Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
Kiwanian Judy Chai (right) presents Lorna Bell with a plaque and citation from the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston for her outstanding contribution to sports in Jamaica at the Terra Nova Hotel earlier this month.- IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
IN A little more than two weeks, millions will celebrate when football's premier event, the World Cup, gets under way, but for one woman, Lorna Josephine Bell, it will mark 20 years since she lost the man she hoped would be her lifelong partner, Winthorpe 'Jackie' Bell.
Bell, one of local football's most devoted servants, a former national coach and administrator, perished along with another coach, Dennis Zaidie, in a bus crash in Mexico at the 1986 World Cup.
With a shy smile that came from the conjuring of warm memories, Lorna remembered when it was a must that she and Jackie go to every Santos game matched out in the bright gold and green colours of the team.
"I remember the days when Boys' Town used to play Santos at the National Stadium; that stadium was corked and that was a club championship," Bell recalled.
FAMILY MAN
"Jackie was a family man and he extended the family. Santos was a big part of our lives. Our home was always open, it was not just a house, it was a home. We cooked, we ate together and that was not just us but the team," she said.
Bashful, the widow remembers that Bell always took joy in telling everyone that she was third in his life and she was quite all right with settling with that. First was his job because he needed the funds to take care of his family and football, second was football. Bell never really smoked or drank and that was his entertainment. If he never had football he would never have been happy and Lorna accepted that.
But surprise, surprise, not many know that it was not Bell, who she met at 17 and married four years later, but sports and a love for people that were Lorna's first loves. In fact, Bell didn't even introduce Lorna to the sport of football.
"It wasn't Jackie that exposed me to football, it was the 1965 KC team. Jumpy Harris, Marley Miller, Winston Davidson, Allan 'Skill' Cole, they were my friends and still remain my friends," she explained.
"That's another benefit of sport. It builds lasting friendships. We were a family and it was because of those guys I was convinced that I must marry a footballer, a sportsman," she said.
PARTICIPATED IN EVERY SPORT
While at Alpha, Lorna Bell endeavoured to take part in every single sport and credits the teachers who were vibrant, passionate and had a love for the games which were transmitted right down to the students. She excelled at the sport of lawn tennis as her coach and pastor at the Holy Rosary Church, Father Vincent Campbell, who often picked her up for practice and never missed any of her matches, encouraged her to focus her attentions there.
Bell went on to win most of the major age groups and played for Alpha at the international high school girls tournament that used to be held in Florida.
Bell's eldest daughter, Natasha, went on to follow in her footsteps and also won a few age groups and then played collegiate tennis for Barry University. Natasha went on to win the national Under-14 cup, a title also held by Lorna and her younger sister a fact which still has the proud mom beaming with pride.
"Sport really helps you to love people and to really care about them as individuals. It also teaches togetherness and teamwork," she said.
However, life hasn't always been pleasant for Bell in the sporting arena, and in 1996, while serving as the first female general secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), she had a major spat with the organisation over accounting practices. It is said that time heals all wounds and Lorna insists that there are no hard feelings between herself and the members of the once Horace Burrell-led administration.
PLACE FOR EVERYTHING
"I think it has made me a better person in terms of dealing with people. Maybe I was a bit too outspoken at the time, I learnt that there is a time and place for everything," she said.
"Despite all that went down, the old administration and myself, we share a good relationship. We have put things behind us and moved to another level. I like that because you don't have to be bitter and carry things."
Bell, in fact, surprised a lot of people with her willingness to help Burrell with the opening of a Caribbean Football Union (CFU) office in Jamaica, but she believes Jamaica should always be first. She also has high praise for the current administration
"They must be doing something right. Corporate Jamaica is not going to be pumping money into something that's not going well and does not have a programme," she said.
Tightly interwoven with her love for sport, has been her love for people and Bell has spent most of her life working with charity organisations. She has received many awards for her exemplary work in charity. In 1998 she was appointed assistant executive director of the Mustard Seed Community.
She worked with that organisation for 3 1/2 years helping more than 200 abandoned and/or disabled children and adults, who she admits had a profound impact on her life.
WORK IN HAITI
But to date, Bell lists three months she spent in Haiti as
a part of a Mustard Seed Community outreach project as the most significant accomplishment in her life. There she assisted with forming homes for the poor, abandoned and disabled children of Haiti. She admits that seeing the need by way of the television cameras was just not enough, but living among the poor of Haiti was a life-changing experience for her.
"The first week was rough and I said to myself, imagine you've left your good home to come here to catch water in a pan to take a bath," she said with a chuckle.
"But I realised it was a way of life for these people and that made me want to share more of what I had. All some of them want is a little time, we spent many hours talking in the dark because sometimes there was no light." she said.
In 2002, Lorna was appointed executive director of 'Special Olympics', a position that she was offered three times but had turned down because she had been burned by the JFF experience and wanted to shy away from public office and keep a low profile.
SIGNIFICANT GROWTH
She still holds that position and, under her leadership, the programme has recorded significant growth in membership, moving from 983 members to more than 2,800.
Bell has no words to describe the feeling she gets when 'her' Special Olympians break world records and are awarded medals.
"They don't ask for anything; just love and support and I can't even express the way that I feel when they do well," she said.
"We who have accomplished so much in life need to give back. If we don't start with the less fortunate, we can't get anywhere in Jamaica." she said
"That's another reason I need to thank Jackie. When I just met him he invited me to come with him to the barber. The barber was in Charles Street.
"I thought he was mad. I said to myself, what are we doing here in this community? But going to 'Buggy' all the time made me realise that people are just people.
"(Jackie) always had confidence in people. It didn't matter where they were from or where they were and that was one of his most precious gifts to me," she said. Recently Lorna was honoured by the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston for a lifetime dedicated to service.
"One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper. He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed" (Proverbs Chapter 11 verses 24 - 25. NIV). These are the words that she continues to live by.
