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'Place, Community, Transformation'

Short Term in Kingston, Jamaica

By Bates College

August 6^th, 2015

'it takes more than one sense'

Professor of Anthropology Charles Carnegie developed a new off-campus Short Term course to engage Bates students in researching the feasibility of stimulating non-governmental green development projects in Kingston, Jamaica. Carnegie infused the syllabus of “Place, Community, Transformation: Kingston, Jamaica” with elements of Bates’ Purposeful Work initiative and the Harward Center’s civic engagement ethos that prizes learning through collaboration and real-world problem solving.

Over four weeks, 14 students headed out in pairs to conduct ethnographic fieldwork in parks, food gardens, and other green initiatives. Their goal: to understand how green spaces can create community resources that make life better while promoting social renewal.

Students asked Kingston residents: What do you think about your neighborhood? Do you travel to other parts of Kingston, and why? How far do you travel for recreation? What is your experience growing food?

Course readings included an essay, “The Disadvantages of an Elite Education” by William Deresiewicz, that questions the real-world relevance of a liberal arts education. As they engaged in real-world fieldwork, Carnegie asked his students to think about their own futures as they learned about life in Kingston. He asked them to consider how their own roles as citizens shape their ideas about work. He asked them to reflect on the social ideals and goals that motivate their career interests. And he asked them to imagine translating those ideals into action.

In these words and photographs are some, but not all, of the answers to those questions.

Below: Bates students visit Rose Town, a community struggling to overcome economic stagnation, physical neglect, and years of political and gang violence.

woodford Park

Bates students were there as local leaders met in a church in Kingston’s Woodford Park community. The meeting’s goal: to bridge local differences by planning a bingo event and a work day activity. The gathering began with a prayer.

'Everyone has some form of agency'

“Sitting in a three-hour meeting shows me how long it really takes to make progress. It’s inspiring to see regular citizens trying to make a difference. It takes a lot of dedication and commitment to your own community to really want to make a change.” — Clara Jessup ’16 of Seattle

“The media portrays people who live in underdeveloped countries as submissive — we see images of their poverty but never see them question their conditions. … My fieldwork revived my belief that everyone has some form of agency. I was introduced to several remarkable community leaders who restored my faith.” — Madelene Santizo ’16 of Pamona, Calif.

emancipation park

Fatima Sacko ’17 of New York City and Denise del Villar ’16 of Los Angeles observed Emancipation Park, a municipal jewel in uptown Kingston.

'You've got to hear, see, smell, touch, and talk'

‘What I’ve learned about observing is that it takes more than one sense to do it. You’ve got to hear, see, smell, touch, and talk to really get the full sense of what you’re doing. I may focus on one thing, but there’s so much else happening. I have to make sure that I really know my surroundings and what is happening while I’m here.” — Fatima Sacko ’17

RAE TOWN

Maria-Anna Chrysovergi ’18 of Eleones, Greece, and Juwon Song ’15 of Aurora, Colo., worked with pupils at St. Michael’s primary school in Rae Town. The Bates students and their young partners created hanging pots from recycled plastic bottles, making something useful and helping to free up space in their crowded schoolyard.

'these streets were alive'

“Downtown, the streets were littered with huge mounds of trash, devoid of greenery, and a faint smell of urine and guts drifted by now and then. But these streets were alive. The residents walked through them as people in communities should, and they relaxed in the streets, conversing with neighbors and other friends — something you hardly see in the suburban States or uptown Kingston. … Communities would thrive sociopolitically and even economically if people found time to live a little on the streets and connect with each other.” — Juwon Song ’15

“You don’t need to be rich to help conserve our planet. All you need is a good idea.” — Maria-Anna Chrysovergi ’18

THE WATERFROnT

Jeremy Mack ’16 of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Shanina van Gent ’18 of Maassluis, Netherlands, were fieldwork partners who visited Kingston’s waterfront each day. They befriended a group of men who shared diverse perspectives on life in Kingston.

The Pier Community

“The pier community — guys from the area, professionals on break, and fishermen among others — were very accepting. Before I knew it, I had become one of the pier’s daily visitors. Everyday I’d learn something. I’ve been blessed to have this experience.” — Jeremy Mack ’16

SOUTHSIDE

Ali Rabideau ’17 of Natick, Mass., and Keenan Shields ’18 of Pittsford, N.Y., worked with organic community gardeners in Kingston’s Southside neighborhood. Working in the garden, meeting residents, and participating in neighborhood life were all part of the intrepid fieldwork and ethnographic efforts that the pair completed.

'Our classroom is wherever we are'

“There’s something about crouching beside someone, digging your hands into the same soft earth, cultivating the vegetables that will serve as the meal you will share together, that creates the strongest bonds of community, of family, and of shared hope for a brighter future.” — Ali Rabideau ’17

”This has been the definition of experiential learning — our classroom is wherever we are and everyone is a teacher. It‘s a whole different breed of learning that enables and values personal development parallel to intellectual and academic development.” — Keenan Shields ’18

LIFE YARD

Rabideau and Shields also worked at Life Yard, a former dump that is now a sustainable urban farm and restaurant collective that grows food and mentors community children.

Rose town

Alexa Adams ’17, an anthropology major from Williamstown, Mass., and Gideon Ikpekaogu ’17, an economics major from Amsterdam, conducted ethnographic interviews in the Rose Town section of Kingston. They were accompanied by Melbourne Absolom, executive director of I-ACT, a local group working with young men to keep them out of gangs and help them become productive citizens. Community leaders in Rose Town, a neighborhood battered by violence, are striving to make changes that include creating educational centers in areas that have been literally leveled over the years. Below, the Bates students interview a young mother, asking about the quality of her life in a neighborhood that aspires to a better future.

Peace shouldn't be a luxury

“I am continually amazed by how much people give in these inner-city communities. This woman has nine kids in her house: three of her own and six she is taking care of.” — Alexa Adams ’17

“Even though peace and security should be everyday guarantees, given the direction our world is heading, it is increasingly becoming a luxury and privilege.” — Gideon Ikpekaogu ’17

AUGUST TOWN

Nicole Kanu ’15 of Little Rock, Ark., and Isabel Koyama ’16 of Cambridge, Mass., worked at the August Town Primary School in Kingston.

Making use of space

“One of the focuses for our course was how Jamaican people make use of space. Anyone can look out into this schoolyard and observe the creativity these children have put into making their space exciting for them. Although some of their creativity could have sprouted from a lack of resources, when I think about some of the things I played with as a child, I attribute the creative use of space to the innocent and open mind of a child.” — Nicole Kanu ’15

“For the most part, anyone can play soccer (or I should say football) anywhere. Since not many women play football in Jamaica, I just hope that my love of the game can rub off on some of the young girls here and encourage them to develop their own skills and style.” — Isabel Koyama ’16

'in the course of a few weeks'

Frances Madden, executive director of the Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation, speaks with Professor of Anthropology Charles Carnegie, far right, and Bates students Alicia Rabideau and Keenan Shields after a talk she gave to the Bates Short Term team about her 40 years of social work and research in some of Kingston’s poorest neighborhoods.

“In the course of a few weeks, our students are being grounded in a historical and contemporary understanding of Kingston in ways that most locals do not have,” Carnegie said. “And part of the work, then, is inviting these very highly placed professionals of all kinds, people like Mrs. Madden, who are basically immersing us in their lifetime knowledge of the city.”

Bridging differences

[The Short Term course “Place, Community, Transformation” was like] “being thrown into the deep end of the problems of a very complex Third World city, with a particular focus on the feasibility of a pipe dream I have about the possibility of having NGO intervention in creating green and public spaces to help bridge all kinds of differences — political divisions, gang-created divisions, and most of all class divisions — in a city that doesn’t think of itself as a city. It thinks of itself in pockets.” — Professor of Anthropology Charles Carnegie

Footnotes

Produced by the Bates Communications Office with photography and reporting by Phyllis Graber Jensen, introductory text by H. Jay Burns, and editing by Doug Hubley.

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FootNotes

Produced by the Bates Communications Office with photography and reporting by Phyllis Graber Jensen, introductory text by H. Jay Burns, and editing by Doug Hubley.