By Lumas Kendrick Photo credit by Marcia Erskine Who will produce the innovative ideas that will solve the Caribbean’s pressing energy problems? To recognize some especially creative energy solutions representatives of various international development agencies hosted a reception at the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston on March 17 to celebrate the winners of the IDB’s 2012 … [Read more...] about IDEAS Energy Innovation
Jamaica
Putting biodiversity education in the fast lane in Jamaica
On a recent visit to a Jamaican School, I was transported back in time to my childhood. I grew up in a rural area. Our house sat in the middle of a quintessentially English village with gardens and fields, a river, rolling green hills which abruptly turn into limestone cliffs and then tumble into the sea. Given my rural upbringing in a particularly beautiful part of the … [Read more...] about Putting biodiversity education in the fast lane in Jamaica
The bucket challenge in Jamaica
Can you imagine yourself walking 500 meters or even a mile every day to get water to cover your basic needs? Can you imagine thinking that every drop you use has to be efficiently distributed between cooking, cleaning and personal use and just a minimal waste can represent another trip to the nearest community water pond or water truck? Five hundred meters it’s not such a long … [Read more...] about The bucket challenge in Jamaica
How Sustainable Tourism in Jamaica Opened Doors for Youth
If you had told me two years ago that my tourism project would lead me to be part of a team filming a video in a music studio, I wouldn’t have believed you. But that is precisely what happened, together with Jamoi, one of several young Jamaican men who had turned his life around with this project – a project which combined sustainable tourism in Jamaica and at-risk … [Read more...] about How Sustainable Tourism in Jamaica Opened Doors for Youth
The MIF in Jamaica: Small businesses, small country, small projects… large impact
Three years ago, I and my MIF colleagues who focus on Jamaica made a deliberate decision to target access to finance for Jamaican SMEs--a critical area of need in the country, and one in which we could make a difference. Today, the MIF portfolio in Jamaica includes a group of mutually reinforcing projects that offer support to small and medium firms through a range of models. … [Read more...] about The MIF in Jamaica: Small businesses, small country, small projects… large impact