Message from Mr. Douglas Orane, Patron of Child Month
at the Church Service for National Child Month at the Pentecostal
Gospel Temple, 111 Windward Road, Kingson 2
Sunday, May 1, 2005

(Read by Mr. Mark Hosang)

Salutations

This morning I would like to remind you of the lines from a poem written by the sixteenth century English poet, David Everett, "Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow."

Today's children are the large streams and tall oaks of tomorrow. It is our responsibility today to nurture and guide them so that they will be able to realise their potential in the future. This year's Child Month theme "Instilling Positive Values; Securing Our Children's Future" recognises the value of laying the right foundation if we are to look forward to a positive future for our children and our nation.

At the launch of Child Month on Wednesday morning at the Emancipation Park, Miss Penny Campbell, who represented the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), shared with us the frightening and tragic statistic that half of Jamaica's children live in poverty.

This means their bodies are not receiving the proper nutrition and their minds and intellects are not receiving the proper stimulation to allow them to grow into healthy, knowledgeable adults with the ability to run the nation. This statistic shows that too many of our children are not enjoying the conditions that will contribute to their realising their potential of being large streams and tall oaks of tomorrow.

Jamaica of a few decades ago had a wonderful tradition where those who were better able to do so would help their poorer relatives in caring for and nurturing their children. There were many households with children who were not of the immediate family but who were brought up in the same way and given the same opportunities as the genetic children in the household. People in a community would help to clothe, feed and guide the children of their less well off neighbours.

It is imperative that we recreate this spirit of love and looking out for each other particularly in today's more urbanised areas. We can take keen interest in the children in our families, our daughters, sons, nieces, nephews and look out for the children next door. We can visit our children's homes and orphanages and spend time with our less fortunate children.

I appeal not only to individuals but also to corporations. At GraceKennedy, we have institutionalised the relationship between ourselves and the communities in which our offices and factories are located. In 1979 the Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation was established as a joint project between management and staff. Its work is funded by contributions from staff and the company -- for every $1 from staff the company contributes $2

The Foundation's staff include social workers and a psychologist and much of the work is done by volunteers from GraceKennedy's staff.

One aspect of the Foundation's work is the operation of homework centres at Tower Street in Central Kingston, next door to our corporate office, Greenwhich Town in close proximity to our main Distribution Centre, Majesty Gardens near to Grace Foods Canning and at The Barbican Baptist Church in the vicinity of our Barbican Hi Lo Food Store.

These centres provide the children of these communities with a quiet environment, which is conducive to study for GSAT, CXC and A'level exams, and teachers to assist them with areas of weakness. The Foundation also helps with the paying of school fees, examination fees, and the obtaining of scholarships at local and several overseas colleges.

While interacting with the children in the community we realised that many of the parents needed help in dealing with the social and academic development of their children and so Grace and Staff introduced a group called PICK (Parents of Inner City Kids) which has grown into a vibrant, self-reliant entity.

We are very proud of the achievements of several young persons who have passed through this programme - many of whom have won scholarships to local and overseas tertiary institutions.

In addition there are over 60 professionals now making positive contributions to the nation who were recipients of scholarships from the GraceKennedy Foundation.

We at GraceKennedy Limited are willing to share our experiences and offer our template to anyone who wishes to start similar programmes.

I must reiterate that GraceKennedy is delighted to be associated with National Child Month activities once again. We have been a major sponsor for several decades and this is my seventh year as Patron following in the footsteps of former Patron and GraceKennedy Chairmen Rafael Diaz and the late Carlton Alexander.

As I said before let's do what we can where we are and if we engage our creativity we will discover there is a lot we can do. We must offer our children hope and a way forward.