SHADEE Morrison was a shoo-in to land a scholarship and realise her dream of studying medicine abroad.

Her Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) results are impressive: seven distinctions and two credits. So too are her Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations grades – distinctions for chemistry unit 1, biology unit 1 and communication studies unit 1, as well as credits for history unit 1 and mathematics unit.

Throughout her five years at Westwood High School and two sixth-form years at Hampton School Morrison was extremely active, serving as head girl for the year 2008-2009; holding membership and/or executive positions in at least 12 clubs and societies; playing netball, tennis, badminton, and rounders. She did track and field, was also a grade captain, monitor, dorm prefect and peer counsellor.

A number of awards and honour roll certificates decorate her profile – one of the documents she needed to submit with her scholarship applications.

But Morrison’s desire to become a doctor was dealt a crushing blow when she sought to get her transcript from Westwood, leaving her feeling robbed of a future that could have made life better for her and her single-parent mother who had made huge sacrifices to send her to school.

“The problem started with the length of time it took to even get the transcript. The school had no sense of urgency,” Morrison said, adding that she had requested the document with more than enough time to have it prepared for the universities to which she had applied.

“When I finally received the transcript I did not understand how lacking it was until I compared it to my Hampton transcript. The Westwood transcript was very basic. The document did not include my clubs, my awards, my school and community involvement, nor did it include my CSEC results. Most importantly, the grades were not translated for [me] to be internationally competitive,” Morrison related.

At the time Morrison was a student in Dr Dennis Minott’s A-QuEST programme which, since 1987, has been preparing top Jamaican students for colleges abroad. Minott has, for many years, complained that some school administrators have been stifling opportunities for students to study overseas by preparing poor transcripts and, in a number of cases, deliberately submitting the documents late.

As part of his preparation programme Minott arranged for his students to meet in Jamaica with an admission officer from Kalamazoo College.

“I presented the officer with my personal inventory. I also had both transcripts from Hampton and Westwood. He said while my personal inventory and transcript from Hampton are impressive, when the admission officers sit in front of thousands of applications, for them to figure out what my Westwood transcript is saying they’re just going to set my application aside. They don’t have the time to translate it. If you look at the transcript you would not believe I participated in anything at school,” Morrison told the Jamaica Observer.

“So the admission officer said that, from his point of view, I did nothing at Westwood and he didn’t understand the grades anyway, so ‘Why would I want to give you a scholarship’,” Morrison said.

That discussion sent her to the school where she explained her dilemma to an administrator but, according to Morrison, the official “insisted that she would not be changing the transcript. I even told her that Dr Minott is more than willing to assist her to change the transcript, but she said she does not need any help, she will not be changing the transcript. Before I left, she said ‘Why do you want to go to school abroad? Nutten nuh wrong wid UWI (The University of the West Indies). Come gwaan a UWI’. “

Attempts by the Observer to get a response from Westwood were met without success as calls to the phone number listed for the school either rang out or went to voicemail, and a request sent to the e-mail address listed for the school was not answered.

Asked how she felt when the administrator said that to her, Morrison replied, “It was not that I had any problems with UWI, it was just not something that I wanted for myself, particularly because UWI doesn’t have the kind of scholarships that I would have been exposed to had I gone through with my other plans. In addition to that, there were some things that I was aware of that the other school did, like doing semesters abroad, and because I was interested in languages I was really looking forward to semesters in France or Spain, or China.”

Morrison acknowledged, though, that The UWI does offer a somewhat similar programme to students studying French, however it’s not covered by a scholarship.

“You have to pay your tuition in full [and] you have to prove that you can meet living expenses overseas. I don’t have that, so I couldn’t have gone on that programme,” she said.

“So basically, forcing me to go to UWI because you think I should go to UWI, robbed me of choices I wanted to make, opportunities that I could have had,” Morrison stated.

Although she was disappointed by the school’s response to her plight, Morrison said she decided to reapply to schools abroad.

She again sat the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) in biology and scored 740. But that, she said, was not good enough as the admission officers at the US colleges could not understand the transcript, nor did they have any official proof that she was active in the clubs and achievements listed in her personal inventory.

“Feeling defeated, I went to UWI,” Morrison said, and because her original dream was to do medicine, she started doing biochemistry.

But finding the tuition proved difficult, especially for a degree she did not want. “UWI was adamant that if you didn’t pay you couldn’t do your exams, so I stopped school, didn’t go the second semester,” Morrison, who lives in Montego Bay, told the Observer.

“Then a friend of mine who went to Westwood with me, between her and her family they said to me they’re going see what they can do to get me back in school because they knew that not going to school was not what I want for myself. So she worked it out so that I could have someone I could stay with in Kingston because, in addition to the tuition, I had to find lodging in Kingston,” she explained, adding that she got a job on The UWI campus to help meet her expenses.

“So the plan was to do one year biochemistry then switch to medicine. But if I couldn’t afford the biochemistry tuition there was no way I was gonna afford the medicine tuition which, at the time, was US$10,000 per year, and that doesn’t include books. So when I resumed UWI I did liberal studies,” Morrison said.

At the end of that school year, in 2014, she started a job in Montego Bay when she went home for the summer. Morrison performed so well on the job that her boss told her to work out a schedule that would allow her to continue at the company while attending the UWI when the new academic year resumed.

She did that, grouping her classes Monday to Thursday or Tuesday to Thursday in order to be able to travel back to Montego Bay on Thursday evenings to start working Thursday nights on a 40-hour schedule.

Morrison said she also took a student loan and resumed The UWI full-time.

However, she ran into another obstacle, fraught with danger, that further disrupted her life.

Morrison had left work at 5:00 pm on a Toyota Coaster bus to Kingston, given that her first class was at 8:00 am the following day. But when the bus got to Spanish Town an altercation between some men resulted in a gun being drawn. The driver, she said, was almost shot.

Shaken by the experience, she opted to start taking Knutsford Express.

“My financial situation, which should have got better by my full-time job, was no longer to my advantage. I had to spend at least $10,000 on transportation each week. Additionally, as the return commute between school and work took about six hours, I spent many hours over the next few years on the road. I would get back from Kingston at 6:00 pm, head straight to work until midnight, get home by 1:00 am and get back to start my 7:00 am to midnight shift again,” Morrison shared.

“I still had to find time to research and write no less than 12 papers per semester, study for exams, read the books for each course and somehow sleep.

“As determined as I was to complete my education, it was just not something I wanted. I had researched and planned and was looking forward to the advantages of school abroad. Not only would I have had access to a wider array of courses, but I was also looking forward to semesters and summers abroad. I was desperate to learn as many languages as possible by immersing myself in the culture. I was going to spend a semester in France and continue learning French. I was going to go to Spain to find back my love of Spanish. I was also going to go to China since they are a huge world power and it makes sense to learn about these world powers and understand the drive behind their success,” she shared.

“I am not saying that successful people do not attend UWI. I, however, was robbed of my right to choose. One person made this decision for me. And while UWI might offer what one person needed, it offered very little for me. I did what I needed to get my degree but it was a degree I did not want, student loans, and what feels like years of my life wasted,” she said.

“My memories of university included too many hours on a bus, rushing from one class to another because I had to schedule all my classes into a set timeframe since I needed to work at least 40 hours per week. I also had to turn in my assignments earlier because they are usually due when I would have been at work in Montego Bay,” she said.

“It is imperative that schools get out of students’ way. I could somehow understand if the change in transcript was a difficult task but when an administrator makes the decision out of spite, then others need to step in. Westwood High has had an amazing reputation over the years but if the girls from this wonderful institution cannot pursue their dreams, their way, then less of us will be happy, successful world players. We have the power to dominate any field. We just need our right to choose how we will lead,” said Morrison, who is now 30 years old.

Today Morrison, who eventually graduated from The UWI with a bachelor of arts degree with upper second class honours, is a data entry specialist.

She still wants to study medicine, but the cost, she said, is prohibitive. She’s also not impressed with the work she did at The UWI.

“Now, I want to do a master’s degree. I don’t even know who to turn to at UWI for a recommendation, which you need, because I just did not care at UWI. There are probably a few teachers who would remember me as the student who, even though she lived in Montego Bay and worked in Monetgo Bay, all her assignments were on time, but other than that I did not make an impact on UWI. Now, for me to move on from here I don’t know who would write the recommendation,” she said.

“I didn’t do anything at UWI in terms of community and participate in school; I didn’t have the time. Clubs were only on Thursdays and by the time I finished school on Thursday I had to go catch the bus to come to work, so I couldn’t be a part of the clubs. I just needed to ensure I handed in my assignments, was present in class, did the exams, and move on with my life. So asking a teacher for a recommendation, I mean I might have to do it because I don’t want to stay in the position I’m in, but it’s not encouraging to ask a teacher,” she told the Observer.

Now, Morrison makes use of free courses on Coursera.

“Whatever I can get my hands on to advance myself I’m making use of it. Dr Minott is pushing me to do my PhD, but again, my concern is where will I get the recommendation.”

Today is the 102nd day of 2022. There are 263 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

1961: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man to fly in space, orbit the Earth and make a safe landing.

 

OTHER EVENTS

1606: Great Britain adopts the Union Jack.

1861: US Civil War starts as Confederates take Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

1892: A patent for the first portable typewriter is issued in the United States.

1945: US President Franklin D Roosevelt dies at age 63 of a cerebral haemorrhage and Harry S Truman is sworn in as his successor.

1955: The Salk vaccine for polio is declared safe and effective.

1961: Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in outer space.

1981: The space shuttle Columbia blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on its first test flight.

1983: Harold Washington is elected Chicago’s first black mayor.

1988: Harvard University is granted the first animal life-form patent, allowing researchers to build a genetically-engineered mouse.

1989: Relentless artillery battles rage between Christians and Muslims as Lebanon’s civil war enters its 15th year. American boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, a six-time world champion who was considered by many to have been the best fighter in history, dies at age 67.

1990: East German Parliament names Lothar de Maiziere as prime minister, supports swift reunification, apologises for Holocaust and recognises Polish border.

1991: Iraqi forces attack Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, as hundreds of thousands of refugees suffer from starvation and exposure.

1992: Euro Disneyland, a US$4-billion theme park, opens in Marne-La-Vallee, France.

1993: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation planes begin patrolling no-fly zone over Bosnia.

1995: Palestinian Liberation Organization chief Yasser Arafat widens his crackdown on Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip by ordering them to register guns or face confiscation of the firearms.

1996: Israeli helicopters fire missiles on Beirut’s slums in an effort to wreck the nerve centre of Lebanese guerrillas, hitting a Syrian army position and wounding at least 12 Syrian soldiers.

1997: Pope John Paul II visits Sarajevo on a long-delayed mission of peace to Bosnia. Freshly planted mines are found along his motorcade route.

1999: Colombian rebels hijack a domestic flight and force the plane to land at a remote airstrip where they kidnap the 46 passengers and crew.

2000: An overloaded wooden Philippine ferry boat headed for Malaysia capsizes off the southern Philippines, killing more than 130 people.

2002: An alliance of Venezuelan military, business and labour leaders oust President Hugo Chavez and instal Pedro Carmona Estanga, the head of Venezuela’s largest business association, as interim president. Chavez returns to power in 48 hours.

2003: Philippine troops free the last four Indonesian hostages held on the southern island of Jolo since June 2002 by Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim separatist group.

2005: Officials recruit tribal elders and musicians to help educate villagers in an area of northern Angola where the Marburg virus, a haemorrhagic virus, has killed scores of people.

2006: Police arrest three people suspected of aiding Italy’s No 1 fugitive and reputed Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano, who is captured a day earlier after more than four decades on the run.

2007: A suicide attacker blows himself up in the lunchroom at Iraq’s Parliament, killing eight people, including at least three lawmakers, in a stunning breach of security in the heart of the US-protected Green Zone.

2008: Prachanda, the former leader of Nepal’s decade-long Maoist insurgency, wins a seat in the country’s constitution-writing assembly. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama concedes that comments he’d made privately during a fund-raiser about bitter working-class voters who “cling to guns or religion” were ill chosen. Actors, relatives and politicians gather at a church in Los Angeles to mourn Charlton Heston, one of the last lions of Old Hollywood who died April 5 after battling Alzheimer’s disease.

2010: The Vatican makes clear for the first time that bishops and other church officials should report clerical sex abuse to police if required by law. But the policy fails to satisfy victims who charge that the church deliberately hid abuse for decades.

2011: Japan ranks it nuclear crisis at the highest possible severity on an international scale – the same level as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster – even as it insists that radiation leaks are declining at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.

2012: With less than six months left until election day, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has hardly hit the campaign trail. He has been consumed with his fight against cancer, repeatedly travelling to Cuba for treatment and publicly vowing to defeat his illness.

2013: US Secretary of State John Kerry, visiting South Korea, delivers a stark warning to North Korea not to test-fire a mid-range missile while tamping down anxiety caused by a new US intelligence report suggesting significant progress in the communist regime’s nuclear weapons programme.

2017: The United States and China strike what appeared to be an unusual bargain as President Donald Trump said he wouldn’t label China a currency manipulator and voiced confidence Chinese President Xi Jinping would help him deal with North Korea’s mounting threat. Embattled Fox News Channel host Bill O’Reilly begins a vacation after reports emerged of settlements reached with five women to keep quiet about harassment accusations.

 

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY’S

Christopher Smart, English poet (1722-1771); Vajirananavarorasa, prince-patriarch of Buddhism in Siam, institutionalised Thai Buddhism (1860-1912); Montserrat Caballe, Spanish operatic soprano (1933-2018); Alan Ayckbourn, English playwright (1939-); Herbie Hancock, US jazz musician (1940- ); David Letterman, US television personality (1947- ); Andy Garcia, US actor (1956- ); Claire Danes, US actress (1979- ); Shannen Doherty, US actress (1971- )

 

– AP

SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland – Male students at Little London High School no longer have to be jealous that the girls’ restroom is nicer than theirs. Last Friday, a group of alumni called Global Humanity Network Incorporated (GHNI) donated $1.5 million that will be used to spruce up the boys’ restroom, as was done for the girls last December.

“Little London is very special to that organisation and we were able to get them to come on board and partner with us. The area of concern really was that the male students felt really jealous about the female bathroom. They felt that they were being marginalised, and we do not roll like that at Little London High School. Our objective and our goal is to provide holistic development for every student, and they came on board to actually provide the financial backing that was necessary to transform the male bathroom and bring it in line with that of the females,” said Principal Garfield James.

GHNI, which was founded in January 2022, mainly consists of past students of the Little London High School. It is a non-profit, humanitarian organisation that aims to provide assistance to underdeveloped communities. The high school is one of the organisation’s beneficiaries.

One of the founders of GHNI, Dr Laxley Stephenson, said he and other co-founders who were alumni of the school saw it as their obligation to give back to their alma mater.

“We were compelled to do something to give back because this is the institution that nurtured our early development. That was one of the motivating factors, not just that we are here but it played such a fundamental role in our development,” Stephenson told the Jamaica Observer.

“I keep hearing the comments, that they’re thankful. We’re grateful that we have this opportunity to come here and hopefully change the lives of a few of the students here…We decided that life’s been good to us, so we need to show gratitude. We need to give back because we can; we need to lift others,” he added.

They have already established a programme to feed needy children.

“We have implemented our ‘Helping Hands’ initiative. We shipped barrels of food to this very institution and that is something that we’re going to be doing consistently, because you can’t educate anyone unless they are nourished,” Stephenson said.

Other projects are also in the works, not just for the school but for the wider community.

“We are exploring how best we can implement our mentorship programmes. We had discussions with the principal, the vice-principal and other staff to find out what the needs are so that we can help. We have already raised money for our next project, at least US$25,000. In June we’re coming back to renovate the physical education building, and our next thing is to build a state-of-the-art community centre to serve this institution and all the surrounding communities,” Stephenson said.

He stressed that although the organisation is fairly young, they are committed to doing work that will aid in the betterment of the community.

Also present to share in the festivities was director for the Ministry of Education’s Region Four, Dr Michelle Pinnock.

“We’re grateful for the donation, we’re grateful for the focus on the infrastructure, but we’re more so grateful for the fact that members are able to come back. They’re able to interact with students and they’re able to mentor students and be able to guide them on a one-on-one basis towards maximising their potential – and that means a lot to us in region four,” Pinnock told the Observer.

“Here we believe in developing the whole person and we believe that it is through the village approach that we’re going to be able to uplift each and every child. So, undaunted despite all the things happening, we want to make sure that we get our children to understand that there is hope, and of course that we must remain positive,” she continued.

She said donations such as the one made by GHNI will further aid in the development of schools in western Jamaica, and she is hoping it will inspire others to give back.

“We’re very grateful to Global Humanity Network Incorporated, and I am sure that because of their presence other persons are going to want to come on board – and together we will be able to surround our young people and really uplift each person, one by one,” said Pinnock.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistan’s Parliament on Monday elected Opposition lawmaker Shahbaz Sharif as the new prime minister, following a week of political turmoil that led to the weekend ouster of Premier Imran Khan.

Sharif took the oath of office inside the stately, white marble palace known as the Presidency in a brief ceremony.

But his elevation won’t guarantee a peaceful path forward or solve the country’s many economic problems, including high inflation and a soaring energy crisis.

Sharif, the brother of disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, won with 174 votes after more than 100 lawmakers from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or Pakistan Justice Party, resigned and walked out of the National Assembly in protest.

Those 174 votes – two more than the required simple majority – are enough to pass laws in the 342-seat assembly. If Khan’s followers take to the streets, as he has vowed, it could create more pressure on lawmakers and deepen the crisis.

Khan, a former cricket star whose conservative Islamist ideology and dogged independence characterised his three years and eight months in office, was ousted early Sunday. He lost a no-confidence vote after being deserted by his party allies and a key coalition partner.

In a show of strength and a precursor to the political uncertainty ahead, Khan rallied hundreds of thousands of supporters Sunday night to protest his ouster, describing the new leadership as an “imposed government,” charging they colluded with the US to oust him. His backers marched in cities across Pakistan, waving large party flags and shouted slogans promising to return him to power. The crowds were dominated by youths who make up the backbone of Khan’s supporters.

The political drama began April 3 when Khan sidestepped an initial no-confidence vote demanded by the Opposition by dissolving Parliament and calling early elections. The Opposition, which accuses Khan of economic mismanagement, appealed to the Supreme Court. After four days of deliberations, the court said Khan’s move was illegal and the no-confidence vote went ahead, leading to his ouster.

Khan has demanded early elections – the balloting is not due before August 2023. He has tapped into anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, accusing Washington of conspiring with his opponents to topple him. That conspiracy theory resonates with his youthful base, which often sees the US war on terrorism after 9/11 as unfairly targeting Pakistan.

Khan claims Washington opposes him because of his independent foreign policy favouring China and Russia. He was criticised for a visit he made on Februray 24 to Moscow, where he met with President Vladimir Putin as Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine.

The US State Department has denied any involvement in Pakistan’s internal politics.

The Opposition coalition consists of parties that cross the political divide, from the left to the radically religious. The two largest parties are the Pakistan Muslim League, headed by Sharif, and the Pakistan People’s Party, co-chaired by the son and husband of Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister who was killed in 2007.

A few wealthy and powerful families have dominated Pakistan’s politics for decades, with power most often alternating between the Sharif and the Bhutto camps. Both political houses have been accused of and at times convicted of widespread corruption. They have dismissed the allegations as being politically motivated.

While the journey of entrepreneurship has been anything but smooth sailing for small grocery store owner Arlene Swaby, she is proof that with the right focus, and a little support, small business owners can thrive.

“I started out after my job was made redundant in 1999. I used to run a cook shop first, and then when that closed down, I opened the grocery shop here,” recalled Swaby, a long-time resident of Manning’s Hill District in St Andrew.

“After a good while I decided that I wanted to expand, but it’s not easy when you don’t have any ‘backative’,” added Swaby.

She explained that the support she needed came by way of a loan from Access Financial Services (AFS).

According to Swaby, the process was straightforward and the 56-year-old mother of two grown sons used the money from the loan to expand Sister P Groceries, a business she operates from a section of her home near Smoky Vale.

“There was no hassle, nothing compared to what I hear some people go through with other financial institutions. I’ve had more than 20 loans since that first one in 2015, and I can tell you for sure, I wouldn’t have been able to move so quickly if it wasn’t for Access,” declared Swaby who has used the loans from AFS to renovate the space from which she also sells haberdashery items.

Describing Swaby as one of its best customers, AFS Chief Executive Officer Frederick Williams said hers is not an unusual story.

“We have so many success stories like Miss Arlene – small business owners who take their time and build their business, generating income for themselves and their families, and even providing employment in some cases. This is what Access is all about. Creating opportunities within the micro business sector for micro small and medium sized businesses which are under served by the traditional players in the market,” said Williams.

Swaby was a specially invited guest at the recent opening of the Access Business Loan Centre, the newest division of AFS, located at Sampars Plaza in the Cross Roads area of St Andrew.

The centre is intended to increase focus and convenience for micro-entrepreneurs in Kingston, St Andrew, St Catherine and St Thomas, offering a wide range of loan products, each tailored to the needs of business operators at the different growth stages of their business.

With loan amounts starting as low as $10,000, micro business owners have access to funding to purchase goods, replenish stock and to buy equipment.

A firm believer in being self-employed, Swaby is encouraging other women and small operators to take the leap of faith.

“I always say that it is better to do business for yourself. Even before I had a full-time job, I used to buy my little market produce and sell. Right now, I’m glad I don’t have to deal with the stress of working for people.

“I get up and open my shop at 7:30 in the morning and sometimes I close at 9:00 pm. As long as I can cover my loan payments every Monday, everything else is alright. Access has been very helpful. Right through COVID, you could call on them to assist. They really treat me good,” said Swaby.

World Africa Asia Australia Europe Latin America Middle East US & Canada Police in Ecuador say they have caught robbers who stole 2.8 tonnes of drugs from a government-run warehouse. Four men disguised as police broke into the warehouse in the city of Tena on Sunday and overpowered the lone officer on duty before making […]

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  By Bernd Debusmann Jr BBC News   Mexico claims that half a million guns flow south from the US every year. Can a lawsuit against American gun manufacturers stem the tide? Just before sunrise on a warm Friday morning in June 2020, gunmen were waiting for Omar Garcia Harfuch, the city’s then 38-year-old security […]

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Why this rise in cases is being treated differently © Associated Press/Charles Krupa COVID-19 cases are showing signs of rising again, even as many Americans are eager to move on. c Washington, D.C., has been hit with a string of high-profile cases in Congress and the administration, and cases in the city overall are on […]

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NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (APRIL 11, 2022) — Twelve women from the St. James’ Parish were awarded for their involvement in business at the St. James’ Women of Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards, an event hosted by Hon. Hazel Brandy-Williams on April 07, 2022, at the Indian Summer restaurant in Cades Bay. Of the 12 awardees, six have been operating […]

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By Santana Salmon caribbeannationalweekly.com/…   The Director the Sheba Medical Centre the National Burn Center for Israel Professor Josef Haik arrived in Haiti last week to help patients who were severely injured when a fuel tanker crashed in the north of the county last year. During the night of December 13 to 14, a tanker […]

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