( L - R ) Walker, Curling

Dr Alvin Curling is scheduled to arrive in Jamaica on Thursday for Jamaica's national men's conference, titled 'COVENANT: Jamaica's Men on a Mission'.

Dr Curling, a Jamaican, and former member of parliament of the Province of Ontario, Canada, will be a principal speaker at the conference which opens on Friday, February 15, at the Mona Visitors' Lodge at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, and continues in an all-day session on Saturday, February 16, at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston.

Born in Kingston, and educated both in Jamaica and in Toronto, Dr Curling, as a Jamaican youth, demonstrated his leadership potential early as a member of the Franklyn Town Youth Club, the local Boy Scout groups and various sport teams.

After receiving tertiary education first in Jamaica at the College of Arts Science and Technology and later in Toronto at Atkinson College at York University and Seneca College, early leadership talents took a political slant, as Dr Curling became president of the College's Students' Council at Seneca College.

Outstanding achievements

His foray into politics as a liberal Member of the Provincial Parliament (MPP) of Ontario, Canada, spanned 20 years (from 1985 to 2005) of active duty which saw outstanding achievements. These include his record-breaking defeat of a Progressive Conservative opponent by about 8,000 votes and a personal total of 30,504 votes - the highest total vote in Canadian history, and a provincial record at the time.

Meanwhile, Bishop Lennox Walker, one of the principal speakers at the conference, is scheduled to arrive in the island today.

The conference, organised by laymen from various churches in Jamaica who are concerned about the perceived diminishing role of men in society, is seen as a platform from which a national men's movement will arise. Bishop Walker, himself a Jamaican now living in Toronto, has been invited by the conference planners to speak on the topic 'Man as Partner and Parent'. Bishop Walker will be joined by his wife who arrives in Jamaica on Friday.

Born in Clarendon, Jamaica, Bishop Walker is a radical and unconventional speaker who is known for his dynamic, life-changing and inspirational sermons.

He has an atypical and impressive educational background. At age 14, he was unable to read. In spite of these circumstances, he educated himself to a university entrance level. He is a graduate of Bethel Bible College in St Mary, Jamaica; and studied at the European Theological Seminary via correspondence; and is in the process of completing his Master of Divinity at Tyndale University and Seminary.