Officials from UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund) recently announced a formidable list of barriers to the healthy development of children in the Caribbean and Latin America, but they also vowed to work toward solving the sizable problems.
Infant mortality, chronic malnutrition, the impact and aftermath of natural disasters, domestic violence, sexual exploitation and abuse are the top-ranking “challenges” outlined recently by UNICEF officials.
For infants to have a fighting chance at life, they need a good, healthy start, said UNICEF Regional Director Nils Kastberg, calling for an increased focus on the health of mother and infant immediately after childbirth, increased support for breastfeeding and better prevention against the mother-to-child HIV transmission.
Violence in the home, commercial sexual exploitation and abuse affect millions of children in the regions each year, and special efforts should be made to stem this terrible tide, he said, adding that there also should be initiatives targeting out-of-work, untrained adolescents.
Finally, he proposed improved education by expanding “basic education” from simply primary school to include preprimary school through high school.
Kudos for Dr. Stanislaus
Dr. Lamuel Stanislaus, longtime community leader and Grenada’s former representative to the United Nations, recently received a new, international honor.
Stanislaus was named a commander of the order of the British Empire in the annual New Year’s honors approved by Queen Elizabeth 2nd.
The prestigious title is bestowed upon individuals for exceptional community service and distinguished contributions in their field. Stanislaus was cited for his community work and his medical service.
Medical care boon
Through some old-fashioned teamwork in New York, thousands of people in Jamaica will receive improved medical care in the form of two ambulances equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment.
At the center of the donation are Brooklyn Hospital Center and the Caribbean American Program for Empowerment (C.A.P.E.) USA organization, headed by Executive Director Abdullah Muhammed Abdul-Akbar.
On January 2, the two ambulances - equipped with EKG machines, oxygen tanks, defibrillators, heart monitors and other high-tech features - were donated by the hospital to the C.A.P.E., which is giving them to two Jamaica hospitals.
Akbar notes that Deputy Borough President Yvonne Graham, an honorary C.A.P.E. member, was the prime catalyst for the donation.
“She’s the one who made the calls and got this thing going,” he said.
The vehicles are expected to be sent next week to Jamaica’s Spanish Town Hospital in St. Catherine parish and Princess Margaret Hospital in the parish of St. Thomas. Two New York firms - Dennis Shipping, 1124 Utica Avenue, (between Clarendon and Beverly Roads) in Brooklyn and Queens-based TransContinental Express Shippers, 118-40 Montauk Street (between 118th and 119th Roads) in St. Albans - have pitched in to ship the ambulances.
The Brooklyn-based, nonprofit C.A.P.E. organization sends medical/surgical, computers, school and textbooks to hospitals, schools, churches and mosques in the Caribbean. Visit the organization’s web site at www.akbarcape.org, or call 718-421-1846 for information.
Carr remembered
The many contributions of former West Indian Social Club President Keith Carr Sr. were recalled Monday, January 14 at a funeral service for the Connecticut community leader at the Bethel AME Church in Bloomfield, CT, held at noon. Carr died last week in Hartford at 77.
The longtime member of the West Indian Social Club joined the organization in 1963 and over the years held several positions, including president and secretary. He also served as executive director of the West Indian Foundation, and he received Jamaica’s esteemed Order of Merit in 1977.
Tribute to King
The Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry will use its annual tribute to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. to announce the start of an innovative financial literacy program designed to educate young people, small-business owners, private organizations, faith-based groups and other entities.
The chamber’s Business Opportunity Membership Power Breakfast Networking Meeting in Tribute to the memory of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will be held Friday at St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street (between Clinton and Court Streets) in Brooklyn, beginning at 8 a.m.
The event, which will include chamber members and a number of VIP guests, is open to the public, but preregistration is necessary.
To register, call 718-834-4544, or send e-mail to rahastick@msn.com. In addition, visit the chamber’s web site: www.CaribbeanTradeCenter.com.
Bashment and basketball
Brooklyn’s Nazareth Regional High School will observe homecoming weekend this year with a massive event, “Bashment and Basketball,” which will take place Friday and Saturday at the school, 475 East 57th Street.
For information, call 718-763-1100, Ext. 232.
This column is reprinted from the January 13 Sunday editions of The New York Daily News. If you have an item suitable for this column please e-mail them to jmccallister@nydailynews.com.
