Rural Jamaica

“Good morning!”  on cue a class of 20 Jamaican children rise to their feet, the epitome of politeness, as our little group of four, under the auspices of the Issa Trust Foundation enter their classroom.
 
We are deep in the heart of rural Jamaica after a bone-shaking journey along unmade roads where heavy rain had washed away the red earth revealing huge potholes and landslides.
 
The Free Hili Primary and Infant school has 400 pupils and the children sit at wooden desks with a teacher in front with a blackboard and chalk.
They do an incredible job with limited resources.
 
Soon though they hope to have a library and a computer room.  I did some video in several classrooms and the children loved seeing themselves. (Imagine if you did that in the UK!)
 
The experience of seeing the real Jamaica was a sobering one.
 And you wonder what the future of these children will be.
 
Will they be able to leapfrog into the digital age thanks to the Internet and catch up with the rest of the world?
Let’s hope so