Little Kids, Big Hearts
ST ANN'S BAY, St Ann:COLUMBUS PREPARATORY School in St Ann's Bay produces students who are not just among the brightest in the parish, they have a heart too.
Since 2000, students from grades four to six have been members of the Junior Optimist Octagon International (JOOI) (pronounced JOY), which is an affiliate of the Optimist Club of St Ann's Bay.
"It's a service club just like the mother club (Optimist Club of St Ann's Bay), it's just that it's children who do the projects," explained Lurline Grant, a teacher who has been in charge of the club since 2010.
"So every year, we plan some projects to get the children involved and to let them see the need for offering their service to others especially those less fortunate than themselves."
The students have undertaken several projects over the last few years. They have partially adopted the Widows Mite, a home for disabled children, located in Murray Mountain, St Ann.
Every year, they take goodies for the kids at Widows Mite, lead them in devotion and interact with them. They also visit the St Ann infirmary at Christmas, singing carols to the inmates, holding prayers with them and leaving tokens for them to enjoy the season.
But probably the most amazing thing is that the students themselves raise the funds to undertake these projects.
Last summer, club members and their families took part in the Cancer Society's Relay for Life, raising more than $40,000. A fundraiser at the school at the end of November last year, raised an additional $20,000 which they handed over to the parents of a three-year-old boy stricken with cancer of the eye who had lost one eye.
KIDS' CHARACTERs IMPRESSIVE
"The mother club has adopted a little boy by the name of Jermaine. he has cancer of the eye. For Christmas, we had a little fundraiser and we handed more than $20,000 to them. Also, about 26 of us visited Jermaine, had prayers and we took gifts for the entire family," Grant revealed. rural@gleanerjm.com To read more, click below:
Young Entrepreneur Gives Inspiring Words
Gordon Swaby, CEO/founder, EduFocal, and one of the PSOJ-Gleaner 50UnderFifty future business leaders, last Thursday delivered words of inspiration to students at Spalding High School in Clarendon. He spoke on entrepreneurship at the institution's Career Day titled 'Guiding Your Career Path to Entrepreneurship'.
Speaking to grade nine students, Swaby explained the importance of outlining what they want to achieve in life and working towards their goals.
"At 16 years old, I wrote something called my life wire frame - my outline for the rest of my life," Swaby explained.
"It provided direction for me. I find that writing goals on paper really helps you to measure how far you are and how close you are to getting it."
Early in his life, Swaby focused on his passion - technology. While attending Holmwood Technical High School, his entrepeneurship skills kicked in at age 15 when he started Advance Gamers, a website which was among the largest in the English-speaking Caribbean. "I think I have always been an entrepreneur without even knowing what it meant. "I started because I wanted video games; I was a game fanatic back then," Swaby explained.
FULFILLING DREAM
During high school, he was asked to design a website for The Gleaner Company, and also got the opportunity to fulfil his dreams of writing for theYouthlink Magazine.
"One of the items on my life wire frame was that I wanted to write for The Gleaner's Youthlink. I remember the Tuesday in 2008 when, while reading the magazine, I told myself I wanted to be among its writers. If you want something bad enough, you are going to come up with ways of doing it," he surmised.
Swaby approached the Youthlink editors and was subsequently asked to do the website as well as write for the paper. He told his eager listeners: "If I didn't write my goals down and focus on them for a long time, I wouldn't realise that there was an opportunity for me. Sometimes opportunities pass us because we are not sure what we want to do in life. If you are not sure, you will do things you don't want to do."
Swaby disclosed that it was his focus on his passion - technology and education - which prompted him to establish the very successful EduFocal, launched in March of last year.
EduFocal is an online social-learning tool for Grade Six Achievement Test and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate students, offering test-preparation questions for students. Gaming elements are incorporated to make learning more exciting.
"The response has been over-whelming from both students and the private sector. Many individuals have endorsed EduFocal as a tool that can change the landscape of education in Jamaica," Swaby said.
His passion has always been technology and education, and he thinks it's a great way of accomplishing his life's goals. "When you have passion, money will come; don't be driven by money, if you dedicate 10,000 hours doing the things that you love you will become an expert at it."
In five years, Swaby wants to see his company listed on the Junior Stock Exchange. He is now pursuing his bachelor's degree in computer engineering at the University of the West Indies.
Published: Wednesday | February 6, 2013
Rebuilding Jamaica Through
Entrepreneurship
"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins." - Mark 2: 22
For development and change to take place in a nation, there needs to be new entrepreneurial vessels prepared to take things to a higher level. This has nothing to do with age, but it has everything to do with an individual, a group or a nation willing to embrace a new mindset and greater vision.
One cannot achieve social partnership, unless new wineskins are available to receive the new wine being poured out. For new wineskins to receive the new wine, there must be unity, one accord birthed by God (not man) through prayer and fasting, and a renewed mind. Then we will see new investments, new products and global networking.
You don't need Singapore and the International Monetary Fund.
Without new wineskins for entrepreneurship, wasting of resources, ruin and ultimately great loss will result.
We must also take seriously the maxim, teach a man to fish rather than give him a fish.
Matthew 25: 14 - 30. Every individual is given gifts and talents to create entrepreneurship. There must be a faithful discharge, one's duties entrusted to us results in greater opportunities.
Those who have the gifts and talents given to them will lose the opportunities that are available. God calls such ones lazy.
Those just looking for handouts are deemed lazy. When you teach a man to fish, you are empowering him with a lifelong legacy. But, when you give a man a fish, you are simply satisfying a temporary need and doing him a disservice. Further more you are breeding manipulation, control and corruption.
The authorities must begin training the young people for entrepreneurship. (Proverbs 22: 6) Please note that training goes beyond the ordinary teaching activity. They have to be taught basic work ethics. They must be made to recognise that body piercing and tattooing are not the new office wear and that the dress code which is important for business, should be international and not local.
There are many young people, especially in the area of art and craft - they need to restructure the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, and include some marketing and tourism programmes so we can export our art and craft.
They also need to look at expanding the art programmes in the high schools and primary-level institutions by having more competitions in art and craft to bring out the talents of our children, and begin to channel their talents in a positive direction.
There is need for the re-opening of the factories that have been closed. Embroidery, sewing of clothes, fashion design, all need to be revived and encouraged in schools and communities within the nation. There is a market for these things in Europe and people will require these things for their bathrooms, living rooms, bedrooms; and items such as baby blankets and clothing will do very well in such places.
The Goodyear and garment factories have been wasted and much- needed jobs have been thrown down the drain. There are things that have been deemed as garbage that can be used to create employment and generate revenue.
It should be made mandatory for every high school-student to graduate with at least one proven skill.
The nation is wasting resources in cultural activities and short-term handouts. If we don't get serious, and begin to create entrepreneurship, then very shortly we will see the country being taken over by foreigners; and our debts indicate that we are heading in that direction very fast.
They need to put politics aside and put people in the positions who are qualified and capable of doing the job. We don't want to end up like Greece.
Jamaica belongs to all, not a particular colour; but to a people!
Steve Lyston is a biblical economics consultant and author of several books, including End Time Finance and The New Millionaire.
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