Building Our Community

When I use the topic heading “Building our Community” I know the first thing that comes to the minds of many is putting infrastructures in place such as roads, proper sewage waste plants, pipes laid to provide clean water.

However, when I speak about Building our Community I am not referring to the physical structure of that community but more the togetherness that we each need to share as a community. We need to be our brother’s keeper and helping others when such a need arises.

At the same time a community is not limited to the group of people you may call your neighbours, or a group of people that lives within the same geographical location. A true community is any group of people that shares the same interests, aspirations, ambitions or hardships. Therefore, a community can be a group of social entrepreneurs, or a group that are car enthusiasts or poets. Even a group of prison inmates is a community, because they all have to deal with the same things day in and day out, and it affects them all in the same way.

In a sense a community exists in the heart, and is not bound to the stoned boundaries laid up by man or a river that divides two towns.

Jamaica is our community. It may be a big community when used in comparison to the typical sense of the word or context, but a community nonetheless. We all share in its joys in moments of our athletes performing beyond excellence. If a hurricane should come tomorrow and destroy half the country the devastation will affect us all. When Haiti was hit by an earthquake even though the entire island was not physically affected, emotionally the entire nation suffered and the world shared in their pain. In that moment we were no longer nations divided by seas and oceans, but we became Haiti’s community and shared in their pain, we became Haitians.

This is the sort of mindset we must now adopt, whether as Jamaicans, or as a member of any nation. Furthermore, your nationality is not limited to those who were born here and those who were not, for as long as you are here you are a part of our community Out of Many One People. As part of a community that looks out for each other, so we must now do for each and everyone within our community.

The factors affecting Jamaica or even the world are not political, due to recession, crime or an improper, inefficient educational system like so many believe. What really affects us is our mindset, and always thinking about self, without realizing thinking about self does more detriment to not just everyone’s situation but to yours as well.

Let’s take the steps today necessary to rebuild our community. Let’s not limit ourselves to mere bricks and physical boundaries and limitations, let’s unite together to see the Jamaica and world we want to see.

I leave you with a philosophy I live by and will like others to as well “If you rise alone then you will be alone at the top, but if we rise together then we can all share in the fruits of the world together”

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All the Best.