The scope and power of the entrepreneurial spirit in Jamaica is something that has always inspired me. Especially amongst young people. Starting a business is daunting at any age, given the obstacles and rate of failure, but imagine having little experience and education. Or perhaps this is what fuels young entrepreneurs, the optimism of youth? In any case, this young woman’s story struck me this morning.

Nineteen-year-old Mahalia Gordon was cooking chicken and was dissatisfied with the marinades she had at home. So she made her own. She now produces and sells about 200 bottles of the stuff a month. It is called MahGord’s. She worked with the Scientific Research Council and sources all the ingredients locally, in her home parish of St. Elizabeth. Here is Mahalia:

“For young persons who are starting out in business, I would say to them do their research and find out their real market. Whatever comes to your mind and you know it’s positive and once it’s marketable, you do your research and you just have God as your guide and just go among the others and shine and just do your best.”

The only downside to the story is that government regulation is prohibiting her business from growing faster. Sigh. A universal story. And I must commend both the Gleaner and Observer newspapers, both of which are never short on sensational and negative coverage, but both of whom also run plenty of stories about youth doing positive things.

It is Friday and I thought I would post something different today. I have been organizing myself lately and have been searching my archives of all the stories I have written. (By my estimates, I have written well over one million words in my career, including academic, journalling and blogging. Or that works out to close to the 10,000 hours of practice Malcolm Gladwell says it takes to master a craft, so I guess I am almost there. Kidding, of course, as I think that one could never really “master” writing since there is always room for improvement.) It has been a long journey in the world of journalism; my work as a reporter started prior to the invention of Google. It started before government documents were available online. And it started when print ruled. Check out this story I wrote just after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Enjoy your day.

This graphic below is courtesy of Jamaicans for Justice, a human rights advocacy group. Think about it for a second.

While it is positive that the rate of killings by those charged with protecting the citizenry is slowing, in theory, this phenomenon should not occur at all.

And this issue is beginning to attract international attention (at least related to extrajudicial killings).

(Photo courtesy of Jamaica Observer)

You see just about everything travelling on the roads here. People use whatever they can to move around and transport things here and there. What concerns me the most are children (with no helmets) being carried on bicycles and gardeners moving their massive blades and weed whackers around. Here is an example, although it is lovely, of this regularity.

There are too many homeless people in Kingston, the majority of which are older males. They perch along walls, under trees, within cardboard boxes. I see then on my early morning runs. They are usually there for a few months and then all of a sudden they have moved on, never to be seen again. They often carry a bag and have matted dreadlocks, dirty clothes and mismatched shoes. They are listless and so thin.

There is one man (pictured) who I have seen consistently throughout the time I have lived here. He is probably about 60 years old, short and stout and always dressed all in black. He walks and walks and walks, at all times of the day. We wave to one another and say “Good morning” when I see him on my runs.

The other day I noticed that he is now wearing an all navy-blue outfit- a polo shirt and pants. He is not carrying bags anymore. He just walks around now. I wonder what happened. Did he get a job? A place to live? Where did his bags go? I am tempted to ask him.

Several people I know now have Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus that causes severe flu-like symptoms. This is apparently not Dengue, but similar to this other virus that causes the same symptoms. According to those suffering, they experience fatigue, severe joint pain and a rash. They have been knocked out for about a week, or even longer. It is, however, not fatal, nor is it treatable though. In order to avoid it, people must not get bitten by infected mosquitos. This is difficult, though, given recent rains and the fact that many communities do not have regular trash pick-up or drain cleanings. (Mosquitos breed in still water).

This seems straightforward enough, right?

It is not, at least judging by the media coverage, politicization, misinformation and confusion.

The Ministry of Health is reporting 24 confirmed cases, while Opposition MP Delano Severeight is accusing the Ministry of “under-reporting”.

I have also suspected under-reporting, however, it is not so simple because many people suspect they have the virus and do not go to the doctor, so the Ministry is not informed of these cases.

In addition, there appears to be a terrible flu circulating, during which people experience similar symptoms. How is this so complicated though? If either Chikungunya and a severe flu are going around, why can’t officials state that? Why has this become politicized? Why is there so much confusion? And is Dengue also going around? What is the Ministry doing to prevent further infection?

Need a haircut? I took this on Jacques Road in Mountain View. Enjoy your Friday.

Jamaica fares as one of the worst nations in the world when it comes to how much crime and violence affect the ability to do business. This is the alarming finding of a report released this week.

In addition to this finding, some fascinating numbers were revealed yesterday by the World Economic Forum regarding Jamaica’s ability to compete in the global marketplace. The Global Competitiveness Report is an annual assessment of 144 nations in terms of how they rank for productivity and prosperity.

Jamaica’s overall rank of 86 out of 144 seems to reflect the individual scores for each area assessed within the report: just below the middle of the pack. In terms of other Caribbean nations, however, it ranks second to Barbados. Is this something to celebrate? That remains to be seen.

Overall, the Latin American and Caribbean region is not faring so well. The summary of the report reveals that the region will continue its lack of economic growth. In fact, the region will grow only 2.5 per cent in 2014 and attributes this to “weak investments, a fall in investments and commodity prices and tighter access to finance…” Chile, Panama and Costa Rica take the top spots, respectively, in the region.

(First, second and third place go to Switzerland, Singapore and the U.S. respectively, while the bottom three places to go Yemem, Chad and Guinea. And in summary, the report says the the global economy is “leaving behind” the worst economic crisis in 80 years but that threats remain on the horizon).

The report breaks the rankings down very specifically, so let’s pick out some other interesting facts for Jamaica. (What stands out for me is the lack of security and how it impacts on every aspect of living, working and doing business in Jamaica.)

GDP is $14.3 billion total and $5133.66 per capita and 0.03 per cent as share of world total. (In comparison, top ranked Switzerland’s numbers are as follows: $650.8; $81323.96 and 0.43 per cent).

Security: 127 out of 144 countries.
Business costs of crime and violence: 143 out of 144 countries.
Organized crime: 138 out of 144 countries.

Public trust in politicians: 95 out of 144 countries.
Judicial independence: 42 out of 144 countries.
Government efficiency: 106 out of 144 countries.
Transparency of government policy-making: 109 out of 144 countries.

The macroeconomy is not performing so well either, which we know from the IMF’s constant presence and monitoring. The report indicates that while Jamaica ranks high in terms of government budget balance as percentage of GDP (21st), the macroeconomy ranks low (136 overall), as do savings, inflation and government debt (127, 132 and 140 respectively). In terms of performance related to the incidences of HIV (122 out of 144 countries), Jamaica is not doing so well either.

On a more positive note, accountability and the protection of auditing and reporting standards are fairly strong (43 and 35).

Health and education rankings range in the mid-low end, while interestingly, the environment for small business owners and entrepreneurs appears fairly favourable.

Check out the full report, it is a full portrait of people’s perceptions of how competitive Jamaica is in comparison to the rest of the world. What sticks out for me is that without basic security, growth is elusive as people do not feel safe enough to take risks and conduct the activities associated with running a business and going about their daily lives.

Good Wednesday morning! Today I direct you to my friend and fellow blogger Emma Lewis’ new blog for the Gleaner newspaper. She is providing some good insight on social justice happenings. Emma is providing precious analysis and context and perspective on the many social issues affecting Jamaica. I particularly like this week’s post as it discusses environmental issues. Check it out and keep up the good work Emma!

This picture was taken on a hike by a river where Bob Marley apparently used to wash his locks. Enjoy your day.