Cato
Inside a small, poorly lit conference room at a Kingston hotel yesterday, a group of people with one thing on their minds huddled to devise a plan that could affect the entire country.
No, these weren't al-Qaida operatives on a mission to overthrow the Government. These were everyday people making plans to take back their country from criminals.
They were all from social-development agencies that do a lot of work in inner-city communities. Yesterday, they gathered at the Hotel Four Seasons to kick-start plans for a new Ministry of National Security initiative aimed at easing tensions between rival communities.
"One of the ways we plan to accomplish this is by bringing back respect for one another," said Carleen Cato, standing in front of the group.
We Can Stop It
The plan is part of a campaign called 'We Can Stop It' that the ministry recently launched. It centres around social-intervention programmes designed to get people talking to each other again.
"If we start to talk with each other and, more importantly, to listen to each other, then we will be much better off," said Cato.
The initiative is dubbed the Community Animation Programme. Here's how it works:
The social-development agencies will come up with a combined list of 200 people from some of the most-feared communities in Jamaica, who will be trained for six weeks by the ministry to become 'animators'.
More dialogue
It's a fancy term that basically means they will be given the task to facilitate rejuvenation, or animation, of their communities by pushing for more dialogue between rivals and for greater collaboration between state agencies and residents. The animators would step in whenever there is a conflict and, using skills they will be taught, try to come up with peaceful solutions.
"It's about having people in the communities who will be able to help their fellow residents express themselves and feel like they are being heard, without having to turn to the gun," said Cato, who is in charge of training the animators.
robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com