In the past few weeks, I have been overwhelmed with life. The number of tasks I have set for myself to complete has been burdensome. Necessarily so but still, burdensome. The tasks that have been set for me from outside sources has not eased either. The world really only cares about what you can do for them and they don't care if you are struggling to cope to do it all. That's fine too though, because I get by with a little help from my friends. My supportive network has made sure that I've been able to cope with these demands. And I am grateful for every single one of them.
The Caribbean is a small place. If you've travelled any at all in the region, you have made friends in various countries. And if you are lucky enough to travel, you take it for granted that you know somebody somewhere that can help you out. Whether it is to send you Chilly Moos and souse from Barbados or doubles from Trinidad, friends make life possible.
The reality of Caribbean life however is that "links run the world". Jamaica doesn't even pretend otherwise. Neither does Trinidad and Tobago. And maybe I'm biased that My People are unapologetic about being corrupt. It is just understood that you will help your friend where you can and you can reasonably expect your friend to help you. Need a driver's licence but don't want to deal with the inconvenience of doing a driving test? We can do that! Supported the right party in the last election? We'll take care of you! The National Integrity Commission and their very un-Jamaican looking website can tell you more. It's just how life is understood.
It therefore SUCKS for you if you have no friends. And, even if you have friends, they need to be the right friends. Friends in powerful places or sleep next to them. Access to jobs, the good kind, the ones that you can pay rent, buy groceries and have a little left over, are insider knowledge. Most books on job-hunting make it clear that many jobs will never make it to the stage where the public is informed of the opening. But My People may just install their own friends or friends of friends in these positions.
Why is this a problem? Because the development of Jamaica and the Caribbean depends on the people we spend so much money to educate to university level. We make them believe that the debt they take on will be worth it, then spring on them that they don't know anybody to be able to get a "good" job. And so we will continue to lose bright minds who cannot say they get by with a little help from their friends.
