Bahamas: These days, school children are contributing to a wave of criminality and brutality that has utterly disrupted our once quiet and tranquil existence

Gangsters in school

By ADRIAN GIBSON

ajbahama@hotmail.com

Nassau, The Bahamas

Nowadays, as crime spirals out of control and has led to nationwide trepidation as regards the criminal element, a microcosmic look at the issues of violence and miscreant behavior in our schools is representative of what we’re facing in wider society. Indeed, there are those students who are so disrespectful and fierce that they openly engage in frightful, mob-like brawls that leave teachers, students and administrators scrambling for cover and demanding the presence of a school gang unit/police, particularly in those school districts that are alleged to be a gangland.

Of late, I’ve been told—by friends who are police officers and educators alike—that bedlam is being wreaked upon certain educational institutions as unruly, poorly socialized students terrify their classmates and teachers.

            These days, school children are contributing to a wave of criminality and brutality that has utterly disrupted our once quiet and tranquil existence. By all accounts, students use objects—wood, metal poles/pipes, blocks, knives—which were either left behind by contractors or tossed over school walls before security checks or during the weekend/nights. I’ve even heard stories of home invasions involving youngsters who are young enough to be in primary school but small enough to slither through windows that have been pried open to open doors for their accomplices. Where are the truant officers to ensure that the whereabouts of these youngsters who duck school to break into people’s homes (e.g. the cash for gold racket)?

In recent years, there have been several reports of clashes between students when gang-affiliated pupils jump school walls and return with the support of outsiders. Frankly, the MOE should make a concerted effort to raise the parameter walls of certain public schools, perhaps using barbed wire atop the school’s fence as well.

In secondary schools—and some primary schools—on-campus gangs are problematic, with students becoming fiercely territorial and dabbling in drugs. Gangs, which are groups of allied and aberrant individuals, are infamous for their involvement in criminal activity.

            These groupings of errant individuals may loosely hang out together or form a strict organization, with a designated leader, ruling council, a name, identifiers and, with the most structured gangs, bank accounts.

A few years ago, I spoke with Corporal 2552 Darvey Pratt, an authority on local gangs, who was then posted in the Police Force’s Community Relations Unit.

According to him, there are about 46 known gangs in this country, with a combined membership of about 10,000-foot soldiers. He said that although there may be a few populous gangs.

At that time, he said that gangs are usually recognizable by hand signals, colors, caps and, in the case of many local gangs, sports paraphernalia (eg, football and basketball jerseys).

During the 1960s, neighborhood groups such as the Farmyard Boys or the Kemp Road Boys had squabbles but rarely engaged in serious criminal acts.

            By the 1980s, it is said that the era of political sleaze and drug dealing led to the formation of more violent, felonious gangs such as the Syndicate and the Rebellion, with the latter being the former gang of reformed gangster, pastor and motivational speaker Carlos Reid. During the last 20 years, the number of youth gangs has grown.

Gangs are an omnipresent part of inner-city life, where they petrify the community with patent dope-peddling and mafia-style violence, which is sometimes well planned but may result in the deaths of innocent bystanders.

             I was told that these local gangs are extremely sadistic, instigate deadly rivalries and usually carry out unlawful acts in specific zones that they claim as turf. Corporal Pratt told me that some gangsters cannot venture out of there immediate area into any part of Nassau, because they would be immediately killed.

             With approximately 10,000 young Bahamians engaging in anti-social behaviour, Corporal Pratt said that their thrust to become gangsters is brought on by “a search for identity, a lack of education, a want for protection when they travel to other areas of New Providence, poverty and absentee and neglectful parents.” At the time of our interview, he said that single parent homes or homes with uneducated, young parents who lack parental skills and “don’t have much of anything to teach their kids” are those that usually produce gang bangers.

             He said that the students in gangs are usually disruptive nuisances on school campuses, who usually have dismal grade point averages. According to the policeman, poverty-stricken teenagers have no money to purchase what they desire, so they turn to working for a gang leader who will pay them a stipend or buy material possessions for them.

Older, hardened criminals are known to recruit and exploit school age children. Frankly, it is those adolescents who lack self-esteem and are in pursuit of love who are the persons chosen to be hit men subjected to the orders of their leaders.
         
            Studies on gang violence reveal that new inductees must be beaten by a certain number of other members for at least 10 minutes, and the wannabe gangster cannot resort to any defensive postures during the thumping. Survival of such a cruel affair would prove that an aspirant member is tough and lead to him being accepted. Moreover, the gang leader may send a wannabe member to kill a perceived threat/enemy to earn ‘his stripes’.

Female gang members, who usually belong to spin-offs of male gangs, are initiated in the same way as males and may also be told to have sex with a member or every male in an affiliated gang.

In the 21st century, gangs have evolved into multidimensional consortiums that traffic drugs, deal in firearms/ammunition, threaten police officers, carry out drive-by shootings and contract killings, and engage in extortion, human smuggling, phone tampering, marriage fraud and identity theft.

            According to Pratt, the Raiders gang is ubiquitous throughout New Providence, with segments located in Fox Hill, Kemp Road, Bain Town, Carmichael Road, Pinewood, etc. Although there are a few major groups, he noted that there are numerous splinter gangs throughout the island that are either affiliated with a more established crew or are only associated with schools or a small grouping of hoodlums peddling dope on a street corner.

            Based upon information gleaned from Corporal Pratt and a focus group of students some time ago, I can identify certain New Providence based gangs and their neighborhoods.

            The active gangs and splinter groups terrorizing this island are: the Raiders, Nike Boys (Coconut Grove, Yellow Elder, CC Sweeting), Dukes (Englerston) Corner Boys, 187, the Irish, Gun Hawks, Sharks (Key West Street/Ida Street/CH Reeves), Gun Doggs (Bain Town, Kemp Road), Monster Doggs (Carmichael, Carlton Francis), Pond Boys (Big Pond), War Kings (Englerston), MOB (Bamboo Town/Sunset Park), Deathrow (Carmichael), Gun A** (Sunshine Park), Dirty South (South Beach/St Vincent Road), Cash Money Boys, Cowboys, 242, 362 (Bacardi Road), Wet Money Gangsters (Winton), Swamper Dogs (Pinewood), Raider Boy Killers, Original Boy Gangsters, Hoyas, etc.

               There are also female gangs such as the Trip Out Daughters, Mad A** Daughters, Head Gone B******, Looney Tunes, Shebellion (part of Raiders), and so on.

               Behind the bushes of Carmichael and Cowpen roads are Haitian gangs such as the Bush Boys and an offshoot of one of the world’s most dangerous and notorious black gangs—ZoPound. These gangs are all prevalent in our schools.

                ZoPound is a gang started in the ghettos of Miami, by destitute Haitian immigrants or persons of Haitian descent.

                Since its launch, ZoPound has been exported to the Bahamas via the large influx of illegal Haitian immigrants and the deportation of Haitian-Bahamians to the Bahamas after they have served sentences in US prisons. Reportedly, ZoPound is also comprised of ex-militants and ex-cops and generates hundreds of millions per annum from the sale of drugs, gambling and prostitution.

               ZoPound’s initiation rituals are slightly different from many Bahamian gangs, because to qualify for membership, you must have Haitian parentage.

              The policeman said that ZoPound is a worldwide gang involved in “drug racketeering.” He claimed that gangs, particularly ZoPound, are known to “hire fellas to stand on various street corners and serve as sentries to protect the dope sellers.”

             He claimed that several of these drug peddling lookouts work shifts like a regular job and earn $1,000-$1,500 per week.

             In various schools, particularly in bathrooms or desks, gangland graffiti is a common sight. In a BIS report in 2005, Seanalee Lewis, then head of the Behavioural Modification Programme at Woodcock Primary and a veteran social worker with the Ministry of Social Services and Community Development, asserted that primary school students are using marijuana, forming gangs and marking out turf. What a travesty!

Indeed, students must be taught to be independent and individualistic in their outlook as membership in menacing gangs can do nothing but result in social anarchy and in a collective lack of productivity. 

Character development and family values must become a focal point in Bahamian homes and in our classrooms!

Bahamas Blog International

Political leadership in The Islands: Bahamian prime minister - - Hubert Ingraham’s vision of a modern Bahamas

Hubert Ingraham’s Bahamian vision

Front Porch

By Simon

Nassau, The Bahamas

Those who want to understand the full scope of Hubert Ingraham’s vision of a modern Bahamas, must look not only at what is happening in New Providence but also beyond.  A good place to start is Abaco, the present-day, and circa 1947 to approximately 1964, the early years of the future Bahamian prime minister.

During his nearly 35 years as an MP, the member for North Abaco has had a singular vision for the development of all of Abaco.  It is a uniquely Bahamian vision moulded by the geography of the largest archipelago in the Caribbean, with territory stretching approximately the same distance as from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago.

Among Mr. Ingraham’s signature accomplishments is his transformation of the historic challenge of developing the far-flung Bahamas archipelago with its complex of developmental challenges, into a strategic strength.  In so doing, he is making The Bahamas a model for small-island state development.

To do so, he realized that he had to act on multiple fronts, with limited resources, prioritizing initiatives and capital projects while leveraging the strategic assets of our history, geography and fiscal capacity to diversify the economy and provide greater long-term sustainability and social protections in a modern liberal state.

In this ambition, Abaco has been a grand experiment in small-island development.  It has been a work in progress for many years, now reaching critical mass.

ROOTS

The prime minister’s vision has its roots in his Abaco boyhood, which he has helped to transform from the Abaco of his youth.  What he has done in the third largest island in the archipelago is a part of his long-term strategic plan for developing all of the major islands in our chain.

He has sought to ensure that each major island group, inclusive of various cays, has the critical infrastructure to become platforms for sustained development and a diversity of industries.  Added to this vision was the introduction of local government so that Family Island residents have more say in running their own affairs and increased participation in decision-making on various local matters.

Mr. Ingraham’s model of integral development includes public investment in power generation, water, roads, docks, ports, hospitals and clinics, schools et al., which will help to sustain population growth by attracting domestic as well as foreign direct investment and enticing new residents including Bahamian and non-Bahamian second home owners.

Those in Nassau who have enjoyed cable television and internet service since the inception of Cable Bahamas do not truly appreciate what cable service, which Mr. Ingraham’s government introduced, means to Family Islanders.

Today, the owners of a bone-fishing lodge or charter boat service in Acklins or Andros may now advertise and have guests book online enabling them to better sustain their small businesses.  They understand Mr. Ingraham’s vision better than the critic pontificating on the prime minister’s supposed “lack of vision” from the ease of both an arm chair and ready access to the internet.

The observation of former Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur after visiting Abaco is instructive.  Mr. Arthur, who knows well the challenge of developing a single island state, was impressed by the scale of development in Abaco alone.

Within two years of Mr. Ingraham becoming Prime Minister, Cooper’s Town had a major clinic.  The pace of development in Abaco has accelerated ever since, continuing to gather pace with an impressive array of public investments similar to the infrastructural works in New Providence.

Mr. Ingraham’s delight in the Family Islands, and his enthusiasm for fishing, have made him an ardent environmentalist.  In just 10 years he doubled the size of the national park system.  He appreciates the need to balance development and conservation, one of several reasons he was appalled by the Great Mayaguana Land Giveaway by the former government.

Hubert Ingraham is a pragmatist, technocratic, not given to rhetorical flights of fancy.  This has been a strength, as he has been typically careful to ensure that his rhetoric does not outstrip his ability to deliver on his promises.

U.S. President Richard Nixon famously observed that politicians campaign in poetry, but must govern in prose.  The problem with one former Prime Minister is that he campaigns and governs in rhetorical flourishes rarely getting down to the prose and hard business of government.  The difference between prose and poetry eludes another wannabe prime minister.

RHETORIC

The downside for Mr. Ingraham is that more technocratic prose often lacks poetic flourish.  This is why some suggest that he lacks vision as they prefer the frenzied rhetoric of a church revival.  But those who mistake performance art for substantive vision in both religion and politics typically fail to appreciate the breadth of the Prime Minister’s vision.

It is not only those who desire fanciful and syrupy rhetoric who fail to appreciate the scope of the Prime Minister’s ambition to modernize The Bahamas.

There are also the inveterate Ingraham-haters with personal grudges who cannot separate their personal feelings from the Prime Minister’s public performance, and political opponents who have a reason for their denials of his accomplishments. Then there are the intellectually slothful who revel in a “pox on both houses” mentality with regards to political analysis.

As the College of The Bahamas moves to university status, it may bolster its research efforts with more in-depth political analysis.  One project may be an analysis of the Ingraham legacy.  As Mr. Ingraham will leave a wide body of documents, public statements and accomplishments, he will prove a fascinating study in political leadership in The Bahamas in the closing decades of the 20th century and the early decades of the 21st.

One may disagree with Mr. Ingraham’s style of governance and/or his positions on various issues.  But to deny that he has a vision is akin to those conspiracy theorists and loons who still believe that Barack Obama is not an American citizen.  Some will never be convinced despite the overwhelming evidence staring them in the face.

Nov 22, 2011

www.bahamapundit.com

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International

Young Bahamians and, HIV and AIDS education in The Bahamas

'PEOPLE NOT INTERESTED IN AIDS EDUCATION'


By DANA SMITH
dsmith@tribunemedia.net

Nassau, The Bahamas


THE Bahamas Red Cross has found that young Bahamians are not interested in assisting with HIV and AIDS education, one of its representatives said yesterday.

Amanda Lewis, Red Cross Project Coordinator, was a presenter at the 2011 Caribbean HIV Conference, where she spoke on the difficulties in raising HIV-AIDS awareness among young people.

She explained how factors such as low interest from young people in HIV-AIDS education and a "lack of association" between HIV-AIDS work and the Bahamas Red Cross hindered the Red Cross' efforts in organising education programmes.

At the conference, Ms Lewis unveiled a new project, The Caribbean HIV-AIDS Project (CHAP), where young people can become peer educators, and teach their peers about safe sex, HIV, and AIDS.
Ms Lewis said that recruiting young people to be Peer Educators was the "main challenge" of CHAP.

"It's very difficult to get young people involved in something that they might not see the value in, right away," she said.

Despite this, according to the Bahamas Red Cross, CHAP was able to educate more than 5,000 young Bahamians on HIV prevention, this year alone.

"It's a two-year programme sponsored by the American Red Cross and being implemented by the Bahamas Red Cross," Ms Lewis said.

"I train peer educators with knowledge about HIV prevention and safer sex, and they in turn go into their communities and educate their friends, family members, and peers."

She continued: "The research shows that young people are more receptive to hearing information from somebody in their age group. It's seen more as sharing information rather than being lectured to."

Ms Lewis said she "had to do a lot of work" to recruit young Bahamians to participate in the project, stating that she found "low levels of interest" from youth in becoming peer educators and "feelings of fatigue" from youth in becoming involved in an organisation, in general.

Ms Lewis also described how many Bahamians did not realize the role the Bahamas Red Cross played in HIV-AIDS education.

"Community members did not associate the Bahamas Red Cross Society with HIV-AIDS work so it was very difficult for us to establish ourselves and get the programme started," Ms Lewis said. "This lack of association had a big impact on the difficulties we faced when we were recruiting."

However, the Bahamas Red Cross was able to recruit 42 young Bahamians to become peer educators, with 36 remaining active in their communities.

"We've had great success. One of our targets for the project was that there would be 4,000 young people reached by our peer educators in their communities by the end of the second year, and by the end of the first year, we've met just under 6,000," Ms Lewis said.

Colin Scavella Jr, the Lead Male of CHAP's peer educators said he got involved with CHAP because he "found that there was a need in the different communities throughout Nassau" for HIV-AIDS education.

"In the beginning, the response was kind of reluctant, but once you start, people start talking to people. I speak to a group today, and tomorrow they bring their friends. By the time you realize it, in the space of a week's time you've already spoken to 30 or 40 people," Mr Scavella said.

"It's like a domino effect - you speak to one or two people, and it trickles down from there."

November 21, 2011

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International

Jamaica: Lessons From A Bankrupt US City

jamaica-gleaner editorial



In recent days, potential buyers have been rummaging through boxes of Wild West artefacts in a large, old building in the city of Harrisburg in the American state of Pennsylvania.

The pieces were collected for the establishment of a museum, but they are to be auctioned off to help pay the city's debt. Last month, Harrisburg, the Pennsylvanian capital, filed for bankruptcy, the legitimacy of which a court will rule on this week.

In the meantime, the state government has sent in a receiver to organise a workout plan for the city and to put its finances in order.

Harrisburg is not the only insolvent municipality that has filed for bankruptcy. Last week, Jefferson County, in Alabama, did so, saying it was unable to service a US$4-billion debt. In August, Central Falls in Rhode Island also sought protection from creditors.

Cities can, and do, go bankrupt. And if it happens to cities, it can happen to the nation states of which they are part.

Indeed, that is what Greece and Italy barely escaped and are still fighting to stave off, causing the collapse of their governments, in favour of interim administrations in whose ability to take on tough reforms creditors have greater confidence. If the numbers behind the debt and fiscal crisis of Europe's PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain) are difficult to digest in Jamaica, perhaps the developments in the United States (US) cities will help bring clarity to the danger with which Jamaica flirts by the failure to vigorously confront its own debt crisis.

genesis of the problem

The genesis of the problem in Europe, the US municipalities and Jamaica are, essentially, the same. They borrowed heavily to fund services or projects which have not, for a variety of reasons, returned enough to service their debts. In the case of Harrisburg, the overall debt is around $500 million, but the bulk of it is owed on a trash-to-energy facility that has not performed to expectation.

But the city, under its former long-serving mayor Stephen Reed, had a history of going to the market to finance projects. "He (Reed) never met a bond he didn't like," quipped Harrisburg's controller, Dan Miller.

That sounds like a Jamaican affliction. Our cane, the debt, not counting yet-unaccounted-for off-book obligations, is $1.6 trillion, or 130 per cent of GDP. Servicing the debt, including amortisation, takes up three-quarters of income from taxes and grants. What is left over is sufficient to pay only a third of public-sector wages. So, the country finds itself on a treadmill of debt.

In Jefferson County, roughly analogous to a Jamaican parish, municipal officials, in the face of the fiscal crisis, have laid off workers, cut hours and raised sewerage charges, the debt for which is a major source of the problem. Pensions may not escape.

The options faced by Jamaica are essentially the same, as the International Monetary Fund has been telling our Government. The public sector has to be reformed, including cutting jobs and overhauling its largely non-contributory, and unaffordable, pension scheme. The tax system has to be restructured to make it more efficient and to bring more people in its purview.

Political leaders talk about these things, but move on them with little energy, making a threatened debt downgrade more likely, which would increase the cost of borrowing. Which might we prefer: Greece, or Harrisburg?

November 20, 2011

jamaica-gleaner editorial

Bahamas Blog International

It is well past time for Jamaica to become a republic

Time to get on with the task of becoming a republic

By Keeble McFarlane

In his usual forceful manner, fellow columnist Franklin Johnston recently tackled the argument that it is well past time for this country to become a republic. We have heard the promise many times over the past 20 years or so, particularly from former prime minister PJ Patterson. But so far no one has even come close to actually doing anything about it. This is a subject which should have properly been addressed a half-century ago as the leaders of the day prepared to move forwards after the convincing vote of the Jamaican people to withdraw from the West Indies Federation.

As one after the other of Britain's colonies declared independence in the 1950s and 60s, they were faced with what system of governance to adopt. When the predominantly white and fairly developed countries - Australia, Canada, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand secured vastly increased powers of self-government early in the 20th century, they adopted the dominion system and became known as the "White Dominions". Ireland and South Africa later went for republicanism, with a president, rather than the British monarch, as head of state.

That was the template India and Pakistan chose when their turn arrived right after World War II, and the African colonies followed suit as they shed the colonial shackles. But when the smaller colonies such as ourselves decided to fly the nest, most adopted the familiar system under which they had been governed - clones of the Westminster parliamentary system. It was a manifestation of timidity, unwillingness to venture into the unknown and - perhaps uncharitably - having been successfully brainwashed by the colonial masters who, let's face it, were essentially the creators of these new national entities.

Trinidad and Tobago made the adjustment a few years into independence and Guyana chose right off the bat to be a republic. But they didn't stray very far from the Westminster system, opting for a figurehead president whose position and powers closely track those of a governor general as did India and Pakistan as well as many other republics far removed from British influence, like Germany, Austria, Italy, Israel and South Korea.

There are essentially two kinds of republics - those with a titular head of state and those with a president with real executive powers who is also head of state. The most prominent example of a country with a powerful executive president is the United States, but even there, the president is not all-powerful. Those far-sighted men who created the United States in the 18th century devised a tripod system in which powers are distributed among the executive (president and Cabinet), the Legislature (Senate and House of Representatives) and the judiciary. Thus, no one part of the triumvirate can accumulate too much power and thus dictate how things happen.

Time for a comprehensive constitutional review

It seems to me that it is indeed time to take a serious look at the structure of the government. It is obvious that the mechanism is creaking and clanging like the engine room of a Victorian steamship or industrial plant. Instead of computer-controlled robots, laser probes and plasma cutters, we are stuck in the age of coal-fed boilers, belching steam engines driving ceiling-mounted shafts and canvas belts.

The structure lifted directly from the British playbook no longer fills the needs of a small, predominantly black, Western Hemisphere country in the 21st century. The creaky old edifice headed by a figurehead taken directly out of the colonial mould is no longer relevant. It is true that modern governors general tend to avoid the plumed helmets and ornate uniforms with sashes and gold braid, but that is about the only thing they have shed. They are still titled with knighthoods which have their roots in ancient British tradition and very little to do with grass-roots Jamaican traditions. The fact that many Jamaicans still love the titles, the ceremony and the bowing and scraping means nothing in the real operation of government.

It is true that "man shall not live by bread alone", and that a little bit of ceremony and ritual helps lubricate the difficulties of daily operations. But by opting for an executive presidency, a country can combine the practical business of running a country with ceremony and protocol. We see this every day with the presidents of Brazil, Mexico, the US, France and South Africa. By electing a president, the people of the country can see themselves and their wishes, hopes and aspirations reflected in the person occupying the nation's highest office, no longer representing a foreign monarch who obtains the office by reason of birth and who is of a different race and nationality from the majority of the people, and who lives in another country half a world away.

In the process of transforming Jamaica from a dominion to a republic, it is necessary to look at all aspects of the governmental structure. The framers of the present constitution retained the nominated Legislative Council as the Senate alongside the house of elected representatives. I would convert the appointed Senate into an elected one and let the senators run at large, campaigning across the entire country and gaining some increased powers.

The founders also hung on to the flexible Westminster system of five-year terms unless the government falls on a vote of confidence, and continued with the old scheme of parochial boards under the new title of parish councils. In a country as geographically small as Jamaica, with its limited financial means, there is a considerable amount of overlap between the powers and duties of the parish councils and the central government. There is a strong case for getting rid of those councils altogether and retaining only the bodies responsible for the big population centres. Parish roads and such can just as easily be built and maintained by the central government and properly integrated in a national transport system.

The reviewers should take a serious look at fixed election dates, studying carefully the benefits and drawbacks as demonstrated in places with such a system. At the moment everything grinds to a halt when Parliament is dissolved. Under the first-past-the-post system, it is possible for a party to gain more votes and yet lose the election to the other party whose fewer votes were distributed more advantageously across the constituencies. One way to prevent this inadvertent thwarting of the wishes of the population is to stagger the votes for the presidency and Parliament. A desirable change would be to impose term limits - two terms of six years each would be enough to prevent politicians becoming entrenched in their posts. In some countries they would then be ineligible to run again for life. I would allow them to run again, but they would have to stay away for one term.

So, under this scheme, the president and senators - who both would be seeking the votes of the entire nation - would run together, while the election for the House would be held three years later, providing enough of an overlap to allow voters to adjust the representation according to how well or badly their representatives are performing.

Any review of the constitution would also have to address this business of a final court of appeal. We still cling to the outmoded use of the British Privy Council as the court of last resort, with increasingly unpleasant results. This country has an excellent legal history and tradition, and needs no further tribunal of last resort than the Appeals Court, which would need only a few constitutional and administrative tweaks along with an infusion of resources to work effectively as the court of last resort.

The new prime minister, who wasn't even born when the country became independent, faces many monumental challenges as he settles into office. Jamaica turns 50 in little more than half a year, and so it's not feasible to become a republic by then. So, let's celebrate the first half-century as a dominion, then get on with the task of reforming the nation's state machinery to face the challenges and possibilities of a new century.

keeble.mack@sympatico.ca

November 19, 2011

jamaicaobserver

Marriage is not a "bed of roses" as often heard in the popular quip: "Marriage is a three ring circus... First comes the engagement ring, followed by the wedding ring, and then comes the suffering"!

The vanishing institution of Christian marriage

By Anthony Gomes



The unravelling of society's moral fibre continues with the vanishing institution of Christian marriage. With some 200 new divorces before the courts each month, the death knell of Christian matrimony can be clearly heard accompanied by the renewed fatuous call for term-limited marriage licences! In 2009 there were 1853 divorces in Jamaica, that is 8.65 divorces for every 100 marriages, accompanied by advertisements in the press offering "Quick divorces"!

The exceptional divorce rate is an indictment of the numerous imperfect choices made by aspiring partners. In one parish church, the number of divorces exceeds the number of marriages solemnised. That does not augur well for future matrimonial unions between a man and a woman. This symptom of societal decadence makes one wonder why so many marriages are ending in dissolution. A number of adverse reasons come to mind, and taken singularly many of them do not amount to substantial reasons for creating a fatal rupture in the relationship. This could indicate a lack of determination to make the marriage work, and reflect the ease with which divorce can be obtained in civil unions, that in many cases are not recognised by the Christian churches who can still grant nullity in selected cases.

Marriage is not a "bed of roses" as often heard in the popular quip: "Marriage is a three ring circus. First comes the engagement ring, followed by the wedding ring, and then comes the suffering"! The Roman Catholic Church acknowledges the vagaries of how stresses and strains can affect a relationship thus: "Every man experiences evil around him and within himself. This experience makes itself felt in the relationships between man and woman. Their union has always been threatened by discord, a spirit of domination, infidelity, jealousy, and conflicts that can escalate into hatred and separation. This disorder can manifest itself more or less acutely, and can be more or less overcome, according to the circumstances of cultures, eras, and individuals, but it does seem to have a universal character" (Art1606-Catechism). "According to faith, the disorder we notice so painfully does not stem from the nature of man and woman, nor from the nature of their relations, but from sin. As a break with God, the first sin had for its first consequence the rupture of the original communion between man and woman. Their relations were distorted by mutual recriminations; their mutual attraction, the Creator's own gift, changed into a relationship of domination and lust; and the beautiful vocation of man and woman to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth was burdened by the pain of childbirth and the toil of work" (1606-Catechism).

On the wider horizon, the situation is more troubling and summarised as follows: "Once the very cradle of civilisation, Europe has embraced a secular future, and the residual memory of the Christian tradition is fading fast," according to Dr R Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He continues: "Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands, once the cradles of the Reformation, are now prime examples of Europe's secular shape. Throughout the European continent, Islam is the only religion growing in the number of adherents. Others looking at the same pattern of secularisation point to the impact of theological liberalism, the rise of a technological society, and the cultural shift towards autonomous individualism, as the main factors behind Christianity's decline. The decline of Christian belief in Europe has also brought a change in attitudes and laws on issues such as divorce, abortion, gay marriage and stem cell research. As Christian conviction declines, Christian morality gives way to the ethos of moral individualism, sexual libertinism, and eroding commitment to marriage, children, and family". The foregoing encapsulates the torrent of sinister forces which are infiltrating Christian societies, leading to their diminution.

In Jamaica's case, enlightened parenting is the first step towards restoring Christian principles in the family unit. However, when children are giving birth to babies fathered by children, the remedial process becomes very complicated without outside assistance from the churches and schools. Children born to children are usually left with grandparents for their upbringing. It is this formative stage which will influence the behaviour of the young adult, which must be able to decipher the difference between right and wrong.

The permissive society in which we live has corrupted Christian moral values to such an extent that all aspects of aberrant social behaviour can be justified. Defections from formal religious practice have intensified with the advent of "generic Christians", who choose to worship the Creator in their own way. "Condemn the sin, not the sinner" is a popular oxymoron, as the existence of the sin is dependent on its commission by the sinner. A universal panacea in the remedial process is longer terms of engagement, to allow the aspirants to improve their knowledge of each other, before taking matrimonial vows that are binding "until death do us part".

"In his preaching Jesus unequivocally taught the original meaning of the union of man and woman as the Creator willed it from the beginning: permission given by Moses to divorce one's wife was a concession to the hardness of hearts. The matrimonial union of man and woman is indissoluble: God himself has determined it: "what therefore God as joined together, let no man put asunder".

Apostle Paul makes clear when he says: "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her." As the popular song says: "Look back before you leave my life."


November 16, 2011

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Blog International

What’s happening in Haiti?

What's happening in Haiti, six months into the Martelly government?

By Jean H Charles

The priest of my parish, St Louis King of France of Port au Prince, after a month-long travel to the United States, France, Italy and Belgium, on his return home told his parishioners he has been asked constantly abroad the same question: “Father! What’s happening in Haiti?” His answer: “I don’t know” was not comforting. I have been musing and perusing the proper answer. Six months into the Martelly government, it is proper and fit to look into what is happening in Haiti from one regime to another.

The short answer is there has not been enough fundamental change to make a difference. In its defence, the Martelly-Conille government took shape only fifteen days ago. After two failed starts, President Martelly finally obtained the sanction of the Parliament to form a new government. For the last six months he was using the caretaker ministers left by the Preval regime. His master plan of five Es: etat de droit, meaning rule of law; education; environment; employment and emergency (relocating the refugees of the earthquake from the fetid camps in the parks and the public spaces) was still in incubation, not able to take shape.

The concept of the rule of law took a hit with the Parliament just one week after the confirmation of the new Prime Minister Garry Conille. One of the legislators, with a long criminal rap sheet, including murder and prison escape, entered into an altercation with the president at the National Palace. There were dirty words uttered by both parties.

The president threatened to use the full force of law to deal with individuals who show no respect for the Office of the Presidency. How could the legislator Arnel Belizaire have obtained his legal document to run and become a representative of one of the most sophisticated counties of Haiti, Delmas-Tabarre? These are issues of the rule of law that the president promised to deal with.

The Haitian Constitution, on the other hand, provides that a sitting legislator enjoys prosecutorial immunity unless a waiver has been sought and obtained from Parliament beforehand. The district attorney arrested the legislator Arnel Belizaire on coming off the plane from an official trip from France. Did the executive branch break the rule of law in proceeding to the arrest of the legislator without awaiting the order from Parliament?

The young Haitian democracy is being put to the test. Parliament threatens to derail the government, which is not one month old, for affront and indignity to one of its own, even when the member has been on the list of fugitives subject to arrest by any good citizen.

I am reminded of the dictum of Chief Justice John Marshall Harlan of the United States, in a situation where there was a conflict of law between two branches of the government, said: “It is emphatically the province and duty of [the courts] to say what the law is.” Will Haiti use the court of law to settle that issue or will grandiose self promotion have the last word?

On another issue of the rule of law, the president promised to reestablish the Haitian army on November 18, the day commemorating the last battle of Vertieres against colonial France in Haiti two centuries ago. There were cold shoulders by the opposition, the United States and other western powers, major international press and the MINUSTHA. They are all opposed to the idea.

My position, as well as the position of the Haitian government, is stated in another essay: why Haiti needs its own army is clear and to the point. A nation is not yet one if it does not have its own army to protect its citizens, its resources and its territory. The army is the link that binds a country together in the glory of the past and the sense of appurtenance and self determination to continue to create together a common future.

As on January 1, 1804, in defying the world order of slavery, Haiti on November 18, 2011, will defy the world powers to rebuild its own army, a new army that will protect the nation against the natural calamities and the infringements against its sovereignty as a free and independent nation.

The second E stands for the issue of education for all; it took shape even before the installation of the new government. The president in a decree ordered the money transfer agencies to exact $1.50 from all the transfers to and from Haiti. In addition he has requested a tax of 10 cents on each international call to and from Haiti, hoping to raise $300 million to feed an education fund that would send all the boys and girls of Haiti to school free of charge to their parents.

The Diaspora that took the hit in shouldering the construction of the fund balked. The opposition that failed to take the leadership in making education a priority in the past is crying foul. The fine points of the program need more retooling to make it really effective, yet the Martelly-Conille government should be credited for fulfilling the vision of the founding fathers that those Haitians who do not have a lineage from France should also enjoy the full opportunities offered by the State.

In terms of the environment, Haiti represents in some parts the physical landscape of the moon, with only 2% of its land covered with trees. The capital city of Port au Prince is a nightmare for its inhabitants in general and the refugees from the earthquake in particular, each time major rains occur. Water pours out of the mountains into sewer systems that have not been cleaned for decades. The proper management of detritus, a staple for revenue and energy for the major metropolises of the world has been neglected by the previous regime.

In one week, Port au Prince has become lately a clean city; plans are under way to treat the detritus to exact energy, gas and organic manure. I take delight in involving myself into guerilla gardening, planting cutting of flowers from my home into the giant pot made of discarded tires set up by the government to replace the garbage bins, sites of squalor before.

I have approached the director of the service about distributing bags in the homes to produce seedlings from the seeds of fruits eaten in the homes so we could replenish the flora of Haiti on volunteer days of the year.

Talking about employment; I was recently at the Ministry of Works and Social Affairs; there was a raucous demonstration in front of the Ministry. There were people chanting: we just want work, we need our dignity. Will it be more of the same with no one paying attention to them until it is night time and they go home to an uncertain tomorrow?

The prime minister in a tete a tete that I have attended with some legislators has revealed the previous government, hoping that its candidate would be the winner of the election, has saved a piggy bank of US$700 million in the treasury. In addition, $600 million in the pipeline from international institutions dedicated to Haiti has not been released because of the poor absorption capacity of the previous regime. More than 300 projects will be soon on the scaffold, producing jobs by the thousand.

The last E was for emergency. The government, in a well-elaborated project nicknamed 16/6, shouldered by OIM (Organization for Migration); the CIRH and the MINUSTHA, organized the relocation of the refugees of the earthquake. The dynamic woman mayor of the bucolic village of Petionville, Lydie Parent, took advantage of the program to pioneer the relocation project in her town. The magnificent city park taken over by the refugees for the last two years has been finally recovered for the delight of the lovers who can now romance on the cleared benches and the soccer players who can practice their favourite sport.

It would be even better, in planning the cleaning of the other refugee camps, if the $100 million dedicated for the project would go into renovating the small rural villages, thereby furthering the reconstruction of the country, while the relocation of the refugees would take place in the renovated hamlets.

In conclusion, Haiti is at a crossroads. It can go back to its status quo of sixty years of illiberal regimes, sometimes predatory even criminal ones, which under the Duvalier era released millions of people from the rural sectors into the capital and in the cities without proper education and formation. They were told by the Aristide and the Preval regimes to look at the well off citizens as their enemies, breaking the social order to the bone, disrupting the process of creating the sense of appurtenance for nation building.

The Martelly-Conille government, surrounded by young lions that could be transformed into sea lions, can continue to be the predatory government of the past or it can transmute into the progressive government of the founding father Jean Jacques Dessalines that sees each Haitian citizen and each person living in the territory as potential value to be polished, cherished revered, and enriched for his own benefit and for the benefit of the nation.

I hope my good parish priest, Reverend Kennel, will read this essay and as such, provide a better answer to those who ask: “Father! What’s happening in Haiti?”

November 14, 2011

caribbeannewsnow