Canadians impressed by Ja 4-H experience

"We are highly impressed at the enthusiasm, commitment, the passion that's in the 4-H programme across all of Jamaica," said Wraychel Horne, executive director of 4-H Ontario. "The pride that all the parishes show is remarkable. The innovation and the creativity ... the fact that this year, a different produce was picked by every parish to have these agro-products produced from is absolutely remarkable. To see the innovation at play, we were very impressed."

If that resounding endorsement from Horne is anything to go by, then the collaboration between the Jamaica 4-H Clubs and its Canadian counterpart is off to a great start.

A three-member team comprising Horne, past president Shonna Ward, and Marriane Fallis, senior manager for programming, was in the island recently as guests of the St Thomas branch of the 4-H Clubs for a week. When AgroGleaner caught up with the Canadian trio last Friday, the final day of the National Achievement Expo, they were excited, exhausted and, of course, impressed.

JAMAICAN DEXTERITY

With only one more day left in the trip, they had already enjoyed an extensive and gruelling tour of 4-H operations, and even though Horne didn't put it that way, the Jamaican ability to 'tun yu had an mek fashan' definitely caught her eye.

She told AgroGleaner about what they saw, compared to their anticipation: "The realities did line up in terms of the resourcefulness of people to use what they have and be grateful for what they have. My surprise has been the diversity, because we toured a number of different schools in very different economic areas, and so to see an arts cultural school where students are sitting there with Mac laptops and have all the resources and painting and dance studio that they need, that's remarkable. That's something in terms of affluence that I didn't expect to see."

A major difference between the countries is that whereas in Canada the 4-H Clubs are community-based, in Jamaica, they are mainly attached to schools, something that the visitors will be looking to emulate with focus on how the education system supports the movement. However, in Ontario, which has over 6,000 youth involved between the ages of nine to 21, they also have junior programmes called Clover Buds for six- to eight-year-olds, similar to the local cubbies, who join from as early as age five.

Interestingly, towel-folding, place-setting and seed identification were some of the areas which impressed the Canadians, who got the opportunity to take part in a number of activities, including judging for the Girl of the Year. They were still in awe, as Horne admitted.

She told AgroGleaner: "There are a lot of things that we can take back, look at our similar programmes, and put enhancements in place - so very tangible, hands-on, real, practical, everyday 4-H things we can improve and learn from each other."

- C.S.