THE EDITOR, Sir:
MY HEART bleeds for Jamaica everytime I hear and see suffering and violence. I wonder will it ever end. I tell people that I am a Trinijamaican because I love Jamaica and I feel all Jamaica's pain. I spent a number of years in your country and I have seen a lot, the good the bad and the indifferent. I have seen the beauty and been a part of the prestige of uptown. Then I had to endure the rigours of downtown.
But I must confess that Jamaica has helped to mold me and shape me. It taught me survival. Before coming there I never was exposed to poverty, rampant crime and pain. I have learnt how to live with little or nothing and still try to be happy. Sometimes I deliberately ignore my needs and wants just to experience some of the harsh realities in life to change, to grow, to be less dependent on my parents to learn to survive.
To me Jamaica is a very excitng place to live, the culture has always fascinated me and I like it. To all the young struggling people in Jamaica I say lift up your head and get up - poverty is not an excuse, let some of those harsh realities you encounter act as a catalyst to make you succeed.
I am etc,
ANNE-LEE DANIEL
anne_lee_d@hotmail.com
St. Augustine
Trinidad and Tobago
Via Go-Jamaica
