Fr. Don Chambers’ is my godfather. He picked me when I almost gave up on my vocation. He is not only a priest but he’s a writer.

BREAKING NEWS

He wrote and this was Published:Thursday | February 1, 2024 | 12:09 AM

THE EDITOR, Madam: 

Every day, stories are like writings on the wall, communicating wisdom lessons for our nation. The heart-rending story of 12-year-old Karif Mitchenere, which appeared in the January 25 edition of The Jamaica Gleaner, is one of those stories. Karif reportedly went swimming and drowned at the Kingston waterfront. Before extrapolating insights from this story, I express empathy and condolences, especially to his grandmother, Maswin Millwood. 

First, Millwood is reported to have said, “… him say him lack of love … what I said to his mother is to show him some love … hug him up … Play with him … kiss him and say yuh love him …”. From the genesis of Homo sapiens, we know instinctively that loving relationships and the environment are fundamental ingredients for building healthy human beings and a stable society.

Second, Karif had an innate desire for a suitable social and emotional environment to experience love. Hence, Millwood is quoted as saying Karif did not want her to “send him to live with anyone else …”. He deeply sensed stability in his relationship with his grandmother. 

Third, from experience and not empirical data, Millwood knew about literacy and numeracy deficiency among our children, as mentioned in the Patterson Report. She says, “Mitchenere had literacy challenges,” and he “took time overcoming” it with her partner’s help. (Credited to Father Donald Chambers)