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Not sure if this was posted already but I think this writer has quite an imagination...
Source:The Herald Journal
<span style="font-weight: bold">Soapbox: Vacation to Jamaica turns out to be a real eye-opener</span>
By Fernando Leonhardt
In the first days of January I had the good fortune to make an incredible journey to Jamaica to enjoy its beaches and landscape. It is a natural paradise. But I am the type of person who likes to not only know the tourist side of an area, but to get to the reality of a place and its people, beyond the tourism scene.
I like to know the customs of the people of each place I visit, not just the fantasy of it being “all inclusive.” That is why I left the hotel to get involved more in the reality of the country. As the days passed on the island, I noticed the poverty, underdevelopment and injustice that sometimes we inhabitants of developed countries do not perceive.
The majority of the population is black, descendants of slaves brought from Africa by colonial countries. I was surprised by the joy and optimism of the Jamaican people, despite having nothing.
Their primary sources of income are few. With a lot of luck, some get jobs at hotels catering to tourists, but this work only pays a miserable $200 a month. Artisans make beautiful things and sell them to tourists who walk the beaches, while others make wages in the sugar cane harvest. Finally, there are many whose income depends on selling marijuana, mainly to tourists.
What is striking is that all these people sing and dance to reggae music, idolizing the legendary Bob Marley.
Jamaicans live in heartbreaking poverty, without education, without industries. Colonists exploited the island for centuries before Jamaica gained independence in 1962 and became a nation in the British Commonwealth. But England’s role here is nearly non-existent. The queen visits once a year. You can see her mansion surrounded by ramshackle houses made &#8203;&#8203;of wood, some on the verge of collapse. There are golf courses in Jamaica, but, curiously, none of the players are inhabitants of the island, but visiting foreigners instead.
It also struck me that even though Jamaica’s population is almost entirely black, I saw many election campaign billboards with only white faces on them! A tiny minority of whites govern the black majority.
Many readers might think from the comfort of your homes that the Jamaican people are lazy and do not like work, but the reality is that they have nothing to do. They remain slaves of a few foreign companies that pay poverty wages. Schools in Jamaica are almost invisible, education is a luxury, and many of the island’s inhabitants must travel many miles to find a hospital.
Marijuana sells like hot cakes. Although illegal, it is widely available and a big draw to tourists who flock to Jamaica to try “new sensations.” I disagree with the use of marijuana, but I realize that because of it, a few more Jamaicans are able to feed and clothe their children, so do not judge.
As I walked and watched the people of the island with its thick inner rain forest, clear rivers, sugar cane plantations, beaches invaded by foreigners who do not leave the perimeters of the hotels, to my mind came the name of my Argentine compatriot Che Guevara. Surely you know or have heard of him. The truth is, I never knew if Guevara’s revolutionary cause was right or wrong, but I understand now his anger at seeing the injustices of people exploited by greed and selfishness.
I think it’s very easy to criticize people and their behaviors, to assume they do not like work or do not respect the laws, as we sit in our comfortable chairs or spend too many hours talking at church about how to make this a better world. But we have to put ourselves in their place and leave our pride aside if we want to truly understand their situation.
I ended my trip to Jamaica with both joy and sadness — joy to have experienced the beautiful scenery, but sadness at the reality of these people, used and forgotten.
——————————————
Fernando Leonhardt is a native of Argentina now living in North Logan. He owns the La Ranchera and La Rancerita markets in Logan.
Source:The Herald Journal
<span style="font-weight: bold">Soapbox: Vacation to Jamaica turns out to be a real eye-opener</span>
By Fernando Leonhardt
In the first days of January I had the good fortune to make an incredible journey to Jamaica to enjoy its beaches and landscape. It is a natural paradise. But I am the type of person who likes to not only know the tourist side of an area, but to get to the reality of a place and its people, beyond the tourism scene.
I like to know the customs of the people of each place I visit, not just the fantasy of it being “all inclusive.” That is why I left the hotel to get involved more in the reality of the country. As the days passed on the island, I noticed the poverty, underdevelopment and injustice that sometimes we inhabitants of developed countries do not perceive.
The majority of the population is black, descendants of slaves brought from Africa by colonial countries. I was surprised by the joy and optimism of the Jamaican people, despite having nothing.
Their primary sources of income are few. With a lot of luck, some get jobs at hotels catering to tourists, but this work only pays a miserable $200 a month. Artisans make beautiful things and sell them to tourists who walk the beaches, while others make wages in the sugar cane harvest. Finally, there are many whose income depends on selling marijuana, mainly to tourists.
What is striking is that all these people sing and dance to reggae music, idolizing the legendary Bob Marley.
Jamaicans live in heartbreaking poverty, without education, without industries. Colonists exploited the island for centuries before Jamaica gained independence in 1962 and became a nation in the British Commonwealth. But England’s role here is nearly non-existent. The queen visits once a year. You can see her mansion surrounded by ramshackle houses made &#8203;&#8203;of wood, some on the verge of collapse. There are golf courses in Jamaica, but, curiously, none of the players are inhabitants of the island, but visiting foreigners instead.
It also struck me that even though Jamaica’s population is almost entirely black, I saw many election campaign billboards with only white faces on them! A tiny minority of whites govern the black majority.
Many readers might think from the comfort of your homes that the Jamaican people are lazy and do not like work, but the reality is that they have nothing to do. They remain slaves of a few foreign companies that pay poverty wages. Schools in Jamaica are almost invisible, education is a luxury, and many of the island’s inhabitants must travel many miles to find a hospital.
Marijuana sells like hot cakes. Although illegal, it is widely available and a big draw to tourists who flock to Jamaica to try “new sensations.” I disagree with the use of marijuana, but I realize that because of it, a few more Jamaicans are able to feed and clothe their children, so do not judge.
As I walked and watched the people of the island with its thick inner rain forest, clear rivers, sugar cane plantations, beaches invaded by foreigners who do not leave the perimeters of the hotels, to my mind came the name of my Argentine compatriot Che Guevara. Surely you know or have heard of him. The truth is, I never knew if Guevara’s revolutionary cause was right or wrong, but I understand now his anger at seeing the injustices of people exploited by greed and selfishness.
I think it’s very easy to criticize people and their behaviors, to assume they do not like work or do not respect the laws, as we sit in our comfortable chairs or spend too many hours talking at church about how to make this a better world. But we have to put ourselves in their place and leave our pride aside if we want to truly understand their situation.
I ended my trip to Jamaica with both joy and sadness — joy to have experienced the beautiful scenery, but sadness at the reality of these people, used and forgotten.
——————————————
Fernando Leonhardt is a native of Argentina now living in North Logan. He owns the La Ranchera and La Rancerita markets in Logan.
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