By Roy Sanford, Freelance Writer 
Holness-Muir
WESTERN BUREAU:
LORENE HOLNESS-MUIR, the Governor-General's recipient for the parish of Hanover, is known all over western Jamaica for her work in community development.
"This award shows how people can start from humble beginnings and achieve and contribute to the community," she said.
Mrs. Holness-Muir is indeed from humble beginnings. She was born on November 20, 1932 in Patty Hill district, Hanover. Her parents were subsistence farmers and common labourers who could not even afford to buy her shoes or even lunch for school. She got a benefactor, in the form of her headmaster, who supplied her with free books and paid for extra lessons.
Despite the financial shortcomings, she excelled in her educational endeavours. She earned first-class honours in the Third Jamaica Local Examination, with distinctions in English and mathematics and later became a certified midwife at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Kingston, where she placed first in a batch of 40.
She later gained certificates in social work and management and, in 1982, was the Urban Development Corporation's (UDC) representative at the joint Government of Jamaica/-UNICEF Urban Community Develop-ment Project in Brazil.
She worked extensively as a midwife across the parish of Hanover from 1959 to 1973. She later worked as nurse, camp mother and guidance counsellor at the Social Development Commission at Kenilworth. She retired in the position of Community Development Officer with the Urban Development Commission.
Mrs. Holness-Muir is a well-known community worker in the parish and has occupied many leadership positions in several organisations. Some of these include, the Women's Federation, the Hanover Early Childhood Education Board, the Hanover Scout Association, the Hanover Parish Development Committee and the Negril Resort Board. She is, presently, the president of the Bee Farmers' Association and is a partner in her husband's bee-farming business.
She has been a Justice of the Peace since 1995 and serves as deaconess, treasurer and lay preacher at the Fletcher's Grove Baptist Church.
Mrs. Holness-Muir said she hopes the award will serve as a message to young people.
"It (the award) is a message to the younger people that being born poor is not something that should stop you from getting ahead," she remarked. "There is no dead end to one's quest for success."
