Meeting with the Director of Culture, Jamaica

My friends,

Jamaica currently has one ministry for information, culture, youth and sports. The Director of Culture within that ministry is a man called Sydney Bartley. He is Jamaica's representative in the CIC. I am happy to say that he has always been open to meeting with me and he is very much one of the youth's greatest allies in the Americas.

Even though he was extremely busy planning a national celebration for our Olympic team this weekend, he took the time yesterday to meet with Maria, Gregory and myself. His insights were very useful for me, especially because he explained to us why we did not get the kind of feedback that we anticipated at the Royal York Hotel on September 19, 2008. That meeting was really just a preparatory meeting before the ministerial meeting in Barbados this November.

All we have to do is complete our official report for Barbados and ensure that it is presented effectively to the ministers there and we can expect a more definitive engagement. I feel more confident now that we will eventually achieve a meaningful dialogue with our governments.

Since Mr. Bartley did not have a lot of time yesterday, he asked us to see him again next week Friday, October 10, 2008. He intends to support Maria and Gregory in their local initiatives as Igniters and I am sure he will be very accomodating to our mission.

Confident in the victory.
Gavin "Dutty" Hutchinson.