Advertisements reflect a society’s dreams and desires. And though they vary from nation to nation in tone and emphasis, a high proportion of ads everywhere feature nubile women. Sex sells all over the world.

A young Jamaican police detective tells his story.

“My friend Jimmy and I joined the police after high school. We saw a lot of behaviour we didn’t like on the streets and the force was a way to help change things.

The mapping of the human genome is one of man’s great intellectual achievements. And the sequencing of the 3 billion DNA letters of our genetic code will one day enable millions to live longer and happier lives. But to some the ‘book of life’ also shows that living things, including humans, are merely information-processing machines.

AIDS now kills more people worldwide than any other infectious disease and is mankind’s fourth leading cause of death, after heart disease, strokes and respiratory infections. And more people died of AIDS in 1999 than in any previous year.  In many affected countries the improvement in the quality of life that has taken place over the past fifty years is being reversed. In Zimbabwe over 25% of adults are HIV positive - the world’s highest infection rate - and some estimates there show life expectancy falling to 38 years, 17 years shorter that it would have been. “Healthy life expectancy in some African countries is dropping back to levels we haven’t seen in advanced countries since medieval times” says one UN Health Agency director. This is a far worse disaster than anything foreseen when worst-case HIV scenarios were first discussed. US Government analysts now say that a quarter of southern Africa’s population is likely to die of Aids, and the epidemic could follow a similar course in South Asia and the former Soviet Union.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and gorgeous scenery comes in many forms – snow capped mountains, gleaming lakes, immaculate gardens. But to most people paradise is a tropical isle, and Jamaica is undoubtedly the loveliest of them all. “The fairest island eyes ever beheld” wrote Columbus. Or to quote the ‘South American and Caribbean Handbook’ – “It would be difficult to imagine a greater variety of tropical scenery in an area of similar size”.

In March I phoned Food For The Poor to ask founder Ferdinand Mahfood about their plan to build 2,000 houses in Jamaica. His well spoken assistant told me Mr. Mahfood was out of the country. He sounded young so out of curiosity I asked him about himself. His name was Romeo Effs and he was 29. I found the idea of a young guy doing charity work unusual. How had he ended up there? It’s a long story he laughed. Sounds interesting I said, tell me more. Sure he answered. But he was busy, so check back next day.

According to Professor Anthony Harriott one of the main causes of the nation’s high murder rate is the inability of many Jamaicans to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence. He says the sharp drop in homicides in some inner city communities over the past two years was partly due to conflict resolution programs established there. He reckons that if such programs were put in place island-wide, our murder rate could drop by 40%.

Back in the colonial days our British masters considered Jamaicans’ reluctance to marry a main source of our problems. It seemed obvious to them that if Jamaica became more like Britain, where nearly all children were born to married parents, it would be a more disciplined and productive place. One governor’s wife reportedly went so far as to arrange a mass marriage ceremony where about 40 people tied the knot at one time.

World book day is April 23, the birthday of William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes. And yet we bibliophiles find the need for a day encouraging people to read almost incomprehensible. For what greater conceivable pleasure is known to man? To read is to soar through time and space, and to survey at will a limitless expanse of peoples and ideas. Books always respect the reader's own pace. Affordable and accessible to all, they offer an almost infinite variety of proven riches.

Manchester is widely regarded as the most orderly parish in the nation and its people are considered the most disciplined in Jamaica. As journalist Barbara Ellington, who grew up there, says “You can drive north, south, and west and you will see no slums or depressed areas or zinc fence type living. “