More than thirty years ago, John & Rosemary Ganley, both teachers from Peterborough witnessed a need in Jamaica -- a need for skills, a thirst for literacy and a desire to find a sure path out of poverty. From that humble beginning, Jamaican Self-Help has grown over the years to respond to the needs of people and communities in Kingston and St. Created with a vision to end poverty, Jamaican Self-H
elp has a mandate to support education and community development programmes in Jamaica and to facilitate education and engagement of Canadians on global issues with a focus that includes youth, literacy and skills development. Today, we believe in Empowering People and Building Community. We believe in supporting people to achieve their best, and in reaching their potential, we believe that people can and will contribute to improving their local community. In our view, the most effective form of that support is to seek out community leaders, to support what they identify as the needs of their communities, to build long-standing, supportive partnerships that meet these needs, and thereby empower the people and build community, locally and globally. In Jamaica, we have formed long-term partnerships with schools and community centres where we support literacy programs, skills and job training, family counselling and support and community development activities. Our partners are responsive and effective in addressing changing needs and we ensure there are sufficient management personnel and principles in place to effectively and efficiently manage and report on the projects that we financially support. In Canada, we work with volunteer committees in Ottawa and Peterborough to organize educational, cross-cultural and fundraising activities open to members of the public. We offer service-learning trips to Jamaica for students and adults and we work with Peterborough and area youth on social justice and anti-poverty issues that concern them.
