A ball for the children
Published:Sunday | December 12, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Women donned their finest, and the men earned high marks, too, for being so stylishly dressed, but the cause behind inaugural Rose Hall Holiday Ball far outweighed the fashion in the ballroom of the Iberostar Suites in Montego Bay on Saturday, December 11.
It was about the 100 children now housed at the SOS Children's Villages at Barrett Town, St James.
It was about the success stories of doctors, marine biologists, hospitality and tourism ambassadors, and draughtsmen whose lives had been totally transformed by philanthropist Michele Rollins and her family.
"Tonight is not about speeches," the woman who changed the Rose Hall landscape declared to the large audience that had a guest list that included the two newest female envoys, affable United States Ambassador Pamela Bridgewater and Spain's Celsa Nuño, who is quickly wetting her feet in the business community.
Instead of blowing her own trumpet, Michele Rollins had all eyes glued to the large screens that showcased the testimonials of the young men and women who grew up in the village and have today become some of Jamaica's most outstanding achievers locally and internationally.
"Many such achievers have been shaped from this village, two of who have received the Horatio Alger Scholarship and attended the Valley Forge Military Academy (Pennsylvania): Markham Laird, who graduated magna cum laude and now pursuing a master's degree at the State University of New York, and Nigel Rose, valedictorian of his graduating class."
Staying much closer to home is Steven Bahado-Singh, who earned a PhD in biochemistry at the University of the West Indies, where he is currently doing research in Type Two diabetes and cancer.
Rollins does not need to reiterate that there is innate sense in the Jamaican society that says, "When I get the opportunity, I really want it."
The children who call the SOS Children's Villages home live this mantra daily.