Last night we went down to the National Stadium to watch the Reggae Boyz play against the USA. It was a qualifying game for the World Cup and the Boyz did not fare well.

I have absolutely no expertise to comment on the way the Boyz played, but they looked lethargic to me. The crowd, however, was not. They were not having any of it. All around us in the bleachers, people were coaching and critiquing the entire time. My favourite part was the dude wearing a bright yellow hard hat. He yelled the entire game, danced when JA scored their lone goal and then said he was stressed out when the US scored their second goal to end the game 2-1.

People were so angry with some of the JA’s coaches choices they started to leave early. Apparently they were holding on to residual anger from Usain Bolt’s loss to USA’s Justin Gatlin earlier in the week. So bottles started flying but then the police and private security forces started filing out, assembling themselves along the perimeter of the field. They just stared out at us, the crowd, clutching their batons. Kind of creepy. But everyone left peacefully. A ton of fun! (Thanks to Althea for the pics.)

Last Sunday, Onyka and I went with the running group to a 5K race in St. Catherine. The place is called Bog Walk and the race was in an orange grove at the headquarters of the Tru Juice factory. It was cooler than Kingston and a little foggy when we got started. The actual trail was quite difficult to manage, lots of rocks and slippery grass. And my shoelaces came undone not once but twice. That has never happened to me before. I had a slow time but enjoyed running amongst the orange trees. It smelled divine in there. Onyka walked the 5K route and posted a great time. Afterwards, we limed for a bit in the little river and then headed back to Kingston. Have a great Friday!

Jamaica is a nation with a lot of “aggressive friendliness,” according to a panellist at a talk I attended yesterday that addressed youth violence from a gender perspective. Put another less euphemistic way, Jamaica can be a very violent society.

To be more specific, one in five Jamaican women experience physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lives. The homicide rate for young men is 188/100,000. Related statistics that help to explain these phenomena include the fact that twenty per cent of children are born to a teenage mother, twenty per cent of youth are unattached; 24% of young men and 38 % of young women are unemployed.

These sobering statistics provided a backdrop for the Next GENDERation Talk, titled Understanding and Addressing Youth Violence from a Gender Perspective held on June 5, 2013. This initiative “aims to raise awareness, promote discussion among youth on youth violence using a gender perspective.”

To discuss this important topic, a group of youth, educators, activists, members of civil society, government (Ministry of Yoth and Culture, Bureau of Women’s Affairs, Education) and NGOs such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank gathered at the comfortable Terra Nova Hotel in New Kingston to discuss violence as it relates to gender.

“This is a bold attempt to save the next generation,” The Honourable Senator Sandrea Falconer of the Office of the Prime Minister (Responsibility for Gender Affairs) told the crowd in opening remarks. Sen. Faloner also called on the entire nation to support the Next GENDERation initiative and to subscribe to Vision 2030, which aims to make Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business. Jamaica cannot be built on a foundation of violence, the Senator added.

Federica Marza of the World Bank then took participants through an explanation of gender, which is a social construct that dictates the roles and expectations of men and women, versus sex, which refers to an individual’s biological situation. In this light, Marza told the crowd that gender equality matters because it is both a basic human rights issue and it is smart economics. “If women are excluded from economic activity, it is a missed opportunity to create wealth,” she said.

However, it is not all bad news in Jamaica. Women have experienced advances in accessing tertiary education and healthy birth rates have increased such that Jamaica’s maternal mortality rate is still above the world average at 110 per 100,000 live births.

The University of West Indies’ Dr. Herbert Gayle was blunt about the issue of gender in Jamaica. “Gender is a mess that needs to be sorted out,” he said. This mess manifests itself in many ways, including the reality that boys are in trouble, but the bulk of funds goes to girls, he said. The Bureau of Women’s Affairs Faith Webster echoed this by saying that women have an opportunity to contribute to the confusing discussion about gender, but now is the time to include men and boys in this dialogue. A participant noted that it is also essential to discuss homophobia when talking about gender and violence.

The discussion then moved into talk about “agency,” which was defined as the “capacity to act to achieve desired objectives.” Too many Jamaican youth lack agency and an example of this would be a lack of means to attend university. Solutions to this lack of agency include aspiration, social norms, empowerment,soft skills, parenting intervention, self-esteem boosting, social interactions, public awareness campaigns and information sharing.

Federica Marza of the World Bank then went on to discuss violence, which she beautifully described as the opposite of freedom, with even the threat of violence negating one’s ability to act and achieve. Marza said there are four factors that put one at risk of experiencing violence: : poverty; community influences; interpersonal relationships; individual issues (low self-esteem).

To counter the ravages of violence and to feel empowered, said Takisha Barnes of the Ministry of Youth and Culture, youth must feel listened to and understood. Dr. Gayle of UWI added to this by saying that young people can work hard but without agency, cannot achieve. Thus, the most violent people have the most agency, he said, explaining that some people simply take the opportunities in front of them by using violence.

The triggering factors of violence usually fall under one of four categories: social norms, unemployment, lack of support and an aggressive police force. However, violence can be alleviated through skills development, education, employment, emotional support, community intervention, according to another presenter from the World Bank.

The presentations continued throughout the day, including a lively report from Ms. Audrey Cold-Crossdale, who is a Communication for Social and Behavioural Change Specialist, who told the audience that successfully relaying a message requires knowing your audience, what you want from it and what benefit you can provide to them. You must create awareness, arouse interest, stimulate desire and induce action, she said.

The remainder of the day consisted of role playing and more sessions about gender and violence, but we could not stay. Judging by audience reaction and participation, it was a successful day.

All of a sudden, my computer is fixed. I dropped by the Apple store as I had not yet heard from them, expecting a bill of tens of thousands of JA dollars, a month needed to fix it, and a fight to get it covered by warranty. But Keisha, who was working at the counter, disappeared behind the back for awhile then emerged with my computer. It works perfectly. I am so confused because in Memphis, TN, at the Apple store there, they told me it would take awhile to fix and would require parts that would not be covered by the warranty. So in a way I am wary of another crash, but I am happy now! I can go back to tackling this mound of work before me.

Here are some pictures from YOU’s Annual Parenting Seminar that I wrote about last week that I did not get a chance to post yet. Have a great day!

This morning, I ran uphill for 20 minutes. It was a steep incline that left my lungs and legs burning. I did not stop, though, not once. I went with a few members of the running group, early, even before the sun was up. So it seemed we had the city to ourselves, especially on the deserted roads that took us up to a hill overlooking Wickie Wackie Beach.

It was the kind of run that provided a few good reminders for me as I deal with some challenges lately. Last week, the water in my apartment was shut off as some people were delinquent in paying their bills (apparently the National Water Company changed the water metering system, which resulted in bills more than doubling). This was extremely inconvenient, needless to say. Then, my lap top decided to die without any warning. After a long ordeal that involved me sending it with a colleague to Memphis to be fixed (I was told by Apple there is no authorized service provider here. WRONG!), it would not have been fixed in time to have been brought back. So I am now waiting for it to be fixed from what they have diagnosed as water damage. I have never spilled anything on it, that I know of. I have been told it could be the humidity here. The warranty does not cover water damage, but may cover the effects of humidity. Fingers crossed. So I have been on the phone to Apple trying to sort this out. I now have a new friend named Denis who is promising to do what he can to help me with this problem.

This all comes at a time that I am trying to keep up with my day-to-day job, blogging, two major projects due in the next couple of weeks and various other activities I am involved in. Needless to say, a writer without a laptop is catastrophic.

Okay, maybe it is not so bad. I keep reminding myself that this will all pass. And my friends and family are all ok, at least for today. As am I. I am able to run up a mountain without stopping for two kilometers.

Which brings me back to what running has taught me over the years and what it does for me when things in my life seem to be exploding. I have learned that our body and mind are capable of way more than we think. I have learned that if you just put one foot in front of the other, it will all get done at some point. I have learned that if you concentrate on the totality of all that is in front of you, it is overwhelming, so concentrate on what is right in front of you, with only glimpses far ahead to keep things in perspective. Things usually have a way of working themselves out, time smoothes them over and before you know it, you have new worries and the old ones are long gone. I have learned that a challenging run (and life) is a lot more pleasant with someone at your side. Even with no words exchanged, to hear them labouring is a comfort. This morning, my mind and body were telling me to stop, telling me I was past my limit, but I kept my eye on friend ahead, his steps steady and precise. This is another thing I have learned: to ignore the madness in your mind. There is always a lot of noise going on up there in your brain. You can choose to listen and succumb to the chaos and negativity when things are tough, or you can acknowledge, move on and concentrate on the positive. I have learned too, that if you breathe, spread oxygen about your body, you will calm down and regain perspective and will be better equipped to act with wisdom. And this morning I was reminded, as I reached the top of the hill and Kingston all of a sudden was sprawled out before me, that things can turn out better and more breathtaking than you could ever have imagined possible. It is a journey, and it is worth it.

So please forgive this cliche-ridden post, but I must remind myself of the things I have learned that will get me through this challenging time. And please forgive the lack of blogging. I will post as often as I can until my laptop is fixed.