Carib Scope

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  • CARPHA urges caution even as hantavirus infection risk low in the Caribbean

    CARPHA urges caution even as hantavirus infection risk low in the Caribbean

    A cluster of hantavirus cases linked to a central Atlantic cruise ship has prompted regional health authorities in the Caribbean to issue guidance for port and maritime surveillance, even as officials confirm the overall risk of widespread infection across the region remains low. The outbreak, which has already resulted in one death, has centered on the MV Hondius, a cruise vessel that made a stop on the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha in mid-April, and has drawn coordinated monitoring from global and regional health bodies.

    Dr. Lisa Indar, executive director of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), broke down the contextual factors that keep regional risk muted. Unlike outbreaks in other parts of the world, hantavirus in the Americas is primarily spread by wild field rodents rather than urban rat populations, which naturally limits transmission opportunities. While the pathogen can spread between humans, she noted that such cases are extremely uncommon, with only the Andes strain found in South America carrying a limited potential for person-to-person spread through prolonged, close contact with infected, symptomatic people.

    As of the most recent updates, the United Kingdom government has confirmed three of its citizens are linked to the outbreak: two have received confirmed hantavirus diagnoses. One of those patients is now in stable condition in the Netherlands after being evacuated from the vessel earlier this week, while the second remains in intensive care in South Africa following evacuation last month. A third British national on Tristan da Cunha is currently classified as a suspected case. In total, five confirmed cases have been recorded in the outbreak, including one fatality among the cruise’s passengers.

    St. Kitts and Nevis officials have also confirmed one of their citizens was aboard the MV Hondius, but have stressed that no confirmed or suspected hantavirus cases have been detected within the country’s borders to date.

    Hantavirus is a potentially severe zoonotic disease that jumps to humans from infected rodents, most often through contact with contaminated rodent urine, feces, or saliva. The most common route of infection is inhalation of airborne particles that have been contaminated with rodent excrement from nesting materials. The Andes strain, present in parts of South America, is the only variant with documented person-to-person transmission capacity.

    The global public health alert process for the outbreak began on May 2, when the United Kingdom’s International Health Regulations (2005) Focal Point notified the World Health Organization of the respiratory illness cluster affecting passengers and crew of the cruise ship. At that time, one critically ill patient had already received a laboratory-confirmed hantavirus diagnosis. CARPHA received an alert about the emerging situation one day later through its dedicated public health monitoring and information platform.

    Given that the Caribbean is the world’s top cruise tourism destination, accounting for roughly 44% of all global cruise traffic and welcoming an estimated 16.3 million cruise passengers annually, CARPHA is urging all its member states to maintain ongoing vigilance against potential imported cases. The agency is advising national authorities to review and reinforce public health protocols and vessel surveillance systems, particularly at ports of entry where international cruise vessels dock.

    CARPHA says it remains committed to supporting safe tourism across the Caribbean through enhanced public health surveillance infrastructure. Two of the agency’s key systems, the Tourism and Health Information System and the Caribbean Vessel Surveillance System (CVSS), are designed to deliver early warnings for public health threats tied to tourism accommodation and maritime travel. Dr. Indar explained that these platforms streamline timely information sharing, improve national decision-making, and allow national health authorities to roll out rapid, targeted responses to emerging threats.

    To date, the advanced CVSS has already delivered strong results in detecting syndromic (symptom-based) suspected cases before vessels arrive at Caribbean ports. The system has a track record of sharing more than 96% of all cruise ship public health alerts with member states within 24 hours of detection. CARPHA says it will continue close monitoring of the outbreak in partnership with regional and international stakeholders, and will issue new updates to member states and the public as the situation evolves.

  • Council of Churches calls for greater accountability, consultation and safeguards in NaRRA Bill

    Council of Churches calls for greater accountability, consultation and safeguards in NaRRA Bill

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — As a key faith-based organization holding broad national influence, the Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC) has joined a growing chorus of voices demanding stricter transparency and accountability measures embedded in the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill, a piece of critical emergency legislation currently undergoing debate in the country’s Senate.

    The proposed legislation already cleared the House of Representatives last week Wednesday, passing through a tight early-morning vote that split sharply along partisan lines, with every opposition legislator voting against its adoption. Once given final approval by the Senate, the NaRRA Act will formalize the creation of a dedicated central body tasked with leading large-scale recovery and rebuilding efforts across the island in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which left widespread damage in its wake.

    In an official public statement released this week, the JCC confirmed it has been closely following the heated national conversation that has emerged around the proposed bill.

    “As a collective fellowship of Christian communities dedicated to advancing the moral, spiritual, and social welfare of all Jamaicans, we recognize how critical it is to strengthen the nation’s ability to respond to natural disasters, growing climate vulnerability, widespread infrastructure damage, and mass community displacement,” the organization noted in its statement. “Recent destructive events, most notably Hurricane Melissa and a string of other severe weather events over recent years, have made it clear that Jamaica needs a coordinated, robust national framework to deliver reconstruction that lasts.”

    Despite acknowledging the urgent need for improved disaster response systems, the JCC argued that the urgency of national crisis should never erode the core democratic principles of accountability, transparency, broad public consultation, and fair justice that undergird the country’s governance.

    “Our faith tradition teaches us that rebuilding after a crisis is far more than just a technical engineering or administrative project — it is fundamentally a moral undertaking,” the council explained. “Looking back to the ancient rebuilding narratives recorded in the Book of Nehemiah and the Book of Ezra, reconstruction was paired with intentional public accountability, responsible stewardship of public resources, open consultation with the broader community, and rigorous oversight for those granted governing authority.”

    Building on this framing, the JCC is calling on the Jamaican government and sitting senators to revise the bill to embed strong, independent oversight mechanisms, clear transparent procurement and public reporting processes, explicit safeguards against conflicts of interest, structured opportunities for meaningful input from communities directly impacted by disaster, enforceable environmental protections, and equitable safeguards for marginalized and vulnerable citizen groups.

    The organization stressed that its intervention is not an attempt to block reconstruction efforts, improve national resilience, or streamline administrative efficiency.

    “Instead, we hold that national rebuilding must earn and maintain the public’s trust, and reflect the core ethical values of fairness, responsible resource stewardship, and accountability to all Jamaicans,” the JCC said.

    “At this critical moment for our nation, we encourage leaders to continue open national dialogue before giving the bill final approval,” the organization added, pointing out that legislation passed during periods of acute urgency often leaves a lasting impact on Jamaican national life for generations to come.

    “That is why it is essential that this legislation secures broad public confidence, and reflects the collective wisdom of the Jamaican people,” the council concluded.

  • WHO says hantavirus risk low as countries prep repatriation flights

    WHO says hantavirus risk low as countries prep repatriation flights

    In a coordinated global response to an emerging hantavirus outbreak linked to a Dutch-flagged cruise ship, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will travel to Spain’s Canary Island of Tenerife this weekend to oversee evacuation and public health protocols, Spanish government ministry sources confirmed Friday. Tedros will join Spain’s health and interior ministers at an on-island command post on Saturday to align cross-administration coordination, strengthen health monitoring, and ensure planned surveillance and response measures are implemented correctly, the sources added.

    Three passengers on the MV Hondius — a Dutch couple and a German national — have already died from complications of the rare virus, which is most commonly carried and spread by wild rodent populations. A number of other passengers and crew have also fallen ill, and testing has confirmed the presence of Andes virus, the only known hantavirus strain capable of person-to-person transmission, a development that sparked widespread international concern. The vessel, which carries roughly 150 passengers and crew on board, is scheduled to reach Tenerife’s waters on Sunday, after which specialized repatriation flights will carry international passengers back to their home countries.

    Despite rising public anxiety, WHO officials emphasized Friday that the overall risk of widespread transmission to the general public remains extremely low. “This is a dangerous virus, but only for people who have direct exposure to an infected individual; the risk to the broader population stays absolutely minimal,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva. Early observations from the outbreak on the MV Hondius have reinforced this assessment, Lindmeier noted: in multiple instances where infected passengers shared close cabin space with travel companions, the secondary contacts have not developed infections. “The virus is not so contagious that it spreads easily from person to person,” he explained. As of Friday, the WHO recorded five confirmed cases and three suspected cases of the virus on the ship, with no active suspected cases remaining on board.

    In one promising development Friday, the WHO announced that a KLM flight attendant who developed mild symptoms after coming into contact with an infected Hondius passenger tested negative for hantavirus. The infected passenger, the wife of the first fatality in the outbreak, boarded a KLM flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam on April 25 but was removed from the aircraft before takeoff, and died the next day in a Johannesburg hospital. Lindmeier called the negative test result “good news”, as it confirms that even close contact with an infected person does not guarantee transmission.

    Spanish health officials confirmed Friday that a separate passenger on that same KLM flight, who was seated two rows behind the infected woman, developed symptoms and is currently isolated in a hospital in eastern Spain while undergoing testing. Health Secretary Javier Padilla described the risk of this case being a positive infection as “pretty unlikely”. Additionally, a South African passenger who was also on the flight remains asymptomatic in her home country after completing a week-long stay in Barcelona before returning, Spanish interior sources confirmed.

    The MV Hondius departed Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1 for a transatlantic cruise bound for Cape Verde. Early in the voyage, three suspected cases — two of which later tested positive for the virus — were evacuated from Cape Verde to the Netherlands for treatment. German health officials confirmed Friday that the third suspected case tested negative, though the individual will remain under public health observation as a precaution. Two Dutch public health specialists, including a European Centres for Disease Control expert and a WHO representative, are now on board the vessel conducting ongoing risk assessments.

    Kasem Ibn Hattuta, a YouTuber traveling as a passenger on the Hondius, said the arrival of medical specialists has reassured passengers on board. “We finally left Cape Verde which was a relief for everyone on board, especially knowing that our sick colleagues are finally getting the medical care they need,” he shared in a statement. Hattuta added that the passenger cohort has remained in good spirits despite the disruption: “People are smiling and taking the situation calmly.” All passengers and crew are following public health guidelines, including mandatory mask-wearing in indoor spaces and physical distancing, he noted.

    Multiple countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, have already organized dedicated repatriation flights to retrieve their citizens from the ship. Spanish authorities have confirmed that the vessel will anchor off the coast of Tenerife and will not be permitted to dock at the island’s port. After anchoring, passengers will be transferred to shore via smaller utility vessels, then transported by chartered bus directly to Tenerife’s airport for their repatriation flights. The Canarian regional government noted that the entire evacuation must be completed between Sunday and Monday, as adverse weather conditions are forecast to move into the area after that window.

    The announcement of the ship’s arrival drew protests from dock workers in Tenerife on Friday, who raised public safety concerns about the outbreak. During its voyage, the MV Hondius made stops at several remote British territories in the South Atlantic. British health authorities confirmed Friday they are investigating a suspected hantavirus case on Tristan da Cunha, one of the world’s most remote inhabited settlements, which is home to roughly 220 permanent residents.

  • Grange saddened by passing of gospel singer Kukudoo

    Grange saddened by passing of gospel singer Kukudoo

    Jamaican gospel and revivalist music icon Kukudoo, born David McDermott, has died after a prolonged fight with cancer, passing away on Friday. The news of his death prompted an outpouring of grief from across Jamaica’s cultural and music communities, with Culture Minister Olivia Grange leading tributes to the influential artist.

    In a statement released after the announcement of Kukudoo’s passing, Minister Grange shared that she was deeply saddened by the loss of the groundbreaking performer. She emphasized that Kukudoo was far more than a popular musician: he was a transformative cultural force whose discography and public work centered and celebrated the African-rooted spiritual traditions that form a core part of Jamaican national identity.

    Unlike many artists who find a niche audience limited to one demographic, Kukudoo’s dynamic, powerful stage presence and authentic sound resonated with listeners across multiple generations and all social strata in Jamaica, building a broad and loyal fanbase that endures decades after he first rose to prominence. Minister Grange noted that his death leaves a large gap in Jamaica’s cultural landscape, and that his contributions to the country’s music and cultural heritage will be deeply missed by audiences and fellow artists alike.

  • IShowSpeed takes on Kingston on second day in Jamaica

    IShowSpeed takes on Kingston on second day in Jamaica

    One of the world’s biggest digital content creators, 21-year-old American streamer IShowSpeed, born Darren Jason Watkins Jr., has launched the Jamaican leg of his ongoing Caribbean tour with a deeply immersive opening day exploring the island’s history, culture and community in Kingston. On Friday, the streamer, who built his global fanbase through high-energy gaming broadcasts and has previously toured across Africa, South America, Europe and Asia, began his Kingston itinerary at the city’s iconic Emancipation Park, where former Miss Jamaica Yendi Phillipps guided him through an intensive introductory lesson on Jamaica’s national heritage.

    Phillipps centered her lesson on the foundational legacy of Jamaica’s national heroes, whose contributions shape the island’s national identity to this day. Holding up a 500 Jamaican dollar bill, which bears the portraits of Nanny of the Maroons and Sam Sharpe, two of the nation’s most revered revolutionary figures, Phillipps emphasized that modern Jamaican resilience grows directly from the work of these pioneering ancestors. “Literally on the backs of those people is why we… Jamaicans don’t frighten anybody, we respect everybody,” she explained, adding that this inherited legacy of strength is what has allowed Jamaican icons from Usain Bolt to Bob Marley to rise to global prominence. “We stand on the shoulders of heroes,” she noted.

    Following the history session, IShowSpeed joined a group of local Jamaican students to take part in a traditional Kumina dance, a sacred cultural practice with roots in African heritage that remains a core part of Jamaican cultural expression. After the cultural session, reggae singer Jesse Royal took over as the streamer’s tour guide for the rest of his opening day itinerary.

    The day’s activities included a casual stop for KFC in New Kingston, a quick meeting with dancehall legend Sean Paul during a visit to Haile Selassie High School, and a walk through the surrounding local community. IShowSpeed also tried his hand at local carpentry work and stopped at a home-based salon for a touch-up to his hair, giving him the chance to interact with everyday Jamaicans beyond formal tour stops. Observer Online was on location to cover the start of the tour, capturing photos of the streamer’s history lesson and Kumina dance participation.

  • WATCH: Scotiabank donates $3 million towards Run for Mom 5K

    WATCH: Scotiabank donates $3 million towards Run for Mom 5K

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — A major Caribbean banking institution has thrown its full weight behind a signature Mother’s Day charity initiative aimed at empowering vulnerable women across the island. Scotiabank, one of Jamaica’s longest-serving financial organizations, has secured the title sponsorship for the upcoming Run for Mom 5K, scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 10, and has contributed a JA$3 million donation to fund critical programs for teen mothers served by the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation.

    The formal donation transfer was held earlier this week, with Scotiabank representatives handing over the ceremonial cheque to Dr. Lawrence Scott, a prominent cardiologist, director of the Heart and Vascular Centre, and the lead organizer of the annual Run for Mom 5K. Scott called the partnership a landmark milestone for the event, noting that months of collaborative discussions laid the groundwork for the agreement.

    “Our conversations with Scotiabank around this initiative have been ongoing for quite some time,” Scott explained during the presentation ceremony. “Their leadership team has been deeply engaged from the start, because this cause aligns perfectly with their core mission of strengthening families, investing in local communities, and advancing national development. After completing their internal review and due diligence processes, they formally committed to serve as our title sponsor for this year’s race, and we couldn’t be more grateful.”

    All funds raised through entry fees and sponsorships for the 2025 Run for Mom 5K will be distributed to three local healthcare and community organizations. The Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation, which supports teen pregnant people and young parents across Jamaica, is the event’s primary beneficiary. Two additional local healthcare facilities — Victoria Jubilee Hospital and Charles Chin Loy Health Centre — will receive a portion of the proceeds as co-beneficiaries to expand their maternal and public health services.

    Novlet Howell, executive director of the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation, shared her enthusiasm for the new partnership, highlighting Scotiabank’s decades-long track record of investing in gender equity and community development in Jamaica.

    “Scotiabank is a globally recognized brand that has been rooted in Jamaica for generations, with a consistent record of backing women’s empowerment, girls’ education, and improved public health access across the country,” Howell said. “We are thrilled that our foundation will be the primary recipient of support from this sponsorship, alongside the contributions we’ll receive from other individual donors and community partners joining this year’s event. This investment will allow us to expand our critical services for teen moms, who often face systemic barriers to healthcare, education, and economic security.”

    Organizers of the Run for Mom 5K note that the event not only raises critical funds for local maternal health and community support initiatives, but also encourages public physical activity to promote heart health, tying into Scott’s work as a leading cardiologist in the region. Registration for the May 10 race remains open to runners and walkers of all ages and ability levels across Jamaica.

  • Four convicted of conspiracy in 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse

    Four convicted of conspiracy in 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse

    In a major legal milestone for the high-profile 2021 killing of former Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, a Florida federal court has delivered guilty verdicts against four men on charges tied to the assassination conspiracy, multiple U.S. media outlets confirmed Friday.

    The four defendants — Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla, and James Solages — were found responsible on two core counts: plotting to either kill or kidnap Moïse, and providing critical material support that enabled the 2021 attack. Additional convictions were also handed down for violations of the U.S. Neutrality Act, a federal law that bars citizens and residents from organizing hostile operations against foreign nations from American soil.

    With these convictions, the four men now face the possibility of life imprisonment behind bars, according to official case details. U.S. prosecuting attorneys have laid out that the South Florida region served as the central operational hub for the entire conspiracy. Prosecutors argue that plotters not only planned and funded the assassination from the area, but also worked to install their hand-picked replacement leader to take over Haiti following Moïse’s death.

    This conviction marks the latest development in a sprawling case that has already seen five other co-defendants plead guilty to charges connected to the assassination; those five are already serving out life sentences. The attack that put this conspiracy in motion took place on July 7, 2021, when Moïse was shot and killed at his private residence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, in a brazen early-morning assault that sent shockwaves through the Caribbean nation and the international community.

  • Buju Banton headlines Tamarac’s Yard on the Lawn Music Festival

    Buju Banton headlines Tamarac’s Yard on the Lawn Music Festival

    The Florida city of Tamarac is finalizing preparations for its highly anticipated second annual Yard on the Lawn Music Festival, scheduled to take place Saturday, June 6 at the city’s sprawling Sports Complex. This year’s flagship event will be led by iconic dancehall pioneer Buju Banton, bringing a legendary Caribbean musical talent to the heart of South Florida.

    Founded and curated by Tamarac Vice Mayor Marlon Bolton, a Jamaica-born public servant, the festival serves as the city’s centerpiece celebration of Caribbean American Heritage Month. In an exclusive conversation with Observer Online, Bolton emphasized that the gathering is far more than a standard music concert: it is a deliberate celebration of Caribbean culture, shared identity, and community excellence.

    “Yard on The Lawn is more than entertainment — it is a celebration of Caribbean culture, identity and excellence. Bringing Buju Banton to Tamarac reflects our commitment to creating world-class cultural experiences that unite people from all backgrounds while honoring the rich Caribbean influence that helps shape our city and South Florida,” Bolton explained.

    After a successful debut in 2023 that drew more than 8,000 attendees and featured Grammy-winning reggae group Morgan Heritage as the headliner, the 2024 iteration is expanding its lineup to showcase a wider range of Caribbean musical talent. Joining Banton on stage this year will be celebrated Jamaican reggae artist Orale Johnson and breakout Haitian star Rutshelle Guillaume, who has built a global fanbase with more than 2 million Instagram followers and over 30 million total music streams across platforms. Bolton added that event organizers will continue announcing additional supporting performers and special guest appearances in the weeks leading up to the festival, with sets from local DJs, regional Caribbean entertainers, traditional cultural performers, and homegrown local talent already locked in to highlight the dynamic diversity of the region’s Caribbean community.

    Bolton shared detailed context for the decision to tap Banton as this year’s headliner, noting that the artist’s decades-long discography aligns perfectly with the festival’s core mission. “Buju Banton’s music has uplifted generations with messages of perseverance, empowerment and truth. We are honoured to welcome a living legend to Tamarac. The overwhelming response to this year’s festival proves that Yard on The Lawn has become something truly special, not just for Tamarac, but for the entire South Florida community,” he said. “Buju Banton was chosen because he represents excellence, legacy, culture, and global impact. Yard on The Lawn is more than a concert — it is a cultural movement designed to celebrate Caribbean identity and connect generations through authentic music and shared experiences. Buju’s catalogue spans decades and includes music that speaks to perseverance, empowerment, spirituality, resilience, and social consciousness. His influence reaches far beyond reggae and dancehall; he is considered one of the most impactful Caribbean artists of all time.”

    While the festival was designed first and foremost to serve the large Caribbean diaspora across South Florida and the broader United States — including Jamaican, Haitian, Trinidadian, Guyanese, and other West Indian communities — Bolton stressed that the event was intentionally built to be inclusive of all cultural and age groups. Data from last year’s debut bears this out: attendees included multi-generational Caribbean families, young working professionals, dedicated reggae and dancehall fans, local community leaders, millennial and Gen X audiences, and out-of-town tourists and music enthusiasts from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. This diversity reflects the makeup of Tamarac itself, a city with a fast-growing, vibrant Caribbean-American population that has shaped the region’s cultural identity for decades.

  • Peter G hopes to empower people with ‘We Can’

    Peter G hopes to empower people with ‘We Can’

    The opening tremors of the Great Recession first rippled across the global economy in late 2007. Originating in the United States’ financial sector, the crisis sent shockwaves of uncertainty through every corner of the globe, leaving widespread economic disruption and soaring unemployment in its wake. Though not a frequent follower of daily market fluctuations, singer-songwriter Peter G could not ignore the crippling human cost of the downturn: thousands of working people lost their jobs overnight, and communities across the world grappled with prolonged financial uncertainty. That raw, shared experience of struggle became the creative catalyst for his new acoustic track *We Can*, which dropped in March via independent label Irie Pen.

    Unlike many of his previous releases, this track marked a series of firsts for the artist: he stepped into the role of lead producer, picked up the acoustic guitar for the recording, and tracked the entire stripped-back, unplugged piece from his personal home studio. In an exclusive interview with Observer Online, Peter G explained the core mission behind the track, saying, “It came about out of a time when I saw people going through struggles and the world was in a recession, so it was a motivational idea to empower myself and people who were struggling.”

    For Peter G, playing guitar has long been a private tool for songwriting and rehearsal, only occasionally making an appearance in his live sets. This marks the first time he has contributed guitar work to one of his official studio releases. He credits two key industry peers for pushing him to embrace the stripped-down acoustic sound: Hopeton Lindo, veteran singer-songwriter and head of Irie Pen, and Syl Gordon, engineer-producer behind Cell Block Records. Both agreed that the raw, unadorned acoustic arrangement would perfectly capture the somber, urgent mood of the recession era while still leaving space for a message of hope.

    With over a decade of collaborative experience working alongside Lindo and the iconic Sly and Robbie’s Taxi Gang, Peter G says self-producing the track brought a unique sense of creative fulfillment. “The advantages of producing yourself are that you get to do what you want and how it feels to you. I did everything including mixing,” he shared. *We Can* follows on the heels of Peter G’s self-titled EP, which is scheduled for 2025 release in a collaboration between Lindo and The Taxi Gang.

  • Fun in the Son pre-Mother’s Day celebration set for Black River

    Fun in the Son pre-Mother’s Day celebration set for Black River

    In the hurricane-battered parish of St Elizabeth, Jamaica, a faith-centered pre-Mother’s Day celebration called Fun in the Son is set to bring warmth and encouragement to local residents this weekend, as the community continues its slow rebuilding process after last year’s devastating storm.

    The event will be hosted on Saturday at Black River Independent Baptist Church in the New Town neighborhood, with entry gates opening to attendees at 5:00 pm. Organized by Glory Music, a local group with deep roots in the parish, the gathering is designed to lift community morale and reinforce a message of resilience through faith, even amid ongoing recovery challenges.

    Tommy Cowan, a representative of Glory Music who was born in Newmarket, St Elizabeth, shared that the celebration is part of a sustained outreach effort to inspire local residents to trust in their own strength and choose faith over uncertainty. Drawing on decades of memory of the parish’s history of overcoming hardship, Cowan noted that St Elizabeth, an agriculturally rich region, has repeatedly bounced back from severe flood damage in the past, and he voiced confidence that the community will rise again this time, guided by faith.

    St Elizabeth was one of the parishes hardest hit when Hurricane Melissa swept through Jamaica in late October 2025, leaving widespread damage to homes, businesses, and agricultural land across the region. This is not the first community outreach event Glory Music has held in the area since the storm: the group hosted a Fun in the Son Christmas treat at Nightingale Grove Baptist Church last December, and Cowan said the progress organizers have seen in the months since has been deeply encouraging.

    “Crops are growing back, the market in Lewisville is vibrant, people are fixing and rebuilding their homes and businesses – it is just encouraging,” Cowan told Jamaica Observer in comments ahead of the upcoming celebration. Beyond supporting broader community recovery, the event also carries a special tribute to local mothers, ahead of the official Mother’s Day holiday. “With the Mother’s Day Celebration, we wish to remind the mothers that we love them and God loves them, unconditionally, and the values that mothers bring to our communities will never be forgotten,” Cowan added.

    The pre-Mother’s Day gathering will feature ministry leadership from Carlene Davis, alongside musical performances from the Brown Trio, Orville Sutherland, The Right Band, and Rushing Wind Band. Zeal Music will lead the event’s praise and worship segment, while the service will be hosted by co-pastors Rev Dr Audley Black and Donna Black. Organizers say they hope the event will not only honor local mothers but also reinforce the collective spirit that has carried the community through its hardest days in the aftermath of the hurricane.