Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
St. Andrew settlement executive director Jos Chambers. - PHOTO BY ROSS SHEIL
The St. Andrew Settlement gets the award in the category voluntary service.
WHEN THE government of Jamaica cannot cope it is left to voluntary organisations to step in and provide the missing services. And in Majesty Gardens, the St. Andrew Anglican Diocese has been making a comprehensive effort in its own backyard.
The church first became involved in 1965 on the occasion of its 300th anniversary when two members of the congregation visited the community. They had heard about the poverty and wanted to help.
Forty years later the St. Andrew Settlement has proved to be permanent. Executive Director Jos Chambers embodies this. When asked to join, "I said 'no', but when I did my research I saw it covered every aspect of social work ... I came to give it three or five years and that was in 1991."
A PART OF THE COMMUNITY
His predecessor John Levy was in the job for 35 years and in the same way Mr. Chambers acknowledges greetings from residents while taking The Gleaner on a short tour of the community, he is obviously very much a part.
Located off Spanish Town Road within Majesty Gardens, the Settlement's compound houses a basic school, health centre, dental centre, golden-agers, youth club, sports clubs, training for woodwork and sewing and incorporates a Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Library Junior Section. In short, all the services the community needs.
A few years ago, a decision was made to close the health centre during August. The result: young women stopped taking family planning and pregnancies rose. The mistake was learnt and the centre remains open all year round with two doctors from the congregation volunteering a once-a-week surgery on a rotating basis.
A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT
Something as simple as giving a few sheets of zinc to mend a roof, said Mr. Chambers, gives a sense of accomplishment. And as he reminds, these are services offered by countless voluntary groups stepping in to serve inner-city communities.
"It is not unique but the Government is not able to provide everything so a number of voluntary groups do things that Government should be doing and tries to take the pressure of them," he noted.
Autonomy, he believes, also means services and resources can be dispersed more efficiently and adequately: "We can operate autonomously without the interference of Government. If I am running a project and the Member of Parliament doesn't like what I am doing she can't dictate to me or tell me to employ her people."
Funding is obviously a challenge, especially with a $5 million budget to maintain but, common to most voluntary groups, cooperation with others is the order of the day. Food for the Poor, CVSS, the National Housing Trust, Capital and Credit Merchant Bank, the Peace Corps, Colgate Palmolive, GraceKennedy, IBM, International Proxy Parents and PATH are just some of the organisations involved.
Once a year, the church has an Easter Bun drive raising an impressive $500,000 each time. The secret ingredient is a baker, who bakes exclusively for the Settlement, and does not mind being told what does or does not make the right bun for his clients.
