Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Michael St George (left) and Benjy Myaz at 'Sey Sup'm' at Weekenz, Constant Spring Road, in late July. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Sunday, July 20, was 'one of those days' for Jamaican poet living in Canada, Michael St George. He saw off the Canadian contingent for this year's 'Turnaround Project', hosted at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) in Portland, during the day, then performed at Weekenz late in the night.

Although the hours were long, the distance from the Norman Manley International Airport to the Constant Spring Road nightspot was nothing compared to the miles he logged in spreading himself between verse and the beginning of the Turnaround Project. He played two successive days at the 2008 Mariposa Folk Festival in Orilla, Ontario, Canada (doing 'Dub Me With Poetry' and 'Dub Me More'), just before coming to Jamaica for the start of the project.

strike a balance

"I am trying to strike a balance between the on-stage work and this. Because the on-stage work is important, too. They inform each other," St George, whose CDs include Self Assession, Root 2 Fruit and Dubbin' De Vibes, told The Sunday Gleaner. His debut book, Night Spin, was published in 2001.

And information is crucial to the Turnaround Project, a volunteer project which St George said "was a joint project between Full Stride and Brock University and will remain so until the full incorporation". It is hoped that this will take place by the end of the year, when the not-for-profit organisation will have a board, trustees, executive members and committees.

In its initial year Turnaround Project engaged some 130 young people through the arts at CASE. This year, St George said, "we focused on a leadership initiative". As such, in the first week of the project, which ran from July 7-19, 20 young people were targeted for the 'turnaround' process. "We targeted from 11-17 years old," St George said, some younger ones also coming along.

"The second week we opened it to the other students from the community. We brought in 11 students from August Town and about seven from Maroon Town," St George said.

contributors

Among the persons from Canada who contributed to Turnaround 2008 were Jane Leavitt, a fine arts professor from Brock, musician and chef Jay Styles, as well as four students who have already graduated but still participated. And some 15 Jamaican students from the project's debut participated this year.

St George noted that one of the shortcomings was transportation, saying that will have to be strengthened for the participants from Port Antonio coming to CASE. "We're lucky that so far we are able to locate funds for material, accommodation and transportation," St George said, noting that all the people from Canada paid their airfare and some participated in fund-raising for 'Turnaround'.

Still, he said, "we are seeking support for the next phase of the project, to create an infrastructure."

"I think the more it is not seen as a foreign project the better it is," he said.

similar effort

It does not hurt that there is at least one similar effort, as St George said, "I went to Mavis Bank. A lady from Chicago has been doing that sort of project for six years.

"Both years there have been some fabulous things and some not so great things. But it is a pilot, it is a part of the learning process, it can only help us define what we are doing," St George said.

And with some persons from August Town already planning leadership for Turnaround 2009, he says "I know that it will go far."

A visual arts component was included this year, an eight feet by four feet mural resulting from a collaboration of tutors and students. "I am taking it back to Canada," St George said, broaching the idea of auctioning it to raise funds for the Turnaround Project.

Containing the project in a controlled physical space is key. "Change has to take place in the mind first. We have to get the mind to be still, so we can paint something new," St George said.

And, in striking his balance between performance and community involvement, St George is making a physical turnaround of sorts himself, as he leaves Jamaica for the 2008 Calgary International Reggae Festival, which begins on August 14.

Michael St George. - Contributed