TEAM AND DIRECTOR:From left: Daijon McHayle, Renée McHayle, Janet Krusmark (one of the Directors of Robin’s Nest Children’s Home) and Tyeanna Harvey pose for the camera after the presentations.
Volney Barrett Freelance Writer
The Robin’s Nest Children’s Home recently benefitted from a presentation of clothing and gift items, courtesy of a foundation named Gift of Helps, led by St. James resident Renee McHayle.
The facility, which is situated in Salter’s Hill, John’s Hall, St. James, received the items during the recent Christmas holidays as part of Gift of Helps campaign to reach out to the less fortunate. The team from Gift of Helps included Mrs. McHayle, her son Daijon McHayle and sister Tyeanna Harvey.
After weeks of procuring the gift items and making arrangements with the directors of the Home, the Gift of Helps team presented a wide range of toys and pieces of clothing, among other items, to the residents there.
The children were very excited to receive the gifts, Mrs. McHayle shared. She further added that these acts of kindness are “birthed out of love and obedience to God’s very unique call on her life.”
“I really want to say a big thank you to all who donated their time and money to this venture. It was a great success and we could not have done it without you. Special thanks to Lorraine and Trudy from the Western Mirror and also Kayon. God bless and keep you all in the coming year(s),” an enthusiastic Mrs. McHayle expressed.
Janet Krusmark, one of the Directors of the Robin’s Nest Children’s Home, who was on hand to participate in the presentation, expressed sincere appreciation to the team from the Gift of Helps Foundation.
The Robin’s Nest Children’s Home caters to 35 children currently between the ages of one to 12 years old.
Gift of Helps Foundation, a small charity organization, has been assisting children’s homes as well as the Poor Relief Department of the St. James Municipal Corporation for several years.
“The Foundation aims to assist persons and organizations which are most needy. The work of the foundation is inspired by God to help those in need,” Mrs. McHayle informed.
According to Mrs. McHayle, the next project will be to feed and clothe children living on the streets of Montego Bay.
47-year-old Laverne Russell is in need of your help. An amputee, Miss Russell, who is now staying at Mt. Salem, lost her right leg 2 years ago, after complaining of feeling pain.
The amputation of the leg has left her without a job, making it difficult for her to fend for herself and her ten-year-old daughter. Russell has resorted to begging in the streets because her disability has made it difficult for her to secure a job.
Russell related that the life changing moment came one day when she was at work at a restaurant in Mt. Salem and felt a pain in her leg. She stopped for a while to tend to the pained area and then resumed working.
The pain continued to affect her but became overwhelming for her one day while she was at work, and she took the time off and went to the hospital. The doctor at the hospital told her it may be an abscess (an abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body). She was told to return the following day, which she did.
Miss Russell said a doctor gave her an injection in the leg and some medication.
UNBEARABLE PAIN
“The medication did not work and I began to feel more pain. I went back to get some treatment because the pain was becoming unbearable,” she related.
Miss Russell indicated that while no X-Ray was done, a doctor Plummer at the Cornwall Regional Hospital recommended that the leg be amputated because the flesh was decaying (rotting).
According to her, the pain was so unbearable, and it was a very difficult decision, as it would rob her of her mobility. She could take it no longer and trusting that the doctor knew what he was doing; Miss Russell acted on his advice and agreed to the amputation of the leg.
So now without a job, she is forced to beg on the streets.
DAUGHTER TAKEN AWAY
She says her heart is bleeding because after losing her leg, her life was again changed for the worse as her 10 year-old daughter was also taken by the authorities and placed in a home in Mandeville and is now a ward of the state.
“That was so painful, still is but what can I do?” she said with tears welling up in her eyes.
“I don’t have a job. I cannot get a steady job to earn any money for myself so I am forced to beg. I am staying with a friend and am grateful but I cannot continue to depend on that friend. I do not want to impose on them too long,” she added.
Miss Russell is now pleading for your assistance as she requires a prosthetic leg to restore some level of mobility. The leg costs approximately $ 125,000 and she does not have the money to buy it.
“I need all the help I can get. I don’t have the money to buy the leg so I am asking members of the public to help me. Please, I am desperate. I would like to be able to fend for myself,” she pleaded.
“I would need this leg but I cannot afford it. It would help me to move around and possibly get to work again” she explained.
So, anyone with a heart and the means to help may call her at 452-1284 to offer some assistance.
St. James, the most murderous parish in Jamaica last year, has recorded its first murder for 2018, four days into the new year.
The victim is 21-year-old Kiron Spence of Farm Heights in the parish.
It was a gruesome sight which greeted investigators just off the Albion main road on Thursday morning as seasoned detectives were left speechless following the discovery of Spence’s mutilated body on a grassed area in the vicinity of prominent boys’ high school, Cornwall College.
In what could be described as a cult-like killing, Spence’s face was seemingly skinned and the throat slashed. One of his eyes was also cut out and his left hand was cut off at the wrist.
It’s understood that a resident of the Albion community stumbled on the body and alerted the police.
Police have theorized that Spence, whose mother is reportedly a teacher at a local high school and his father a JUTA tour operator, may have been killed the day before.
Superintendent in charge of operation in St. James, Gary McKenzie told the Western Mirror that early investigations have started but quickly revealed that no motive has yet been determined. He also added that the police are determined to make it a much better year for citizens of St. James as last year was a rough one. “We are determined to make it better,” he affirmed.
The true account of the death of popular JUTA operator, Winston Sharpe
Winston Sharpe was a great man, an exceptional friend, a loving husband, and an even better father. Unfortunately, however, his family will have to fill the gaping void left, after discovering that the popular businessman and JUTA operator, after just a day into the New Year, took his own life in his two-storey family home at Rosemount Gardens, St. James.
Having worked as a JUTA tour bus operator for over 35 years, Sharpe was the paragon of professionalism and excellence, so much so that among many in the JUTA and tourism fraternities, his reputation was beyond reproach. Reaching out to his family, the Western Mirror soon learnt that none of the good things we had heard about the 59-year-old Sharpe were exaggerated. He was truly a man of astounding character.
“He was a very strong family man, a good husband, and a good father,” Reverend Conrad Pitkin, the family pastor who spoke on behalf of the grieving family, told the Western Mirror. “He was really a good person, and was well-respected. He was never contentious, and was always kind and very friendly – traits all his colleagues can attest to,” Rev. Pitkin added, citing that over the years he had known Sharpe, he had never found him to be anything but consistently what others thought him to be – a man of sound character.
Despite Sharpe’s many strengths, they were not enough to prevent him from plunging to the depths of depression about six months ago, according to Reverend Pitkin. It seems he never quite found his way out. “He got really depressed,” Reverend Pitkin said, “and as a result, we tried a number of things. Every method you could think of, we tried it to offer him the help he needed.” Pitkin informed this newsroom that his and Sharpe’s relationship was a very good one, as they were friends, and had been for a very long while. This, Pitkin relayed, prompted him to visit Sharpe on New Year’s Day, to talk to him, pray with him, and just be there for him.
Quizzed as to how Sharpe was at the time of his visit, Pitkin said he seemed well. “He was fine when we talked, so surely, we couldn’t have seen that this would have had such a tragic result.”
TRAGIC FIND
On January 2, 2018, it is reported that Sharpe got up, as he usually did for work, and went about his usual morning routine. About 6:30 that morning, while Reverend Pitkin was out for a morning walk, he received a troubling call from Mrs. Sharpe. She had gone to check on her husband, only to find his lifeless body between the master bedroom and the bathroom, with a single gunshot wound to his chest cavity. His licensed firearm was also seen lying next to him.
INACCURATE, HARMFUL REPORTS
Upon the public’s discovery of Sharpe’s death, a number of news outlets relayed varying accounts of what transpired. All these accounts were rejected by the grieving Sharpe family. “There are no truths to those reports,” explained Rev. Pitkin. “There was no gunshot wound to his head, nobody heard a gunshot and went to investigate. Those are all inaccurate,” the family pastor added. He continued: “People should try to get facts. This misinformation that has been floating around out there has further hurt the family. It would help a great deal if people would have taken the time out to really get the story as is, as this would help the family, not hurt them further as the other reports have done.”
With such a tragic end to such a great family man, Rev. Pitkin expressed that more than anything right now, the family would like to be left alone; they don’t want to be bothered, and just want to have the true story out there.
“The family is responding well to counselling right now,” Pitkin added, “and it really helps when you are a Christian – it makes things a lot easier, as you understand that God is always with you. The church family is also supporting them too,” the Reverend Pitkin concluded.
JUTA MOURNS
Garfield Williamson, President of JUTA, when contacted by the Western Mirror, pointed out that they were all shocked. “We are shocked, very shocked. Sharpe was an outstanding member. He represented the organization exceptionally well by how he carried himself. He always tried to do his best for the organization and it really is a great loss. To say that he was one of our more loved members is an understatement. We will truly miss him, and will do what we can to assist,” Williamson said.
As for his family, they wish for him to be remembered as the loving, kind, and caring person that he was. Most of all, they are asking to be kept in our prayers.
Unlike any other region in the world, the Caribbean countries demonstrate an innate ability to collaborate across state borders. The skill of effective communication within a group of nations combined with mutual dedication to work together is what makes the Caribbean stand apart from other global superpowers. Their unrecognized asset of collaboration lends to the continuous optimization and habit of upgrading that allows these countries to become leading global examples. Although this collaborative nature is the backbone of political organizations such as CARICOM, OAS, and CELAC, among others, the greatest potential these nations possess is the ability to leverage their collaborative culture to create a culture of peace that will influence the country not only politically, socially, and economically but even on a personal level. Not only this, but due to the Caribbean’s existing collaborative nature, their community can be an example to the world.
Caribbean Community, which thrives on working together with the same goals, holds the key to the seemingly unachievable question of world peace. This ability has been unrecognized both within the Caribbean and among other various global nations due to the influence of global superpowers that disregard smaller nations due to their size. A country’s influence in our world determined by population size creates a biased and difficult world stage that does not lend to a collaborative world. For true change to occur in our world, nations, disregarding their size, need to be able to provide influence based on actions and ideologies rather than mere size. With population size being one of the biggest indicators of a country’s ability to be heard with the world, global superpowers, many of which are in need of this collaborative nature that lends to a culture of peace, are unable to recognize or provide an avenue for Caribbean countries to be the example the world needs.
A solution to this is equal sovereignty.
If states were able to stand with equal weight regardless of their size, collaborative communication on the global stage would be much more plausible. Equal sovereignty also reduces the chances of skewed political influence or other forms of power. In the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War, equal sovereignty is proclaimed as a statute towards global peace. With this, the Caribbean’s hidden asset of collaboration, which is the genesis of peace, can be further developed to be a light to the world. The Caribbean has just begun to tap into the mounds of potential that come with their collaborative nature. This nature is the existing foundation to be developed into a culture of peace. In order to develop this, a culture of peace must first start with peace education. Due to its rarity in our world, peace must be shared through education to bring awareness and change. This potential leads to global peace, a dream that all nations share in. To get citizens on board with the culture of peace and to educate them of the mass potential contained within the Caribbean’s collaborative nature, peace education offers a solution that moves from the ground up. Citizens who receive peace education will be able to testify to their need for peace in an increasingly divided world and even come to understand how a culture of collaboration can grow into a flourishing nation of peace that can be a strong example to the world.
With the onset of Peace Education and the desire to educate citizens of the importance and potential of global peace, many nations, even within the Caribbean, are pledging to begin Peace Weeks. Implementation of a peace week within these nations allows citizens to experience the beauty of working together for a shared international hope. These Peace Weeks, spurred on by individual nations within the Caribbean community, could eventually blossom into a fully adopted national event on behalf of the Caribbean, which would provide even more opportunity for peace to break through to the international stage through the islands of the Caribbean.
I am, Hannah Clifford, George Mason University Student
I almost didn’t make it to the New Year. Not because of any gun-related thing, but because minutes after 11 pm, last year, New Year’s Eve, while my family was busy getting ready to go see the fireworks, I was locked in my bathroom, with a belt wrapped tightly and firmly around my neck. The other end of it was fixed firmly into position on the grill inside my bathroom.
Allow me to apologize, before going any further, if I’m already being too graphic, but I just want to get this out there.
My therapists (yes, more than one) all agree that finding ways that are readily within my means to air my thoughts out is something I can do to cope, and I could think of no better way, of all the ways I’ve tried, than writing anonymously to the Western Mirror. I don’t know, maybe this might help someone.
I’m 20 years old, and last year September, as I stared down the barrel of a gun, I wanted to live so badly, that I was willing to do whatever it took to survive. As a young woman, I have always wanted to do my very best in school, and though it took a lot to even get into college financially, I’m happy that in the end, it all worked out. My first year went well, and before that tragic incident, I was looking forward to improving on my success.
I’m a commuting student of a popular university here in Jamaica, and because I couldn’t afford boarding fees, I decided that the best option was to live close to campus. I’ve been careful enough my whole life, and with few reports surfacing regarding the dangers of living off campus and by oneself, I didn’t imagine that the worst could have happened.
I was at home studying for an exam, and I really don’t know what happened. I must have forgotten to bolt the door or something, but I remember right before I began to feel sleepy, I heard my door smashed open. Two men, both wearing masks, rushed in. The whole experience remains a painful memory, and I’m having problems remembering the little moments in between, but I recall one of them asking, “nuh ya so di bwoy live? Weh him live?” They both had what looked like shotguns, and I honestly was frozen. I literally couldn’t move. One of them pointed the gun to my face and pulled the trigger back. I remember him asking me about someone whose name I had never heard in my life. I was trembling and having a panic attack, but still managed to say I don’t know who they were talking about.
“Ay gyal u ago dead tonight.” Those were the words that instantly saw me begging them not to kill me. Then, the unthinkable happened. One of them went back and closed the door. “Dawg, wa u deh pon?” was the question he posed to his friend who still had his gun pointed at my face.
Without reliving those details, I was raped. By those two men. In just one night, as I was preparing for my exam, I was violated in the most inhumane way possible. Lord knows I wished he had pulled the trigger on me after. Why? Why was I left to live after such an ugly hate-filled act? Who was I going to tell? I didn’t show up to my exam. And after spending almost the entire day afterwards hurt all over and broken, I had decided to take my own life. But I’m not sure why I hesitated. There are marks all over my skin, and I haven’t looked in a mirror since. I’m afraid of what or who I would see staring back at me.
I didn’t tell my mother, and neither did I tell my brother, who I’m close to. They convinced me that I could manage that life living off campus, and I didn’t want them feeling like they were somehow responsible for it. My life felt like it was destroyed that night.
Only one of my closest lecturers know of what happened, and now you do too. The only reason I’m still here, is because I want to prove to my mother that her investments in me weren’t for naught, and to prove to myself that I could have been someone my absentee father would have loved dearly if he had stayed around. I wanted to find him, and I wanted to run to him, and I wanted him to protect me. But he wasn’t there. I didn’t think I needed my father at any point in my life, but after what happened, for some strange reason, I wanted to talk to him more than anything.
Fathers are important. If only most of them knew that. I’m alone right now, and had it not been for my brother knocking on my bathroom door on New Year’s Eve, today, the Western Mirror would be posting my obituary. Maybe one day you will. But for now, I’ll go on living, trying to find some purpose again.
If you’ve been in a position like I was that night, be brave enough to talk to someone about it, and be kind enough to believe you deserve help.
Two farmers from the neighbouring parishes St. James and St. Elizabeth were robbed of the opportunity to usher in the New Year when gunmen struck twice within an hour last Friday to claim their lives.
The victims are 53-year-old Lascelles Warlock of Pisgah, St Elizabeth, and 67-year-old Wilford Joseph of Retrieve in South St. James.
Information gleaned by the Western Mirror from the Cambridge police indicate that about 3:30 p.m. on Friday, it is alleged that Warlock was driving a Toyota Minibus along with his wife and two passengers along the Retrieve main road, when they were signaled by a masked man to stop.
On entering the bus, the man brandished a firearm and demanded money. On receiving the money, the robber opened fire hitting Warlock in the face before making his escape. The Police were summoned and on their arrival, Warlock’s body was seen with gunshot wounds.
Crime scene detectives processed the scene and the body was later removed to the morgue pending post mortem examination.
Half-an-hour later, the police were again called to the scene of another murder in the community.
Residents reportedly heard explosions and summoned the police. On the arrival of the lawmen, Joseph was seen with gunshot wounds to his head and left arm. He was taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A former Cornwall College student, who migrated to the United States more than six years ago, was shot and killed in Lauderhill, Florida, while attending a New Year’s Eve party.
He has been identified as 26-year-old Paul Nelson Jr.
He was killed just before 11 p.m. on Sunday outside a house in Lauderhill, an area which is home to several Jamaicans and Caribbean nationals.
The Lauderhill Police Department reported that they were called to a report of shooting and found Nelson suffering from several gunshot wounds.
It’s understood that he was among a group of friends attending a New Year’s Eve party when a man approached him and opened fire.
The shooter, described by overseas law enforcements as black, slender build and standing 6 feet tall, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans, managed to flee the scene.
When the Western Mirror contacted his father, Paul Nelson, a popular Red Cap Porter at the Sangster International Airport who resides in Montego Bay, he was at a loss for words. “Words can’t explain the pain I am feeling”.
“He left this country six, seven years ago and to lose him in that fashion is really gut-wrenching”, he added.
The deceased Nelson reportedly died, leaving a pregnant girlfriend who is said to be carrying twins.
The murder tally in St. James has surpassed the 330-mark with two days left in the 2017 calendar year.
The Green Pond main road and Hart Street were among the crime scenes for busy detectives as hoodlums continued their killing spree.
Forty-two-year-old Paul Eulette, also known as ‘Little Paul’, unemployed of Hart Street, and 47-year-old Norman Graham, otherwise known as ‘Nutsy’ of a Green Pond address, were the men whose lives were snuffed out.
The densely populated Hart Street, near the centre of the city, was the scene of a daring murder on Wednesday evening which left ‘Little Paul’, a well-known figure, dead.
Information is sketchy but the Western Mirror understands that about 6:45 p.m., ‘Little Paul’ was standing along the roadside in his community when he was pounced on and shot and killed by unknown assailants.
“Little Paul’, who was allegedly shot at in the same area just over three weeks ago, was found on the roadway with several gunshot wounds to the upper body.
The shooting sent residents scampering for cover.
Meanwhile, as the killings continued, another alleged feud involving a family member is said to be the cause of the killing of ‘Nutsy’ along the Green Pond main road on Saturday night.
The Western Mirror has been informed that shortly before 9 p.m., Graham, a popular peanut vendor, was travelling on his handcart carrying out his familiar run, when on reaching the Green Pond crossing, he was attacked and shot up by unknown assailants.
He was reportedly struck multiple times in the head.
The cart he was pushing with his peanuts raced down the hill following the killing.
Graham, a father of two, was well-known to residents in and around the Green Pond area as well as Cornwall Court Housing Scheme, where he provided peanuts on a daily basis.
Boxing Day, December 26, proved tragic for a Westmoreland family after their teenage daughter was shot and injured by gunmen at their home and remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition.
Just hours after celebrating the festive Christmas Day, the 15-year-old who attends the Godfrey Stewart High School in the parish, was reportedly at home with family when the tragic incident occurred.
Reports from the Nergil Police are that the shooter has been positively identified and is being sought by law enforcement.
Information gleaned by the Western Mirror is that about 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the student was at her home in White Hall, Negril, when an argument developed between her father and the accused.
Unconfirmed reports are that during the argument, the accused pulled a firearm and shot at the father of the injured girl.
In his attempt to escape with his life, he ran and his daughter was subsequently shot and injured.
The gunman escaped and the daughter rushed to the Sav-la-Mar hospital where she was treated and admitted.
