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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>At last, school shoes!</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Now Duckenfield Primary students can walk to school with pride</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>BY INGRID BROWN Sunday Observer staff reporter
Sunday, October 22, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>The contrast could not be more stark. At a time when many children are being showered with the latest in video games and varied electronic gadgets, others - students at Duckenfield Primary School in deep rural St Thomas - still walk barefoot for miles to and from school, and, in some cases, wearing only rubber 'flip-flops' because their parents are unable to buy them school shoes.<P class=StoryText align=justify>But last Thursday, Christmas came early for 78 of these children whose eyes sparkled like brightly lit Christmas trees when they were each presented with a brand new pair of school shoes from members of the Canadian Diaspora who were responding to a request from Hands Across Jamaica For Righteousness.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=330 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Two students eagerly search the box of shoes to find a perfect fit to replace the 'flip-flops' they are forced to wear to school. (Photos: Garfield Robinson)</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>"Miss, me glad fe see the shoes dem come, because a lot of children at the school have shoes which are squeezing them and some of them shoes bottom tear off," one little girl told the Sunday Observer, as they rummaged through the boxes.
Pointing to her own shoes, which were splitting in the back, she said she too needed a pair as water seeps into the one she was wearing when it rains.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"When water get in me shoes me have to go home and use the cloth and squeeze it and then me put it out in the sun for it to dry to wear to school the next time," she said. "If me get a new pair of shoes, every night me woulda polish it like how me do this one."<P class=StoryText align=justify>Her expectation, however, was not met, as unfortunately there were not enough shoes to meet all the needs. Therefore, priority was given to children who had no shoes at all or who were wearing 'flip flops'.
The members of the Canadian and United States Diaspora, as well as members of the Kiwanis Club of Central St Andrew who journeyed out to the school were dumbfounded to see for themselves that there are still children going to school without shoes.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Joan Welsh, principal of the school, pointed out to them that a large percentage of the school population either do not have any shoes, wear slippers or shoes that do not meet the school's requirement, simply because of their parents' economic circumstances.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Claudette Cameron-Stewart assists this young boy in fitting a new pair of school shoes, replacing the rubber slippers he wore to school.</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>A lot of the parents, said Welsh, rely heavily on the St Thomas Sugar Company and Eastern Banana for employment. But both firms have suffered some amount of setback since Hurricane Ivan two years ago.
"The socio-economic situation around here is that they depend mainly on these two companies," said Welsh, "and because of Ivan, some of them didn't return to work. So they find it very difficult financially."<P class=StoryText align=justify>She said she was only too happy when founder of Hands Across
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Now Duckenfield Primary students can walk to school with pride</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>BY INGRID BROWN Sunday Observer staff reporter
Sunday, October 22, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>The contrast could not be more stark. At a time when many children are being showered with the latest in video games and varied electronic gadgets, others - students at Duckenfield Primary School in deep rural St Thomas - still walk barefoot for miles to and from school, and, in some cases, wearing only rubber 'flip-flops' because their parents are unable to buy them school shoes.<P class=StoryText align=justify>But last Thursday, Christmas came early for 78 of these children whose eyes sparkled like brightly lit Christmas trees when they were each presented with a brand new pair of school shoes from members of the Canadian Diaspora who were responding to a request from Hands Across Jamaica For Righteousness.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=330 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Two students eagerly search the box of shoes to find a perfect fit to replace the 'flip-flops' they are forced to wear to school. (Photos: Garfield Robinson)</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>"Miss, me glad fe see the shoes dem come, because a lot of children at the school have shoes which are squeezing them and some of them shoes bottom tear off," one little girl told the Sunday Observer, as they rummaged through the boxes.Pointing to her own shoes, which were splitting in the back, she said she too needed a pair as water seeps into the one she was wearing when it rains.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"When water get in me shoes me have to go home and use the cloth and squeeze it and then me put it out in the sun for it to dry to wear to school the next time," she said. "If me get a new pair of shoes, every night me woulda polish it like how me do this one."<P class=StoryText align=justify>Her expectation, however, was not met, as unfortunately there were not enough shoes to meet all the needs. Therefore, priority was given to children who had no shoes at all or who were wearing 'flip flops'.
The members of the Canadian and United States Diaspora, as well as members of the Kiwanis Club of Central St Andrew who journeyed out to the school were dumbfounded to see for themselves that there are still children going to school without shoes.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Joan Welsh, principal of the school, pointed out to them that a large percentage of the school population either do not have any shoes, wear slippers or shoes that do not meet the school's requirement, simply because of their parents' economic circumstances.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Claudette Cameron-Stewart assists this young boy in fitting a new pair of school shoes, replacing the rubber slippers he wore to school.</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>A lot of the parents, said Welsh, rely heavily on the St Thomas Sugar Company and Eastern Banana for employment. But both firms have suffered some amount of setback since Hurricane Ivan two years ago."The socio-economic situation around here is that they depend mainly on these two companies," said Welsh, "and because of Ivan, some of them didn't return to work. So they find it very difficult financially."<P class=StoryText align=justify>She said she was only too happy when founder of Hands Across
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