THE WORDS of a song, made popular by Whitney Houston some years ago, have been riveting in my mind since August 2008, "everybody's searching for a hero, people need someone to look up to ... ".

I saw this need fulfilled in Beijing by the performance of our athletes at the Olympics this past summer. The jubilation in the streets of Jamaica as we welcomed home our 'heroes' from Beijing has been compared to some phenomenal events in our history, such as the visit of Emperor Haile Selassie, and so on.

Refreshing change

Once again, the euphoria witnessed in Chicago and, indeed, all over the world last Tuesday night, after Barack Obama was declared the winner of the presidential election in the United States, again bears evidence to the truth that people are, indeed, searching for heroes.

We thank our athletes and Mr Obama for filling that need in all of us. We yearn for a better day, a brighter future and for the return of peace and prosperity to our land. No wonder the crowds were so jubilant after both events. For a brief moment, something other than crime and the economic recession occupied centre stage. It was a refreshing change. Thank you for proving that nothing is impossible, if you put your heart in it! May these accomplishments motivate us to rise above our challenges and be the best nation under God!

I am, etc.,

MARJORIE BUCKLEY

Marjorie.Buckley@ncu.edu.jm

Lecturer, Northern Caribbean

University