Maryann Pyne of North Surrey is walking the 10Km 2021 virtual Vancouver Sun Run to support education in rural Jamaica. “I know that many of the 518 students at Belmont Academy don’t have – and cannot afford – tablets. COVID Variants are now rampant in Jamaica, forcing on-line education. Without technology, these secondary school students are at great risk of falling behind.” The Canadian Jamaican Medical Assistance Society (CJMAS) is fundraising to assist with this need, aiming to fund forty tablets. Pyne hopes to lay the foundation for this fund though her 10Km walk in late April.
CJMAS – an all-volunteer, Surrey-based registered charity – is committed to ongoing support to help uplift the low-income Jamaican community of Bluefields in the Parish of Westmorland. “With the loss of much of their fishing resources over time,” Pyne said, “employment has been scarce. As here in B.C., the pandemic has made things even more difficult.” In the past 28 years, CJMAS has assisted the community to establish small businesses, a fishing co-op and craft groups and has supported elementary and secondary education.
As well as supporting the Bluefields community, CJMAS volunteers have worked hard to raise funds and equipment donations for Jamaican hospitals; provided scholarships for individual bright students – including a recently graduated and newly employed Jamaican RN; and funds for developmental work underway on a culturally appropriate Caribbean teacher training resource to help identify and support students on the autism spectrum and their families. CJMAS helps improve mental health in Kingston, Jamaica through support to Open Arms, a residential rehabilitation and education centre for homeless and/or mentally ill adults.
“For the Bluefields students studying at Belmont Academy to gain the best possible education, new technology is needed.” Maryann will be “putting her feet where her mouth is” in the 10Km Sun Run. Readers can support her efforts by donating on-line at www.cjmas.ca or sending a cheque to CJMAS, 151 – 10090 – 152 St. #271, Surrey B.C. V3R 8X8 . Please indicate your gift is for the Sun Run 2021. “No gift is too small to be of help!” Maryann says. Tax-deductible receipts are available for every donation.
For more information about the work of CJMAS, see www.cjmas.ca or call Pearl, 604- 619-6642. On behalf of local CJMAS volunteers and students in Jamaica, thank you! “One love”!
By Shelagh Armour-Godbolt
