A Bad Case Of Chicken

Pocks,

Looking At Some Of The Possible Underlying

Human Cases For Individual
Underperformance In The Mile Gully To Devon
Region Of North Manchester, Jamaica
By:- Basil Fletcher,
Greater Portmore,

St. Catherine,
Jamaica W.I.

Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................. 3
A Bad Case Of Chicken Pox...................................................................................... 3
Fear and Hope......................................................................................................... 3
A Fresh Approach.................................................................................................... 3
Childhood Deprivation............................................................................................. 3
Be Extraordinary!.................................................................................................... 3
A Mini Conversation With My Daughter...................................................................3
Organizational Poverty............................................................................................ 3
The Cycle Of Times Cannot Be Stopped..................................................................3
Reward Yourself! Congratulate Yourself!..................................................................3
Shedding Weight Along The Roadside-Putting The Past Away.................................3
Unfinished Structures.............................................................................................. 3
THE NSWA and The People of Northern Manchester................................................3
The NON-Arguments Of Senator Norman Grant, President Of The Jamaica
Agricultural Society................................................................................................. 3
The Grand Mothers oF The Region-Mrs. Bailey and Others......................................3
The Grand Father................................................................................................. 3
The Farmer Without Dreams....................................................................................3
There Are Those!..................................................................................................... 3
The Farmer Led By Ego............................................................................................ 3
Value Is Our Mission!............................................................................................... 3
There are Wives....................................................................................................... 3
It Is Human.............................................................................................................. 3

Introduction
The development of a community and the families therein is not only determined by
access to the means of production and access to training, but in many instances
economic and social development of a given community or region is also dependent
on more individual based subjective challenges having a lot to do with how the
individuals see themselves and others, their expectations of life, the hope they have
for their children and the future. In many instances these challenges came into
being as a result of negative personal experiences, present and past failures, and a
lack of respect for the resources available, the trust invested in them, poor or
underdeveloped sense of personal responsibility, lack of recognition among others.
The region which exists between Mile Gully and the Greenvale Land Settlement
(including Halifax) in Manchester, Jamaica, has lagged behind communities such as
Hibernia in both the condition of social infrastructure and personal capital
accumulation and related creation. At the same time, this relative
underdevelopment cannot be solely attributed to a lack of capital or training, since
the residents of this defined region as similar land access, training and experience
in agriculture. Thus the reasons for this lagging are on the individual human side
of labour rather than having to do with the other forms of capital or access to such.
The objective of this paper which is written in keeping with the Critical Cultural
Dialogue Approach To Economic and Institutional Development-A Real Existing
Model Approach , is firstly to encourage the individuals, families and organizations
within the zone to look at themselves in critical manner, to admit to problems where
problems exists and lift themselves over past failures. The second objective of this
paper is to facilitate and provide further information for the various active
institutional stakeholder which operate in the zone and thirdly to provide a type a
type of reference for students currently studying Urban and Regional Planning at the
University of Technology, Jamaica.

A Bad Case Of Chicken Pox

Some of the symptoms of chicken pox are seriously itching blisters, weakness,
fever, severe sweating and a feeling of complete miserableness and pain. The road
from Mile Gully to the district of Hibernia with the garbage littering the entire road is
for many residents along the stretch and passersby the same as a bad case of
chicken pox.
Not only does the presence of garbage littering the road sides saying to all, that in
this region there is a right and freedom to litter and to dump whatever one wants or
desires along the roadside, but it is also saying to the residents, for example the
family who lives just below the Bethany All Age and primary School that they do not
matter and are not important. This family, led by the lady of the house had only
recently cleared the farming lot besides her house for planting and what surfaced?
Sardine tins, juice bottles, snack rappers, soup cups and all manner of garbage
which washed down from the roads in the recent rains and some carried by the
wind, straight down into her yard. This situation is the same with the residents who
live in that section of the community called gully. There only recently a farmer
cleared as small lot of land next to the shop for farming, only to find all manner of
garbage littering the field.
How does a mother who lives in home which is below the level of the road, feels
when she goes out into her yard in the morning to find Boom Bottles, DG Ginger
Beer Bottles, cup soup containers, KFC boxes, empty cigarette boxes, used children
pampers littering her front yard? Does she feel a sense of joy and happiness telling
her son or daughter to sweep the yard? Does she feel good when she sees people
driving or walking by drinking or eating anything, knowing that the containers with
the next shower or high winds could highly possibly enter into her yard?
The truth be told, she does not feel good and could not feel good. If she does not
remove the garbage from her yard, within days she would be living in a dump. If she
does not ask her children to remove the garbage, she is teaching them that it is ok
to live in dump like situations that living in garbage is ok. What does she tell her
visitors when they come only to find the yard and field litter with garbage? The
residents of Gully and others whose homes are below the level of the road suffer the
same unceasing torment.
Added to that, garbage dumped as far away as Devon, when the rain falls is carried
down into communities such as Bethany, Shafton, and Lambert and along the walls
of the Yam Yard across the road from the Mile Gully Police Station. Could it be said
that those who live and work down the hill have no rights? Are they not entitled to
live in a clean environment? Are they lesser beings as compared to those who live
up the hills and or those who drive by throwing garbage outside their cars and
vans?
The observer has recently passed cabbage, carrot and potato fields littered with
bags juice bags, plastic drink bottles and all manner of wrappers. When those who

purchase these types of produce in Christiania, Mandeville or at the Coronation

Market pass and see the litter in which the food they have eat are grown, do they
feel good knowing that these items possibly came from this region of North
Manchester? Many would not want to buy even a single potato if they saw the fields.
That feeling of power, the sense of right and freedom to litter and to dump, for
many families is worse than a case of chicken pox, and for producers who farm the
lands which are below the level of the roadside, it is nothing less than an attempt by
the bad-minded, the envious and jealous to sabotage their efforts, to prevent their
crops from being sold and to push their families into ruin. An infection of chicken
pox last for two or three weeks, the illnesses of the enviousness, the bad
mindedness and plain nastiness take a very long time to be cured.
Basil Fletcher

Fear and Hope

There are many who would seek to use the size and state of a persons home, the
cloths they wear and the type of food they eat as the sole measures of poverty. In
the region between Mile Gully and the Greenvale Land Settlement road, poverty is
also that unceasing, never ending conflict between fear and hope. The fear that
should a family member gets sick during the night and could die before they see a
doctor. The fear that one will do their best, spend up to their last cent to educate
their children only for them to become unemployed when they leave school. The
fear that the only future for a promising daughter is one of having three or four
children a wash basin and a washing brush. The fear of getting old and end up
dependent on ones children, who are unable to find food for their own children.
These are the fears of many individuals and families in the Mile Gully to Greenvale
Land Settlement Road. These fears are also some of the measures of poverty at the
family and individual level.
For these symptoms of poverty to be overcome, demands that an environment must
be created in which individuals can see that they too can make it. If a persons
neighbors children failed to make it in life to become anyone a person can look
upon with pride, if the lady who has to walk all the way to the Mile Gully to work
children do not make it, if Sister Joyce daughter got pregnant and dropped out of
school and if Mas Browns son is doing five years in prison, why should that person
think that their children will make it.
The police at the Mile Gully Police Station can confirm that many incidents of crime
occur as a result of fear, the fear of not having food to give ones children food to
eat. The fear, that one will not be able to take care of his woman and children. The
fear, that one will become old, penniless and unwanted. The fear that ones

neighbors children will make it but his or her children will not make it. An
environment of fear creates an environment of crime; a normally rational person
could become irrational and violent as a result of fear. Many instances of domestic
violence occur as a result of fear, the fear of the individual man and father that he
has fallen in the sight of his woman and children and is unable to provide as he
should, the fear of losing them.
The challenge faced by this region, is how to take this environment of fear and
transform them into conditions of hope. How does one tell the struggling father and
the hard pressed mother that they too can make it? How does one create an
environment in which the lady who lives in Shafton, can see that other children
around her are making it, even those who are not as brilliant as her children are
making it, thus her children too can become people in life of whom she will be
proud? How can one create a situation in which John Tom Morgans little
granddaughter becomes the big lawyer she wants to become, thus telling all
mothers and fathers of little daughters that their little girls will be washing their
clothes in washing machines and not with big wash basins and washing brushes?
Real hope is based upon what the individual sees, what the individual hears, a
product of the environment. Real hope is a type of crop which is deliberately
cultivated. If one lives in a community in which the man down the road spends his
days swearing after peoples little daughters, hope cannot be created. If an
individual youth rather than trying to find a piece of land which he can cultivate for
himself or try to raise a cow or two, spends his days looking into peoples cars in
Mile Gully or Christiania, hope cannot be created. If the young people do not seek to
use their time on the internet at the Mile-Gully Branch Library or the Christiania
Branch Library rather than playing games and downloading music, hope cannot be
created. If the farmer rather than racing home to see if he can stop or catch Joe
Grind, seek to plant some peas along with his potatoes and put in some pumpkins
between the yam sticks, hope cannot be created.
One must also ask where are the institutions which are tasked with the ploughing of
the fields and sowing the seeds of hope. Hope cannot be built in an environment in
which the police and a handful of teachers are expected to take over the functions
of institutions such as the Church, the youth clubs, the constituency party groups
and or branches, the Jamaica Agricultural Society branch, the Social Development
Commission and other such institutions. Hope cannot be built in an environment in
which those who claim to be community leaders forget the roles they are expected
to play and the duties they are expected to perform.
The combatting of poverty and improving of the standards of living of the residents
in the zone between Mile Gully and the Greenvale Land Settlement road, demand
that both individual residents and organizations understand clearly that they have a
duty to cultivate hope. Where hope is real and based on what exist in the given

environment and is not restricted to mini pockets, then poverty can be greatly
reduced.
Basil Fletcher

A Fresh Approach
Here in North Manchester, we are very far from Constant Spring Road, in Kingston,
however there are several large billboard type signs along that road which seem to
have been designed and written specially for this region. Among these sighs, is one
which reads:-A Fresh Approach . The first question which the residents of the
stretch between Mile Gully and the Greenvale Land Settlement Road need to ask
themselves is what does this sign A Fresh Approach means for them. Are they
satisfied with having a high number of young people in the region who are either
unable or unwilling to earn an income for themselves? Are they satisfied with the
high levels of teenage pregnancies? Are they satisfied with the fact that farmer A
cannot trust Farmer B to carry a bag of potatoes to the market for him, without
hearing that the bag got pulled or some type of Anansi Story which result in Farmer
A not getting all of his money? Are we satisfied with have a situation in which old
Miss G cannot keep two yard fowls without someone swearing at them or their
eggs? Are we satisfied that we are doing the best that we can do with the little we
have? Are we satisfied with ourselves?
If we are not satisfied with ourselves, then it means that we have a duty to do
something to change the situation. Perhaps we need to examine how we see
ourselves. In order to improve ourselves, in order to become better at what we do,
we need to ask ourselves what is it about us, our approach and in our ways which
are preventing us from becoming the best that we can be? What is it in us which is
preventing us from being the fathers and mothers we want to be?
The simple truth is that before we can take A Fresh Approach we will have to cut
down the forest of excuses which we have planted in our heads. We are not satisfied
with the results our children obtained in their mid-term examinations, did we as
parents take time out to ensure that they have done their homework and study

home? We claim that the little girls start to think of men as soon as they start to
burst breasts, have we as fathers and mothers taken the time out to sit and speak
with our daughters? For many of us, quarrelling and cursing our children is the same
as speaking to them, which is not true. We should be speaking with our children in
keeping with their age, knowledge and maturity in a way which gives them
information, in a way which builds their confidence and self-esteem. Knowing this,
why then we seek to destroy our children with our own words? Many are of the view
that they could be making more money from the little land which they cultivate yet
they have never set foot in the RADA office in Mile Gully for guidance and advice.
How do we intend to do better and earn more, if we are too busy to seek the advice
from those who are knowledgeable and are paid to give such advice.
Michael Jackson sang of the Man In The Mirror, and asked him to change his ways.
Are we satisfied with the person who we see in the mirror? It is very easy to find
problems with the Peoples National Party, the Jamaica Labour Party, the Church and
with the entire world, yes in them it is very easy to find faults. However if we should
stand back and critically examine those organizations and the individuals who lead
them, then we would realize that in many instances we are throwing stones at
themselves. These organizations and the people who lead them are exactly as they
are, because that is the way we want them to be and in most instances behave as
we would in similar circumstances. When we want these organizations to become
better, then they will become better. One cannot ask others to take care of your
community if you do not care about the community in which you live. Are aliens
coming from space and littering the road? Did men come from Mars and got the
teenage girls pregnant? Did a man from the Moon led your son to believe that he is
too big and too educated to do some farming so that he can earn for himself some
money until the job which he seeks come around? Did some man from Mars came
and whispered in your ears that your woman is thinking of giving you bun?
A fresh Approach, if it is to be real must start with oneself and within ones home. It
is only be starting with oneself and ones home that will be able to look at the
community in which one live and identify the ways it could be made better for
oneself, ones family and one neighbors, for one would have come to the realization
that one cannot truly want good for oneself and ones family and wish bad for
others. If one wants to harvest what one grows then ones neighbors must have
what to eat and enough to feed their children. If we want good for ourselves and our
families, then we must purge ourselves of the badmindedness, the envy and
jealously which define our attitudes to each other. Before we can love another
person we must first love ourselves, only by being able to see the good and the bad
in oneself that one will be able to see that ones neighbors are also have good and
bad ways equal to us.
Some of the hardships and challenges we face will go once we begin that process of
self-examination and commit ourselves to A New Approach.

Basil Fletcher

Childhood Deprivation
When a child who attends a primary school in the area sees his or her friend with a
new cell phone and knows that the best he or she can do is to look at it because his
or her parents are not able to afford one, how does that child feel? If a child sees all
his or her friends eating banana chips or playing with new toys, which he or she
know that his or her parents are not able to afford, how does the child feel? The fact
that one child has a new cell phone and another child does not have one, in of itself
does not necessarily leads to a sense or feeling of deprivation; however if all other
children or most other children have an item and one or a few do not have, then the
given child could feel deprived.
While childhood deprivation exists in nearly all communities, the situation in North
Manchester is of particular concern. This is so because Manchester as a parish and
North Manchester in particular is a parish of significant contrasts. The high numbers
of returning residents, the climate, the relatively high level of education and
professional attainment of many of its sons and daughters and the legacy of the
bauxite/mining industry has made the parish a parish of significant visible wealth, at

the same time the vast majority of the citizens of the parish are far from being
wealthy and among them are significant pockets of poverty.
It is very easy for the child of the poor in Northern Manchester to feel deprived, to
feel as if the world has something against him. It is very easy for the child in this
parish to feel bad about his or her parents, in particular his or her father, if the
father is seen by the child to be the main provider and the relationship between the
mother and the father. Here one also has to take into consideration the mothers
attitude and approach to the inability of her household and or her own inability to
provide for the child as she would have wanted. The feelings of resentment ,
frustration and anger could come to the fore as a result of her and the childs sense
of deprivation and resultant marginalization, feelings which she will possibly take
out on others in the household, in the family and or community.
While trying to reduce the number and incidents of avoidable childhood deprivation
and marginalization through job creation, the establishment of small businesses and
wealth creation in general, it is of equal importance that parents understand and
accept the fact that society is divided into classes and that even within the family
such class divisions exists. It is important and particularly so for mothers to
recognize that we live in a society in which there is social mobility and should she
and the father stand by their children, encourage their best efforts and guide them,
many of the material deficits which now exists in their lives can be overcome. Here
parental childhood memories could also play a critical role, given that in many if not
most cases the deprived and the socially marginalized, are the parents of the
deprived and the socially marginalized. How did the parents cope with the sense of
deprivation and marginalization in their own lives? Most important is how does
the family break out of the enclosure of deprivation and social
marginalization which have engulf the whole family-where children are
deprived and socially marginalized in most cases the parent in their own
world have to contend with the very same feeling of deprivation and social
marginalization.
Here unfortunately one comes again to social organizations in particular the Church.
It is very difficult for most deprived and socially marginalized families to break out
of that sense of engulfment by themselves and require the support and reaching
hands of social organizations-the Church in Kingston, plays a critical role in giving
individuals a sense of belonging, a space for self-expression and a stage on which
they can shine. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the Church in North
Manchester which has reduced itself into a go to Church with very limited reach,
presence or impact among none Church goers, a reality which limits the role it as an
institution is able to play in reducing the incidents and manifestations of poverty.
An important aspect of the question which must be taken into account if progress is
to be made is the struggle between fear and hope at the individual level, that is
The Struggle In I. It is critically important for all to recognize that it is very normal

to have fears, it is very normal to be fearful of something or some event; in fact the
person who is free from all fears is a dead person. The issue is how one deal with
fear does; does one allow fear to paralyze him or her? Does one allow fear to rob
him or her of his or her dreams and hopes? It is possible to say that a student who
has no fear of the examinations which are upcoming will highly possible fail those
examinations. Equally so, the father and or mother who has/have no fear about the
the future of their children, will highly possible fail to make adequate preparations
to meet the future needs of those children.
There are some types of fears which a person might attack and remove the root
cause, for example the fear of the future highly possible has a lot to do with
financial insecurity and a lack of confidence in the economy or a given set of
economic activities in which the individual is engaged in. Here by hard work,
planned spending and savings, one can remove this type of fear. There are other
types of fears, which cannot be dealt with in the same way, for example there is a
young lady who lives in or around the Halifax, who appears to have Parkinson
Syndrome. If the symptoms are correct and this person does indeed have Parkinson
Syndrome, she might have significant fears of the future, fears about her future
ability to help herself, if she has relatively young children, then there is the fear
about the future of those children if and when she will be unable to take care of
them, then the fear that she will not have enough money to meet her own basic
needs. One cannot remove Parkinson Syndrome by wishing it away, nor can one
work it away. With this type of fear, it is good if one look at this health challenge as
but one of several cards an individual has drawn in playing a game of dominoes, a
double six. One does not throw in ones hand because one has drawn a double six,
even if one had drawn a double five and four with it. The task the individual has is
playing that hand to the best of his or her abilities, understanding that one will not
or may get all that one had wanted or had worked for.
If one is to prevent emotional crisis and bouts of depression, one has to examine the
type of fear which they are confronted with. Where the source of fear can be
removed, then the task of the individual is to remove this source, financial
insecurity, fear of examinations, the fear that one will make mistakes etc. Where the
source of fear cannot be removed, then one needs to accept the underlying cause
of the fear as a part of ones life, accept that the future might not be the one the
person had worked for or desired, while recognizing that one still can attain many of
their own most important personal objectives.

Finally parents need to understand that although they want their children to do
good, that even though they are working hard to provide for their children, their fear
about their children future should not lead them to believe that they have a duty to
remove all the obstacles in the path of their children or that they can achieve their
children future for them. It is important that parents to realize that children must

learn to fight their own fights and to overcome those challenges which are normal
challenges for children of their ages. Secondly, a parent should not want a better
future for a child than the child wants for itself, here one is focusing on the main on
teenage children and young adults. Where parents want more for a teenage child
or young adult wants for itself, it can lead to the squandering of money, time, effort
and lead to conflict and frustration. One has in mind as a point of reference here,
the number of young men and women, who end up attending colleges and
universities because their parents wanted them to and studying courses which their
parents think would be good for them and rather than doing any such thing end up
wasting time and their parents money under one of the several big trees which
dots the various campuses. In 2004 the observer saw, in the car park behind the
School of Building at the University of Technology, Jamaica, a mother who drove all
the way from the country in the early morning to come and drape and box her
young adult daughter in the morning before 9.00 am. The young lady had done
badly in her examinations and information reached the mother in question that the
young lady was wasting her time and partying like hell. Here this mother wanted for
her daughter that which her daughter did not want for herself.
Basil Fletcher

Be Extraordinary!
Extraordinary Is Making People Smile. Be Extraordinary reads a Digicell sign on
the top of a bus stop on Constant Spring Road. Endless Possibilities. For the
Patio reads another large bill board in an open lot on the same road. What do these
signs have to do with the people living in Bethany, Halifax or in the Greenvale Land
Settlement? How could these signs have anything to do with their lives?
When one passes along the road from Mile Gully to Devon and look at some of the
fields which many farmers cultivate and earn their keep, one is forced to say that
these farmers and their fathers before them are extraordinary. There could be no
other conclusion drawn when one looks at the land as it was before clearing an
example of which can be seen on the hill on which the Bethany Moravian Church is
located or on the lands behind the Mile Gully Branch library and then look at the
large stone heaps such as in the hills of Hibernia and then look at the land farmed
today.
A part of the failure of the region to develop further stems from the fact that many
of the current farmers and their children do not recognize the feats of labour which
had to be carried out by their parents and grandparents so that they could have
food and where to plant today. An important part of the value of an asset is based
upon the worth the individual who has the asset attaches to it and many have come
to regard the land which they farm as being low in value and or not worth much.
The attitude many have developed around the land they see and use in the region

has done nothing more than to devalue the land, and this attitude is also reflected
in the willingness and race to clear post harvested land by burning.
The second aspect of the sign Extraordinary Is Making People Smile. Be
Extraordinary is that the ability to be extraordinary did not come to an end with our
parents and grandparents, that ability also resides with us, it is in our genes. If we
do not see the work done by our parents as a challenge to us and our generation to
do better than even they did, then we would have failed ourselves and failed them.
If we should fail to be able to use the land given down to us to take care of our
children and create a stable and secure future for ourselves, we would have failed
ourselves, our children and our parents.
The second sign reads:- Endless Possibilities. For the Patio, what is a patio? A
patio is very much the same as a veranda, a small place. If there are Endless
Possibilities. For the Patio , then one must ask what are the possibilities for the
fields which we have at our disposal for cultivation and or rearing our animals? If
individuals are able to see endless possibilities for their patios, then why should the
young farmer living in Bethany or in Halifax be unable to see the endless
possibilities they have in their their fields. Yes, when they pass Mr. John Tom
Morgans veranda and look at its size and realize that it has endless possibilities, for
on than veranda future lawyers and doctors play and study, for on that veranda
what the family will plant is planned, for on that veranda friends meet and discuss
tomorrow, on that veranda many potted plants will grow; then when it comes to the
using the field we have being given to grow our food and to rear our families how
many possibilities are there Endless.
The question remains for the current generation of farmers and their children who
live between Mile Gully and Devon, what does the sign:- Extraordinary Is Making
People Smile. Be Extraordinary means for them? If there are Endless
Possibilities. For the Patio, how much possibilities are there for the farms which
they cultivate and rear their animals. Maybe the families in Shafton and those in the
valley next to the Bethany All Age and Primary School, need to tell us.

Basil Fletcher

A Mini Conversation With My Daughter

Organizational Poverty
Question:- Are boys more, equally or less honest than are girls? Are we trained to
invest greater confidence in our girls than we do in our boys?
My daughters answer:-Neither or more trustworthy. It depends on how the
individual person was raised and the persons personality and integrity. Some
people are blunt and cannot bother to lie. Others try to be polite by lying.
My further comments:- (1) If your views held, the police would stop and search girls
and boys in equal numbers, which is not so. Secondly, girls would be equally likely
to be arrested for robbery. Could this be a result of socialization and social
expectations? (2) Is deviant behavior in boys encouraged and even facilitated while
similar behavior in girls is suppressed and punished? The fundamental question at
hand is organizational poverty and its impact on the youth (boys and girls).
In the region between Mile Gully and the Greenvale Land Settlement Road, there
seems to be an expectation that the young people have no need for organization
and that parental supervision is enough. It is further assumed that what they have
learnt in school and at home is enough to carry them on the road and through life.
The truth is that many of the difficulties and challenges many of our young people
encounter in their lives and many of their failings have their roots in a lack of
organizational exposure and involvement. For those young people who are not
football players or netball players playing on teams in Mile Gully, Devon or
Christiania, there is nowhere for them to learn team work, there is nowhere for them
to learn the building of trust in self and in others, there is nowhere for them to learn
the importance of planning or the carrying out of planned and schedule activities
(those who attend Church, highly possibly attend the Spirit Filled type which has
no schedule or set time for even their services) , there is no place for them to learn
that competition does not mean the injuring of an opponent and that once the
whistle has blown the match has come to an end.
The high level of organized poverty means that individuals are limited in their
interaction with the wider society, will seek to discredit and poke fun at their own,
not realizing that the opportunities given to anyone of their own to rise are few and
far between-here one notes that the harshest critics of Gully Bop comes from the
region, while should a similar star (a New Elephant Man) was to be born in Tivoli

Gardens, Trench Town or any other such place, the entire community would be
lifting that person recognizing that such opportunities to shine and represent
comes but once in a while.

Organizational poverty also has the potential of creating problems in the community
and bring the youth in contact with the police. Evidence exists which shows that
young people who have been exposed to an organizational education and culture
are less likely than their unexposed counter parts to become involved in deviant
behavior and or crime. Organizations also provide and create supervised activities
for young people. Many of the problems young people get themselves involved in
occur as a result of unsupervised activities.
Organizations also help to overcome some of the limitations imposed by poverty
and low or no income. A young man or young woman who is a member of a youth
club, cadet corps, scout or any other such body, from time to time go on outings,
excursions and trips to places like Dunns River Falls, Devon House and other such
places the typical young man or woman in Halifax would not have been or gotten
the chance to go. Thus the lack of organization deepens the sense of deprivation
and marginalization experienced by the young people in the region. Were the
Church to have had member/supporter based community organizations, for
example in the Bethany Halifax sub region, then they would be in a position to
address this deficit, they too however have not noticed the level of organization
(institutional) poverty which is affecting the youth.
Question:- Are boys more, equally or less honest than are girls? Are we trained to
invest greater confidence in our girls than we do in our boys?
By and large, the girls of the region as it is elsewhere tend to have a much closer
relationship with the Church which is an organization and would have benefited by
and large more from the education system than the boys, thus creating a much
more trust worthy and less deviant prone personality. Here one also notes that there
seems to be much more girls who are members of the Mile Gully Branch Library
than are boys, thus learning also the habit of borrowing and returning that has been
borrowed.
While many parents do recognize that boys generally have a higher energy level
than do girls and require a more active life style, most parents are not able to afford
the type of facilities and supervision needed by boys and teenage males to live a
healthy life. The community also has not found it necessary to invest in this type of
social infrastructure, for example from Mile Gully to Devon there is not a single
basketball court, cricket pitch or scrimmage football field, where the young people
of the region could participate in healthy team activities. Thus for diversion, the
teenage boy or young man in need of activity has to go either Mile Gully or to
Christiania where they in the main hang out.

These types of social infrastructure, the basketball court, the scrimmage fields, the
netball courts etc., in most communities are built by the community youth clubs
with help from the Councilors (political representatives) or in some cases by the
Church. Their coming into being presupposes the existence of an organization.
Basil Fletcher

The Cycle Of Times Cannot Be Stopped

The cycles of time cannot be stopped but one can prepare oneself and ones
household to meet the ups and downs of life. Sadly, most individuals, families and
communities, are led by the view that the good times last forever even as others
believe that the hard times last forever and make no preparations for possible
changes. At the time of writing the State of California is experiencing one of its
worse and longest droughts, only yesterday the 1 st. April 2015, the Governor of that
state in requiring that residents cut back on their use of water, went on the slope of
a mountain and was seen standing on grass where there should have been five feet
of snow. This situation and severe drought has have a very negative impact on the
states agriculture among other segments of the economy.
Here in the Mile Gully to the Greenvale Land Settlement Road region of Northern
Manchester, there has been heavy and frequent rainfall refilling tanks and ensuring
a good planting season. Residents however should realize that good times do not
last forever, thus it is important for them to use this period to prepare themselves
and their households for those periods which will not be as good or as kind to them.
There are too many farmers and their household which in the past have had to
endure unnecessary hardship and want because of a lack of preparations for
change. This lack of preparation and taking things for granted is also reflected in
how crops are planted. It is known by one and all that when this region is visited by
hurricane winds and rains, yam sticks go flying sometimes pulling even the vines
and the heads from the ground. The heavy rainfall not only sog fields which later
result in crop rot but also exposing in some cases root crops to rodents and other
animals which feed on them. Considering that these are known facts, one would
have expected that edges/live fences would be planted around the field lots and
that ground covering crops such as pumpkins, melons or beans/peas would be
planted not only to keep the soil in place around the main crops but also to ensure
that in the event of flood rains the water is removed from the soil as fast as it can
be removed. These preparations are not made because of the firm and enduring

belief that the Government of Jamaica is a sub unit of the Salvation Army and will be
forever running to the rescue to help the careless and the reckless who trample on
their own experiences.
The Caribbean and Central American Region is expecting much drier times in the
coming years, which means more frequent and longer droughts. The choice facing
the residents of North Manchester is one of either telling themselves that the people
of California are more sinful than they are and that God looks down more on men
sleeping with men than he does at men moving at cows, goats and donkeys, or they
can take steps to protect themselves. Here protection means not only the planting
of as much which maybe planted now, but also the planting of more of those crops
which can endure drought, more yams, pigeon peas (gungo peas), chick peas (cow
peas), cassava and coco yam. It means accepting the fact that Irish potato can be
planted in fields where yam, cassava or coco yam are planted. It means buying and
filling drums with water which are intended to be used in dry times.
At the household level, the woman of the house has to put her feet down and
ensure that some money is put away for a time of need. Too many families and
household spend nearly everything they earn and put away nothing for a day of
need. Yes it is good to have two cows to sell when times get hard, but it is also
critical to have money and this is the job of any woman who claim to love herself,
her man and children, to ensure that some money is put away. A house and or
family which refuse to prepare for hard times, wishes evil on itself and others.
Here it is important to note, that there are many who would like to tell the
government what to do and when to do what, without realizing that they are the
government of their household and they have a responsibility to ensure that there is
good government in the running of their homes and their lives. A part and critical
element in good governance is the preparation for change.
One cannot at this point exclude those Christians who claim to believe in God,
however have locked away or torn out the Old Testament. The Old Testament tells of
man living on the Earth, of Abraham a man with wealth who had to be moving from
place to place, of Lot a man who had a settled life who had to leave it all behind, of
Joseph in Egypt who had to plan for a time of plenty and a time of lean, of Solomon
and the two mothers in the time of famine of Job who lost everything, of Israel taken
into captivity, of Israel in captivity and Israel released from captivity. In short the Old
Testament covers all possible changes which any individual man, family, community
or country can ever encounter. Thus for those Christian Pastors who have thrown
away the Old Testament one can but only question their ability to lead and prepare
individuals for change.
The refusal of a community to prepare itself to deal with changes brings onto itself
unnecessary hardships, the mother and father who refuses to or take no steps to

prepare their families to deal with both the good times and the bad times hate their
family.
Yes, there are families which are now undergoing bad times, things are not working
out for them, yet this is the time when they should be preparing themselves for the
good times. Yes, it is in these bad times when the parents have to ensure that their
children do not miss time and fall behind, it is in these hard times when jobs are
hard to find that the unemployed youth , young man and or young woman, should
be preparing themselves the most to go forward when the opportunity comes-this is
the time when they should be visiting the library and doing more reading so that
they widen their knowledge and become more prepared to deal with any job
interviews which might come their way.
The Cycle Of Times Cannot Be Stopped
Basil Fletcher

Reward Yourself! Congratulate Yourself!

Too often, individuals after putting in a lot of effort and time in their work, await the
commendation and recognition of others, which might come or might not come.
This wait for commendation on work well done, when it does not come, leads some
to question the value of their efforts, the value of their contributions and the
wisdom of putting in the efforts they did. In the end should this process continue, it
could lead the individual to become frustrated, angry and depressed.
It was written that God on the Sixth Day looked at His work o0n the evening of the
Sixth Day and say that his work was very good (Genesis Chapter 1, ver 31), he
rested on the Seventh Day-hence rewarding himself. Considering that many of the
residents of Northern Manchester are religious, it would be very good for them to
learn from the example given, if God rewarded himself for work well done, it stands
to reason than an individual after doing his or her best and giving good work,
should reward him or herself rather than awaiting, the approval, commendation and
recognition of others which might never come. For some it might mean the drinking
of a beer, for others it might mean cooking something special and still for other it

might mean the purchasing of something new. Regardless of what it is or how small
it is the individual should reward him or herself for work well done.
It is also very important that the efforts and the contributions of those with whom
we live and the efforts of family members are duly recognized. Many instances of
bad feelings in the home and within the family have their roots in the nonrecognition of the work done by and the efforts made by household and family
members. Each individual in a normal healthy household and or family has a desire
to feel a sense of belonging, has a desire to feel a sense of security and a desire to
feel valued, all feelings which have all have a lot to do with the respect shown for
the efforts of others. Family members must also be taught to congratulate
themselves for doing good work.
Basil Fletcher

Shedding Weight Along The Roadside-Putting The Past Away

There are many individuals who live in that stretch between Mile Gully and Devon,
in Northern Manchester, who are burdened by past experiences and suffer greatly
from the regrets, the failures and disappointments of their yesterdays. These
burdens have prevent not one but quite a few from being able to move forward with
confidence in themselves and in others to face a new day, to look into the morning
and welcome the day. These are the individuals who in order to make it any further
in life, who in order to be of further value to themselves and to others have to bury
the burdens of the past.
A lot has to do with the character of the individuals themselves, their ability to let
go and move on. There are times when individuals allow themselves to believe that
they have invested too much to let go, many a times they are encouraged to
believe that they have spent too much to move on leaving the things of their

yesterdays behind. A farmer at times is forced to allow an animal to die or to put

down that animal regardless of the amount of time and money invested. This is true
also with crops, there are times when pests and diseases entire fields of crops- for
the farmer to move on he or she has to forget that crop, the money and the time
invested. This is so with life in general, one at times has to give up their yesterdays
in order to move on to tomorrow.
Can mentally healthy children and a thriving household exist under a cloud of guilt
and pain? This is not possible. The moment guilt and pain takes over a household, it
affects and corrupts all things and negatively influence or affects the lives of all
member of the household. The children are pulled in to take sides and so with family
members and friends. For such families and households to move forward, the
weights and pains must be buried where they belong- in the past. At other times ,
the putting aside the weights and pain of the past, is not possible while living within
the same household or with the sources of sorrow and pain, be that source be the
actions of individual or individuals living in ones household or the actions and
events which occurred at some given location outside of the home- at such times
for ones own sake, for his or her own mental health and for ones tomorrow one is
called upon to take away oneself from the given environment and/or location.
There are times when an individual by himself or herself cannot undo the hurt and
suffering caused by another member of the household and it takes two or the family
to bury the past; this possibility exists only when the potential mediating parties
have in the past proven their neutrality, honesty and trustworthiness or they too are
part and parcels of the burdens which the individual for his or her own sake, for his
or her own future has to put aside and bury in the past. For those who are parents,
the question is choosing between the passing down to their children and even
grandchildren the pain, suffering and guilt of the past or passing down to them their
strengths and hopes. It is also important for the men so affected, understand that
life is not about victory at any costs and there are instances when a company which
comes under intense fire, must leave behind even those who they wanted to save
and at times in order to protect their own lives have to leave behind even the weak,
the innocent, the helpless and those in need to their own faith and their own will
and abilities to survive.
Basil Fletcher

Unfinished Structures
For some individuals, their lives are unfinished structures which they are unable
to complete, structures in, which although well advanced in construction; no one
can occupy and or live. When the structures of ones dreams, unfinished and
possibly unfinishable, they can rob the individual of a tomorrow, the will to go on
the and/ or the will to dream. With this section of Northern Manchester, there are

more than a few individuals who are but shadows of the persons they were only a
few years ago.
If broken dreams and unfinishable structures are not put aside and new dreams
created, one can easily find oneself ploughing fields of resentment, hopelessness,
envy, hate and depression. It can be very difficult for the individual to understand
how it is possible for those individuals who are less able, less talented and with
even less resources are able to achieve their goals and objectives while he or she
has failed. It can be very difficult for the individual to accept the successes of ones
close friends, school mates and family members while accepting ones own failings.
It is very important that an individual accept the terrain and the environment in
which one life and or works. It is important for the individual to understand that
failure and at times even death comes from the failure to accept the terrain and the
environment. The acceptance of the terrain and the environment leads the
individual to understand, that regardless of his or her level of education, regardless
of his or her level of skills, training and or experiences there are things within the
environment and/or terrain which the individual is unable to control, one might have
a desire for rain, but he or she has no ability to decide and or determine whether or
not rain will fall. Equally so, in the personal life of the individual, not all factors and
events are within the control of the individual, no individual farmer can determine
what price he or she will get for a pound of yam or potatoes. No individual man can
determine if there will be adequate or inadequate rainfall in a given crop season. An
individual has to learn to accept both success and failures, good times and bad
times in order to deal with life.
Dealing with the harsh realities of life and overcoming the pains, setbacks, betrayals
and disappointments one encounters in life are not the tasks of the weak but rather
the tasks of he or she who is strong and mature enough to admit that his or her
dreams are broken and that those dreams, he or she can carry no more. It is the
standing and looking at the unfinished structure and saying :-my best I gave! You, I
can carry no more on my shoulders! It is saying to ones children:- thus far I have
reached, the task of finishing it is yours!
There are times when the individual placed into very difficult situations, no fault of
his or her own, at these times the individual has to be clear in his or her mind as to
how to move forward. The two basic pillars which guide individual actions are {-(1)
the values which the individual holds dear, for example some individuals place
special emphasis on individual freedoms and life (2) the policies which guides the
individuals life, here one notes that it is individual values which leads to the
development of policy. Policy guides the person in his or her interaction with the
environment, it determines what the individual will do and what the individual will
not do, examples of policy are the Ten Commandments, these define both
acceptable and unacceptable actions, for Christians one would hope that the two

commandments left by Jesus determine what they would do and what they would
not do.
Individual values and attitudes also determine individual long term goals and
objectives, strategy determines the steps and moves which the individual will take
to attain those long term goals and objectives, for example a person might want to
be able to retire with a high sense of security, to attain that objective, the individual
might think that to attain that goal he or she needs to put at least twenty acres of
land under cultivation and rear at least twenty heads of cattle. Here the attainment
of the twenty acres of land and the twenty heads of cattle are the individuals
strategic objectives, the persons individual policy determines what he or she will do
or will not do, thus for example an individual whose individuals personal policy is
based on the Ten Commandments will not go stealing his or her neighbors cattle
nor taking control of his or her neighbors property by fraud. Thus this individuals
strategic moves could be based on working as efficiently and productive as he or
she can and saving as much as possible. Here one allows Christians to determine
what they would do or not do.
Thus in order to go through even the most difficult of social environments, it is
important that the individual have clear values and policies which determines what
he or she will do or not do, and on that basic develop and define his or her personal
goals and objectives and the strategic steps which will be employed to attain those
goals and objectives. If the individual is not so guided, not only can this individual
be confused but also individuals who do not want the individual to succeed will be
able to entangle and ensnare the individual. It is childish to assume that everybody
wishes everybody well and that all their actions will be well intentioned. Possibly
here our young people should listen to Vybz Kartels song Unstoppable here both
the environment and elements of the his strategic steps are defined and or outlined.
Basil Fletcher

THE NSWA and The People of Northern Manchester

Theon going conflict between the out- going Chief Executive Office of the National
Solid Waste Management Authority and the now former Chairman who was asked to
resign in the battle to show strength, connections and closeness to the seats of
power at this time in April 2015, should be seen as a clear lesson to those residents
in Northern Manchester who were led to believe and who in some instances still
believe, that their interests, the interests of the community and the interests of the

region will ever come before the personal ego power interests and opportunities for
personal gains of those who have risen to great height as a result of their political
connections and the political process. Competence, ability and dedication to serving
the needs of the people are traits which are not those most valued by many of
those who occupy positions of responsibility. As a supporter of the Peoples National
Party, it gives me no joy in pointing out this realty.
This region and its residents have suffered a lot as a result of laboring under the
illusions that individuals who are appointed as a result of their political connections
over and above their technical competence will put the interests of the region
before or as important as their own persona interests. The infrastructure to support
economic growth and development in particular in the areas of agriculture and skill
training are but two places at which such an examination could start.
The willingness and ability of the Peoples National Party constituency organization
to represent, promote, defend and agitate on the behalf of the people of this region
over and above the most narrow individual and self-serving interests are directly
dependent on the number of independent organization of the residents of the
region, the number of active citizens association, the number of active farmers
associations, the level of activity and range of interests taken on by the leadership
of the Church.
The importance the founding fathers of the Peoples National Party and Sir Norman
Manley who was a resident of Manchester, paid to the formation of the forerunner to
Social Development Commission, the importance paid to the Jamaica Agricultural
Society and the Jamaica Teachers Association are but testimonies and evidence
that the fathers of the party realized the dangers posed to the party by the capture
of the party by those who have no respect for the citizens of this country and for the
party itself.
Those residents of this region, some of whom are my family members, who have
made their beds at the constituency offices of both political parties, need to
determine whose interests they represent, their own interests, the interests of the
candidate and or Member of Parliament or the interests of the residents and voters
of the divisions in which they live. If those who support the party have weak
principles then those who lead and represent the people will also be found wanting.
Basil Fletcher

The NON-Arguments Of Senator Norman Grant, President Of

The Jamaica Agricultural Society
Sometime in the first week of April 2015, the Senator Norman Grant, President of
the Jamaica Agricultural Society, came on public radio bemoaning the failure of
financial institutions to use capital forms such as livestock to secure loans to small
farmers.
What Senator Norman Grant, President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society failed to
acknowledge are :- (1) The Jamaica Agricultural Society is not a helpless victim or
even a honest agitator on behalf of the unemployed potential female farmers who
would want loans for the purchasing of small ruminants, rabbits and or to prepare
and plant their lots and (2) that mirco-loans without the availability of technical
support is but a road to debt and possible insolvency for many farmers.
How many lots of abandoned does the Jamaica Agricultural Society owns in the
parish of Manchester? What is the total value of the assets owned by the JAS? If the
Senator Norman Grant was really interested in assisting the small farmers and
women of North Manchester to access micro-loans using livestock and other such
forms as collateral for the loans, the JAS could secure the loans on behalf of the
farmers using a fraction of its asset base as collateral and then splitting up the sum
borrowed for retail lending to micro-borrowers and potential female farmers through
the various parish offices of the organization.
Should the JAS desire to be of value to the small farmer and a retailer of microloans, it means that the JAS in order to reduce the risk of default on the retailed
loans and to insure maximum repayment would have to provide technical services,
be it in the form of veterinary services, agronomical services, marketing and or
accounting help to the small farmer. Thus to a significant degree the Jamaica
Agricultural Society would be returning to its more active and facilitating past when
it was the voice and the first technical officer for the farmer.
Senator Norman Grant, President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society needs to
realize that his recent statement was far less than what was expected from the
small farmers, the youth and the unemployed women of Northern Manchester, and
seemed to be more the making of a sound than bring anything to the table which
would in any concrete way assist the farmer. The JAS needs to become far more

creative in this regard and make its present felt, given that in the recent past none
of the projects supported by or agitated for by the JAS were so tailored to reflect the
needs of the farming community of Northern Manchester, given that there will be no
making of bamboo coal in this region in the foreseeable future at least on the issue
of micro-loans and the use of livestock as collateral the JAS could taken more
thought out and beneficial position.
Basil Fletcher

The Grand Mothers oF The Region-Mrs. Bailey and Others

In many instances and places, an individual in search of the source of leadership
and influence look in locations such as the Church, listen to the words of teachers
speaking in the local class rooms or try to attend one or more of the meetings of the
local political organizations. While no one in the zone between Mile Gully and the
Greenvale land Settlement Road, can discount the fact that those institutions do
play a role even while limited in the provision of leadership, the most visible
evidence and so far the more credible sources of leadership in this zone comes from
the grandmothers of the region. While Mrs. Bailey and others mentioned here are
not the only grandmothers playing a leadership role in the community, their ages at
this point do allow them to be mentioned here, without their being captured by
pride and ego.
The first group of these grandmothers , a person travelling from Mile Gully will
encounter, are the three whose homes form a straight line starting next door to the
mechanic shop in Lambert extending to about a chain from the Church of God , on
reaching the home of the Patriarch just above the Bethany All Age and Primary
School one meets his wife who is a retired teacher and vice principal, then at just
across from the Bethany Moravian Church, one finds Mrs. Bailey another
grandmother who in their earlier lives had close relationship with the school, here
one should also mention the wife of Mr. John Paul Morgan.
These are the individuals who are in the main responsible for providing practical
leadership on the ground, they are the ones who provide advice for young parents
and in particular young mothers, they provide the :after school care for the
children of their working daughters , sons and perhaps even the children of grand
children in some cases. The active role played by these women in their families also
serve to keep families together, reduce the sources and manifestations of social
friction and tensions within the community, acts as brakes to reckless spending and
excess within the family and community and in general play a leading role as
agents of socialization within the community itself. Here it is also possible to state

that these women play also no small role in defining what is meant by the terms
womanhood and motherhood , determining what type of conduct is expected
from the women in the community and mothers in particular.
The process of aging can be a source of tremendous mental burden on the
emotional state and physical wellbeing of individuals. It might cause fear, anxiety
and insecurity in both males and females. The presence of Mrs. Bailey and the other
grandmothers, provide to the aging segments of the population, the middle
generation with evidence that it is possible to age with grace, that becoming older
does not mean the locking of ones self away in some closet , somewhere at the
back of the family home.
Their visible presence within the community also serves as a source of information
for those adult children with parents of their own to think about. The
commercialization of life and even familiar relations has led many individuals to see
their aging parents as potential financial burdens and potential robbers of
opportunity. Mrs. Bailey and the other grandmothers in the zone, clearly
demonstrates that by providing pri-school and afterschool care they save the
parents money, by helping out around the family homes, washing and ironing
uniforms and at times even the clothing of their children and cooking meals among
other things, they save the family money which would otherwise have to be found
to employ a helper or pay for the provision of the services mentioned above, these
grandmothers by freeing up time for their children and even grandchildren, give
these children and grandchildren the time needed to develop themselves as
professionals and or students.
Sadly however, the processes of development and the need of many children to
seek employment outside of the region is leaving more and more aging relatives on
their own. A person who had led an active life, a person who had grown children, old
age can be a very lonely time, a time when depression might set it. Individuals such
as Mrs. Bailey and the other grandmothers (and great grandmothers) provides a
person and a place for these elder citizens to stop by, if even to ask How Do You
Do?. Many of these aging relatives, are given the opportunity by Mrs. Bailey and
others to see the Church as a place where it is possible to retain ones relationship
with others, thus reducing loneliness and the risks of depression.
Ms. Phylis with whom I stay, has a bitch, two puppies and a kitten. While for an
urban person such as myself who is used to living in a much smaller space , this
number of pets seem to be excessive, added to this fact the way pets are fed in an
urban environment is much different from the way pets are fed by much more
income deprived rural residents, here in the country pot water (the water in which
food such as potato, yams and or dumplings are cooked) with added grease, fat
etc., is a major source of food for the rural dog. Having observed both the bitch and
the kitten for some four months and comparing the physical state, state of muscles,
alertness, condition of eyes, response, fat cover etc. of the bitch against dogs

which I know in Portmore , it is possible to state that the dog in spite of its more
humble fare is in good condition, and so are the two pups and kittens.
These animals play in the life of Miss Phylis a very important role, they are in many
respect very similar to four children which must be looked after, the pups are not
yet able to forage on their own, thus Miss Phylis has to ensure that she cooks so
that these pets can be fed, thus if she goes on the road, visit the clinic, goes to the
market or anywhere she has to think of getting back home. The animals (the pups in
particular) in welcoming her from her trips if even it is one of only fifteen minutes in
duration make feel happy to return home, she feels valued and appreciated, the
animals also give her reasons to talk, shout, make noise and even to quarrel, as
they have a great problem understanding that they should not enter the kitchen or
the house and the bitch has taken to sleeping in a neighbors freshly tilled and
planted sweet potato patch, which she from time to time seems to have a desire to
dig up, hence Miss Phylis is far less lonely a person than she would have been
without these pets, she is much mentally and physically sharper than she would
have otherwise have been, she has a reason to fight to keep her diabetes and
blood pressure managed, she has here pets to take about, if she should become ill,
there would be no one to take care of those animals.
Miss Phylis, also regularly attends Church, she attends fasting services at least once
during the week, she attends Church on Sundays and does that which could be
called a sitting in job with another older lady in the community of Hibernia. Thus
Miss Phylis, while having no grandchildren or children in the village to concern
herself about, still play a very active role and leads a very active life.

The Grand Father

Based upon detailed observation of the Patriarch and less detailed observation of
Mr. John Tom Morgan, it would appear that the life changing roles played by the
grandfathers are less visible. What is seen, are individuals who are going up in
age going about their business as they possibly would have done ten, fifteen or
twenty years ago. What is different is that there is an increase in the number of
dependents of whom they must take care of in some cases or a rotation in the
dependents, thus for example the Patriarch might not have think how his
son/daughter will eat, but still he would (in the opinion of the observer) still ensure
that food is prepared for all who live in the house, son, grandson, granddaughter or
niece. John Tom Morgans household appears to function in a very similar manner.
The lives of these two males, seem to indicate that males are grown up with the
understanding that they are not only expected to provide for their own nuclear
family, but also to take into account the familiar needs of their grown sons and
daughters, and their families should they stay home or close to home. This does
not necessarily mean that the grandfather has to find more money in his old age,
but rather that he should have lived his younger lefe in such a way which would

have allowed him to have something to give and to be able to stretch a hand to his
children and grandchildren. This type of lifestyle requires a relatively high level of
seriousness, business mindedness and planning.
Basil Fletcher

The Farmer Without Dreams

A farmer without dreams has failed even before he or she has started. One must be
able to dream of the crops he or she wants to harvest and the animals he or she
wants to rear, then take the steps required to realize these dreams. Too often and
too many younger farmers appear to approach their job in the field in the same way
as would a robot along a conveyor belt- an approach which from the eyes of the
onlooker does not seem to be led by a dream to be realized. Many appear to be very
comfortable working at the same scale and in the same way, year after year, day
after day. There does not seem to be any plans for expansion of what is planted,
there does not seem to be any plans to widen that which one is doing. And the
getting a girl pregnant or the coming into the world of a child does not seem to
provide any additional impulse or pressure on them to do more, and sadly, very
sadly the drive and or push to expand comes from parents and or in laws.

Based on what is seen in the region, the young women, even in the library seem to
be led by dreams and ambition to achieve, to not fall into the wash basin and
scrubbing brush trap, however the young men even those who visit the library with
a degree of regularity do not seem to be led by such dreams and ambitions. It is
very difficult to say, who is to be blamed or if anyone should be blamed for this
apparent male failure. It is said that a child gets its character from its father and
intelligence from its mother, however children very often repeat the lives they have
seen and the steps made before them. If this is true, then possible one needs to be
bold enough to ask if the father of Northern Manchester and in particular in the
region defined by the Mile Gully Police Station and the Greenvale Land Settlement
Road, are seen by their sons as men who had no dreams, men who lived lives not
guided by some type of vision? If this is true then would it not mean that the duty of
dreaming and vision creation is female in essence, as far as the gender division of
labour, in this region is concerned?
If one should for a second assume that the view that the women in the region are
the dreamers, the pushers and are the acknowledged or unacknowledged goal
formulators in the households and families, then should one have a desire to
improve, encourage or stimulate the males to perform, one would have to speak to
Mrs. Bailey, Miss Phylis, their daughters and granddaughters, rather than going to
Mr. John Tom Morgan or the Patriarch? The question which must also be asked is, if it
is possible for women to teach their daughters and granddaughters to dream, to
create vision, to have some type of ambition, why is it so difficult for them to teach
their sons the same, so that the males may become transmitters of the same
values, motivation and drive within their own gender, so that fathers may become
better and more rounded teachers of their sons and grandsons?
In the absence of much more detailed research, the Church which is the largest
public and community organization in the region, needs to examine its own ranks in
order to identify possibly causes, equally as it is the duty of the Peoples National
Party Constituency organization to search within its ranks for an explanation for the
large number of female party workers, group leaders, secretaries, committee
chairpersons and so few active males at all levels except in the visible leadership
levels or positions. Without these types of introspection and reflection it will be very
difficult to pull our young men forward. Here it is not an issue of ascribing blame but
rather one of unearthing the possible reasons why things are as they are.
Basil Fletcher

There Are Those!

There are those who at their very best, will build great castles and there are others
who at their very best will build small simple huts. Both groups belong to the
community and both groups have their value and adds value to the community. Be
it in the Church or around the family dinner table, there is a tendency to recognize
only those who have done great things, while ignoring those who have also done
great things if measured against the challenges they had to endure and the
obstacles they encountered. For a gifted child, the passing of ten CXC subjects with
grades of straight 1s in one sitting is not in any way or by any given measure a

greater achievement when compared to the a child with dyslexia and attention
deficit disorder passing three CXCs subjects with grades threes and a four
The fact that most of ones children are doing very well, with the first daughter
having only rece3ntly bought herself a third house and is now the Chief Financial
Officer at The Well Known Brand Co.ltd, in no way undermines or lessens the
achievements of the youngest daughter, who now at the age of thirty five has just
bought her first car, a twenty years old Toyota Corolla, who is still living with mom
and pop and suffers from frequent blackouts and severe migraine headaches.
Perhaps she should not have been allowed to buy a car. It is discriminatory and very
unjust in this case to seek to congratulate the first daughter on her achievements
and ignore the achievement of the younger daughter. Both have done excellent jobs
given the opportunities and challenges both encountered on the road of life. It is an
understanding of the real and objective differences in the abilities of the individuals
and their implications for individual performance which enables us to be fair in our
awards of recognition and merit. It is also the bonds of unity between all the
members of the family which gives the family its strength and confirms the
correctness of its mission.
Too often, within Northern Manchester and particularly in the zone between Mile
Gully and Devon, passing through Bethany, there is that tendency to Lift Up The
Big and Trample the Small without considering how both contribute to the
community. This true within both the Church and the families in the region.
Basil Fletcher

The Farmer Led By Ego

The farmer, who is led by his ego, will be led by that ego to believe that he controls
the earth and the skies, without realizing that without respect for the nature of both,
even his best efforts are doomed to fail. Equally if such an attitude is extended to

life in general, this individuals ability to learn is greatly restricted and also his
ability to avoid conflicts and or to walk away from conflicts.

For many it is difficult to see the connection between the ego of the individual and
his or her ability to cultivate sweet potato or to rear pigs. Yet the egos of many a
farmer have led them to believe that they know about the cultivation of sweet
potato so well that nobody can tell them how to do it better or how to get more
potato per acre cultivated. This type of farmer will not listen to the agricultural
extension officers, will not seek information on how to combat termites and other
pests which damages his crops and surely will never buy or borrow a book on the
cultivation of sweet potatoes. This is the very same approach he would take to his
rearing of pigs, and wonders why the pig is full of fat but lean on muscles. This is
the farmer who wonders why his pigs come down with every possible disease
although he does his best to cook the pig feed the best way he knows how to cook
it; this individual even with the most modern of cellular smart phone will not use it
to check the internet for guidance. The big ego and know it all attitude of this
individual means that he or she will produce below what he or she could produce
with the very same resources.
The egoistic farmer is not a person with whom a person can enter a reasonable
discussion with, this is an individual who must win every single conversation; this is
an individual who cannot and will not accept that he or she can make mistakes. This
person knows the Manchester Football Club and Chelsie Football Cubs, better than
their owners and coaches, this individual know what is in the minds of the Prime
Minister of Jamaica and the President of the United States. Many conflicts between
individuals are started by these types of individuals.
Perhaps the best way to deal with this individual is to demand that he or she puts
aside the excuses for his or her behavior and short comings and accept
responsibility for them. These are individuals who are prone to blaming even a
chained dog for the failure of his or crops, it is a person who is able to find and
excuse for nearly everything.
Most unfortunately these individuals, especially males are reared by parents, in
particular mothers, who believe that their children, in particular son, cannot be
wrong, mothers who believe that society and the spouses of these males should
accept them as being a funny man or feisty and that the actions of these
individuals regardless of how bad such actions are can be explained away. This
individuals are a source of threat not only to themselves and their households but
also their families and communities.
Basil Fletcher

Value Is Our Mission!

Value is our mission, reads a Digicell sign on Constant Spring Road in Kingston.
What does this statement means for family members and other residents living in
the Mile Gully to Devon region Northern Manchester? What is the meaning of
value if worth and costs are but dimensions of value? If a person is of value
what does it mean? Can a person be of greater value than another?
For any given family or household within the region defined above, one would like to
assume that it has the task of creating individual of value (worth) to themselves, to
the household , the family and the community. For the families in this region
personal and or familial wealth are but dimensions of value, the amount of money
an individual or household has, in no way determines that the individual or
household in question is of value to self, family and or community. There are many
known criminals who are known to have money and access to even more money,
yet by no measure can these individuals be said to be of value to anyone but to
themselves, here on can name Zeeks, Bulbie and other similar persons, individuals
whose actions lead to the loss of life and or property of others. From the standpoint
of this region it will never be forgotten that Zeeks raped and killed at least one of
two higglers. Zeeks had and has money but was and is of no value to anyone else
but himself. There are many families which have members who earn good money
but is not of value even to him/herself, this person has to be protected from his or
herself. Therefore it is clear that the net worth of the individual cannot be used as a
the sole measure of individual value.
Individuals and families who believe that money must come in at all costs, must
also be clear, that from the moment that the individual or family relaxes basic
human and social values it has lost the ability to create value for the community
and possibly itself. Zeeks with all his money is prison, Dudus with all his money is in
prison, can it be claimed that their actions and lives created value for themselves?
No! There it is important that if a person, family or household has a desire to be of
value their actions must be driven by positive systems of beliefs, attitudes and
principles and on this basis seek to create wealth.
The creation of value is from the perspective of the individuals and households in
the Mile Gully to Devon region must be based on the creation of those attributes,
skills, personal traits, and other such characteristics or nature which allows the
individual to positively contribute to the lifting, to the raising, to the development of
the individual self, the household, the family and community. A person who robs his
neighbors farm or cow, even if he or she gets away with it cannot claim to have
created value, firstly he or she has led his or her family and in particular his or her
children, to believe that it is ok to rob from ones neighbors, secondly one has set
back ones neighbors and possibly creating hardship within that household, thirdly
one possibly has led the neighbor to believe that someone else is responsible for

robbing from his or her farm, thus leading to the creation of false accusations and
possibly conflicts and thirdly if a situation of tit for tat should develop, no ones
farm is safe-thus here while the individual has gotten away with the action, he or
she has not created value for self or others.
The fact that Mrs. Bailey does not live in a big house or drives a big car yet she
by her actions has helped many a younger persons to have hope, the fact that her
family can depend on her to give a helping hand with the grandchildren, the fact
that if a young man or woman needs a shoulder to lean on or a word of advice can
count on her, shows that a person does not need to have a lot of personal wealth to
be of value. This is also shown by more than a few of the young fathers by and
around the Darlings who put out the effort to provide for their children with hard
work and personal sacrifices. If the Darlings grandson has a lap top computer, it
shows that a family can add value to self and community even while creating
personal wealth. The creation of personal wealth and the creation of value are not
necessarily in conflict; the Patriarch and family have created both personal and
familial wealth even as they by their daily actions create value for self and
community.
The creation of value should be the mission of every single person and household in
the Mile Gully to Devon region of Northern Manchester even as the region seeks to
increase its wealth. A person who by his or her actions pulls down self, family and
community cannot be said to be of equal value to the person, even if he or she is
without personal wealth, who creates value for self, household and community.
The lessons here should be clear to the Constituency Party Organization of The
Peoples National Party and the young Member of Parliament. At the end of the day
the question is what value has the Constituency Party and the Member of
Parliament have brought to lives of the residents and voters of the constituency?
No one cares whose son the Member of Parliament or who is the Constituency
Secretary, how have their presence brought benefit to those who live and work in
the constituency? Show us thy work and we will tell who you are! It is wise to make
hay while the sun shines.
Basil Fletcher

There are Wives

There are wives who have the ability to find fault even with the shape of the moon
and the distance of the sun from the Earth. These are the wives who sap the energy
and the drive of their husbands and destroy crops yet to be planted.
Their involvement where and when possible in the work of the farm helps to
moderate their views, by giving them a personal insight into what work on the farm
involves and the challenges faced. Sadly, experience too often shows that their
interests in making a positive contribution to the household and the lives of others
are minimum as compared to their interest in taking control of and dominating their
households and the lives of their spouses.
A major problem and threat the community face with these women, is that while by
themselves and or within their own familial household the danger they pose is very
limited, they tend to find men who for one reason or the other is prepared to put up
with this type of person forming addictive relationships. Addictive relationships as a
rule tend to at some point or the other explode at times carrying down all involved
and near to that couple.
There are also some male farmers who have a nit picking and fault finding attitude
to life and as a result create homes of anxiety, fear and resentment. As with the
women described above , this type of male has no interest in the creation of
partnerships within the households and the family but rather to dominate and to
control.
While it cannot be the objective or intention of the community to interfere into the
private lives of the families within the community, it is however important that the
community is aware of the dangers these individuals pose and perhaps most
importantly to recognize that these individuals are either the victims or witnesses to
abuse in their formative years and tend to seek pass down the same, either by the
carrying out of abuse and or by the justifying of abuse. It is important that the adult
individuals in these types of relationships be held responsible for their actions
towards their children, and that institutions such as the Church bring to book those

who are involved in this type of addictive relationships and make known to all that
this type of relationship exist in the community without calling names.
Basil Fletcher

It Is Human
It is human to be angry at times, it is human to be sad at times, it is human to feel
down at times. There is no single human in existence who is happy at all times.
There is no single human who can claim that they have not experienced moments
of anger or sadness. Yet children are taught, in particular, boys are taught that they
should not express their feelings of sadness, disappointment or pain, while the girls
are taught that they should be emotionally angels. This approach of firstly
repressing ones feelings, denies one of his or her humanness and secondly the
act of emotional denial especially in children can later result in mental problems
and or challenges and an inability to cope with the real world.
It is important to understand that there is a time and place to express particular
types of feelings (emotions), for example, it would be incorrect both in time and
place for me to shout Oh Fuck I have forgotten my phone! were I in Church, in
the library, in a lecturer, at home in front of children etc. However should I take
excuse and visited the bathroom at Church, the library or elsewhere and expressed
the same in a much lower voice, I would have expressed myself and how I feel. In
short delaying the expression of ones emotions (feelings) is not the same as
suppressing ones feelings.
The manner in which an individual express his or her feelings is also of importance.
Even if angry at discovering that I am late for an appointment I would not punch
through the bathroom or bedroom mirror or throw my cell phone against the wall.
Here even as one encourages a child to express its emotion the child should be
taught to express him or herself in such a manner which does not intimidate and or
injure others nor destroy property. There are many instances in life where one
encounters individuals who have not learnt to control their behavior and or actions
or the way they express their feelings. This is a manifestation of a failure to teach

that individual to control his or herself when he or she was a child, this is a result of
a failure of the parents, the family and the school system.
One needs to understand that an expression of anger does not mean or does it
indicate an absence of love. Parents in disciplining their children should not do so
while angry or as a form of expression of anger. A child is disciplined because of
misbehavior and as a corrective measure and not as result of parental-it is the duty
of the adult parent to find other ways and means of expressing their anger even if
it caused by their children. The expression of parental anger is a primary cause of
child abuse.
It is equally important that individuals and in particular parents, find ways to
express love. In local culture it is seen as being sissy or dangerous to express
love-in fact there is a song with words stating that you should never let your
woman know how much you love her, for she will do things to hurt you and then
the women in order to prevent the same potential hurt end up with statements such
as Mi Spirit Tek Him, in short her spirit like the man, not she. This denial and or
refusal to express love leads to very unhealthy relationships and children grown
with this type of love denying parents also do not learn to express or acknowledge
love-sex is easier.
It is important that the farming families of this region, learn to use the open spaces
and the environment around them as a safe place to work away or to express some
types of emotions, in particular anger, disgust, disappointment etc. Work it away
before going home, and as my step-grandfather is reported to have said:-A person
should not go to sleep with a spirit of anger.
Basil Fletcher

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