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Mi new yaad ina mi new village pon de rock: From my yaad to yours-This is where I serve. 

I have never been so at peace with rain and the bugs that come in the aftermath. I just have to make sure I am prepared. Once bitten twice shy, and plus I am out of spray so I have to prepare so that they won’t invade. 

My community, like so many others in Jamaica is absolutely peaceful. Amidst a sea of news on this crime or that, it remains crime free and it’s members live harmoniously with each other and the other critters and creatures that share this space. 

Not all of Jamaica is crime-ridden. Many rural spaces where my cohorts and I work, and where the new trainees will work, have been triple vetted by our agency’s safety and security team, the Embassy team, the local police, community members and other local stakeholders. We are safe in the spaces we exist, and for the duration of our contract, our safety remains ongoingly paramount to our agency, the Embassy, local police, community members, stakeholders and the Jamaican Government. We serve locally in the trenches, but we serve in an official capacity and as such, our presence is desired and protected by the people we serve. 
We serve at the behest of the people and governments who, by Executive Agreements of Merit, engaged in a partnership of peace and friendship to solve deficiencies for one, and to serve as goodwill and peace Ambassadors for the other.  

Di Pikney dem and di big people dem ina di komyuniti dem wi experens decrease illiteracy caaz mi/wi kom ere; di tiicha dem ago shier and learn nuff new tiichin strategi fi uuz fi mek di pikney dem lern more; di faama dem ago be more aaganize and uuz more environmentally soun strategies and di komyuniti dem ago av some measure of sustainable development project that can help to promote and improve their livelihood by some measure or other, as they dictate. 

We are spreading the goodwill and greatness of America, as envisioned by one of the greatest President’s who ever presided over today’s most powerful nation, to a world tourist destination, nation of many firsts, on the cusp of development and increased greatness in more areas than the world can imagine, as envisioned by undoubtedly one of its greatest Prime Ministers. 

This year Jamaica turns 55 years old, and the friendship solidified between the birthing nation and the already established super power in 1962, will also celebrate it’s 55th year. 

Jamaicans in the struggle for self-determination, under the leadership of Norman Washington Manley and Alexander Bustamante, sought the intellectual exchange that the USA and PC could offer. The wise leaders of both countries negotiated for the exchange of intellectual hubris, so that the new nation could begin to address the challenges that awaited her after Independence from her colonial oppressor. The first class of Peace Corps to Jamaica arrived weeks before it’s Independence was celebrated. While the sectors within which we are invited to work have evolved over the years, education and agriculture have remained the two staple sectors. 

At least one of my mandates is to spend my time here exposing the beauty of this nation of warm and ambitious citizens, this land of wood and water, to iAmericans and Jamaicans alike, so that the reasons for Jamaicans to invest in Jamaica become apparent to all I meet here. There is value in a new narrative that promotes the notion that it is wise and prudent for Jamaican citizens to remain at home to create sustainable practices that will grow the nation, and continue to perpetuate the beauty of their coveted island home, rather the current situation of brain drain that exists.  

I read somewhere that the grass always looks greener on the other side, but if one waters and nurtures the grass on their side, it too becomes just as green as the other. #mypcjourney #howiseepc #fainainamibirthland #americathegreat

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Published by: Local Lives, Global Voices

I, Chandra Young, ‘the moon that outshines the stars, was born in Kingston Jamaica to an Indian Father whose family migrated from India, and a mulatto mother, whose family, paternally and maternally, trace their history on the island to the 17th century sale of slaves, and slaves themselves. We migrated to the United States while I was a youngster. I later went on to graduate from The City College of New York, with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science; then Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, with a Jurisdoctor degree; and I am currently on hiatus from my doctoral studies in Law and Policy at Northeastern University. After graduating from law school, I successfully sat for both the Florida and New York Bars, and worked in both the Private and Public Sectors. Simultaneously, my role as mother and my passion for education pushed me into Academia, where I have lectured at colleges in the areas of Political Science, History, Business Law, Sociology, Pluralism and Diversity, Critical Thinking, Critical Academic Reading and English Composition. In these capacities, I have mentored inner city/urban college students, and have also served as Guardian Ad Litem to the Seminole County Courts, where I advocated on behalf of children of families in crisis. Being a scholar of Political Science in my collegiate years, I contributed my talents and passions towards championing of the rights of my fellow students, many of whom, like myself, were of Immigrant families. I was instrumental in a student movement that spearheaded a University-wide student boycott protesting tuition hikes in the City University system. The successful protest led to the shutdown of all the University’s colleges in every Borough, and got the attention of the media and politicians of the day. The result of the successful protest was a halt of any tuition increase for several fiscal terms. Today, the City University and State University systems are free to families earning less that $125,000.00, which include most urban, inner-city and immigrant students. While at City College, I was selected as a student ambassador contestant in the Ms. Jamaica-USA pageant, sponsored by the Jamaica Progressive League and the Honorable Una Clarke, the first Caribbean and Jamaican born woman to be elected to the legislature of the City of New York, and mother of United States Congresswoman Yvette Clark. A diligent advocate of affordable housing for New Yorkers, I was committed to the mission of realizing the American dream of home ownership for New Yorkers and I am the recipient of a Proclamation by the City Council of the City of New York, for my efforts in that regard. My dedication to the City of New York and immigrant communities, particularly those of Caribbean heritage, have been unwavering, and I was presented with the Marcus Garvey Award of Recognition by the New York based Jamaica National Movement, for service to Jamaicans and Caribbean people in the City of New York. I continued my passion of being a part of a mission to champion the rights of underprivileged and underrepresented persons in my recent milestone, the United States Peace Corps, where I dedicated 18 months of my life, away from home and family, to the people of Jamaica, as a Literacy Adviser and Community Developer. I am the mother of two children, a writer, blogger and poet. I always loved writing. As a child, I remember finding privacy and solace to write in my garage, where I could hide the written pages amongst the plethora of books our family stored there. I began blogging on my Facebook page and was encouraged by friends who enjoyed by posts, to start a blog. I officially started this blog during my Peace Corps Service, but it is certainly not limited to my service. In fact, it represents an amalgamation of thoughts expressed and lived through the direct and vicarious experiences that being a global citizen can provide. This blog is my way of building a bridge that connects our local lives experienced in our specific localities, with the global voices that unites us in the similar experiences, concerns, pains, passions, etc that joins us together as human beings in spite of geography. You there.......Me here. We....together in one world....one humanity.

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