One week in ...........

I'm a week into my sabbatical and have been exposed to so much that challenges me and so many people who have welcomed me. One thing that will stay with me after this visit is the

warmth of the welcome.

So what have I been up to?

On Wednesday we visited Stony Gut Village and Morant Bay and heard the story of Revd Paul Bogle one of the National Heroes of Jamaica who was murdered by the ruling authorities on 24th October 1865  along with 500 hundred fellow citizens for daring to stand up against unfair work conditions.

PB was a baptist Deacon who worked tirelessly for the rights of his Jamaican brothers and sisters. Leading a demonstration of local workers to Morant Bay Court House to seek justice he was killed along with approx 500 others.

Paul Bogle and his quest for justice are written in to the DNA of the Jamaican people with a statue to his honour in Emancipation Park and a line in a Bob Marely song. The Jamaican people are proud of their heritage and those who have struggled for freedom and rights in thier society.

Bob Marley - So Much Thing To Say Right Now

Thursday was a significant day of meetings.

In the morning the group were hosted by Judith Slater the UK High Commissioner where we had a conversation about the purpose of our visit and were able to share with her the vision of CRAF to see justice done in Jamaica and society transformed through their seven point plan. Judith listened to our ideas and shared some stories of what is currently being done by the UK Government to help develop Jamaica.

In the afternoon we were hosted by the National Reparations Committee in the Jamaican Office of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport. The NRC is a group made up of various representative groups from the church to Rastafaria to those involved

in the arts whose role it is to seek a way forward in the push for reparations.

The conversation with the NRC was deep and thought through. The group described their disgust at David Cameron's line on his visit to Jamaica that the Jamaicans should move on from the past whilst he himself benefited from the slave trade.

David Cameron's visit to Jamaica

The NRC describes Jamaica as a 'Crime Scene', a far removed description than the vision so many people have back home in the UK.