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FIFTY primary schools will receive new and upgraded sanitary facilities by the end of May as a result of the Food for the Poor and Ministry of Education sanitary upgrade project.

The initiative, which was officially launched recently at Bois Primary School in St Catherine, is also being funded by the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Foundation.

Andrew Mahfood, chairman of Food for the Poor, said the project will provide low-cost solutions to upgrade sanitary blocks in schools through the construction of concrete toilet facilities. He noted that the project has adopted the organisation’s “flush for life” objective, which was implemented years ago to remove pit latrines from schools in Jamaica.

“Through the “flush for life” project, we replaced pit latrines in approximately 40 schools with the help of corporate Jamaica and the JNBS Foundation. That sanitation project impacted thousands of lives, and we are now pleased to collaborate with the Ministry of Education and JNBS Foundation to continue delivering low-cost solutions by upgrading sanitary conveniences in primary schools,” Mahfood stated.

Ronald Thwaites, minister of education, endorsed the initiative as one that contributes to the overall learning environment for students, and a move by the Government to demonstrate its commitment to the eradication of pit latrines from schools.

“Two years ago the prime minister said to me that wherever possible, I should find the resources and partners to make sure that we eliminate pit toilets in our schools. This project is certainly a stepping stone for us to realise this mandate,” he said.

Contributing to the execution of the project with a grant of $6 million, Saffrey Brown, general manager, JNBS Foundation, described the initiative as a social partnership for the benefit of children.

“This launch is a demonstration of a socially focused partnership as we join forces to implement solutions to upgrade sanitary blocks for students, one school at a time, until we can say mission accomplished. These upgrades will provide a safe and comfortable environment in which our children can thrive,” Brown said.

Bois Primary is the first beneficiary of the sanitary upgrade project. The institution, which had pit latrines for six decades, officially opened the new bathroom facility at the launch event.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/career/50-primary-schools-set-for-bathroom-upgrades_18417295

Many youngsters have little or nothing to do outside of the school yard. Since 2003, however, the Resolution Project has given high school students in the rural area the chance to take advantage of the happenings around them. With the help of the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Foundation, students have been equipped and trained in the art of photography and youth advocacy. A little over a week ago, the JNBS Resolution Project Awards ceremony was held at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre to crown this year’s top performers, as well as announce the best photographs taken for each category. The theme for 2015 was “Rites and Rituals.”

This year, 25 schools participated in the competition, with over 12,000 images submitted. Naturally, this translated to a lot of work for the panel comprising of five judges – inclusive of chairman of the JNBS Foundation, Earl Jarrett. The panel was tasked with rationalising how the students brought across the theme. Throughout the event, it was expressed that the panel was very pleased with the direction of the project and the collection of the children’s work, which was published in a coffee table book last year. Jarrett and the general manager of the JNBS Foundation, Saffrey Brown were openly pleased with this year’s participation. Brown admitted that such a project is tricky to facilitate, “we are a very conservative organisation and believe in family values and being Jamaica, the work brought to the fore can be very disturbing… but we have to make sure we don’t censor [student photographers].”

Glenmuir High School dominated the awards ceremony with nine sectional awards, the next best was Anchovy High with two awards. The toast of the ceremony was Jeremy Anderson from Glenmuir High who took home all of five awards, including Best Male Photographer and the JNBS General Manager’s Best Photo Award for “100 miles in my shoes.”

Alesha Rowe, who has been involved with the project since 2012, took home the Best Female Photographer award. When asked how she felt about her award, she told the teenAGE Observer, “It’s good to be rewarded with a camera because it shows that the JN Resolution Project cares about me and expanding on my creativity.”

The Hampton High student, who is looking to take photography seriously going forward, provided advice for budding photographers, “Just go for it [entering the Resolution Project] even if you don’t think you’re cut out to be the ‘best’, because it helps you to develop your talent and become the best that you can be through workshops and the different themes.”

The outstanding photographs will not just end here, with some having the possibility of being exhibited at both international airports on the island as well as entered into JCDC competitions where they have done well. We say kudos to the JNBS Foundation for giving the youth such an opportunity to be creative.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/teenage/teen-jn-resolution-project

Our #JNFoundation ACT!ONeers (ACT!ON Jamaica #volunteers) will be busy this weekend.

To start things off, our volunteers will be leading warm up sessions, distributing bibs, manning select water stations at the Road Safety 5K in Mona this morning.

LET’S GO TO THE BEACH!

Then come tomorrow we’ll be off to St. Catherine to assist the Braeton Police Youth Club with it’s clean up exercise at Helshire Beach in Portmore! Stay tuned to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for updates ^_^

#GoVolunteerJA #JN #SpruceUpJamaica