THE EDITOR, Sir:
I MUST share with you and your readers, young and not so young, a period of pride and inspiration which I experienced midweek, last week (April 20&21).
I was in Antigua, where Jamaica's Senator the Hon. Floyd Morris, made a stunning presentation to over 1000 students over the two-day period. The Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and Senator, the holder of a Masters Degree in Government and Honours Bachelors degree in Mass Communication, inspired teachers and students present at the Multipurpose Centre in Antigua that they can achieve anything if he could.
Senator Morris recounted his strides, from his teenage years when he became blind, to his current point of success where he owns and operates his own farm, is an active politician and is studying at the PhD level.
He spoke of the obstacles and pitfalls which he faced as a poor young boy in St. Mary who was raised by a young single mother who made dresses for the survival of her children. He described with passion his determination to succeed in a society which saw and still, to a great extent, sees persons with disabilities as useless burdens.
Senator Morris encouraged the students, two of whom were young blind girls in Grades 7 & 8 at Antigua High School for Girls, to dream big and work hard to achieve their dreams.
I regret the fact that this meeting was not filmed and broadcast throughout the Caribbean. However I ask that you publish this letter with the hope that, although our Jamaican students were not privy to all that the Senator had to say, they will know that such a man exists and that if he can pass his Common Entrance, his O'Levels and further his studies to the highest tertiary level and become a meaningful part of society, they too can do it.
I am, etc.,
JULIE DUNDAS,
(Jamaican)
