Residents of 18 inner-city communities recently took centre stage at the Hilton Kingston hotel for their stellar achievements in securing peace and community development under the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) and the Community Security Initiative (CSI), projects of the Ministry of National Security.

Together, Jamaicans across the class divide applauded as the communities stepped into the spotlight to collect community peace awards and individual awards for volunteer work.

Communities recognised for continuing and ongoing success in maintaining the peace over a number of years were: Allman Town, Kencot, Ambrook/Cassia Park, Fletcher's Land, Grants Pen, Top Range (Mountain View), Rose Town (Trench Town), Brown's Town (Dunkirk) and Matthew's Lane.

Stirring testimonies confirmed the success of the programmes in fostering peace in inner-city communities and transforming lives. Residents spoke of how their families were safer, children and adults were making strides in education, learning new skills and, most important, crime was significantly reduced in their communities.

Patricia McCrae, a resident of Hannah Town and mother of four boys, said CSJP's intervention had assisted her with a stipend from her work in a drama production and from providing refreshments for meetings. She also participated in mentoring and life-skills programmes and food-preparation courses.

Building self-respect and self-esteem

Not afraid of hard work, she has learned to plan her life and better prepare for the future, and her boys' education. "Many people believe nothing good can come from the ghetto ... CSJP has enabled me to build my self-respect and self-esteem and to share my knowledge with the people of Hannah Town," she said.

Shermaine McDonald of Matt-hew's Lane underscored several achievements of the programme, including the provision of skills training, CXC classes, and the clearing of open lots. "We are working very hard to bring it to zero," she said.

A family from Kencot, comprising Eulalee Jarrett, her son Delroy Frater and grandson Delroy Frater Jr., spoke about how the programme has been transforming their lives. Ms. Jarrett, who is "almost 50", said she wanted to do CXC exams for a long time but couldn't afford it. With the help of the programme, she has since taken and passed CXC English at grade one.

"I'm preparing for maths and I hope to get a (grade) one for that too," said Ms. Jarrett, to much applause. "I've gained a lot more confidence and I'm preparing for a better life, even at my age," said the grandmother, who hopes to attend university in the future.

"As a single parent, I have become more conscious about parenting my son," said her son, Delroy. He called for the programmes to be introduced in prisons, as he said "there are a lot of good men there".

Community professors

Carlton Powell, also known as 'Slash', from Fletcher's Land, lauded the 'community professors', or leaders who were working to develop their communities. The eloquent Powell related a number of activities that had been developed for the community's development, including a breakfast programme for the children, a 9 o'clock curfew for students from Mondays to Thursdays; golden age activities, sports programmes, parenting, and finance management.

Mark Thompson, a resident of Trench Town who left school illiterate, praised God for the programme as it had enabled him to learn to read.

Patron of the event, Minister of National Security Dr. Peter Phillips, in congratulating the awardees, said they were an example for the country to emulate.

"We are sending a message to all the communities at war, and more so all the people that want peace, that they should do like the people here and stand up for peace in their community." He also thanked the team at the CSJP, headed by Simeon Robinson, and the team at the CSI, headed by Patricia Balls. Minister Phillips noted that the CSI programme had been especially successful in Brown's Town in east Kingston, where murders fell from 65 in 2005 to one last year.

Vulnerable communities

Minister Phillips said the government was committed to mobilising the resources necessary to deal with the most vulnerable communities.

"People need opportunities, they need the doors to open so that the criminals can retreat, so that the communities can choose life over death by the gun," Dr. Phillips said. He noted that while the island's murder rate had increased since the beginning of 2007, he was confident that the trend would be reversed shortly.

Dr. Phillips indicated that with the help of his cabinet colleagues, the CSJP and CSI would be continued. "What we have witnessed here tonight is that we cannot afford to go back," he said.

After listening to the testimonies, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who was guest speaker at the banquet held on January 13, gave the assurance that she would support the expansion of the programme. "Anytime you bring to Cabinet the expansion of this programme, you will have my full and total support," she told Dr. Phillips in her address.

The CSJP, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Government of Jamaica, has been active in promoting peace in communities such as Rose Town, Kencot, Allman Town, Grants Pen, Top Range and Ambrook Lane/ Cassia Park. The CSI, a similar programme funded by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development and the Government of Jamaica, has been working in Matthew's Lane, August Town and parts of Spanish Town.