St. Ann - Where goodwill grows

- Carlington Wilmot

The seniors pass their time doing craftwork.

TRAFFIC CHOKE the streets of St. Ann's Bay, and we go round and round the one-way streets until we stop chasing the goose, rescued by a good Samaritan who shows us the way to the Senior Citizens' Association (SCA) office.

This week we visit the Garden Parish of St. Ann. We are in the company of Mrs. Carmen Wilson, parish co-ordinator of the SCA, a subsidiary of the National Council for the Aged.

Later, with Mrs. Wilson, we set off on a visit of various projects that will take us from St. Ann's Bay to Priory and finally to Claremont in the hilly area of the parish.

Our first stop, braking behind the white NCA van, which stops on a hill, is Priory. Here is the Golden Basic School, run by senior citizen club members and volunteers. There are 78 students, aged 2 to 6, who are being prepared for primary school.

They are taught, fed and "watched" by the seniors and volunteers. Mrs. Marcia Neil Pinnock is the brain behind this project. A member of the Priory club, she had expressed her wish to that organisation to set up a basic school in her own neighborhood.

Funds for its construction came first from the club, and then from business and hotels in the St Ann area. The school was finally adopted by Sandals Dunn's River.

Mrs. Marjorie Williams, a senior, tells us, "We see that the children are well protected. In the mornings we also give the devotion. We help out at lunch time too." Mrs. Williams lives right next door. Her grandchildren attend the school. "It keeps me on the go. I am not working now," she said.

Yvonne Walters, another member for the senior citizens group, comments, "The children get nice teaching. They are well behaved. The teachers are nice."

The senior citizens also sew and distribute uniforms to students whose parents cannot afford to pay for them.

"Mrs. Neil always depend on us to help her out," says Inez Rose, a 64-year-old member of the association who also tells us about the association and what it has done for her. "It helps me to know many places. I will continue to attend (meetings) until I can't."

In the Brown's Town, Lime Hall and Claremont centres there are feeding centres, also run by association members and volunteers. Between 40 and 60 seniors are fed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The private sector again assists. "We accept even a half bag of rice," notes Mrs. Wilson.

The association is also involved in cultural activities in the parish. The St. Ann Senior Citizens Cultural Group has won many gold medals, especially in the area of dance. They are experts on the maypole, the quadrille, the dinki mini and revival.

A priority on their agenda is interaction with youth. The older Jamaicans tell students stories and also act as craft instructors in schools. "Children often define the elderly as people who walk with sticks. But we play ring games with them and tell them stories. The concept changes," says Mrs. Wilson.

On their annual cultural day this year, citizens of the garden parish were invited to the crowning of St. Ann Senior Citizen's festival queen. Food and craft were also on display. The fashion segment of the festival queen show featured costumes, including school uniforms, and "old time evening wear, including the three-sister dresses". Year round, they focus on keeping body and mind of club members together. They are also involved in economic activities such as farming and cattle rearing.

From Priory, we proceed to Claremont through many plunging twists and turns. In the community, we find Poppy (Egbert) Scott, busy around the wood fire cooking meals. He is a retired groundsman from Ferncourt High School who started the feeding programme in this area. "I went around and saw the people in need. There were shut-ins who also needed housing," he relates The club, at his instigation, has built a house for one gentleman and continues to feed seniors three days a week. "We use our own money when the association has nothing," he says.

We pause finally, to ask Mrs. Wilson how she manages to keep abreast of all this cooking, feeding and fandangle. We find out that she has worked with the Parish Council as Inspector of the Poor ­ a job which she did for 25 years. She has also worked with several other government agencies, including RADA, the JCDC, SDC and the Parish Health Committee. She is also elder of the Freehill Seventh Day Adventist Church. So, a little thing like organising 5,000 senior citizens in their weekly activities is not hard.

"I go to bed at nights and I ask the Lord for inspiration to uplift both the church and the senior citizens... I have a faith that can move mountains," says the association co-ordinator who also admits that she raised her two daughters with no help from their father. A real Jamaican woman.

She does not find looking after the indigent to be emotionally draining. "When they are not sick, they have time to tell you about their lives. I always love to hear them tell their stories... Going out and seeing the hardships that people face, I am better able to cope with mine." In the Garden Parish a lot of goodwill grows, and old and young alike are nourished.

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