Anthea McGibbon, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Students in the Mocho community walk home. - Contributed

Commonly characterised as backward, Mocho is perhaps best remembered by the late Louise Bennet-Coverley's famous line 'Down a Mocho', in the poem titled Nuh Lickle Twang. However, this image of the quaint village which sits in central Clarendon is quietly changing.

A recently held exhibition at the Lennon High entitled 'Mocho: Climate Change, Land Degradation and Disaster Preparedness' demonstrates the community's commitment to build greater environmental awareness and economic productivity. Packaged to dispel the Mocho stigma, the exhibition centeres on the history of the area and the environmental impact of the mining. Exhibits also include topographical maps done by residents of hazard-prone areas, and photographs showcasing various aspects of community life in Mocho.

Avoid land degradation

Journeying from Kingston to lend support to the environmental project was the Senior Director of Emergency Management and Weather Services in the Ministry of Local Government, Philbert Brown. Highlighting the closeness of Jamaica's conditions to those of Haiti, Mr. Brown said that land degradation had no geographical boundary. He encouraged the residents "to take care of existing resources (especially land) in order to avoid land degradation. Land degradation starts once you have destroyed the forest and do not deal with it," he challenged

Part of a Panos-led environmental project, in operation since December 2005, the exhibition covers all 52 districts that comprise Mocho.

With its main office in Haiti, Panos has been operating through the Panos Mocho Oral Testimony Project to teach the rural folk survival strategies in the face of changes in the local weather pattern. Through journalism workshops, members of the community are being trained within six weeks to document and communicate their experiences.

Observable changes in the weather pattern of this section of the island started after Hurricane Ivan hit Jamaica in 2004. According to the residents, the heavy loss of trees has prolonged periods of drought, and the heavy rainfall which followed, has severely eroded the soil. Together, these drastic changes have adversely affected the production of perennial crops such as citrus and coffee, on which the community traditionally depend. In addition, mining operations in the area have ceased, leaving many persons in need of a form of livelihood.

New survival strategies

Through the exhibition which showcases the environmental changes, and oral testimonies through which new knowledge and information are shared, Mocho residents have been employing new survival strategies. Citrus and coffee have been replaced by seasonal cash-crops such as pumpkins and tomatoes. These farm-gate crops have a shorter growth span and guarantee ready income.

So successful is the Mocho oral testimony approach that Red Cross International and the GEF Small Grants Programme have committed to give assistance. According to Panos, the project is well placed to be a model for community development strategies in the rest of Jamaica and the Caribbean.

In addition to this Panos project, plans are afoot to publish a booklet of entitled Hidden Tourist Attractions, which will showcase such attractions as the tombstone of Nanny of the Maroons, the Great House to the Blue Hole (4 acres), and the Green Grotto Caves.