As an alumnus of the Univeristy of Michigan , I was indeed proud and delighted to see the initiative carried out by students from the Wolverine tradition.
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Recently, University of Michigan College of Engineering students led several initiatives for sustainable development in Jamaica through BLUE Lab (Better Living Using Engineering Lab). Students worked on several projects in Hagley Gap, Jamaica. One project involved improving water quality and access to clean water; in another, they rebuilt a washed-out river crossing.
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BLUElab at the University of Michigan is a student-run organization that works toward sustainable solutions to development problems at home and abroad. Toward our goal, BLUElab coordinates project teams that develop environmentally, culturally, and economically sustainable technologies. BLUElab also organizes educational events to raise awareness of development issues and the critical role engineers play in tackling these technical problems in a socially responsible way. BLUElab’s diverse membership consists of over one hundred undergraduate and graduate students spanning all College of Engineering departments, as well as students studying disciplines outside of engineering. In addition to its members, BLUElab collaborates with other student-run organizations, faculty, professionals, and nonprofits
An education that does not address the challenges facing the whole of humanity, that merely teaches students how to survive within society as it exists now, fails not only society but also the individual.
This was a high week-end in Washington DC as we celebrated the achievements of folks of Caribbean heritage who are contributing to the richness of American life.
This is the 16th. year of this awards ceremony coordinated by the Institute of Caribbean Studies.
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Usain Bolt was honored with the Vanguard Award for his phenomenal accomplishments in sports. Usain was in Mexico for a previously scheduled event with the IOC.
His main ambassadors represented his presence. Mom and Dad Bolt and his manger Mr. Norman Peart represented our hero.
Usain Bolt, the 2009 Vanguard Award Recipient.
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I was privileged to spend a few hours in an intimate gathering with some track and field die-hard fans to relive Usain Bolt’s major achievements over the last few years. To sweeten the experience, the guest of honor were the Bolts and Mr. Peart!
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The atmosphere was filled with joyful anticipation. The closest event I could think of to give you a sense of the mood of the occasion was meeting with Mary and Joseph after Jesus had fed the 5000. Even so, there was no trumpet blare when they arrived. If it was not for the give away resemblance of his dad, I would have missed their entrance.
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Wellesley and Jennifer Bolt are graciously humble folks who are still trying to put context to the Cinderella-like life they have experienced since their famous son bolted unto the world scene. His dad shared that he still pinches himself when he is settling in in some swank hotel in his many travels. They are pretty determined to stay grounded and remain contented in the district of Sherwood Content, Trelawny. He runs a meat store but the increased travel disrupts the store’s routine.
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Our kind host set the mood for a great afternoon. The food was delicious and the conversation was easy with these charming folks.
Both parents were athletes, thus explaining the multiplying DNA effect.
They shared his nickname, VJ, which he only answer from those he knows. His dad find himself calling Bolt, well Bolt as others usually address him.
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His mom remembers the determined toddler of two wanting to go to school. She agreed and he was off and running. At age five his marvelous speed was discovered. They remember his only loss, his first visit to national champs. It was a case of country boy go to town, and getting used to the logistics of the bewildering event. He vowed that would never happen again, and so we have witnessed.
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His folks were comfortable enough to share about his religious faith. His mom is a devout Seventh-day Adventist, but Usain had to make a decision about his athletics future given that most competitions are on Saturday.
His coach continues to support his faith development in the Baptist tradition. Along with this issue, the luring of the females is a major concern for mom. Mom remember being in Florida when the car accident in last April occured. Her heart was only comforted knowing that dad was there to take care of business. Dad continues to have significant influence in guiding their famous son.
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Our host then fired up the multi-media system taking us back to 2007 where his world coming out race occurred. The crescendo of stomping, screaming, and singing of the national anthem filled that living room. It was great getting the color commentary of the Bolts as they retold the details surrounding each event. The recordings were replayed repeatedly to squeeze every sentiment out of each event.
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When asked which was their most memorable event, they shared in synchronicity the 200 meters race at the Olympics. Mom was confident that he would break the world record, while dad had his reservations given that he had just recently been depleted by the emotions of the historic 100 meter record.
Wellesley and Jennifer Bolt with Chris Daley
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Well, the work of ambassadors are tireless. As the darkness fell, they were off again.
Let us remember this fine family in our prayers that they will have the sustaining energy to support their famous son, especially during these limelight years.
His mom yanked him by the hood of his jacket unto the train. She sternly pointed at an open seat demanded he rest himself in it.He casually flung himself into the seat not noticing that his backpack was disturbing his seat partner.At the next stop, the passenger beside him disembarked . As I took her place, I decided to try an experiment.
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Could I in some way spark a positive response from this boy who looked to be around 10?
I opened up my Kindle and started to read. I glanced up at the response of the woman sitting across the isle from us. The sternness she had shown before was melting into the warmness of a motherly gaze. She had seen what I was about witness, a heart encouraged in a new way.
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His eyes were as large as saucers as he discovered the electronic ink of the E-reader. I asked him if he had one of these in school. He nodded no, but shared that longing wish.
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I was about to let him “take the machine for a test drive”, when the train arrived at his stop. He longingly sauntered off the train with what I hoped was a new perspective for learning and a spark of the possibility.
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I share this story to say we do not know how our small action may engage a young mind with new possibilites. The video link below tells the story of how an Eddie Murphy movie changed a life that has a multiplying , positive effects. Invest 8 minutes, and I guarentee you will be inspired.
You have as much star power as a Eddie Murphy. Just be open to the possibility. This is the logo that encouraged my engagement with that young man this week.
As I scrolled though the NyTimes, this morning, this story just grabbed my eyes balls.
Kingston: Trading Beach Chairs for Bar Stools
By BAZ DREISINGER
IT was a steamy Saturday night in Kingston, Jamaica, and the Sky Bar was jammed with its usual weekend crowd: professionals in their 20s and 30s, by all appearances fit for the next flight to South Beach. Ladies in strappy stilettos and sundresses mixed with men in jeans and crisp blazers while the R & B-heavy soundtrack veered from Stevie Wonder to Ne-Yo and Kanye West.
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I’d positioned myself on a red barstool beside the mosaic-tiled infinity pool. At the table beside me, two South American business travelers, ties loosened, were tearing into a plate of jerk chicken and drinking Red Stripes. It seemed almost quaint. I ordered a more trendy combination: one dirty martini and one sushi roll made with smoked marlin and ackee, Jamaica’s butter-textured national fruit. I chatted with the locals about business and politics, drank in the dramatic vista of the Blue Mountains and relished a muted symphony of car horns, reggae snippets and animated chitchat emerging from the sweeping boulevard below.
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If this scene seems to defy the prevailing image of Kingston, it isn’t the only one. These days Kingston is filled with stereotype-busting options for travelers looking for a new, more authentic Jamaican experience. At Pure — a new, gleaming white lounge with chiffon draperies and V.I.P. skyboxes — techno music trumps reggae. At the newly opened 107-room Spanish Court Hotel, home of the Sky Bar, the lobby makes one wonder if SoHo has been transported to the Caribbean. Exit wicker and florals; enter bean-shaped white leather sofas, animal-print accents and jatobá-wood floors.
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For most travelers, of course, Kingston stereotypes are irrelevant. They would no sooner consider vacationing there than they would in, say, the Gaza Strip. Gang-related violence has plagued Kingston’s so-called garrison communities since the 1970s, and the country’s high murder rate, though it almost never affects tourists, is a potent deterrent. So is the very urban-ness of the place, which stubbornly refuses to allow for beach chairs, umbrella drinks or “Jamaica, Mon” T-shirts..
Jamaicans are always been a people on the move. We are a people who have a magnet for opportunity where ever it may be located.
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The continuing global economic tsunami has created a new momentum for a significant movement of peoples, from the diaspora:
Loss of wealth from our 401K and home equity
Increasing unemployment
Limited job prospects going forward
Constant retooling of one’s skill set
An increased sense of strengthening family links
are just some of the factors driving this renewed pilgrimage.
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As always, there is an easy way and a hard way to accomplish this task. Some fool hardily saunter into this experience and usually pay dearly for taking this path. Help is available if we just look.
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It was my privilege to enter into conversation with Dale Pilgrim-Wade who is a resident guru on relocation to Jamaica.
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Ms. Dale Pilgrim-Wade , relocation Expert
Dale Pilgrim-Wade is an Associate with Framework Consulting and currently heading up its Transition Service practice. She possesses a BA. in International Relations, with a focus on Latin America & The Caribbean and an MA in Counselling. She has worked as a Communications Manager with organizations such as the AAMC located in Washington DC, Kaplan College in Boca Raton Florida, and specialized in designing Mentoring & Retention based programmes intended to change student behavioral outcomes.
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Dale is no stranger to Adults in Transition, as she left a career as a College Academic Advisor who specialized in adult student populations returning to college to change careers, to now assisting expatriates settle in a new environment. She currently utilizes her skills and talents for by providing mentorship, support and guidance for expatriate families relocating to Jamaica and in the Carribean.
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Dale has been living in Kingston Jamaica for the last three and a half years, and recently co-authored the ” Trinidadian Executive in Jamaica,” a Framework Consulting study of Trinidadian Executives and the challenges they face as expatriates running companies in Jamaica West Indies
It was her birthday, and I wanted to affirm my friend on her special day. She however was excited about something far different. Her nephew had successfully been accepted in a local university and had joined the rich tradition of her family of making college an imperative. This was the third generation of college attendees for this family. Her family would be doing everything within their power to support family members to escape the vortex of male drop out of the education system.
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On any given day, nearly 23 percent of all young Black men ages 16 to 24 who have dropped out of high school are in jail,
prison, or a juvenile justice institution in America, according to a disturbing new national report on the dire economic and social consequences of not graduating from high school.
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Dropouts become incarcerated at a shocking rate:
23 of every 100 young Black male dropouts were in jail on any given day in 2006-07
6 to 7 of every 100 Asian, Hispanic or White dropouts suffer a similar consequence.
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While young Black men are disproportionately affected, the report found that this crisis cuts across racial and ethnic lines.
Male dropouts of all races were 47 times more likely to be incarcerated than their peers of a similar age who had graduated from a four-year college or university.
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There has been a dramatic worldwide decline in the number of men in colleges and universities. Here is the troubling fact.
Percentage of men in college in 1949 - 70%
Percentage of men in college in 2006 - 42%
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This could have been just another passing tragic headline, but we still have leaders that cannot allow such items to be tossed upon a pile of unsolved crises.
Rev. Bertram Melbourne, PhD.
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Dr. Bertram Melbourne is no ordinary leader. His motto gives some insight into his life philosophy.
“I believe in leading by example.”
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“He works easily with students and models what he expects from from them.”
George E. Rice, PhD.
Dr. Melbourne clearly understands the dire implication of this issue remaining unchallenged, and so in August of 2009, began to formalize an initiative :
Help to make college graduation a life goal for boys and young men.
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He and several colleagues gave birth to College Educate Our Sons (CEOS), an interfaith organization. These pioneers formulated an architecture that individual and community organizations can use to encourage, motivate boys and young men to achieve academically and be prepared for entrance into colleges and universities.
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It is now October, 2009, and this concept is taking root like wild fire. it has been adopted in all 50 states in the United Sates, and in 22 additional countries around the world. I had the privilege in conversing with Dr. Melbourne about CEOS.
