Office
of the Director Consortium for Social Development and Research,
Jamaica. June 29, 2020 – The
University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus Early Childhood
Centre of Excellence, in partnership with Do Good Jamaica and
illustrator, Rachel Moss created a book to support children and their
families that celebrates the diversity that exists in the Caribbean
and the world.

The
book, authored by Cathryn O’Sullivan, the Programme Leader of Bloom
ECCE Jamaica, titled I
Can't Go to School but I Can Do Lots of Things,
includes a story and suggested activities and discussion points to
help families as they tell the story.

According
to O’Sullivan, “the idea to launch this book is based on our
experiences with children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic,
we realized that materials to help young Caribbean children
understand the pandemic which resulted in school closure, were
helpful but not necessarily developmentally appropriate or culturally
relevant.”

“There
was also a need for more positive messaging that would help children
to understand some of the things that they were still able to do
during this time. We wanted to find a way to support not only the
children and families we serve, but also the wider community in
Jamaica, the Caribbean region and the world, as the children struggle
to understand the current pandemic and its implications for them,”
O’Sullivan explained.

On
the afternoon of June 11, 2020, the book was posted on social media
and by the morning of June 13 there were almost 1000 clicks on the
link to the book, which doesn’t include the number of persons who
received and shared the PDF directly. Based on this impact, a
request was received from early childhood coordinators in Vanuatu, in
the South Pacific to translate the book into Bislama. “It is clear
that there was a need for the resource and we are excited that we are
able to support others,” O’Sullivan stated.

Deika Morrison,
Co-Founder and Chairperson of Do Good Jamaica in a statement about
the initiative, stated, “Do Good Jamaica has always had a special
emphasis on building resilience. This has only become more urgent in
this very challenging time. Giving children access to relatable
content - created by local authors and illustrators - has always been
a priority of our early childhood campaign, Crayons Count. And so we
are thrilled to have this opportunity to partner once again with
Caribbean Child Development Centre, The UWI Open Campus’ Bloom ECCE
JA and Rachel Moss to do so. We hope that this book is helpful to
children across Jamaica, in the Diaspora and worldwide. We are keen
to explore other relevant topics for a series.”

Bloom
ECCE Jamaica is excited to work with our partners Do Good Jamaica,
the funders and Rachel Moss, the illustrator, as we look
forward to continuing to develop additional empowering books for
children and families on other subject areas in the future.

The
book is accessible through the following links:

• https://bit.ly/noschoolbook
  
• BookFusion/BookStart
  JA -
  https://www.bookfusion.com/books/992807-i-can-t-go-to-school-but-i-can-do-lots-of-things
  
  
  
• www.dogoodjamaica.org
  

Please
follow Rachel Moss on Instagram @rachelmossillustration and on her
website at rachelmossillustration.com

About
Bloom

Bloom
Early
Childhood Centre of Excellence is
a university laboratory preschool for children between three months
and five years. We
use our unique resources and affiliations to ensure that your child
realizes their full potential in a high-quality environment.The
UWI Open Campus Early Childhood Centres of Excellence has two
preschools in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, respectively
- Bloom
ECCE JA and Bloom ECCE TT.
Follow us on
Facebook and Instagram @letsbloomja and letsbloomtt respectively.

About
The UWI

For
over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has
provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider
world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in
Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally
respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and five
campuses: Mona
in Jamaica, St.
Augustine in
Trinidad and Tobago, Cave
Hill in Barbados,
Five
Islands in Antigua
and Barbuda and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization
agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities
in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State
University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and
Sustainable Development;
the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the
Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de
los Andes (UNIANDES); the UWI-China Institute of Information
Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African
and Diaspora Studies and the Institute
for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and
postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering,
Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science &
Technology, Social Sciences and Sport.

As
the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost
objective is driving the growth and development of the regional
economy. The world’s most reputable
ranking agency, Times Higher
Education, has ranked The UWI among
the top 600 universities in the world for 2019, and the 40 best
universities in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2018 and 2019.The
UWI has been the only Caribbean-based university to make the
prestigious lists. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.