JAMAICA

 

 READ

 

The book I read for Jamaica, Here Comes the Sun, by Nicole Dennis-Benn, tells the story of people who live just outside the beach hotels and glitzy resorts that draw people from all over the world to this island paradise. It is not paradise for the islanders, though, including the women this novel is about.

 

Delores sells overpriced souvenirs to the cruise ship passengers who disembark in Montego Bay. Her older daughter Margot has a relatively high-level job at one of the big tourist hotels. Her younger daughter Thandi is a student at a prestigious private high school. Both Delores and Margot work hard so that Thandi won’t have to. They have visions of Thandi becoming a doctor and lifting the family out of poverty.

 

Thandi doesn’t want to be a doctor, however. She wants to be an artist. She also wants to be light-skinned and popular, so she secretly pays for skin-lightening treatments. And then there’s a local boy she really likes, although he’s not at all the type of person Delores and Margot want her spending time with.

 

Margot has secrets of her own. In addition to her regular duties at the hotel, she makes extra money by having sex with hotel guests. She has sex with the hotel’s owner Alphonso too, and has persuaded him to pay Thandi’s tuition every year. But the person she really loves is another woman, Verdene, who is bullied by the rest of the people in the village for being a lesbian. Margot’s visits to Verdene’s house are done in secret.

 

The rape and exploitation of women and girls is a constant occurrence in this book, with Delores, Margot, and Thandi all having been victims. Sadly, Delores and Margot have also been among the exploiters. Another important theme in the book is the displacement of local Jamaicans to make room for more and more resorts and tourist hotels. River Bank, where Delores, Margot, and Thandi live, will not emerged unscathed, and neither will these three women.

 

With a title like Here Comes the Sun, I was anticipating a happier and more uplifting story, but this one was pretty bleak. I’ve never been to Jamaica, but if I ever go there, I’m afraid I’ll be watching the hotel staff and other local people for clues as to whether their lives are as grim as those of the characters in this novel.

COOK

There aren’t many Jamaican dishes mentioned in Here Comes the Sun, at least not many that can be made vegan. But early in the novel, there was this: “Margot braids Thandi’s hair while Delores stirs rice and peas inside a pot.” So I found a recipe for Shanice’s Vegan Jamaican Rice and Peas on the “From My Bowl” website. The peas aren’t actually peas, they’re beans, and this recipe uses canned pinto beans. It’s a very flavorful dish, made even more tasty with the addition of a can of coconut milk.

 

 GIVE

There were four projects in Jamaica listed on the GlobalGiving website. Considering the poverty and lack of educational opportunities available to the characters in Here Comes the Sun, I chose a project operated by Christel House International, which helps to provide students with a K-2 education. According to the project description, “Christel House provides impoverished children from some of the most challenged neighborhoods in Jamaica with life-changing, quality education, health care, nutritious meals, character/life skills development and continued guidance after graduation.” The hope is that more emphasis on education will help to break the cycle of poverty. In addition, Christel House teaches “every child that they have the obligation to give back and make the world a better place. The multiplier effect will ultimately transform communities.” More information about this project is available at: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/educate-a-poor-jamaican-child/.

 

NEXT STOP: JAPAN