Hampton School

 As I am honest, I will say up front that I hated most of the years I spent at Hampton School in St. Elizabeth.

When I was growing up, Hampton supposed to be one of the most prestigious schools in Jamaica, and since it was only about a mile from my home in Malvern, my fate was sealed before I was even born💫

When I attended however,  it was more like a prison or the secluded covent in Britain that your read about, than a school. 😡

 I will be honest though in that I loved the last two years of my life there (in sixth form), as we commuted daily to share classes with the boys at our brother school, Munroe College 🥰. (Oh boy, weren't those days exciting! One day I will tell you about them.)

It was my dislike for all things Hampton though why I washed my hands off that institution on leaving, and never got involved in the "old girls" affairs. (HOGA, Hampton old girls association is the name of the past students' group). (ME OLD? YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING.😉

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I learned about the situation below recently and had to get involved. 

The information came via a video about conditions in Woodlands, St. Elizabeth and its environs,  which suffered badly with the passing of hurricane Melissa. The video was forwarded to me by my cousin Everett Smith, a Florida based attorney who was born in Woodlands.

 It's about a Hampton girl whose home was upended by hurricane Melissa. This further added to her misery as a day girl who had to use public transportation daily from the border of Westmoreland/St. Elizabeth to get to Hampton School. This distance means she has to leave her home in the wee hours of the morning in the dark and return at nightfall. That sounded appalling, especially as it related to her safety as a young woman.

Besides, what time would that leave for her to study, was my other reaction and how could she deal with personal issues such as bathing etc when the very bathroom of her home no longer exists?

 These are what motivated me to contact Sonja Pringle, an active HOGA mrmber, to see how we could help. I am happy to see the ball got rolling quickly, thanks to the hard working Dawn Ebanks, president of HOGA.

 Let's all rise to the occasion.

You see whether we like the school, me or not, there are situations that call for immediate action.

I am therefore calling on all who read this blog to assist this young lady. No donation will be too small and a spreadsheet will be sent to everyone showing all donations and expenditure. 

 Thank you. And please share this blog with friends/schoolmates who have a heart.🤎

,.....................,,.......................................

The young lady's name is: Anna Marie Wright. 

Donations are to go to:

Zelle. Jordannem.ebanks@gmail.com. 

PayPal. Jordannem.ebanks@gmail.com. 

Update from Dawn Ebanks 08/15/2026

Spreadsheet not opening on my phone but anxious to share contributions so far: 

1. Karan $10,000

2. ⁠Anonymous $10,000

3. ⁠Annette $40,000

4. ⁠Sonia us$100

5. ⁠Sharon us$50 

6. ⁠Joan us$200

Total j$60,000

Total usd$350 j$54,250 

Total J$114,250

Ps. Google Hampton School, St. Elizabeth if you require any other info.

A WhatsApp group chat called "Tatewood student" has also been established. (Tatewood is the name of a large property in Woodlands).

Link: https://youtu.be/wtmUzaCD-g4?is=w39LMukggbYC4z9u.

College? Not for me

 A few years ago, speaking to a young American, I was shocked when he declared that he was sorry he had gone to college. When I asked him why, he explained that he had wasted four years of his life getting a degree, cum laude too, only to find that the job market for graduates was no good. He told me that all around he heard of the thousands of young people who did not graduate with anything but were making huge sums of money on things like gaming and You Tube.

Interestingly, he did not mention criminal activity though.

I was a bit puzzled as where I come from, Jamaica, higher education had long been considered the route to upward mobility, including financial success.

I guess I am out of step though for I am only realizing that the type of youth that I knew who hungered for higher education, now seem obsolete, especially among young men.

It came home starkly when I was advised recently that two well-advertised scholarships valued at $2.4 million, to our own University of the West Indies, was commanding little interest.

These scholarships were being sponsored by Violet Edwards, a Jamaican, who is one of five people in the world that got a university degree while in their 90’s. (Joan, my views: Reflections on aging (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

Even then I didn’t want to believe there was a serious trend until a friend sent me this recent news item from TVJ. (https://youtu.be/Y9WiSxpcc7I.)

 In the news clip, you see and hear Minister of Agriculture Pernell Charles Jr, bemoaning the fact that there are dozens of scholarships available for which there are no takers.

And to think that for years I have been living under the illusion that just enough scholarships are available for poor students! 😞                                                                    I really shouldn’t be surprised you know but I am genuinely dismayed.

I say I shouldn’t be surprised, for I have known for years that Jamaica is a country where crime definitely pays. 

So if you can get rich quickly and easily through crime, why study?

Even when our criminals are as high profile as Dudus was, the law does not touch them as our security force is super corrupt.

One of the homes alledgedly owned by Dudus

And, there are so many easy ways to make money and openly enjoy the flashy lifestyle in Jamaica without ever being deterred (unless the Americans step in), that those who don’t choose that route could be considered either cowardly or stupid!

Among the easy ways the youth see people making lots of money and living large without studying are; scamming, extortion, drugs, religion and politics.

On the other hand, most who choose the long tedious route involving years of study, after graduation, they end up in jobs which don’t even give them the ability to pay rent in relatively safe neighborhoods, if they don’t get the opportunity to migrate.

Of course, there are exceptions to this general trend, but clearly not enough to give most young people the impetus to pursue the straight and narrow.

Till we tackle this drift, college and higher education will continue to be unattractive to many in the younger generation.