HELP Jamaica is a charity organization serving Jamaica that is based in Germany. It’s main goals according to it’s website is to raise funds in order to support and establish library- and education projects in Jamaica, they aim to build libraries and education projects in deprived Jamaican communities and aspire to provide free education – especially for children and youths who otherwise don’t have access to books and computers and do not have the means to provide adequately for their education.

HELP Jamaica which stands for Help Establish Library Projects in Jamaica has created a limited quantity 2010 calendar which will be sold for a small fee with the proceeds going to the projects the organization supports.

Calendar Description

Put Jamaica in sight! Be reminded on the beautiful island everyday by some exceptional photos displaying the many facets of Jamaica. Great shots from eight parishes – different countryside, Kingston, charismatic people, promising school kids, fishermen, churches and more photos from international photographers.

To get your copy of the calendar and support a worthy cause visit Help Jamaica’s Charity shop and order yours while stocks last.

Various internet usage, broadband, information technology and telecommunications reports all show that Jamaica is enjoying a boom in internet growth. Competition between internet service providers, the recent introduction of fibre optic technology and a saturated cellular phone market has continued to stimulate the market.

Map of Jamaica

Jamaica has over 300 thousand landlines and 2.5 million cellphone users. About half of Jamaica’s population of 2.8 million people have access to the internet at home, at work, at school or through their mobile phones which is one of the highest in the region.

Access to the internet is quickly spreading out from urban centers such and Kingston, Spanish Town and Montego Bay and becoming more accessible in the interior and more rural areas of the island.

Students and other individuals seeking higher education abroad are invited to attend the 5th staging of the annual Eduventures College Fair. Universities, community colleges and various institutions offering higher education from the United States, Canada, the United Kingston, and the Caribbean will be on hand to offer information and provide information to persons interested.

The Fair will be in Kingston at the Hilton Kingston Hotel on November 10, 2009 and in Montego Bay at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort on November 13, 2009. The fair will run from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm daily and 3:00pm to 6:00pm daily. Admission fee is $200.00 for students in uniform, and $300.00 for all others.

For more information visit the Edujam International Education Fair 2009 website at Edujam.com.

Kingston Restaurant Week has been re-branded it it’s fifth year as Restaurant Week and expanded to Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. Restaurant Week is an event where a selected group of restaurants offer a three course menu at a set, and reduced price to patrons.

Restaurant week will be held from November 7 – 14 and 45 restaurants will be participating with prices slashed by at least 30% for the duration of the event only. Restaurants are categorized by the types of dishes they will serve like epicurean, delectable, savoury, tasty, dine and dance and high rollers.

Restaurant Week is endorsed by The Jamaica Tourist Board and sponsored by The Gleaner Company, Trade Winds Citrus Company Ltd, RBTT Bank, Jamaica Trade and Invest, NORGE Seafood from Norway, The Stewarts Automotive Group, and Cafe Blue. Visit the official Restaurant Week website for more information.

The world record-holder in the 100 and 200 meters in a recent trip to Kenya adopted a baby Cheetah and named him “Lightning Bolt”. Usain paid $13,700 to formally adopt the 3 month old cub who was abandoned by his mother and will also pay $3,000 a year to care for Lighting Bolt, who will be raised at an animal orphanage in Nairobi.

Usain Bolt with his new Feline companion

Afraid of Cheetahs

Usain’s socialization with Cheetahs wasn’t smooth all the time though as during a photo shoot with Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga Usain looked nervous and almost beat a hasty retreat when a fully grown female Cheetah named Sharon seemed a little too friendly.

Jochen Zeitz the chief executive of athletic gear manufacturer Puma organized the visit to launch his charity’s campaign to preserve ecosystems.

The National Gallery of Jamaica recently created a blog to act as an official extension of their website. In their first post on on their new blog it is stated that the blog will ” serve as a vehicle for gallery news and information on Jamaican art and artists.” The blog is located at nationalgalleryofjamaica.wordpress.com while the official website of the gallery is at galleryjamaica.org.

About the National Gallery of Jamaica

The National Gallery was founded in 1974 and was moved from Devon House  to its present location in the Roy West Building on the Kingston Waterfront in the Kingston Mall on Orange Street and Ocean Boulevard in 1983. It is the largest public art gallery in the English speaking Caribbean occupying about 25,000 square feet of space. The main purpose of the National Gallery is to collect document, exhibit and conserve art in and of Jamaica.

Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Thursday: 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Friday: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Sunday and Monday: Closed

Admission:
J$50 Students and 65 and over
J$100 General admission
Members: Free

The Post Office Act of 1941 established the Jamaican Postal Service as the authority for all mail communications within Jamaica. Since then the many changes and updates in the postal system has occurred especially in a increasing globalized economy.

The Government of Jamaica is currently in the process of amending the Post Office legislation, to better enable the Post and Telecommunications Department to meet these changes and create a more efficient and effective postal system and related services.

The new $5000 note bearing theimage of late former Prime Minister, Hugh Shearer is the newest currency issued since the $1,000 went into circulation in April 2000. On the reverse of the note is a stylized aerial view of Highway 2000 and beautifulFrangipani blossoms. Two hundred thousand notes of the new $5,000 bill was put into circulation on day one.

Picture of new $5000 Bill

Security features

The note features many high tech security features with the main ones being a broad transparent thread through the middle of the bill that glows under  UV light and the image of the Jamaican nightingale in the background.

Current currency

Paul Bogle (10 cents), Marcus Garvey (25 cents and $20), Alexander Bustamante ($1), Norman Manley ($5), George William Gordon ($10) Samuel Sharpe ($50), Donald Sangster ($100), Nanny of the Maroons ($500) and Michael Manley ($1,000) are the list of National Heroes and late Prime Ministers currently represented on money in circulation as local currency.

Financing has been secured for the building of a large cruise ship terminal in Falmouth. The terminal which is expected to attract over 800,000 cruise ship visitors per year to the north coast of Jamaica is a major part of the Ministry of Tourism’s plans to redefine Jamaica’s tourism product and allow the island to compete better with other regional destinations.

Royal Caribbean Cruises is a major investor in the project

The terminal will be the first in Jamaica’s northern region to accommodate even larger cruise ships than the ones that currently make frequent stopovers on the island and will create hundreds of jobs   during it’s construction and more after it is completed. The announcement comes as Jamaica struggles with a 15 per cent drop in cruise ship visitors. Some 551,000 passengers arrived from January through June 2009 compared to 646,000 arrivals during the same period last year, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

The White River runs along the border of St. Mary and St. Ann, twisting and turning its way through the forests to the outskirts of the tourist town of Ocho Rios where it meets the Caribbean sea. The White River is so named because the limestone rocks in its bed sometimes give the water a white, milky colour. The White River flows through some of the most picturesque landscape and forested areas of Jamaica and the river owes much of it’s beauty, charm and popularity to it’s surroundings.