speak patois, but when you speak English, they
give off a different vibe. They’ll start teasing a
little or copy[ing] …”
Russell said speaking in English can even result
in a male’s sexuality being questioned.
“When you’re in certain situations, speaking
English will make you seem like a homosexual,
so people would divert to Patois to fit in or to
remove that branding …”
I asked Professor Cooper to what extent she
would she agree with there being a correlation
between speaking English and being perceived
as homosexual.
“That one is a real difficult one to pin down. We
have to think through that one a little bit more
carefully. I don’t think it’s just English words
that are associated with homosexuality …”
However she conceded that the notion of
there being a perception of men who speak
in English as being homosexual cannot be
rejected entirely.
“In the [Jamaican] culture, there is definitely
an anxiety around homosexuality, particularly
around men, and so anything in the language
that signifies homosexuality would be rejected …”
This anxiety, Professor Cooper explained, has
influenced a kind of creativity among males of
varying ages in which words that immediately
suggest a relationship to other men are ‘recreated’
to prevent any possibility of being considered
to be anything but heterosexual.
She noted the example of Mandeville, the capital
of Manchester, a mid-southern parish in Jamaica
which has been transformed into ‘Gyaldeville’.
The former suggested it has a concentration of
men, thus making it an unacceptable location
to visit. Those “who can’t go to Mandeville …
go to Gyaldeville.”
Dr. Moji Anderson, lecturer on anthropology
and researcher at the Mona Campus of the UWI,
sought to explain this practice in her article,
‘Straighten Up Yu Argument’ — Language as
shibboleth of Jamaican Masculinity.
She said the results of semi-structured interviews
with Jamaican males show how language use
forms part of shibboleths, which are cultural
practices that maintain boundaries between
groups, in this case heterosexual and homosexual
men.
“The shibboleth was maintained through lexical
expansion: the avoidance, modification and
replacement of certain words. Just as not using the
shibboleth meant “you are not masculine enough”
119

and that men were “accepting homosexuality”,
using it gave the speaker “a sense of power …
you identif[ied] yourself as being a masculine
person” and avoided “repercussions for you
around yuh bredrin dem [male friends]. [sic]”
She noted that words such as ‘fish’ and ‘two’,
both English words, have taken on new meanings.
They are used to refer to homosexuals. The
word ‘few’ is often used in place of ‘two’.
Oshane Grant, no relation to Jordon Grant, is a
24-year-old student in the Institute for Gender
and Development Studies (IGDS) at UWI, Mona.
He told CARIMAC Times that he too has to be
mindful of his use of language.
“I rather to speak patois based on the environment
that I am in, the situation that presents itself. I
decide then which of the vocabulary best suits
the occasion … There are times when usage
of the vernacular improves my standing in
the society and makes me appear to be more
masculine.”
Grant is part of a long tradition of hegemonic
masculinity that is exemplified by the population
of males who reside on Chancellor Hall, the
only all-male student residence at UWI, Mona.
He shared examples of the vocabulary which
best suits their expression of manliness and
those that detract.
“‘Manz’ is a word that we use in patois to convey
masculinity. We use also, ‘lash’, ‘chap [chop]’,
‘tugs [thugs]’, ‘mi general’, ‘shellings’ …”
There was a certain level of conviction and
forcefulness as he shared the examples.
He said these and other words/phrases in patois
come with a requisite level of aggression that
the English Language is less likely to provide.
“There are some English words that can make
you appear less masculine based on certain
situation. Say for instance the term in English
that could convey a sense of femininity, ‘guy’.
You don’t want to say ‘men’ … You don’t want to
be overly in touch with your emotions, so you
say ‘hard’ or ‘soft’. You don’t want to say, ‘I have
a gentle touch’. You tend to stick to words that
can sound rough. So you won’t find every young
man pronouncing ‘three’; he will say ‘tree’ …”
Grant maintained that if the words ‘weak’, ‘soft’,
‘gentle’ are used to describe a male, that person
will appear less masculine because “it’s not so
much about you using the word …”
But Jordon Grant said it has everything to do
with how words are used, who uses them, and
the additives such as gestures and expressions
that come along with it.
“If you come to me now and you’re using the
English Language to me and then while using
it, you’re going to ‘wring up yuh neck’ [move
your neck in a circular motion repeatedly and
dramatically] or draw your words or maybe
the way you do your mouth, then I am going
to wonder [about your sexuality].”
Asked what standards are there around using
the English Language. He could not respond.
Instead, he beseeched that the interviewer see
the merit in his argument about the implications
of having too much gesticulation and drawing
words while speaking in English as a man.
120

Professor Silvia Kouwenberg
Photo by Tori Haber
But he contradicted himself by stating that he
could not decide whether language can convey
sexuality.
Observed, his hand and head movements were
almost robotic rather than fluid — as in the
‘wringing of the neck’ he described earlier.
Languages, theories and identities
According to Professor Kouwenberg, the languages
also operate in a certain gender context. An
integral part of that context is how accessible
both male and female children view either.
For males, Dr. Anderson shared, that access
is dependent on the level of manliness that it
affords.
“…The hyper-masculine men of Jamaica’s ghettos
have fewer resources available to prove their
manhood than their middle-class counterparts …”
The current cultural context suggests that
males, particularly those who are from or are
associated with lower-income communities,
see the English Language as accessible to a
lesser extent than females. This is manifested
in the education system.
121

“... There is never a time
in my mind when I feel
like Patois makes me feel
more masculine.”

The British Council’s survey further noted
that Jamaican males do not like to read, and
it is a precursor to the use of patois as refuge
against standard Jamaican English.
Jordon Grant said, in high school, there were
times when certain words he used made it
easier to get along with some of the other
male students. He had to use patois-oriented
slangs because it was what they [class and
schoolmates] responded to.
“It was the best way to communicate what you
want to say to them or get your point across
… So you use it [a slang] even though saying
the word ‘dawg’ for instance, is kind of weird
because who wants to call somebody a dog?
But it’s what they are used to and it’s what gets
their attention.”
Professor Cooper admitted to using both English
and Jamaican Creole when she teaches university
students. She recalled one male student who
never used English when he spoke.
“I find that the male students in my class don’t
use English any differently from the female
[students]. But I had one student a few years
ago … was a DJ and he would speak completely
in Jamaican (Patois) in class, and I wouldn’t
stop him. I felt that it was important to hear
what he had to say.”
She said, while English is as much an oral
language as patois, Jamaican Creole is ‘the
heart language’ of the majority of people.
“Patois is the language that people feel comfortable
in, and English is the second language that many
people learn and they learn it in school … It is
associated with hard work whereas Jamaican
[Patois] is a language in which you can be
yourself.”
Junior Williams, 20, also a university student,
spoke frankly about his preference for Patois.
“ … There is never a time in my mind when I
feel like Patois makes me feel more masculine.”
He told CARIMAC Times that he wants to
set the record straight by making it clear that.
“My resentment of English language is more of
cultural retention. It has nothing to do with
being a sissy or making me more masculine.”
Williams expanded on the relationship between
culture and his language of preference.
“Mi feel like seh [I think] patois should be
considered a language. I’m not of the notion,
of the belief, of the ideology that English should
be considered our native tongue — Not because
we were colonised by the English. I feel like
we have the right as a people to exercise our
culture, our right, our language, because it is
not right to force your culture, your language
onto someone else. Me feel like seh a language
weh [what] we develop … we should hold close
to such legacy.”
Professor Kouwenberg noted that it is not
unheard of for people, including children, to
reject the English Language on the basis of
cultural identity.
“For many… English is a language that they hear
on TV … English seems foreign. They don’t
really see English as being Jamaican and as
belonging to Jamaica. That is how you can get
123

a situation where some of our athletes, when
they go abroad and they speak English, they
put on a twang because their home language
is Jamaican creole but they now have to speak
to foreigners. It’s a foreign language.”
Williams began to explain his view on how the
English Language affects how manly men come
across. His response is similar to Jordan Grant’s.
“Yes, to an extent I think that speaking the English
Language, the way how you gesticulate, the way
how a man, especially, is poised and articulates
himself when in the presence of someone else
who is talking the English Language, it gives a
sense of ‘too feminine’. Sometimes if I am in
the space, mi a go [I will] talk English, but just
because the space demands it. But making me
feel more masculine? No…”
He sought to clarify.
“Maybe mi see two man ah converse inna [If I see
two men conversing in] Standard English, the
way how the hand movements [they gesticulate],
maybe to [based on] how they look, one might
assume that they are, maybe of a certain class,
a certain culture, certain sexuality …”
Williams said he thinks using the language to
assume a person’s background and sexuality
may be “myopic and to some extent ignorant …”
“That is not the premise on which I really base
my observation… It comes as a result of me
conversing with different people over the years
and the resentment for patois as Jamaicans
is eye-opening. Making me more masculine?
No. Maybe in the space of someone who is
more refined in their socialization, then one
can assume or one will assume that, yeah, it
might have something to do with being more
masculine …”
His argument on cultural retention started to
wane as he developed on his belief that neither
the use of English Language or Jamaican Patois
can make a person more or less masculine or
feminine.
“It is just perception or maybe the social
background. How one was cultured has a lot
to do with their whole decorum and speech. As
I said, maybe if I see two males conversing and
they are like, “you know that later we should do
this or later we should do that or so and so …”,
then my immediate assumption is that they are
too refined or something fishy is going on …”
The use of ‘fishy’ is an allusion to the concept of
homosexuality. It is the adjectival form of one
of the words that Dr. Anderson said constitutes
the shibboleth against male sexual deviance.
Professor Cooper also hinted at how delivery
can affect what is conceptualised about the
speaker of English, as she theorised.
“We may have had very high profile homosexuals
who, though they are in the closet, still know
them to be gay, who are particularly good at
using English, particularly with a British accent
— so that kind of a thing became associated with
homosexuality.”
Williams explained that though he cannot
think of specific English words or phrases
that reduce how manly a male comes across,
he can identify other factors.
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“Who is talking Standard English in a social
space can give off the impression of femininity
or feminineness … Based on what I see, I can
then make the assumption, whether logical
or arrogant … that these people are moving
feminine, right?”
Like the others, Williams rubbished the view
that ‘English is for sissies’ but said there may
be times when a person, depending on how
he dresses or uses the language, may fit the
bill of a sissy.
A sissy is the term used to describe a male who
does not express himself in ways typical of the
tradition of and ideal male.
Jordon Grant said he thinks the gestures that
make a person feminine while using English
can do the same to that person while he uses
patois. He also had his own theory on the
relationship between femininity and language.
“To me, I just think you get away with murder
while using patois and be feminine than using
English and be feminine.”
Development and solutions.
Professor Kouwenberg charged that policymakers
need to strategise to find ways to encourage a
balance in the use of the languages, particularly
among males. She said it is integral that people’s
awareness of the fact that both Jamaican creole
and Jamaican English belong to Jamaica is raised.
She explained that it has to begin in the classroom
where there is a strong presence of female
teachers.
125
Graphic by Yohan S. R. Lee

Patois complements this interpretation of masculinity in Jamaica.
Illustration by Greg Bailey
This is problematic because:
“Women’s interest differ for men’s interests… Boys
may be more interested in classifying things,
and girls are more interested in describing
things … If your teacher is female, she is more
likely to pursue a topic using a female line of
interest than to pursue it using a male line of
interest. It is important that at the levels of the
teachers’ colleges, that teachers are trained to
cater to both types of interest.”
Professor Kouwenberg highlighted the issue of
treating Creole as incorrect English as another
practice that should be discontinued.
“English is not being taught. There is an
assumption that your home language is some
version of English and, therefore, the predominant
strategy for so-called teaching English is really
correction… The problem with that is that it is
pedagogically unsound to correct where there
are no errors. If a child speaks Jamaican creole
error-free and you’re going to treat that as
some kind of English full of errors, then again
we get to this point where it is psychologically
damaging …”
She said because English and Creole share
some words, efforts should be made to teach
using both languages in the classroom.
126

Khi Grant, no relation to Jordon and Oshane
Grant, is a teacher of English at a prominent
all-male institution in St. Andrew. Like Dr.
Cooper, he generally allows for his students,
who are in first form [grade seven] to express
themselves using creole.
He said students at that school, for the most
part, have associated English with being a sissy,
feminine or a homosexual.
That belief, he explained, comes from the
ideologies that are fostered in the communities
they live. The students are predominantly from
lower-income communities.
[Khi] Grant, who also teaches at other institutions
with students from different social backgrounds,
noted that the rejection of English has affected
the way the students express themselves in
writing.
“What you find, though, is the perennial issue
is that they write how they speak. Therefore,
maybe I should abandon that allowance of
using the creole in class. I tend to observe that
in their writing, they forego the observance
or use of punctuation marks. You find a lot of
run-on sentences …”
But efforts are being made to get the students
to communicate using English.
“When it comes on to answering questions, I
require from them to speak or make an effort
to speak in Standard English to answer in
complete sentences …”
it relates to English Language and Jamaican
Creole, there is a recognition, for the most part,
of the limitations of speaking the latter alone.
Professor Kouwenberg told CARIMAC Times
that children have their own agendas for
choosing to speak the language they do. She
explained, however, that they are unaware of
the consequences of only making an effort to
speak one.
Oshane Grant said he believes English is most
beneficial to his development, particularly with
respect to the realisation of a career.
“It’s important for someone like myself who wants
to venture into politics to have not ‘hexellent
English’ … [I need to speak] English that is good
for communicating on a platform that can allow
you to appear serious and [for others] to know
what you are about ….”
But Williams understands things differently.
“Apart from travelling or being interviewed for
a job or talking to some people of a different
social status or of social prestige, then one
might agree that English is not beneficial to
my development or the development of my
country …”
For Jordon Grant, the issue Jamaican people, in
particular men, face is a lack of understanding
of the language and its usefulness.
“ … I rather if people could just understand
English Language and just get on with their lives.”
Despite the dilemma and choices made as
127

What’s in a Name?
Imagine a high school teacher marking the register for the first time and she stumbles
upon the name Shetania. Her eyes widen, eyebrows raise in bewilderment, and her
mouth fumbles over the syllables.
Text
128
by Rasheda Myles

Imagine when she calls on a student whose
name is Shetania to answer a question.
How would you react in this setting? What
if Shetania decides to introduce herself
to you for the first time?
“Hi, my name is Shetania.”
How would you respond?
I observed people being baffled, shocked and
disgusted when 24-year-old Shetania Myles
introduced herself. Some people laughed and
attempted to repeat what they heard but could
only manage to say ‘Sh*t’.
She is one of many who have to endure the
consequences of having an uncommon name.
Several CARIMAC Times interviews found that
some parents are adamant on being creative,
especially when it comes to naming their
children. They attempt to create names they
believe are unique. But to some individuals,
this is creativity gone awry, as some children
are left to bear the consequences of having an
uncommon name.
Although article seven of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) —
ratified by Jamaica two years later — states that
every child should be registered immediately
after birth and shall have the right from birth
to a name, there is no article giving that child
the right to a name free from ridicule. Children
are made to face social, psychological and
educational implications simply because of
their name.
Saddened in school
Shetania Myles, a former student of the Johnathan
Grant High School in St. Catherine, explained
her high school ordeal involving all of these
implications to CARIMAC Times.
“I hated school,” were the three words Myles
repeated throughout the interview.
“The students were mean. They would call me
all sorts of things like sh*t, Sh*tpanya and then
laugh. They were awful,” she recalled.
Myles shared that her social life was negatively
impacted because of her name and the kind
of ridicule it allowed for.
“Being five feet, nine inches tall and weighing
267 pounds with that name ... you won’t have
much friends,” Myles said in a soft voice.
Myles set the scene of an experience she
had in high school when she was jeered and
compared to filth.
She described the environment as sunny and
windy and remembered it was lunchtime. She
said she walked towards the playing field to
gather with some of her classmates who were
already engrossed in a happy conversation, but
the joke was on her.
As she approached the group of grade eight
male and female students, they started pointing
at her and shouted, through giggles, that she
was the ‘doo-doo’ [filth] girl.
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“The students were mean.
They would call me all
sorts of things ...”

“I ran into the bathroom and cried until school
was dismissed. I beg[ged] my mother not to
send me back to that hell place but, of course,
she did,” Myles added.
Many students at the Jonathan Grant High
School would anticipate the sound of the lunch
bell as a signal of freedom, but for Myles, the
dismissal bell was the real signal of freedom;
escape from students she could only describe
as monsters because of how they treated her.
Children with uncommon names sometimes
become socially handicapped. In fact, many
become introverts.
An American psychologist, Carlin Flora, in a 2015
study titled, ‘Hello, My Name is Unique’, found
that “children with uncommon names might
feel alienated from their peers and become
loners to avoid being mocked.”
Myles knows this reality all too well. However, so
do countless others, including Othniel Williams.
Williams is an alumnus of Denbigh High School
in Clarendon. The Denbigh High School is one
of many secondary institutions in Jamaica
where children gather to get formal education
and, by extension, socialisation. It is a place
where students are supposed to feel secure
and welcomed. Nevertheless, as interviews
revealed, it is a place where teachers are also
at fault for mocking their students.
Nineteen-year-old Othniel Williams said he
was taunted and ridiculed, not just by students,
but also his teachers.
“I was frustrated. I wanted to move away from
them, or hit some sense in them,” he said.
“The teachers and students alike would call me
oatmeal, not because they couldn’t pronounce
it [my name], but because they wanted to make
fun of me,” Williams explained.
All the interviewees who bear an uncommon
name told CARIMAC Times that their names
have caused them to be reserved around people
who they fear would mock them.
Others like Deadranne Baston, and her brother,
Janrameish Baston, also explained that they
were afraid to socialise because they knew
people would not say their names correctly.
Strained relationships
But, having an uncommon name does not only
come with the burden of not making friends.
Researchers have found that the singularity of a
name can negatively influence the relationships
individuals form.
One researcher, David Figlio in a 2005 American
study, found that “children with singular names
are sometimes classified with some pathological
personality qualities, and having this name
can cause individuals to resent others, which
can affect the type of relationships they form”.
A Jamaican child psychologist, Gemma Gibbon,
also supported this view, as she said, children
might resent their parents if they believe they
were wronged, or have been treated unfairly
through the names they were given.
Twenty-two-year-old Deadranne Baston said, in
her younger years, she had what she described
as a poor relationship with her mother because
she disliked her name.
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Deadranne Baston, a gender and development studies
major at the University of the West Indies, Mona
Photo by Tori Haber
“My mother named me. So, for a while ... during
high school, I resented her,” Baston explained.
As for 25-year-old Lejohndy Facey, he said he
hated his mother because he believed she was
the reason the children called him, “Legg on John
d*ck”, which has a connotatively homosexual
meaning.
“It was my first day at high school, and as I walked
into the large classroom, teenagers with wide
eyes looked at me. It was clear this is how they
treated new students. The teacher scanned me
from head to toe as the class remain[ed] silent
and followed my every move. I had to introduce
myself to everyone. As soon as I said my name,
a tall boy with a firm body shouted from the
back of the class, with a disgusted look on his
face ‘weh him name Legg john d*ck?’ I was
embarrassed immediately and the entire class
erupted with laughter. From that day I knew
I wouldn’t like it at Spanish Town High. The
name stick pan [on] me right throughout the
time I went there,” Facey said.
He continued to mull over the rationale behind
his naming.
“I questioned it every day, why would she [his
mother] give me a name like that and she knows
the society we live in?” Facey asked.
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Facey alluded to the strong negativity and
intolerance towards non-heterosexual
characteristics that can be found in the Jamaican
society.
Learning outcomes
His situation also highlighted another
consequence of having an uncommon name;
stymied performances in education.
Researchers Thomas Busse and Louisa Seraydurim,
in an early psychological study, found that,
“Students with more socially desirable names
have higher intelligence tests scores, as well
as higher level of school achievements.”
Similarly, another American study conducted
by Crisp, Apostal and Luessenheide in 1983,
concluded that: “Harvard College students with
singular names were more likely to be dropped
for unsatisfactory academic performance.”
Despite this study being done almost three
decades ago, Facey and Myles are living
testaments to its findings.
“I was getting a lot of low grades in every subject,
because I never feel comfortable in my class,
so I didn’t want to ask the teacher to go over
something I didn’t understand,” Facey explained.
Facey said he missed out on a lot of opportunities
because he was too afraid to speak up and
actively participate in class.
“Because I was afraid of being mocked, I didn’t
want to go to school. But whenever I [did] go,
I would sit at the back and sleep, or I wouldn’t
go any at all,” Facey explained.
His goal of learning was unrealised.
“Me never learn nothing a school y’know, and
life get hard so now me haffi [have to] learn a
trade so mi can help myself, so me fix bicycle
and electronic device[s] like phone and radio,”
he continued.
Coming from a low-income background, a
solid education was one tool Shetania Myles
thought could help to her change her situation.
But the path to success seemed clouded by
her hatred of the school environment she was
forced to embrace.
“I was tired of the children. They would mock me,
inside and outside of class, and their constant
laughing would get me confused sometimes,
so I didn’t really learn much.”
She mentioned days when she wanted to hide
away from school, but was uncertain of where
to go, because she was fearful her mother would
find out and punish her.
“Have you ever been sick and tired of something?
That’s how I was. There are days I would go
to school and play by myself on the playing
field, or I would just sleep in class because I
wasn’t comfortable with the students. I was
shy, so I never participated or asked questions,”
Myles said.
Name-game continues
Today, Myles has to attend evening school to
complete her education, so she can accomplish
her dream of becoming a nurse.
Deadranne Baston, a first-year student at the
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“I was tired of the
children. They would
mock me, inside and
outside of class.”

University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona,
recalled students giggling whenever the teacher
called her name. There would be comments
like ‘Deadra’ or ‘Battystan’ in an attempt to
mock her name.
“Because of the mispronunciations like ‘Dead-
Granny’ and ‘Dead-Dranne’, my teachers had
to resort to calling me Ms. Baston,” she said.
Othniel Williams, also a student at the UWI,
Mona, recalled similar reactions from his
classmates.
“At the first instance, some will show that they
like it. While for some, maybe because they’re
hungry, the first thing that comes to their mind
is oatmeal and them laugh out,” Williams said
as he made light of the experience.
Gibbon told CARIMAC Times that she believes
that children with uncommon names will find a
coping mechanism to deal with their situation.
“This mechanism might be to change their names,
so that they would feel more comfortable around
others or fit in with society,” Gibbon said.
Several people live the reality Gibbon referenced.
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Thirty-five-year-old Janrameish Baston,
brother to Deadranne, shared that his high
school classmates called him ‘Janrubbish’ and
he disliked it so strongly that he was desperate
for a way to cope.
“As a child, I thought about changing my name
legally, and since I wasn’t able to, I juggled
different names that I preferred,” Baston said.
His sister confessed also to using different
names in lieu of her birth name.
“I would use Claudia or Vicky, which is a more
normal name to avoid the drama,” she said.
Gibbon also mentioned that children sometimes
put a lot of effort into ignoring being mocked
— an approach Williams took.
Williams, a first-year journalism major at the
Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication
(CARIMAC), at the University of the West Indies,
Mona, had a different mindset from the others.
He adored his name, despite being mocked
because of it.
“Whenever they got it wrong or didn’t pronounce
the ‘th’, I would just say, that’s not me you’re
talking about.”
When CARIMAC Times asked these individuals
if they had communicated their feelings and
challenges, regarding their names to their
parents, they all replied no. Similarly, when
the parents were asked if they noticed any
resentment or disapproval from their children
regarding their names, they also said no.
As a result, some parents continue to live in
ignorance of the negative effect the names
136
Graphic by Marilyn Savant

they have attached to their children can have.
They become far removed from the situations
their children endure daily. And, as their
children grow more resentful, their relationship
increasingly suffer.
CARIMAC Times spoke with the parents of
Lejohndy Facey, Shetania Myles, Janrameish and
Deadranne Baston, and Othniel Williams. They
all stated that they had did not think the name
they chose or created would affect the child.
After becoming aware of the challenges the
children faced, all except one of these parents
held firmly to the view that they would not
change the name of their child. Despite their
child’s clear dislike for the name, it would
remain because they, the parent ‘love it’.
One parent, Lisa Cowan, said she got ‘Othniel’
from the Bible, and she would not change it
because it is unique.
“While I was pregnant, I saw the name in Judges
and I liked it, because the spelling was different,”
Cowan justified.
extensively on my name. They asked questions
like ‘what does your name mean, where did you
get it?’ And, if I like it and so forth …” Baston said.
There was a similar case for his sister, Deadranne
Baston, who is majoring in Gender and
Development at the UWI, Mona. She said she
had experienced a case where her employer only
considered her for a job as a sales representative
because of her name.
“One interviewer said she hired or shortlisted
me because of my name; she was curious to
meet me,” Baston said.
“I wasn’t happy about it, as I believe that people
should employ me based on their belief in my
potential, and not my name. And then I thought,
if that wasn’t my name, would I have got the job?”
They continue to navigate their lives and deal
with the repercussion of their names, their
burden.
However, Sandra Crawford, Deadranne Baston’s
mother, said she would have changed the name
if she knew her daughter was negatively affected.
Their names followed them outside the classroom
and into the working world.
Janrameish Baston, an electrician, said his
interviewers, at the time he was seeking
employment, were more interested in his name
than his abilities.
“During the interview, they would quiz me
137

D’Bill
Lisa Reynolds, having given birth to a son, felt tired but still brimmed with excitement as she brought home
her newborn from the hospital. She had spent several hours in labour but did not take for granted the
fortune of her baby being alive. Then 24-years-old, she named her son Joshua Martin*.
She told CARIMAC Times that as the months went by, she noticed that some things about her child were
amiss. Martin, in her opinion, was not developing at a rate she thought to be typical of a child his age.
138
Text by Tamara Smith

He frequently became ill and, on
several occasions, had to be
admitted to the hospital.
She was concerned.
“The doctor told me that he has Down syndrome
and I was sent to do some tests. Those confirmed
it. I know that normally, children start standing
or walking by eight to nine months, but that was
not the case with him. He started late. He was
slow in every area. He didn’t walk until he was
three years old,” the mother of three shared.
Reynolds said she came to accept the results, as
this type of intellectual disability was familiar.
Her elder brother had also been diagnosed
with the same condition. For her, however, the
challenges were with regard to enrolling Martin
in school and dealing with a discriminatory
community.
“If he tried to play with the other children, he
was often mistreated, and the adults called
him handicapped. I also wanted to get him into
school but because he has Down syndrome. The
regular school[s] wouldn’t accept him so I had
to try the School of Hope. I didn’t get through
there either. The School was full [to capacity]
so he had to be placed on a waiting list. I tried
to teach him a little at home but he should be
in school,” she said.
Two years later, at age seven, Martin was still
out of school because he lived in rural Jamaica
and there was only one institution in the parish
that could handle this type of disability. Reynolds
said she was hopeful that with the passing of
the Disabilities Act, life would improve for her
son and others like him.
Disabilities and inclusion
According to the United Nations’ findings,
approximately 15 per cent of the world’s
population has at least one type of disability. Yet,
in spite of such a large percentage, this group,
including Martin continued to experience social
exclusion in education, housing, employment
and community activities.
Generally, the international human rights
organisation noted, people with disabilities
(PWDs) are poorer, less independent and less
likely to reach their full potential than any
other identifiable group.
The Disabilities Act was passed in 2014 and
received widespread support from advocacy
groups. It also facilitated the creation of agencies
such as the Jamaica Council for Persons with
Disabilities ( JCPD).
The JCPD is the government agency, under the
Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS)
that has responsibility for the implementation
of policies and programmes for PWDs. The
mission of the Council is to promote the
protection of the rights of PWDs in accordance
with national policies, plans and programmes
within the legislative framework. It seeks to
facilitate the educational, economic and social
development of pwds in a collaborative and
participatory atmosphere, through training,
public education and the provision of other
relevant services.
139

“If he tried to play with
the other children, he
was often mistreated,
and the adults called him
handicapped.”

An excerpt from the Disabilities Act (2014)
Graphic by Yohan S. R. Lee
Then Minister of Labour and Social Security,
Derrick Kellier told the public that the Act is
intended to reduce the disadvantages PWDs
and other communities face. This, he explained
while speaking at the Jamaica Inclusive
Education Conference held last year, would
be done by developing an environment that
does not encourage any form of exclusion of
such individuals.
“This progressive piece of legislation actually
delivers on the promise … to put effective
measures in place that will assist greatly, going
forward, in lifting members of the disabled
community upwards,” the former Minister
claimed.
However, the Act is yet come into effect after
10 years of deliberations, 14 amendments, and
receiving bipartisan report.
Christine Hendricks, executive director at the
JCPD said, the Act has not been implemented
because the Disabilities Rights Tribunal - as
is to be established by the Act - has not been
realised but plans were ‘progressing’.
“If the Act comes into effect and there is no
institution for redress of discrimination, then it
[will] further frustrate persons with disabilities
(PWDs). Work is going on as we speak to ensure
that this tribunal is established and the Jamaica
Council for Persons with Disabilities ( JCPD) is
141

also established into what the Act calls a body
corporate, which is an independent government
entity, with greater responsibility to ensure
that this act is implemented and implemented
successfully,” she explained.
Hendricks added that the Act is expected to
impact every Jamaican in all spheres of life.
“It speaks of the humans rights of a group of
persons that are usually marginalised. To
bring them into mainstream society or to
allow for mainstream society to facilitate
their independence, a number of things will
have to happen,” she said, explaining that it
was not only the physical environment that
needed to be fixed in order to accommodate
the visually impaired or wheelchair bound, but
also communication and access to information
for persons who are hearing impaired.
“You have to prepare. You wouldn’t want the Act
to come into effect and you are just beginning
… The fact that the Act has been out there, gives
an opportunity for both [the] Government and
private sector to put their house in order,” she
warned.
While the Jamaican population and the JCPD
await the establishment of the Tribunal and
the appointment of the date to bring the Act
into effect, the Council continues to “champion”
the cause of PWDs.
According to the Act, a person with disability
is understood to be, “A person who has a longterm
physical, mental, intellectual or sensory
impairment, which may hinder his full and
effective participation in society, on an equal
basis with other persons.”
This is would account for female persons
with disabilities, despite the use of the male
pronoun ‘his’.
The services offered by the Council include,
among others - registration [identifying and
registering pwds], public education [campaigns
aimed at educating the society on disability
issues], economic empowerment grants
[financial assistance to create income generating
project/small business], educational assistance
[scholarships, assistance with school fees and
back-to-school supplies] and housing solution
through the National Housing Trust (NHT).
The Government, since the 1980s has in place
a five per cent housing solution through the
NHT to allow for PWDs to be among those who
are able to access that housing. However, not
many are employed, and as such, have been
unable to contribute to the NHT, which makes
them ineligible to access this offering. Given
this reality, not many fall into the category of
living in “good homes”.
In 2015, the JCPD conducted a study into the
housing conditions of persons with disabilities.
It was discovered that although 64.4 per cent
live in “some form of housing”, there are many
who live in state homes, were abandoned by
their families or whose housing facilities are
“less than desirable”.
Access to education has also been cited among
the challenges the PWD community faces.
Notwithstanding the fact that some children
with disabilities are attending school, a large
group is still not able to participate in the formal
education system because of the inaccessibility
of the schools, with regard to infrastructure.
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Those with physical disabilities were unable
to enter the classrooms. For individuals with
intellectual disabilities, the general school system
does not provide special education teachers to
facilitate their needs; and the hearing impaired
have had to attend specialised schools for
their form of disability. It was highlighted that
people with intellectual disabilities account for
the largest subset of the PWD community and
are also forced to attend specialised schools.
According to the JCPD, an intellectual disability
refers to a significant impairment in an individual’s
mental development, which manifests through
difficulty in learning and performing certain
daily living skills. This affects the ability to read,
write, reason, listen and speak. An individual
with an intellectual disability has difficulty
receiving and processing information, and
may have limitations in two or more social and
adaptive skill areas, such as communication,
socialisation, self-direction, leisure and self-care.
Accessing education
Hendricks told Carimac Times that specialised
education or separate education is not the
preferred mode although at this point, the
general school system cannot adequately
accommodate PWDs. The preference is for
children with disabilities to be integrated into
the general school setting, and to have teachers
be taught how to facilitate students with special
needs in the class.
“There is about 20 per cent of our schools that
can facilitate children with disabilities. There are
not very many schools that can accommodate
[children with disabilities] ... There are separate
schools that are special education schools but
143
Former Minister of Labour and Social Security Derrick Kellier
Photo courtesy of Jamaica Information Service

... they can only accommodate a certain number
of students ... The situation is dire.”
But she pointed out that improvements are
ahead.
“The Ministry of Education (MOE) has been doing
some work to facilitate more sensitisation, in
terms of persons [teachers] who are in the
college system ... to prepare them [so] that
they can better identify the children who
would come into their classrooms as having a
disability - so that those children can get early
intervention,” she said.
Jason Ricketts, former liberal studies student
at the University of the West Indies (UWI),
Mona, has been visually impaired since birth
as a result of having Glaucoma in both eyes.
According to Dr Lizette Mowatt, consultant
ophthalmologist at the University Hospital of
the West Indies (UHWI), Glaucoma, a common
group of conditions, is characterised by an
increase in the pressure within the eye. The
pressure destroys the optic nerve which is
important to the ability to see. It is one of the
leading causes of blindness.
Ricketts expressed that he received education
in the general school system but he often
encountered ridicule and mistreatment.
“Life in high school was bittersweet because
when I went there, it was the first time many
of the persons [administrators] had to deal
with an individual who was blind, so they
shied away from me. They never knew how to
approach me. [Some] of the students, however,
teased me. They called me blind, asked weird
questions, laughed at me and [even] put things
in my way,” he recounted.
144
Dr. Lizette Mowatt
Photo courtesy of Jamaica Information Service

In spite of this, Ricketts said he was determined
to overcome the odds and complete secondary
education. He explained that, having been taught
to read Braille at an early age, he used a Braille
machine to type notes in classes, which assisted
him with studying at home. During internal
examinations, teachers helped him to read the
questions and also wrote the answers he gave.
For the Caribbean Secondary Examination
Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced
Proficiency Examination (CAPE), fourth form
students aided him in the same manner.
Hendricks pointed out that the JCPD provides
support in order to ensure that more PWDs
can access formal education.
“We provide what we call shadow support or
personal assistance support ... Those who
have moderate to severe disabilities, they are
able to move up with help. Somebody is there
with them in the classroom ... Maybe taking
the notes or helping them in whatever way, so
that they can be [in school].”
Once registered with Council, persons with
disabilities can access services it provides.
“For those high schools that would be physically
inaccessible, if it is requested from us, that
[shadow] support is provided or we can guide
them [administrators] to an organisation that
provides shadows. And we help to pay, not the
entire sum but we assist in the payment,” she
explained.
The JCPD has about 30,000 PWDs in a national
database.
“We have not begun to scratch the surface. We
are talking about perhaps persons in deep
rural Jamaica that may not know that they
have something called a disability. There is a
perception that a disability is caused by Obeah
or it’s retribution for something wrong that
family members have done. So, they may not
even be looking at their child or family member
as having a disability that is worth telling [the]
Government about. They are just thinking
that this is a child whom duppy [evil spirit or
ghost] touched and who prayer can restore,”
Hendricks said.
She outlined to Carimac Times that the
Council has created, since last year, a three-year
communication plan, which it will begin to roll
out this year. This is being done to allow for
stakeholders and other Jamaicans to become
more sensitised about what is a disability and
informed about who needs to be registered.
“The most important reason is for us to have
the numbers because without the numbers,
we cannot plan for them [PWDs] adequately or
we won’t know that they exist. We have 30,000
in our database so our planning would be for
30,000 ... If we know the numbers, if persons
are registered, then we are able to accurately
provide the information to the different social
sectors in the society,” she reasoned.
In the event of activities such as general elections
that require national participation, the JCPD
also gets involved. But the level of involvement
is dependent on the data available.
“... Election is very much on the horizon ... and if
we don’t know, we can only say to the Electoral
Office of Jamaica (EOJ), make sure your facilities
145

are accessible so that if a PWD, regardless of
the disability, turns up, they can be taken care
of,” Hendricks explained.
Testimony and denouncement
Joyce Tomlinson has registered her daughter
with the JCPD and has utilised the services it
provides. Her daughter, Julian Tomlinson, 16, has
been unable to hear or speak since birth. She
is enrolled in a specialised school for children
who are hearing impaired, and the Council
has provided her with educational assistance.
“It is important to be registered with JCPD
because otherwise, I don’t believe I would have
received the help I needed for my daughter. The
social worker told me that I could be assisted
so I submitted Julian’s school report and the
book list, and the application was approved.
She was able to get the text books for school,”
Tomlinson expressed as she smiled.
Registered PWDs attending primary and
secondary schools may only apply for
educational assistance between June and
August. For students attending school for the
first time, a copy of the acceptance letter from
the receiving institution should be submitted,
along with support documents [school voucher,
book list or an invoice for uniforms or shoes].
Returning students have to submit a copy of the
146

last performance report as well as supporting
documents.
Clifton Wright, 39, was diagnosed during
childhood with intellectual disability. He lives
in a household with his aunt, Brenda Lewis,
who assists him with his daily activities. He
is also registered with the JCPD and his aunt
has submitted an application for an economic
grant on his behalf. She will be helping him
with his small business venture, should he
receive the grant.
She, however, has expressed frustration as they
have not yet received any payment.
“I applied for a grant of $40,000 [Jamaican
dollars] to purchase 200 chickens and 20 bags
of chicken feed. That was since 2014 and we still
haven’t received any money. Clifton does odd
jobs in the community but the little money he
gets - and what I make - can just barely sustain
us, so I applied for the grant. But every day is
something different,” Lewis said.
In her explanation, she said she was asked to
provide an invoice for the items she would
need. And she further claimed a social worker
has visited to assess their capacity for poultry
farming.
“She [the social worker] came to see if we had
the chicken coop in place, as well as a freezer
to store the meat for sale. All of that was in
place and she later called to say the grant was
approved but we haven’t received it. I have
given up calling her. I have told myself and
Clifton, that it’s government business so it’s
not guaranteed,” she told Carimac Times.
The economic empowerment grant is intended
to assist in improving the standard of living
and increase the income earning capacity of
PWDs or their caregivers. The expectation is
that they will eventually become self-sufficient.
The grant is made available to PWDs, and in
cases where they are unable to access the
grant on their own, a parent/guardian would
be allowed to assist. A group of PWDs may also
access grants with the minimum being $20,000
[Jamaican dollars] and the maximum, $150,000.
There are challenges
Hendricks, in addressing the issue of why the
process for receiving grants is such a lengthy
one in some cases, pointed out that applicants
should be patient and ensure that they have
everything in place for the approval of the
grant, as a number of factors could contribute
to the delay.
“One of them is the fact that the application
form is not properly completed and the number
that they [applicants] gave, no longer works and
... nobody calls us to say this is my new number
or I have moved ... We also do not have social
workers in every parish, and even where we
have [them], one social worker is dealing with
more than one parish,” she stated.
She further pointed out that the availability of
funding is also a factor and, as such, approval
for grants of a larger sum requires a longer
processing time than that for smaller grants.
“Yes, it is provided but the reality is that the
money is not always available. I understand
the frustration but they can’t just give up. If
it is that it has not gone to the committee, it
147

“I have told myself
and Clifton, that it’s
government business so
it’s not guaranteed.”

means that a social worker is needed to do some
visits ... If it is that somebody has visited them,
then it is awaiting the committee’s approval. If
the committee has approved it, it is awaiting
payment through the MLSS,” she said.
For her, there is an advantage to receiving an
approval.
“If it is approved, he/she is far better than those
who have not yet been assessed because he/
she will get it, whether this financial year or
the next financial year.”
Michael Williams, 30, was “far better off” as his
application was approved and the grant paid.
“That was one of the better moments since I had
the accident. I am a fisherman by profession
so I had applied for $20,000 to purchase my
fishing supplies and keep the trade alive,” he
told Carimac Times.
Williams’ left arm was severed when a car
collided with his motorcycle.
“That was the worst day of my life and I was
[further] devastated when I realised that losing
my arm could threaten my livelihood. As much
as I was grateful to be alive, I couldn’t imagine
life as an amputee,” he confessed.
Williams said, through the support of his
family, he was able to adjust to life with one
arm, though it was a difficult process.
“It’s almost like you had to relearn the way you
use to do things. I eventually started swimming
again and practising to use a spear gun to shoot
fish because I could no longer manage to use
the net,” he explained.
His livelihood survived.
“I am back to selling my fish and helping to
support my family and if it weren’t for the
grant, I wouldn’t be able to do all of this, again.”
Hendricks outlined that family support is critical
to the development and the life of PWDs. She
expressed that things will not change until
parents/relatives acknowledged that family
members with any disability are people too
and become vocal and active in advocacy on
their behalf.
“The first thing is to acknowledge that your
child/relative has a disability and get them
registered or get them into any programme
that’s in their area that they can benefit from.
After recognising and getting them into these
programmes, they need to facilitate their
development. So whatever it will take for their
child to develop and maximise their potential,
the parents should be willing to go out 150 per
cent to allow that to happen,” she said.
She further highlighted that in developed
countries, parents are the drivers of change
as it pertains to matters of disability. However,
in Jamaica, parents are more passive. For
some, out of shame, they do not want their
neighbour or other community members to
know that they have a child with a disability,
so they keep quiet.
“[Parents should] speak up and speak out to
make sure that their child gets the best of what
149

“[Parents should] speak
up and speak out to make
sure that their child
gets the best of what is
available ...”

is available ... Make demands of the system. Yes,
the Government is providing and the JCPD exists,
but unless the parents join and speak out on
behalf of their children in their communities,
some of the things that can happen, will not
happen,” she implored.
Meanwhile, Hendricks informed Carimac
Times that the government formed by the
People’s National Party (PNP) was revisiting
its policy for customer service. The JCPD was
a part of that team tasked with preparing the
policy to ensure that the public is better able
to serve PWDs.
With the Jamaica Labour Party ( JLP) forming
the new government, it is not clear how much
will be done to continue the process the now
opposition party, the PNP facilitated.
“We can appeal to the social conscience and
corporate responsibility, if it’s private sector.
We can [also] point to the fact that there is an
Act, [which] when it becomes effective, we can
do sanctions but [now] we can [only] point to
it as a document that is in the law books,” she
concluded.
However, until the Act is implemented, the Council
would have to rely on alternative measures to
deal with individuals and organisations that
discriminate or seek to harm PWDs.
Christine Hendricks
Photo courtesy of Jamaica Information Service

No Man’s Land
Derrick Douglas had never known it so bad.
“For this particular period between 2014 and 2015, I think no one expected that sort of
harsh drought that we experienced. We [farmers] were not aware that it would have been
so devastating,” he said.
152
Text by Yohan S. R. Lee
Photo by Varun Baker

Douglas, 55, became a farmer after
being a teacher for several years,
in hope of earning more from his
efforts. He cultivates a variety
of crops and ground provisions,
including Scotch bonnet peppers,
lettuce, pak choi, carrots, yams and cocoa, on
a farm in McNie District in the garden parish
of St. Ann.
The unpredictability of rainfall has made
farming procedures more expensive. Drought
conditions have eased but another extreme
has set in.
“Moderate rainfall is very good for us but the
excessive rainfall that we are having now…
affects us badly, in that it destroys the crops
and the seeds that we sow. It drowns it by
flooding the fields. We have to be over-dropping
seeds because each time, it is either ‘dumped’
or washed away because of soil erosion. The
seeds are expensive.”
As a result, he and other farmers have had to
adjust their practices to reduce the impact
of excessive rainfall on their yields, but his
losses have still reached what he described as
devastating levels.
“I lost five to six million [Jamaican] dollars
because of the need to fetch, buy and procure
water during the drought period that started
in the middle of 2014 [June] and continued into
the last quarter of 2015,” Douglas recounted.
Context of conditions
Annually, Jamaica struggles with drought
conditions that last longer with each following
year. This has resulted in an increased presence
of water tanks. Douglas shared that he and
other farmers use black tanks to store water
to irrigate crops.
That has created a new problem. The Ministry
of Health has found that tanks, especially those
left uncovered, have acted as facilitators of
mosquito-borne diseases such as chikungunya
and dengue fever.
The lack of water has also caused an increase in
the Hand, Foot and Mouth disease in children.
And fires, lasting for days due to dryness and
heavy winds, have destroyed several acres of
major export crop, Blue Mountain coffee this
year.
As territories in the Caribbean experience extreme
changes in aspects of weather, including wind
speed, temperature and more clearly, rainfall -
stakeholders are charged with recognising the
need for action and solutions.
Then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Senator A J Nicholson, recently raised concerns
about the fate of Caribbean states, if climate
change is not adequately addressed.
Speaking at the 70th session of the United Nations
General Assembly Debate, Nicholson said he
believes the issue being faced by countries
such as Jamaica is “an existential one”, making
reference to various manifestations of climate
change in recent times.
Global dilemma
Dr. Michael Taylor, from the University of the
West Indies, Mona Campus’ Climate Change
153

“I lost five to six million
[Jamaican] dollars
because of the need to
fetch, buy and procure
water …”

Derrick Douglas at work on his farm
Photos by Yohan S. R. Lee
Studies Group, said carbon dioxide emissions
have increased by approximately 40 per cent,
while methane emissions climbed by 150 per
cent globally.
It means, he explained, that the world’s
temperature has gone up by at least zero point
eight per cent – that is, about one degree Celsius.
With this data, the UN’s International Panel on
Climate Change - the world’s leading authority
on global warming - has used models with
scenarios or storylines of future development
to predict the possible effects on the climate.
The climatologists have agreed that a further
temperature increase is certain, and carbon
dioxide discharges must decrease by the year
2020. That means it is ideal to limit the increase
to one degree Celsius and prevent any increase
beyond that.
Taylor pointed out, however, that international
climatologists have said a goal of two degrees
Celsius is significantly more realistic. They
contend that it is senseless to reach for less.
“Global climate change models do not support
increases less than two point five [degrees
Celsius]. But already we have seen the impact
of an increase under one degree on health and
agriculture,” Taylor explained.
According to Taylor’s findings, the region has
155

experienced 20 per cent more warmer days since
1960. The character of rainfall has also shifted.
Rainfall is more sporadic and moves between
extremely heavy and extremely insufficient.
It has also been found by the Meteorological
Centre of Jamaica that the nature of rainfall
has also changed. The region receives rainfall
as a result of systems outside the area, while
drier conditions prevail within.
Jamaica has since agreed with the Alliance of
Small Island States (AOSIS) that any goal above
one point five degrees Celsius is unsatisfactorily
motivated. Such a goal is also considered to be
neglecting of the Caribbean experience to this
point. Larger, developed countries would see
it through different lenses.
Tangible effects
Taylor estimated that, at the regional level,
Caribbean territories are expected to experience
an average of 25 to 30 per cent increase in
surface drying. However, that percentage will
vary from island to island. It is anticipated
that Jamaica, for instance, will experience an
uncharacteristic 50 per cent drying that tends
to impact the already conflicted harvested
sources such as major dams and reservoirs.
These changes are particularly critical to the
region because of the nature of development.
Development in the region is still largely
linked to agriculture and tourism. Both are
major sources of national income that are,
by nature, almost completely dependent on
the environment. Any major shift in weather
intensity or patterns could mean a loss of gross
domestic product (GDP).
Douglas said he and other farmers have had
to be creative in finding ways to provide water
for crops because of dry conditions during the
last drought.
“We did irrigation that is manual [as a result].
We [normally] use the pump but we [have]
had to truck water to various points; use our
heads or donkeys to carry the water to different
positions on the farm.”
He shared that with these setbacks in the
cultivation process that every farmer has to
go through, business has suffered.
“We could have gone further [earned more]
with what was sown [on the first instance] but
continually dropping seeds sets us back because
we don’t have enough [resources].”
According to the Planning Institute of Jamaica
(PIOJ), the country has been losing ground
with regard to GDP. As far back as 2006, seven
point three per cent of Jamaica’s GDP was lost
as a result of severe impact of climate change.
This figure continues to increase.
The United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) pointed out that
much of the impact from climate change will
impact sea and ocean levels. This is caused
by the annual El Nino Southern Oscillation
weather event, which now lasts longer because
of drastic shifts in weather. El Nino refers to an
irregularly occurring warm ocean current that
varies in intensity and can result in catastrophic
weather and climatic changes.
Douglas noted that he could tell that the El
Nino period has been prolonged because of
the severity of dry conditions in the area in
which his farm is located.
156

Photo by Varun Baker
Climate change is primarily problematic because
the majority of populations of small-island states
live along the coastline, and these developing
states share a more intimate relationship with
the surrounding water bodies.
Since 90 per cent of small-island states are
located in the tropics, they are seasonally
exposed to tropical storms and hurricanes,
floods, landslides and droughts. Climate change
may reduce or disrupt rainfall but when it rains,
it does heavily.
Hurricane activities also account for some
loss to the island’s ailing GDP. In 2001, the
Government of Jamaica concluded that damage
and decreased productivity experienced during
Hurricane Michelle was responsible for zero
point eight per cent loss of GDP. Four years
ago, in 2012, that figure increased by zero point
one per cent.
Gender and climate
The UNFCCC stated that there are at least 50
million people living on small islands. And, as the
United Nations entity for Gender Equality, UN
Women highlighted, the differentials between
males and females extend into how they are
both impacted by climate change.
They are impacted in different ways because
157

Photo by Varun Baker
of unique realities. Men and women who live
in rural areas and are dependent on natural
resources for survival also tend to be most
vulnerable to the various natural disasters that
beset the island.
But the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) found that women are generally more
vulnerable as they have less access to resources,
less mobility and are generally absent from
decision-making processes, excepting in the
household.
The most recent Economic and Social Survey
shows that single mothers head 46.4 per cent
of Jamaican households and 53 per cent have
no male presence. It means there are many
communities that depend on the resourcefulness
of women and their failure to provide negatively
affects their dependents.
However, as a male farmer, Douglas is also the
head of his household, which is dependent on
the money he earns. The amount of money
earned is dependent on the size of the yield.
Douglas’s major challenge is, therefore, with
regard to ensuring that he has enough crops to
deliver to those who depend him for farm-grown
food items - including owners of restaurants.
But they are not the only ones who struggle
with the woes of climate change.
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Climate change and the disabled
As Gloria Goffe, executive director of Combined
Disabilities Association (CDA), a non-governmental
organisation that advocates for people with
various disabilities, put forward, people with
disabilities are even more vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change.
Goffe, who is visually impaired, explained that
as climate change affects productivity in the
agricultural sector, food security is compromised.
“When there is a drought, food becomes scarce
and prices go higher. Less than 25 per cent of
people with disabilities in Jamaica are employed.
It would be difficult for them to purchase food.”
She noted that in the event of sporadic and
heavy rainfall, there is a likelihood of soil
erosion, which negatively affects a subset of
farmers who have disabilities, on a greater scale.
Much like farmers such as Douglas, who have
struggled with an inadequate supply of water,
Goffe emphasised that people with disabilities
are even more at risk of not having access to
the commodity. This is especially true for those
living in rural Jamaica.
She shared an excerpt of one experience she
has had.
“I live in Hamilton Gardens in Portmore, and I
remember, think it was after [Hurricane] Ivan,
we didn’t have water for days. [We had] one tank
and the tank was dry. If I didn’t have two sons
to push against this person and that person,
I wouldn’t have water still. First, I couldn’t
manage to lift up the big bucket and secondly,
by the time I am finished walking with the
water, it would have splashed out.”
She considers herself fortunate on the basis
that many people with disabilities live on their
own and do not have the support of family.
Depending on the kind of disability that affects
the individual, the inability to access water can
have far greater implications, with regard to
the quality of life. Goffe said there are those
who need to take medication, and shower more
often than others, for example.
The Global Partnership for Disability and
Development (GPDD) and the World Bank,
in 2009, concluded that, “Individuals with
disabilities are disproportionately affected in
disaster, emergency, and conflict situations
due to the lack of accessibility in evacuation,
response, and recovery efforts, and exclusion of
disability issues in planning and preparedness.”
Goffe concurred, as she shared that many
shelters across the island are not equipped to
accommodate people with disabilities. Instead,
she explained, there is an increased likelihood
that such members of the population, during
an emergency, will experience even more
disadvantage. These range from compromised
privacy in terms of bathroom use and access, to
exposure to sexual abuse, particularly among
women.
While Douglas’s immediate family does not
have members who have disabilities, he, an
able-bodied farmer, noted that the challenges
are far more impacting than many Jamaicans
recognise.
159

“Individuals with
disabilities are
disproportionately
affected in disaster,
emergency, and conflict
situations …”

Photo by Varun Baker
Goffe expressed concerns also for the lack of
sufficient involvement of the disabled in talks
about climate change strategies. She said, as
members of the group of people most at risk
because of the onset of climate change, people
with disabilities, who make up approximately
10 per cent of the population, should not be
an afterthought.
The range of disabilities include intellectual,
cognitive, sensory and physical impairments.
With the reality of climate change and its
relationship with natural disasters, Goffe said
there is concern about the level of training
members of teams that offer assistance before,
during and after a disaster have in how to deal
with the disabled.
Funding is a persistent challenge for nongovernment
entities - like the CDA - in the
region that seek to combat climate change.
Call to action!
Gerald Lindo, a representative from Jamaica’s
Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and
Climate Change, said it has been clear for
some time that the stymied response to climate
change is “bound up in the understanding of
development”.
“The world’s definition of development is
informed by practices of fossil fuel burning
and rapid industrialization,” Lindo said with
an observable urgent appeal.
161

Photo by Varun Baker
Lindo further reasoned that “the impacts of
climate change is not the same for all countries,”
though some countries play a greater role in
the destruction of the natural environment. He
also highlighted China and the United States
of America as major players in the lucrative
but unsustainable business of non-renewable
energy usage.
Lindo reiterated the point that warming should
be limited to temperatures below an increase
of one point five degrees Celsius. But for this
to happen, he said there has to be a “legally
binding agreement that is transparent, adheres
to science, ensures livelihood and results in
stronger review systems”.
Such an agreement was reached at the climate
conference (COP21) held in Paris, France, in
December of last year. But as Albert Daley, who
is principal technical director of the Ministry of
Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change
in Jamaica noted, while there is a global plan of
action in place, it still leaves much to be desired.
The agreement does not support Jamaica’s
call for a limit of one point five degree Celsius
warming. Instead, two degrees Celsius is the
limit that has been formally recognised.
Lindo further instructed that any solution agreed
upon has to also be applicable to all countries,
but sensitive to the differences of each.
162

Daley noted, however, that the circumstances
under which the agreement was accepted were
not in favour of small-island states, considering
the fact that much of the impact affects such
nations to greater extent.
He explained that despite the fact that smallisland
states, such as those in the Caribbean,
contribute minimally to greenhouse gas
emissions, countries that contribute to a greater
extent, refused to acquiesce to compensation
for small-island states.
As a result, he said issues relating to compensation
and associated liability of developed states are
vaguely covered in the agreement.
Lindo shared his belief, based on current
patterns, that Jamaica and other Caribbean
territories will have experienced ‘climate
departure’ by the 2030, which coincides with
Jamaica’s National Development Goal initiative,
Vision 2030.
Climate departure refers to a phenomenon in
which the climate of a region drastically moves
outside of what has been obtained historically,
thus exposing it to unexpected anomalies in
nature.
Ingredients to adapt
Dr. Orville Grey, the technical officer in the
Government’s Climate Change Division noted
that government policies and programmes
are also necessary, as it relates to forestry
management; replacing non-renewable
energy sources with renewable energy sources;
stimulating equitable distribution of resources;
and making development goals gender sensitive.
Douglas said he believes the Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries should play a significant role in
combating climate change. But, he claimed, the
ministry tends to only make empty promises.
He also highlighted that several infrastructural
features were not in place.
“The ministry has claimed that they would
help us farmers who the drought has severely
impacted, by giving us black tanks and by
trucking of water to us. Well, some of us don’t
have the capital resources so we are dependent
on them to help us,” Douglas continued.
Many farmers are still waiting on assistance.
Douglas said farmers in his community are not
well prepared and help is not readily available.
He estimated that the level of readiness among
farmers in McNie District is between 40 and
60 per cent.
Lindo stated that much will depend on how
Caribbean nations pull together and share
experiences to adapt to changing conditions.
Larger countries such as China and the United
States that have pledged before to help the
developing world through funding, have yet
to fulfil their promise with regard to the now
defunct Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Sustainable development, a new-age mantra for
using resources to meet the needs of current
generations without compromising the ability
of future generations to do the same, is the
essence of the climate change movement.
But above all, the small islands need the world’s
biggest polluters to clean up, Dr. Taylor said.
Jamaica and other small-island developing
states need temperature rises of below “one
point five [degrees Celsius] to stay alive” as
prosperous nations.
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