In the spirit of Jamaica’s 50th Independence Golden Jubilee Celebration and Jamaica Awareness Association of California’s (JAAC) motto “Improving Lives Today For A Better Tomorrow”, our education team of seven members embarked on our 12th annual mission to Jamaica. During the one week mission, we impacted the lives of over 8000 students across Jamaica namely in the parishes St. Mary, Portland, Kingston and St. James.

With logistics support from the Ministry of Education, the team worked tirelessly to ensure success of this mission and accomplished the following:

• Visited 14 schools where we delivered various services, capacity building initiatives and donations.
• Trained teachers and principals on basic intermediate computer skills including the use of Microsoft Word and Excel. There were over 30 attendees and all were presented with a certificate of participation. Vinette Powell and Emrah Gungor from NEET assisted as facilitators.
• Donated school supplies which included backpacks, notebooks, pencils, pens, binders, calculators, erasers, rulers, sharpeners and other supplies.
• Installed 50 computers, 12 printers and 5 multimedia projectors in 8 schools. The computers were installed with Microsoft Office and other educational software. One school received a server that will allow for file and print sharing capabilities.
• Presented the 2012 Enid Davis five year Scholarship to Rashaun Stewart of Catherine Hall Primary.
• Presented the Una Morris-Chong four year Academic Scholarship to Simonique Anderson and Romaine Anderson, both from Kingston Technical High School (KTHS).
• Facilitated career day and motivational workshop sessions. Students were introduced to various professions as possible career choices and encouraged to work diligently towards improvement of self, community and country.
• Conducted psychological assessment at 14 schools with over 150 selected students who had been previously identified by their guidance counselor or principal due to their mainly having behavioral challenges i.e. attention deficit disorder issues, anger management concerns and low self-esteem/academic difficulties.
• Conducted dental health education on dental hygiene and visual oral examination at 6 schools to over 300 students.

Equipment, supplies and services valued at approximately US $80,000.00, were donated to the 2012 outreach mission by JAAC.

The recipient schools were:

• Mount Angus Jobs Hill Primary
• Jacks River Calabar High
• Zion Hill Primary & Junior High Buff Bay All Age
• Enfield Primary Catherine Hall Primary
• Mahoe Hill Primary Mount Salem All Age & Junior High
• Highgate Primary & Junior High St Mary High
• Richmond Primary Kingston Technical High

Thank You For Your Support

JAAC thanks all who helped with their many contributions to make our 2012 mission a tremendous success.This trip would not have been possible without our many fundraising efforts here in the US. The support and attendance of our 50/50 mission campaign, Wine & Cheese Party, Walk-A-Thon, Dinner parties, Karaoke’s and others that allowed us to raise over $15,000.00, which enabled the success of our mission locally and in Jamaica.

Your donations and efforts were warmly received by all the participating schools. Their appreciation was expressed in the form of delightful cultural performances in our honor, showcasing the inherent talents of our youths in Jamaica.

Our group was feted with an array of delicious Jamaica cuisine and presented with tokens of appreciation.

The JAAC Education Team:

Andrew Facey
Yasmin Facey
Marie Kellier
Sharon Morgan
Patricia Reneau
June Royes
Anthony Edwards
Diane Ferguson
Donnie “DC” Campbell
Patrick Williams

Mission Partners and Sponsors

We received invaluable collaboration from various groups and individuals to enhance the success of the mission:

Negril Educational Environmental Trust (NEET)
Mr. Winston Wellington
Emrah Gungor
Ms. Vinette Powell

Dennis Shipping
Mr. Dennis Hawthorne
Andre Lyle
Ms. Anessia Jones
Mr. Dwayne Johns
Ms. Kadian Francis

Montego Bay Lions Club
Pauline Allen
Amanda Thompson

Dr. Una Morris
NAJASO
Port Handlers Limited
Deputy Mayor of St. Mary
Hertz/Liberty Car Rental
Ministry of Education
Jamaica Customs

In conclusion, this was certainly a rewarding and emotional experience for the team, not just for the returning members but also for our new volunteers. The overall trip was a major success based on the impact that we were able to create on the lives on the many students we encountered, the various communities we visited and the significant advances we helped to create on education in Jamaica.

Respectfully Submitted
Patrick Williams,
JAAC VP, Education Chair