With the help of some friends and people from the community the wooden shag on a concrete foundation was established in just four days!

Shortly after the new building structure was erected, we received an email from the Embassy with even better news….

We from HELP Jamaica! would like to express our gratitude for the great support!
With this decision being made – we can now finally start with the reconstruction of the building itself! We wish to thank the embassy and we are looking forward to fruitful cooperation!

We will keep you updated about the building process and are confident that we will be able to open the Education Center in the course of 2010!

100 % percent of all benefits go directly into the project! We offer worldwide shipping!

Purchase this shirt – made out of 100% organic cotton – and support HELP Jamaica! The full proceeds of this shirt will be used to establish our Education Center in the community known as Cassava Piece or ‘Gullyside’ in Kingston 8, Jamaica. (the design  shows an image of our building in Cassava Piece)

Get your own, represent and help establish the Education Center in Cassava Piece!

Big up to the SKANK team – thanks for the support and great design, it’s a real pleasure working with you!

After the overwhelming positive response and the number of ladies that requested their own, we will receive ladies shirts too – soon come…

Panza from Supersonic Sound is donating 5,- € for each sold CD (10,-€)
Herbalize-It Sound is donating 5,-€ for each sold DVD (15,-€)

So come to our info-booth and get your Mix-CD or the most discussed clash of the last years on DVD and support HELP Jamaica! Big Up Panza & Sultan for this generous support!

It was a joy to see so many people supporting the project and a surprise, as the joined operation of army and police in Tivoli Garden just started the night before, and Jamaica held on its breath, fearful of what would happen happen…
We called our co-worker in Jamaica in the morning on Labour Day to discuss whether to postpone the clean up date or not – but the people from the community had already started with the work. They cleaned the compound to all corners and fences, levelled the land, got out the rubbish, cleaned the building and raked the complete site.

The community involvement was way beyond expectations and the day was a full success until the shootings started to spread over Kingston and reached Mannings Hill Road in the evening hours (located just a few hundred meters away from our compound) in the afternoon. Worried by the sound of the gunshots the people quickly made their way back home.

The Labour Day project was a fantastic and very successful start into the project of establishing our education center, despite the sad and tragic circumstances in which it took place.

Many expressed their feelings that they feel proud and good to be involved in such positive activities for the future of the children of Cassava Piece on that tragic day. “Brighter days we need for the future of the children, for a better Jamaica!”

We are deeply thankful for the commitment the community showed, this again strengthens our faith that we are on the right path with the project.

Pictures from the ‘Clean Up Day’:

Thank you Cassava Piece, together we will work on uplifting the community and offering chances for the community especially the kids and youths. Education For A Change!

Our chairman Hilmar Keding was in Kingston during May to negotiate with construction companies and land surveyors and to supervise the beginning of the renovation process of our compound and building in Cassava Piece.

Community Meeting in Cassava Piece

On Sunday May 9th HELP Jamaica! organised a well attended and very promising community meeting with residents of Cassava Piece. Present were also a member of the ‘Social Development Committee’ (SDC) and officers from the local police station who are in charge for ‘Community Affairs’ in Cassava Piece and surroundings. More than 25 people from the community showed up and listened to what we are planning and expressed their opinions and ideas. We introduced the organisation, the aims and goals of HELP Jamaica! and our specific ideas for the education center in the community. The SDC and the local police gave us full support, assured us how needed our initiative is and assured us of their support.

We couldn’t have expected more and where overwhelmed by the constructive discussion, the positive atmosphere and the readiness of community members to pledge their commitment to help make the education centre become a success.

Pictures from the Community Meeting:

[Show as slideshow]

The community expressed their will to help and support us to get the positive and uplifting project started and came up with the idea to organize clean up on Labour Day on the compound to prepare it for the construction.

Since May 23rd, Jamaica is in a tragic state of emergency. The government had finally accepted the request pending since August 2009 to extradite Christopher “Dudus” Coke, who is wanted in the US for his alleged key position in the gun-drug-trade. A joint military and police operation in Tivoli Gardens, the community known as Coke’s stronghold which is as well part of the constituency of the Prime Minister Bruce Golding ended in a bloodshed. Subsequently, deadly conflicts flared up in the corporate area of Kingston and St. Andrew.

The country in which 1680 murder cases had been registered in 2009 is now in an even more unstable condition leaving everybody worried about the future developments. The situation in Jamaica became topic in the international media and subject of many theories, discussions and speculations about the background and the best way to handle the present situation.

HELP Jamaica! tries to keep up with the manifold and sometimes conflicting information on the developments of the last days. More information on the current state of affairs can be found on the websites of the two main Jamaican newspapers Jamaican Observer and the The Gleaner and social networks like “News on the Ground” on Facebook.

The urgent need for educational programs which create opportunities and chances for children especially from the ghetto areas in Jamaica has now become even more visible. HELP Jamaica! will continue its mission to provide free access to books, computers, various creative courses and counseling, especially in the most needy inner city areas.

If you wish to support our efforts please have a look in the “how to support” section and find out how you could get involved to do something positive and join us in our efforts – Education For A Change!

We now get full support by the ‘SummerJam’ festival in Cologne. The festival will fundraise money for HELP Jamaica! at this years 25th anniversary of the ‘SummerJam’. Additionally we will have the opportunity to inform people on the festival ground about the work and aims of HELP Jamaica!.

So watch out for the HELP Jamaica! team and our info-booth – see you at Europe’s biggest one-weekend reggae festival!

We wish to express our gratitude to Contour, the promoter of the festival, and the social spirit they prove with their support.

Read further for the official press release (german):

Neue Kooperation für einen guten Zweck!

Seit diesem Jahr unterstützt das SUMMERJAM den gemeinnützigen Verein HELP Jamaica!
Das gemeinsame Ziel lautet: Education for a Change!

Viele Menschen assoziieren Jamaika nur mit Sonne, Rum und Reggae. Nur wenige wissen, dass die Karibikinsel eine der höchsten Mordraten weltweit hat, Bandenkriminalität vor allem in den Städten sehr verbreitet ist und viele Kinder und Jugendliche in Ghettos aufwachsen, wo sie früh mit Kriminalität in Berührung kommen. Viele alleinerziehende Mütter sind mit der Erziehung ihrer Kinder überfordert, das Geld für Bücher, Mittagessen und den Schulbus fehlt.

HELP Jamaica! e.V. unterstützt und errichtet unabhängige Bildungseinrichtungen in den ärmsten Vierteln Jamaikas. Kindern und Jugendlichen wird kostenloser Zugang zu Büchern, Lernmaterialien und Computern ermöglicht. Unser Ziel ist es, weitere Bildungseinrichtungen und Bibliotheken aufzubauen.

Helfen kann man durch direkte Spenden, die Veranstaltung von Benefiz-Veranstaltungen oder durch eine Fördermitgliedschaft. Auch Unterstützung durch Werbung auf Webseiten, Auslegen von Info-Material und Information über die Arbeit des Vereins in sozialen Netzwerken und Newslettern ist sehr hilfreich und willkommen!

Auf dem diesjährigen SUMMERJAM sammeln wir aktiv Spenden für HELP Jamaica! und bieten dem Verein die Möglichkeit, sich auf dem Festival zu präsentieren.

Weitere Informationen zum Verein und seinen Projekten findet ihr auf www.helpjamaica.org

We have been able to negotiate a long term leasing contract for the building in Cassava Piece, the ‘old clinic’ on Cassava Piece Road, which will soon become our first HELP Jamaica! Education Center!

The authorities support our efforts, a fact which can also be judged on the favorable rent of 24.000,- Jamaican Dollar (approx. 200 Euro) per year(!).

We will now start to reconstruct and furbish the building. We wish to thank everybody who supported us in our effort! This is a major step for our organization and we are looking forward to your continued support! Together we can make it happen – EDUCATION FOR A CHANGE!

To read more about our project and future plans in Cassava Piece, please click here!

Some pictures of the building we are going to refurbish and impressions of the Cassava Piece community.