The full episode of Caring Hands is finally up! Take a 20 minute break and get inspired by the young folks in Riverton and see the impact we are making in Jamaica. 

Jamaican television show, Caring Hands, spends an episode highlighting the dedicated work Fundamentals for Change does in the Kingston community of Riverton City. It also highlights the inspiring youth and individuals of Riverton that are making their community and their own lives better every day.

The Caring Hands series on the Business Access Television Network, highlights individuals, organizations and businesses that are giving back to society and the less fortunate, vulnerable and needy. 

www.batvja.com

We are so grateful to be featured on a 30 minute episode of Business Access Television's 'Caring Hands' show this Sunday, January 31st! We are hoping this episode will highlight the unlimited potential that is waiting to be unlocked in each of Riverton's children and residents and also within each of ourselves. It will be airing on Flow TV 145/185 at 5:30PM EST in Jamaica. We will post the full episode on our YouTube Channel when it is released to us. For now, take a look at this little commercial clip, which is being promoted across the island! 

Watch this video of a drone taking off over the Riverton Meadows community, which is right alongside the Kingston Landfill. The landfill has caught fire this past week and is burning out of control. See the article written by the Jamaican Observer below. 

Smoke from Riverton fire causes havoc in Corporate Area, St CatherineBY KIMMO MATTHEWS Observer staff reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com


Saturday, March 14, 2015 

MORE that 50 schools in the Corporate Area and St Catherine were yesterday forced to close as smog emanating from the fire at the Riverton City dump intensified.

Smoke from the fire, which started late Wednesday, also forced the closure of several businesses while several people, including dozens of children who suffered respiratory problems, had to be taken to hospitals and health centres for treatment.

Read the full article on the Richmond News website here. 

After months of anticipation and watching their dream being built in front of them, the kids’ eyes opened wide and they went wild when their new playground was unveiled.


The children of the impoverished Riverton community in Kingston, Jamaica finally got to play on the brand, spanking new adventure equipment at their community school — all thanks to the hard work and dedication of Richmond resident Ayako Turnbull and her team from Fundamentals for Change Society (FFC).

Turnbull and FFC had been working on the playground project — raising funds locally and employing Jamaicans for its construction — for the last year or so, up until the unveiling a few weeks ago.

“The kids watched it being built for several months and were not allowed to play in it, so they were very excited,” said McMath secondary grad Turnbull, who traveled to Jamaica to open the playground and to deliver medical supplies along with FFC’s Jeff Kuzik, of Richmond, and Meaghan Kyte, of Ladner.

“In fact, they went wild when we officially opened it. They were all over it and loved it.

“Before, it was two old swings for about 150 students.”

To our founder, Ayako Turnbull! Alan Campbell of the Richmond News wrote this reflective article on Ayako's dedication on "Bridging the poverty gap": (Read full article here.)


Alan Campbell - Richmond News
October 29, 2014


Attempting to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots, between the comfortable and the poor, Ayako Turnbull has been volunteering for almost half her life.

Turnbull, 30, a McMath secondary grad, splits a part-time job as bar manager at Milltown Bar and Grill on Richmond Island with running Fundamentals for Change (FFC), which she co-founded earlier this year.

And although her charity — which is geared to help families living in poverty in Jamaica — is but seven months old, Turnbull has been devoting the vast majority of her free time for the best part of 14 years.

She also spent two years on the Canadian Board of Students for a Free Tibet and was a mentor for native youth for three years through the Urban Native Youth Association, for youths in foster care.

So, why does Turnbull continue to act with such selfless dedication in the pursuit of helping others less fortunate?

Keep an eye out in the Richmond News for a write up on our three volunteers that will be traveling to Jamaica in November: President of FFC, Ayako Turnbull, Board Member, Meaghan Kyte, and passionate volunteer, Jeff Kuzik. They will be spending their own funds and vacation time to help out in Riverton Meadows. Stay tuned for blog updates during their stay in Kingston!

If you want to donate supplies, we are looking for non-prescription medical and dental supplies, as well as school/arts and crafts supplies -- send us a message if you can help!

 

I was approached to share my experiences with the inspiring and helpful website, Graduates in Transition. It is a space where young people can share their stories and struggles of transition...and how they overcame it positively. It was an honour to be a part of this wonderful movement created by Rebecca Dirnfeld. I've included an excerpt of my story below. If you'd like to read the full article, please click here. 

"It took me my twenties to realize the only thing that was stopping me was belief in myself.
 
I never knew my calling was a Jamaican inner-city by a garbage dump, until fourteen years later. 

I am just beginning to embark on an exciting new endeavor in the non-profit world. Yet, my heart knew this was my true path fourteen years ago. I was sixteen years old, it was summer break and I was volunteering in Jamaica’s capital city, Kingston. I spent that summer in an inner-city community called Riverton. Riverton is one of Jamaica’s most impoverished communities; built up along the edges of the Kingston landfill.  I saw children, just younger than me, not having the opportunities that I took for grated. And it greatly impacted me. I traveled down to Jamaica two more times and raised around $10,000 in my youth..." 

Read the full article here. 

Posted on July 15, 2014

In the last few months I have started a non profit, FUNdamentals for Change (FFC), moved homes, helped my boyfriend start up his new bar, Milltown Bar & Grill, traveled to Jamaica for FFC to begin the plans to build a playground for the school built by Kingston’s garbage dump, quit my comfortable job the day I got back and am now working full time (albeit without pay) on the nonprofit. 

So, I guess you can say there’s been a little bit of change in my life. People ask me, how are you? Like, really, how are you doing? And I keep referring to this feeling that describes all the change I’ve been choosing to go through, like that sensation one feels immediately after taking a running leap off a cliff in to a river, or lake, or ocean. You know that feeling? Your legs are still in a running, forward motion. Your arms are making huge, circular motions, as they try to maintain some balance. And it feels as though time as slowed down. Stomach is tight and pushing up in to your chest. You are so highly alert of the speed, sounds and wind on your skin. You are present in the moment. And I bet you have a smile on your face.

Most of us live our lives on the safe, flat edge of life’s cliffs. These cliffs represent our fears; our fears in ourselves. To jump you must have confidence in yourself, faith in the Universe and knowledge that you’re potential is greater than anything you’ve tried up until now. Sure, shit up there can still be scary. I’ve created many precarious situations where I feel like I’m sinking in to oblivion without really going anywhere. But for the most part, if we don’t chose to jump, life would mainly be a fine life. You will be safe. You will make enough money at your job. You will have friends and you would smile often. But what’s the point of just living a safe life?



Right now, as I am on the precipice of my thirtieth birthday, I feel like I’ve just taken that running leap. I’ve jumped away from what was safe in my life. I (finally) believe in my own strength to survive the change and I’m learning to release unnecessary control. I am at that moment where I’m weightless. My arms are making huge, slow, circular motions, as they try to maintain some balance but I know the truth that the speed and inevitability is also determined by an energy greater than my own. I don’t know what’s beyond the deep, emerald green, shimmering surface of the waters below, but I know I will be ok. In this weightless present, I am flying. I can do this. And I know, regardless of the outcome, it’ll be a good story. I have faith.

So, what are you waiting for? Take a leap.

Whether you're wanting to change the world, or even to just improve your on sense of self worth, these are great slogans to live by. Thanks Gandhi.