Young migrating Jamaicans should learn from nation building efforts of current diaspora

Rowen A. Johnson
Jul 30, 2017 · 3 min read

Published: Sunday | July 30, 2017

Handover of drums from members of Jamaican Diaspora, on left from back; Leo Gilling, Nadine Williams, Marie Kellier and Kimone Gooden) as well as Chief Michael Grizzle (front left) to representatives from the Peace Management Initiative, Salt Spring Golden Eagles Society and community members in St, James (on right)

Young migrating Jamaicans seeking to continue the pursuit of their careers abroad, should take note of the community service and humanitarian efforts of the current diaspora, to emulate such actions in future. The Diaspora Day of Service, which usually occurs the day after the close of the Diaspora Conference, sees members of the diaspora make valued contributions to the local communities through various activities, such as workshops, legal consultancy as well as free medical care, and is one very important practice that young migrating Jamaicans must seek to maintain.

Community service initiatives extend beyond Day of Service

Community service initiatives extend well beyond the Day of Service however, as was evidenced on Saturday when members from various Jamaican Diaspora groups based in USA and Canada came together to present 10 drums to help launch the “Drums Fi Life” programme. The “Drums Fi Life” programme will target individuals in the most volatile areas in St. James starting with Salt Spring. The programme aims to train 100 persons to play the congo drum, as a mechanism of providing them with a non violent way of expressing themselves, as well as a skill from which they could possibly earn.

Leo Gilling from the Jamaica Diaspora Education Task Force presents drums to Beverly Wedderburn, President of Salt Spring Salt Spring Community for Upliftment and Progress

Recognizing that an additional 90 drums are required to fully implement the programme, Leo Gilling, a member of the Jamaica Diaspora Education Task Force, also pledged, along with his colleagues in attendance to take the cause back to their other members to galvanize even further support in aid of sourcing the additional drums for the programme.

Prof. Rosalea Hamilton, VP Community Service and Development, UTech, Ja as well as Fi Wi Jamaica Project Director shares a laugh with Chief Michael Grizzle, of the Trelawny Town-Flagstaff Maroons

1 murder in 50 years

Additionally, Chief Michael Grizzle, of the Trelawny Town-Flagstaff Maroons will be responsible for organizing the teachers to administer drum lessons to the participants. The Flagstaff community provides a stark contrast, to the violent prone areas of St. James, having recorded just one (1) murder in the past fifty (50) years. It is envisioned that some of the conflict resolution practices that has abated extreme cases of violence such as murder in Flagstaff will also be passed on to the participants through interactions with members from the Maroon Community.

Contribute to “Drums Fi Life”

Professor Rosalea Hamilton, Vice President, Community Service and Development, UTech, Ja as well as Fi Wi Jamaica Project Director was also on hand at the launch, and made mention of an ISupport Jamaica page that has been set up to source funding for the programme. Prof. Hamilton urged Jamaicans both at home and abroad to contribute. You can do so by visiting the following link

Support the “Drums Fi Life” Programme: https://www.isupportjamaica.com/campaign/ISJPRJ00174/drums-fi-life.html

Gender Based Violence Music Initiative

The “Drums Fi Life” programme forms part of a larger initiative, called the St. James Gender Based Violence (GBV) Music Initiative, which is geared at reducing the “inhumanity and brutality by raising awareness about the destructive power of violence and the dehumanizing impact of GBV” on these communities.

The Fi Wi Jamaica Project is spearheading the GBV initiative in collaboration with the St James Inter-Agency Network led by the Social Development Commission (SDC), the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), tertiary institutions in Western Jamaica, the Cornwall Bar Association, among other organizations and individuals.