Hello, my name is Rita Dickson. I am Canadian born and of Jamaican heritage .

My parents, Marge and Gary, left JA in the mid 50s. In the mid 60s, they made their way to Canada, by way of England.

*Thank you...to the friends who have this week reached out to me, to see if I have loved ones in JA and how they might be doing. Yes…I am still in casual touch with a few JA relatives.

As of the posting of this GoFundMe campaign, I’ve not yet heard back from my people in Jamaica. This is, of course, worrisome. However, given the mass destruction the country has undergone, I understand that regaining contact off island may take some time.

Please join me in embarking on fundraising that will demonstrate to Jamaicans Canada’s commitment to their collective safety and recovery.

The funds raised will be donated to the ‘Canadian Red Cross Hurricane Melissa Relief’ fund.

In addition, as ‘inconvenient’ as it may be, please keep unpalatable disasters of this nature at the forefront of your mind. Living outside of the looming threat of ever worsening tropical storms and rising sea waters, it can be difficult to comprehend the pleas for long term assistance coming out of small island nations, like JA.

The economics of small island countries like JA is complex and influenced by multi decade global factors such as the influence of the IMF. Without getting into these details, which are way beyond my pay grade, I will share that $1 Canadian has a long reach in the JA context.