[Ohio-talk] Jamaica

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all,

I've just returned from Jamaica, where I spent 10 days learning about west Indies drumming and doing music therapy volunteer work in an infirmary and a school for students with special needs. It was a great experience, but one that made me reflect a lot.

There are not a lot of resources for people with disabilities in Jamaica, including the blind. People with disabilities in Jamaica or cared for by their families, or send to one of the government operated infirmaries, one per parish. I did come across people who are blind and appeared to have no other disabilities in the infirmary. If you at the infirmary were deaf blind as well. When I walked through the streets of Boston Bay with my classmates the locals selling jerk would tell them to watch out for me. The idea of a blind person being capable of looking after herself was unheard of to them. My classmates would say things like, "she's okay, she's got it, "but they would have to assure the locals several times. A lot of times this was done discreetly out of my earshot. When I was able to tell the locals I was okay myself, I did so. My classmates were very good about backing me up in this situation as well. I became very good at saying these things without being in sensitive to the cultural norm. This was different from ignorance we see from people in the United States, where people may have seen other blind people walking around on the streets or at least know that they're not institutionalized. A lot of this ties into the religious beliefs in Jamaica, which say that the disabled need to be cared for. They're the same Christian believes that effected blind people here almost a century ago. Even when I went through security at the Montego Bay airport yesterday the attendant made a comment that showed just how foreign the idea of an independent blind person was. I sent my belongings through the security scanner and walked right up to the metal detector. Since my cane with aluminum I sent it through the scanner and walked without it through the scanner. The attendant said that I did well for myself. However, I can't say I was never offered a wheelchair in Jamaica. That was something I was grateful for.  

Sent from my iPhone