MY WORLD VIEW:
I hold and practice a dispositional commitment to the advancement and expansion of a sustainable development paradigm based on: tolerance, inclusion and equity for all; exercising equal regard for the rights of religious and secular belief systems; while unleashing the individual’s ability to succeed and prosper, within the framework of: The Constitution, Statute and society’s moral compass.
My professional, vocational, development and wider experiences include but are not limited to: Public Policy & Public Health; Training -Development and teaching at the tertiary level; International Development; Media, Political Strategy and Analysis of current affairs. Those are supplemented by a range of casual interests and some themes of wide ranging philosophical orientation with which I continue to exercise my mind. The above are summarized below fully embracing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), articulated by the United Nations.
1. Public Policy & Public Health Specialist
a) Postgraduate work in Public Health with a strong focus on lifestyle and other chronic health states including HIV-AIDS and glaucoma.
b) As Chief Executive Officer, CCB-Eye Care Caribbean; collaborated with PAHO-WHO to facilitate development of Blindness Prevention plans for at least nine (9) countries in CARICOM.
c) Managed placement of eye health services in more than thirty (30) health facilities across CARICOM.
d) Managed implementation of multilateral and bilateral projects with several entities including: Orbis UK, The European Commission and SightSavers; and Canadian CIDA (now Canadian Global Affairs) with The Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
2. Certified Media Campaign Practitioner (Radio Unit, Mona Campus, UWI)
a) Produced and presented more than three hundred (300) full length current affairs and special feature programs for radio, broadcasting to Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean.
b) Appeared in hundreds of News and current affairs programs for: BBC Caribbean, Observer Radio (Antigua & the Eastern Caribbean), Radio Jamaica and several other radio and TV stations.
3. Training & Development Specialist and University Lecturer
a) Development and presentation of more than sixty (60) in-service courses, regionally and internationally.
b) Managed and participated in the development of post-basic certification programmes and undergraduate degrees for special education teachers – Mico Teachers College, now Mico University, Jamaica – Principal-President: R.A Shirley and Claude Packer.
c) Lecturer, UWI Open Campus, Antigua-Barbuda, under the leadership of Dr. Edris Bird.
d) Executive writer B. Sc (Optometry) University of Guyana, in collaboration with Registrar.
e) Made three (3) appearances at the Academic Board (University of Guyana) to defend the new degree.
f) Lecturer, Public Health, Community and Occupational Optometry, University of Guyana.
g) Drafted the proposed B. Sc (Optometry) to be offered by the Antigua State College.
4. International Development Specialist
a) Upwards of twenty-eight (28) years development experience in more than thirty (30) countries in: Africa, Asia, The Caribbean, Europe, North America & Latin America.
b) Organized, facilitated and/or presided at more than one hundred and twenty (120) international meetings.
c) Strong experience – Development and implementation of projects and programs in: Eye health; Inclusive Education and community level services for people with special needs.
5. Political Strategist & Current Affairs Analyst
a) Published more than two hundred and fifty (250) newspaper articles on: Politics, Governance, Public Policy, Public Health and general Current Affairs.
b) Expertise in the use of historical electoral data (in combination with contemporary poll results, to predict (accurately) election results.
6. Casual interests
a) Farming – Live stock (ruminants , pigs and chickens) Fruit crops (Bread fruit, avocados; ackee, citrus and sugar cane) Root crops (sweet potatoes, yams, sweet cassava eddoe).
b) An avid consumer of the reggae and calypso genres.
c) Telescopic interest in the classics, including George Frederick Handel’s Water Music and his Messiah.
d) A news and current affairs “junkie”.
7. Philosophical pre-occupations
I am committed to help thinking through essential methods required for majority cultural and emotional acceptance of the following:
a) Redistribution of excess foods to underserved communities.
b) Discouraging the possible use of the ubiquitous “sell-by” date(s) as part of the manufacturer and distributor’s marketing and sales strategy.
c) Public transportation as a routine complement to if not replacement of private means of vehicular transportation.
d) Renewable energy at the level of domestic consumption, with householders selling their excess power to the central grid; at fair pricing.
e) A closed system for the harvesting, use and recycling of water, in small vulnerable dependent states.
f) Acceptance of bio-gas for wide-spread domestic and agricultural use in underserved communities.
g) A public health paradigm in the control of addictive narcotics, instead of the current interdictive, prosecutorial and incarcerative module.
h) Continuous deepening and expansion of participation by under-served communities in the political and wider democratic processes.
i) Systematic and ongoing improvements in the accessibility and reliability of electoral procedures and systems.
j) Access to public information by all sectors of society, including: the media, taxpayers and the electorate.