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![]() One Love in Trenchtown?
![]() Decades of violence have ravaged the streets of Trenchtown - but now there are signs of change
By Linda Pressly
Lorna does what she can to fill the bellies even of the kids who can't afford lunch. A breakfast of porridge or bread and jam is always the first item on the daily timetable, before prayers. There are sacks piled outside the classrooms from which she sometimes distributes food to the needy. But she knows that hunger isn't the only thing that makes it hard for her pupils to concentrate on their studies. Many of them are deeply traumatised by the gang warfare that until recently pitted street against street in Trenchtown. "We didn't used to learn anything, because of the violence," one girl told me. " If you saw any shots being fired by a person with a gun, you had to look both ways before you crossed the street, and if you went into a shop you often had to bend down or you would get hit."
Gradually, the dons outgrew their political masters and became more interested in the drugs trade - but the warfare continued.
Slowly all that's changing - making it possible for Lorna's school to operate. People in Rema and other parts of Trenchtown are beginning to turn away from violence, realising they've been used by the politicians since Jamaica became independent in 1962, and gained nothing in return. Now they want to try to bring new life to their communities. The murder rate in west Kingston has more than halved in the past four years. And though most uptown Kingstonians still wouldn't consider setting foot in Rema, there are hopes that foreign tourists might be less prejudiced.
But a cardboard model in Michael's office shows a future museum, a flagged arena for performances, a statue of Marley holding a dove of peace, even a Queen of Sheba restaurant and a Lion of Zion souvenir shop.
Also in this edition of Crossing Continents: a report from the lively new film festival, being held in the plusher surroundings of Montego Bay. |
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