Just a little bit more shameless self-promotion: My piece went to bed last night. IT IS DONE!!! It will air on Monday night at 9:30pm on TVJ in Jamaica. The following Thursday, it will be online at http://www.18degreesnorth.tv. Hopefully, this will shed more light on the issue of children in conflict with the law in Jamaica. Civil society groups say it is a punitive, rather than rehabilitative system. The government this week made some major progress in addressing some of the problems, but fundamental changes must still be made to help, rather than hurt, these children, who often have emotional and social challenges.

A sad note: the young girl in the photo (her mother asked for anonymity), who we called “Aisha”, has run away from home again. The story centred on her experience- she ran away from home for two weeks to visit her father in Montego Bay. As a result, she was placed in an adult prison for three months. I called the authorities to report her missing again. She has been gone since July and has a social worker on the case. When I heard the news this week, my heart dropped and my stomach flipped over and I shed some tears. In fact, I’ve been thinking about her pretty much non-stop, wondering where she is, what she is doing and whether or not she is safe. Jamaica is not an easy place to grow up.

Please pray for her safe return.