Bahamas Hummingbirds Association sees great benefits in diaspora alliances
Published:Wednesday | June 19, 2024 | 12:08 AMRochelle Clayton/Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
Sharon Purser-Cooper, public relations officer at the Hummingbirds Association of Bahamas, says major benefits could come to Jamaica should greater partnerships be forged among diaspora groups.
Purser-Cooper was speaking to The Gleaner at the 10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St James, on Monday.
The Hummingbirds Association of Bahamas is a 46-year-old charitable foundation run by Jamaicans living the small island territory. Its main focus has been participating in initiatives geared towards improving Jamaica’s education and health sectors, Purser-Cooper explained.
She said while it is understandable that members of the diaspora choose to give back for sentimental reasons, “a more strategic approach” will bring greater benefits to a larger number of Jamaicans across the island.
“What we need is a more strategic approach to charity, so rather than saying I want to give to this school because it is my alma mater, or to this hospital because it is in my parish, we need to network and have a structured dialogue with the government who we entrust to know the needs of our country.”
She said that this approach will ensure that local organisations or charitable events are dealt with in an equitable manner by the diaspora.
Purser-Cooper said that with the additional resources (then) available, charitable groups would create a bigger impact in the areas of health and education.
“We are calling for equity and strong dialogue, while working together. With that [approach], our contributions will be more meaningful, and we can approach it from a short- and long-term perspective.
‘’We would be more needs-driven rather than emotionally driven,” Purser-Cooper maintained.
MAINTAINING INTEGRITY
She stressed that with approximately three million diaspora members across the world, a lot can be achieved if those well-thinking Jamaicans come together to improve aspects of their home country through various initiatives.
Purser-Cooper told The Gleaner that the Hummingbirds Association of Bahamas would love to partnership with fellow diaspora groups in North America.
“We want to see a greater partnership between smaller territories like the Bahamas and New York. If a powerful group by just virtue of numbers cooperates with us, there is so much more we can do,” she said.
Earlier in Monday’s session, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, shared that the Jamaican Government would today be launching two virtual portals geared towards fostering communication and collaboration across the diaspora, .
The portals to be launched are the JAM-DEM (Jamaica Diaspora Engagement Model) and the Registration Portal.
Purser-Cooper told The Gleaner that she welcomes both initiatives and is hoping that the Government will invest their resources into maintaining the integrity of them.
“Looking forward to it. That is pretty much addressing the concern and idea that we have, so we are looking forward to the launch.”
She is, however, urging that effort be also made to “stick to it and be accountable”.
“One of the greatest challenges we have is being discouraged by a lack of accountability, so ... we want our government to be accountable. We don’t care about [political] party. We want accountability and we will try to be accountable.”