Helping Accompong Town - An Idea became Reality

[accompong]

During my stay last year, I was looking for a way to help and give back to the Accompong Community with an emphasis on helping the children. Ideas like; a transfer pump from a rain catchment to the roof tank, paying for taxi fares to get children to and from school in Maggotty and Elderslie and a wall beautification were just a few of the possibilities. Everything requires money and money is in short supply in this remote mountain community.

We finally decided on a way to have the children help raising funds and learn at the same time. The Accompong Riverstone Project was born. A good friend and artist, Penny Moyles from Canada, was planning to visit so I coordinated through her to collect art supplies and donations suitable to supply 50 or more children the tools necessary to paint pieces of art and sell them at the January 6th Celebration.

Upon her arrival with the supplies, we started working with Tayshan Wright, an artist in Accompong Town, and the Riverstone Project officially started on November 20th. As with a lot of plans in Jamaica, some minor modifications like the dates, times and venue needed to be fine-tuned to accommodate the school schedules of the students but a another major roadblock faced the project.

The river where the riverstones were to come from received major damage from Hurricane Sandy but, the resourceful Maroons came up with an alternative plan. The Blue Mahoe was quickly substituted for the stones. The Blue Mahoe is the national tree of Jamaica and a perfect choice for the students to paint upon.
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The residents chipped right in with offers of donated labor such as Marshall who donated the use of his chainsaw after walking over a mile out into the Cockpits to bring in some suitable branches to cut.
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Another resident, Neville Rowe a woodworker by trade, offered to sand the pieces to make them suitable for painting and finishing.
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In a couple of days, the pieces were carried up to the Accompong Primary and Junior High School where the Principal, Garfield Rowe, donated the use of a classroom.
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The school’s daily classes end at 4:00pm so the classroom needed to be readied for the 15 children who had signed up for the first session of classes in painting techniques. The door was opened at 5:00pm and now the question was, “Would the children actually show up for the classes?”
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More to follow.

Peace and Guidance

[Peasie]

[accompong]

The Accompong Riverstone Project - Continues


Sometimes the children in Accompong Town seem more like young adults than children and that is mainly due to a sense of discipline and purpose you don’t find in other areas of Jamaica. A good deal of time in their curriculum is spent on social preparation to be responsible adults as many will not pass the test to go on with advanced education after graduation.
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When the doors opened at 5:00pm, an amazing 15 students showed up for the project. Regular school ends at 4:00pm and the children had to go home, eat and change out of school uniforms. We were soon to learn that many students went to school in Maggotty and Elderslie and could not make it to the school until 6:00 or later. One boy had to walk over 6 miles to make the class one day after missing a taxi.
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The object of the classes was to teach painting techniques and to inspire creativity but also just to have fun doing it.
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Tayshan Wright, the Maroon artisan, directed the classroom and helped keep order and provided assistance when needed.
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The older children also assisted the younger students in preparing their drawings to be transferred to the slab of Blue Mahoe after preparing the surface for painting.
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The children helped to prepare the surface to be painted by applying a coating of primer.
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With all the pieces primed and drying, Tayshan helped the students finish their drawings to be painted on the wood.
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Saturday was the final day of classes for the first group of students. Eleven students out of the original 15 students completed the project on that day. The pieces were left out to dry before preparing the reverse side for adding the information about the student who painted the piece and coating the finished product to bring out the grain and color of the wood.
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One proud artist displays her creation at the end of the class.
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The first of 3 classes was complete. The pieces would now go on display at the school before sending them to the sales booths for the Celebration on the 6th of January 2013.
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Peace and Guidance

[Fancy DatdamnDiva]

[Wahalla]

[HTML]When the doors opened at 5:00pm, an amazing 15 students showed up for the project. Regular school ends at 4:00pm and the children had to go home, eat and change out of school uniforms. We were soon to learn that many students went to school in Maggotty and Elderslie and could not make it to the school until 6:00 or later. One boy had to walk over 6 miles to make the class one day after missing a taxi.

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I as one would expect have reservations.....However I dont think anyone who knowns the area read this statement this understands this statement other wise they would comment>
The lad who walked the 6 miles walked it up hill deserves some respect... not some piyah piyah hill but some seriously steep up and dung gradient.. the reason why Accompong survived... if he did it by road I beleive it is asphalted but it is seriously erode the last time I went up there it was up there... (as a youth I did 5 miles each way a day to ketch a bus and on occasion it was 6 miles though more of a plateau area than that six miles up to Maroon Town)

Back in the day school kids from Beth Salem, Aberdeen, Inverness woulda walk... to Maggoty ect but now taxi do dem route deh.....

Now I know that there is alot of romatisism attached these days to the Marroons... The defiant freedom fighters who resisted the british. But if u were Three Finger Jack, Tacky or Bogle ur perspective would be slightly jaundiced.. and it is cool to support the youth of that particular settlement... But there is a distaff end to that spindle there are identical issues in the surrounding areas....And there are less iniatives for these....At least Maroon town gets a couple days a year of the international recognition....!

I know now of one youth who walks a mile to Aberdeen gets a Taxi to New Holland, then one from New Holland to Lacovia / Santa Cruz, and the board the school bus to Munro. Then does the repeat in the evening.....To me there is a need for a dedicated bus route for those schoolers, one that is sustainable... from Maroon Town down to Maggoty, Lacovia and onto Santa Cruz and or the other way onto Black River.. This way the post Primary School education would open up and be easier.. As the Best secondary schools in the Parish is Munro, Hamption And Steths... But that would open up the possibilty for the kids should they be fortunate enough to be placed into them .. Getting placed into these three institutions But at the same time allowing them access to Maggoty, Lacovia and Black River....

But do I know ___?????

[St_Bess]

W - what do you know - you at least know the area well. Me sey every likkle mek a muckkle - every little bit of help dem get it is good for the children. Never turn down help because of the 15 kids that came that evening at least 1 may have learned something useful.

[accompong]

When the doors opened at 5:00pm, an amazing 15 students showed up for the project. Regular school ends at 4:00pm and the children had to go home, eat and change out of school uniforms. We were soon to learn that many students went to school in Maggotty and Elderslie and could not make it to the school until 6:00 or later. One boy had to walk over 6 miles to make the class one day after missing a taxi.

I as one would expect have reservations.....However I dont think anyone who knowns the area read this statement this understands this statement other wise they would comment>
The lad who walked the 6 miles walked it up hill deserves some respect... not some piyah piyah hill but some seriously steep up and dung gradient.. the reason why Accompong survived... if he did it by road I beleive it is asphalted but it is seriously erode the last time I went up there it was up there... (as a youth I did 5 miles each way a day to ketch a bus and on occasion it was 6 miles though more of a plateau area than that six miles up to Maroon Town)

Back in the day school kids from Beth Salem, Aberdeen, Inverness woulda walk... to Maggoty ect but now taxi do dem route deh.....

Now I know that there is alot of romatisism attached these days to the Marroons... The defiant freedom fighters who resisted the british. But if u were Three Finger Jack, Tacky or Bogle ur perspective would be slightly jaundiced.. and it is cool to support the youth of that particular settlement... But there is a distaff end to that spindle there are identical issues in the surrounding areas....And there are less iniatives for these....At least Maroon town gets a couple days a year of the international recognition....!

I know now of one youth who walks a mile to Aberdeen gets a Taxi to New Holland, then one from New Holland to Lacovia / Santa Cruz, and the board the school bus to Munro. Then does the repeat in the evening.....To me there is a need for a dedicated bus route for those schoolers, one that is sustainable... from Maroon Town down to Maggoty, Lacovia and onto Santa Cruz and or the other way onto Black River.. This way the post Primary School education would open up and be easier.. As the Best secondary schools in the Parish is Munro, Hamption And Steths... But that would open up the possibilty for the kids should they be fortunate enough to be placed into them .. Getting placed into these three institutions But at the same time allowing them access to Maggoty, Lacovia and Black River....

But do I know ___?????

Greetings Wahalla,

Since you obviously know the area, I can see that you understand that a 6 mile hike up a very steep hill (even though paved) shows a lot of dedication by a youth.

A couple of things though... Accompong Town and Maroon Town are two completely different places in two different parishes. In fact, they were on a "near war" footing with each other over the Second Maroon War in which the Accompong Maroons did not take part.

Equating the Accompong Maroon's struggle with Tacky and Bogle has some merit although Tacky was a runaway who wasn't fighting in defense of his own community and Paul Bogle was an Emancipated Slave who chose to lead a rebellion against the English Government. The Accompong Maroons had been living in relative peace in their own settlement on land that the English thought was unsuitable for cultivation from around 1655 when they were released from by Spanish Settlers prior to the English Invasion until around 1690. Yes, they raided English Plantations and defied the British authority in numerous ways but they never directly attacked the English Army until the English Army attacked them. Many of these Maroon Warriors had never been slaves.

And Three Finger Jack??? Perhaps. It is said he lost two fingers in a fight with Quashie who later killed him and took his head in for a reward. A Freedom Fighter??? perhaps but it could be argued that he was more of a bandit and an outlaw than a former slave defending his land like the Accompong Maroons did.

Finally, what puzzled me was why

one youth who walks a mile to Aberdeen gets a Taxi to New Holland, then one from New Holland to Lacovia / Santa Cruz, and the board the school bus to Munro

Someone would go to New Holland from Aberdeen and then back to Lacovia/Santa Cruz when they would go through Lacovia to get to New Holland and then double back through Lacovia to get to Santa Cruz. I guess the only plausible answer to that would be that they took the road that goes up the hill to White Hill; past YS Falls and out to the main road. I guess that might be an answer. Enquiring minds want to know.

Wahalla. I know you to be a wise man and I hope you take my likkle kidding around in that spirit.

What is true is that to get a good and proper education in Jamaica (especially in the "bush" areas") requires a whole heap of dedication and patience. I have a next door neighbor in Accompong Town who gets up at 4:30am to go to Munro and doesn't get home until after 6:30pm each and every day. The family can not afford to pay to have the student stay closer to the school but you don't hear them complaining at all. When I heard the hoot and holler the day he came home with news that he had successfully completed a quality school like Munro, it truly brought a tear to my eye.

Peace and Guidance

[Wahalla]

Someone would go to New Holland from Aberdeen and then back to Lacovia/Santa Cruz when they would go through Lacovia to get to New Holland and then double back through Lacovia to get to Santa Cruz. I guess the only plausible answer to that would be that they took the road that goes up the hill to White Hill; past YS Falls and out to the main road. I guess that might be an answer. Enquiring minds want to know.

He has to go that route in order because the straight way is not the more convient. the vagreis of a informal transport system.... ie lack taxi on the more direct route....much like travel in any big city u go to a hub...and make a connection....Think of that a moment and it will become clear.... Just say he is tired when he gets home but he keeps up his % and his transport costs are horrendous...



Equating the Accompong Maroon's struggle with Tacky and Bogle has some merit although Tacky was a runaway who wasn't fighting in defense of his own community


Tacky was a slave who orgainsed a rising that the maroons did nto support... I dont consider fighting to over throw slavery as defense of community, no more it is more than that than that defense of humanity. He entreated teh maroons who rejected.. The Maroons hunted them him and his men down... That was not defense of their community... the maroons butchered them.... The maroons were worse than the Kapos in the holocaust camps.. they could have hunted with less enthusiasm....

Three Finger Jack was a black man who ran with his family from the white plantation owneres. ... who had his wife woman amd children were killed by maroons in flight...instead of leaving him alone they hunted him down like a pig.. not once but twice ... I beleive it was Quashie whom according to one legend had his two nephews with him Jack killed the two of them.. Though Three Finger . And Quashie decapitated perserved his head in a barrel of rum...Had a play done on him in London....


Bogle is the greatest Jamaican hero IMHO. That Baptist preacher who was a man of peace who went against hois programing... who was captured by the Maroons.. Actually he handed himself in.. According to one story because he wanted to let some children escape from the attention of the Maroons.. Waht the maroons did in St Thomas was barbaric.... Even by the British standards. they burnt and raped.....

What is the attitude to the Maroons from the outside community ????.. It has got better in the last thirty years .. Because in my youth old time people who almost spit when they spoke of them.. they had been taught in folk lore what the Maroons did.. as late as 38 there was talk of Maroons to go supress the labour rising as they had done time and time again for more than a hundred years.. i beleive that the authorties in Jamaica made comments that they lacked the capability.

I know there is two towns.. but I grew up using Maroon town interchangeabley with Accompong...Even though its two towns

[Diplomat]

Great work, accompong! Kudos to you and the others for what you do for the kids

[accompong]

Week two of the Riverstone Project took up where week one left off just with a whole new set of students. First the slabs of Blue Mahoe had to be selected and a primer coat applied to provide a surface to paint.
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Once the sketch was complete (on her left) then each child added his or her artistic ability to create their masterpiece.
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One child seemed to be a leader of sorts so her organizational talents were put to good use to keep each child amply supplied with paint and other supplies.
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One child didn’t need to do a sketch of what he intended to paint as he had it mentally imprinted in his mind. You could tell he had painted before just by the way he held the brush.
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The children were very well behaved and took instructions quite seriously. They were eager to learn how to paint.
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The color mixing techniques were especially useful and they were quite astonished at the many shades of colors that mixing could create.
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A common product was used to show the children how different colors were chosen to make a product more appealing for sale.
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You could see the love in this child’s eyes as she proudly painted her vision of her home in Accompong Town.
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On the final day of class, the school room was open but there were projects from the school classes on the desks so the class went outside to finish their work.
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Every available space had one or more budding artists sharing a flat surface.
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More to come.


Peace and Guidance

[accompong]

Just before sunset, the group had finished this week’s classes and proudly displayed their finished work.
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The sun set on another week of classes. It was becoming more apparent as each day’s class concluded that the children were gaining confidence in their ability and wanting the classes to go on forever. Perhaps some day in the future the classes will be a part of the normal school curriculum. And the class was complete.
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Thank You for reading.....

Peace and Guidance

[accompong]

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In all my many years of traveling around and living in Jamaica, I can honestly say that I have never seen so many adults relaxing and thoroughly enjoying art for the sake of art.
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A couple of adults painted an extra wood slab to bring us to a total of 18 pieces of art that they readily offered to be sold at the January 6th Celebration with all the proceeds going to help school children pay their way back and forth to school. Tonight, the second week of classes for the younger children (8 - 15 yo) will be finished and the adults were voicing overwhelming support for another evening of painting and, the next time, bringing some smaller children to a class to learn the fundamentals.

This experience has been quite humbling for me personally. With a small amount of paint, brushes and thinner the artistic talents of these former Maroon Warrior descendants are being reawakened and blooming from a struggling bud into a beautiful flower. As always, Jamaica and especially the Maroons in my hometown have risen to the occasion and reaffirmed my long held belief that anything is possible here.

I hope you have enjoyed this thread so far.

Peace and Guidance

[accompong]

Soon the success of the Riverstone Project became widely known by the residents of Accompong Town and the young and older adults would ask to paint. This was an unexpected event and one that the Project welcomed with open arms. Again, a small roadblock to using the school for painting because they were adults threatened to delay the project but in true Maroon spirit, a shop owner offered to set up a place to paint inside and in front of her store.
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Her father-in-law (whom we call “Uncle”) stepped up first and painted the lizard (shown above) and then roared with laughter when someone pointed out that the lizard had 5 legs!
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Marshall joined in the fun and painted his masterpiece. Soon, everyone was picking up a piece of Blue Mahoe and joining the fun. To our surprise, we were soon hosting 10 adults in the group.
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Scean (pronounced See Ann), our neighbor and fresh egg supplier, pulled up a chair and showed her talent to the delight of her son who attended our first class. It was starting to look like the generational connection from child to parent was taking hold. Hopefully, for a long time to come.
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Another mother in my neighborhood sat down and sketched a picture to paint on her wood slab.
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Shane, a 23 year old man whom I have known since he was 7 had been anxiously awaiting this day as he sketched and paints with colored pencils all the time. When he was shown a picture of a lion he knew that is what he wanted to paint.

Peace and Guidance