Chapelton the forgotten place

Esther Tyson, Contributor

EACH YEAR the Fergus Simpson Foundation hosts a day camp for the children of Chapelton and the surrounding environs. The camp is usually held from Monday to Friday in the first week of August. The camp was first held at the Chapelton All-Age School, but because it has grown in numbers, it is now held at Clarendon College.

Family members of the late Rev Fergus Simpson, along with other volunteers, come from the United States and London to run this camp. Funds are usually scarce but companies such as Jamaica National, National Commercial Bank, Digicel and the Insurance Company of the West Indies have given donations at various points throughout the years to assist in making this camp a possibility. In addition, there are individuals who give sacrificially to make camp happen - one such person is Dr Rema Green.

This year, over 190 children participated in the camp where they ate breakfast and lunch each day. Meals are prepared by volunteers from the community and other young people, some of whom have benefited from the camp in the past. These young people also assisted as volunteers with the other activities throughout the day. These activities included devotions, life skills classes, fine arts programmes such as dance, drama and music, and sports. In addition, there was a sports day and a grand finale where the student performed for the community. The children of the Chapelton community look forward every year to this camp which is now in its seventh year.

Many persons who come from abroad to volunteer at camp grew up in Chapelton or visited as second-generation family members of persons originating from the area. There are others, like me, who grew up here as children and who are now living in another part of Jamaica. We are all appalled at the state of the community and its environs. The roads, in particular, are in serious disrepair. There are some roads which have no asphalt left on them at all; others have huge craters that we are forced to negotiate each time we make our way through the community. There are large water mains exposed where the water has beaten away the gravel and the asphalt in the road.

Chapelton seems to have become a forgotten place, like a home that is no longer inhabited and cared for. Driving along the roads, your vision is obstructed by overgrown wild grass. In the town, there are dilapidated, decaying buildings which seem to ready to crumble when a strong wind blows. There are only a few promising business places in operation. One wonders if the member of parliament for the area has made a recent visit to see what is happening in the community since he does not live there.

I remember growing up in the community as a child and hearing about Sir Donald Sangster who was the member of parliament (MP) for the area. Later, the MP was Dr Percival Broderick, who was followed by Mr George Lyn. These persons related to the community as if it mattered to them because they were from the area or made the area their home. The present MP seems to operate like an absentee landowner, reaping the benefits of the votes without giving the care and input needed to make the area prosper.

Income-generating entity

The town houses some important structures such as the historic St Paul's Anglican Church, a town centre featuring a park clock tower, a courthouse, a Collector of Taxes office, a police station, a market, along with the Chapelton All-Age School, and Clarendon College. However, the area needs a factory or other income-generating entity to bring economic benefits to the people who live in and around the community. The youth of the area are moving out to seek jobs in Kingston because there are not many opportunities for employment in the town. Chapelton deserves a chance to survive and to grow economically. The basic structure for a town remains, now those structures need to be developed and strengthened so that once again the town which was once the capital of Clarendon will become a thriving, bustling town centre.

Even as the Fergus Simpson Foundation seeks implement their motto to 'Treasure the Past, Train the Future and Transform the Community' by working in a small, consistent way with the youth of Chapelton, similarly we ask the political directorate that has responsibility for the development of the community to embrace the area as their own, to expand their vision of what can be accomplished and secure the future of this rural town.

Succeeding governments

On another note, I participated as an organiser of the conference for the Caribbean Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (CAPSS) which was held at the Sunset Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios last month. Over 150 principals attended, 80 being from nine other English-speaking Caribbean countries. In a session in which each country gave an overview of secondary education in their country, we realised that universal secondary education has been achieved in those countries which are doing well, while a number of others, including Jamaica, have yet to achieve this goal.

Barbados pointed out that the education plan in that country does not change with each new administration. Instead, there is a long-term plan which is followed consistently by succeeding governments. I hope that as a nation, we too will soon see the effects of our Ministry of Education maintaining the goals that were outlined in the Transformation in Education plan from the previous administration.

The substantive programmes recommended are being followed by this administration of the Ministry of Education. The nation should therefore see the effects of the focus that has been put on early-childhood education and the increased move to improve the teaching and assessment quality at the primary level. Hopefully, we will soon be able to narrow the divide between the traditional and non-traditional high schools.

Esther Tyson is an educator. Comments to columns@gleanerjm.com.