The Direct Abundance team

By Jasminee Sahoye

When Canadian, Joanne O’Brien visited Belize, Central America, a few years ago, she couldn’t turn a blind eye on the impoverished community of San Mateo. She felt she needed to lend a helping hand and has since been providing assistance.

Through Direct Abundance, a not-for-profit organization in Canada, which she started, she decided to reach out not only to Belize but also to another Caribbean destination, Jamaica.

There is a big sanitation and water problem in San Mateo and O’Brien and her small team are planning a community led sanitation project to assist this community.

Today, Direct Abundance has been making a difference in the lives of hundreds in both countries. Last October, the organization started the Sister School program at the Johnjoyce Watson Basic School in Montego Bay, Jamaica with the adoption of teacher Francis Jackson’s class of 22 students of ages between 3 and 7. O’Brien and team along with donations from friends provide school supplies but they are seeking donations of musical instruments.

The Sister School program empowers students to participate in relationship building opportunities among Canada, the United States, Central America and Jamaica. “The goal is to create cross cultural relationship in order to help children develop an understanding of and respect for the culture other than their own…,” O’Brien says. They are also reaching out to Windsor in St Ann’s Bay and adding a classroom to the school there which accommodates 54 students. O’Brien has made two trips to Jamaica and will be making another next month.

“We are sending school supplies toPrickly Pole School. They have a chicken farm on their property, but they couldn’t afford to get the chickens, the feed and vitamins for the chicken so we are going to take on a team in May to fix up their chicken coop and to get the chicken in it,” O’Brien told The Camera

Direct Abundance is not only focusing on young children, it wants to create employment for young men in the St Ann’s Bay area by starting up a block making apprenticeship program. They have obtained and repaired a brick making machine and acquired the services of an experienced brick maker to work with the apprentices.

And plans are being made to create job opportunities for women in Clarendon with the establishment of chicken farms, a sewing coop and a bee farm.

O’Brien worked as a social worker for several years here in shelters and the prison and during a visit to Jamaica she observed that there was an obvious need in communities there. “Sometimes people say to me why don’t you help here at home and I would say there is no child here that goes without a Christmas present, without clothes, without food, education, medical care, all of those things are taken care of in this country. In those countries (Jamaica and Belize) those things are not taken care of,” she said.