By Petulia Clarke, Staff Reporter 
Dr. Omri Isaac Evans
DR. OMRI EVANS has big plans for the future effectiveness of the Governor-General's Achievement Awards.
He says he believes that all those who have received the G-G's awards should come together in a fraternity to work on major community projects that would help more people.
Dr. Evans, the recipient of the 2002 Award for Kingston, has visions of this fraternity having an executive, regular meetings and the ability to raise resources to help the needy.
"You have families with backgrounds similar to ours, we could find a way to adopt them and get the required help, even offer counselling," he said. "We could explain to them the challenges we faced and the successes, and give them hope."
The Governor-General's Achievement Awards are given to persons of humble background who rise from poverty to make strides and contributions in their community.
Hope is abundant nowadays for Dr. Evans. But it wasn't always so.
Born Omri Isaac Evans, he developed from a firm Christian foundation and a demanding life on a farm into a brilliant academic mind.
Considered one of Jamaica's leading thinkers on economics, his views are solicited from time to time by both the private and public sectors. Dr. Evans is teacher, leader and author.
He was born in Orange Hill, Clarendon in 1946 to Michael Evans, a small farmer and butcher, and Anitta Evans, a dressmaker. At age six, he started attending the Long Look All-Age School in that parish, but by age nine his attendance became irregular as he had to help his father with butchering and other chores on the farm.
He sat, failed and re-sat examinations and his eventual success coincided with his full-scale entry into the church. This, he said, helped him to become more focused.
At 16, when his father emigrated to England, he had to assume a senior role at home devoting much of his time to the maintenance and upkeep of the small farm. Also, he accepted new leadership positions in the youth departments at his church. Simultan-eously, he started taking a correspondence course in certain subjects in preparation for the GCE 'O' Level examinations.
He taught as a probation teacher for one year, and later, was admitted to Mico Teachers' College where he graduated with distinction. There, he was presented with the Mico Education Cup. From that point he combined his teaching career with further academic pursuits. In 1975 he graduated from the University of the West Indies with a B.Sc. (Econ.) degree. He would later go on to earn the Master's degree. In 1994 he crowned his academic achievement by earning a Ph.D., with a major in Economics, from the Pacific Western University in the United States.
Dr. Evans has held several senior teaching and other leadership and consulting positions in Jamaica, focusing mainly on economics and statistics. He is the author of several publications including the textbook Statistics made Simple for Students of Social Sciences and Management, which is in use at the UWI and other institutions.
Since 1992, he has been involved in his own business enterprises. These include Evans and Co. Ltd., an agri-business enterprise; Fidelity Economics Ltd, a financial consulting and market research service company, and Packer-Evans and Associates, with publishing as its main focus.
Dr. Evans has initiated and assisted in the resuscitation of sports and youth clubs in St. Ann and the Corporate Area. He initiated and co-ordinated a dental and medical outreach programme for his communities, Orange Hill and Long Look, with a team of Jamaican dentists and nurses from the USA. He is involved in the development of a table tennis club at the New Haven Baptist Church, St. Andrew, for young people in the surrounding communities, with the intention of fostering the development of table tennis skills, social skills and Christian values and principles. He is a Justice of the Peace and a member of the board of Mico Teachers' College. Also, he has been giving outstanding professional leadership and assistance to a long list of educational, religious and other public affairs organisations.
He is married to Norma and their union has produced two sons.
