Shanghai is a beautiful city with a charming blend of the old with the new. We were made to understand that the vision for Shanghai is to make it the New York of China. The opportunities here are visibly limitless and our Caribbean people here are making use of the opportunities. The recently formed Caribbean Asociation of China is providing a platform for Caribbean people in China to come together, support each other and positively impact the country through their collective wisdom.
We have always known that our people are great and here in Shanghai I was in the presence of some incredibly bright, articulate, talented, successful youngsters who are blaing the trail and touching the lives of people in this huge nation in a powerful way.
Meet the following:
Dr. Nicolene Johnson, (1st left)Managing Director of China Trade Consulting Co. who did her PhD in International Trade (in Chinese) and now provides services in market entry, sourcing, negotiations, quality confirmation to Caribbean organizations doing business in China. She is also the President of the Caribbean Association in China. We call her our ambassador to Shanghai. She expertly guided us through the streets of Shanghai. Her fluency with the language is incredible. She is Jamaican and goes to Jamaica once per year.
Earl Carr, (1st right) Asst. VP Strategy, HSBC Bank China , born of Jamaican father, Panamanian Chinese mother, schooled in USA, lived in Japan (his dad was ambassador to Japan), worked with McKinsey and now Asst. VP Strategy for HSBC Bank China. An awesome accomplishment in his less than 30 years.
Virginia Hunt (2nd left) born of Jamaican parents from Adelphi, raised and schooled in USA, Manager, Star Bugs Children Center, Co-author of multicultural children books, secretary of the CAC. She is an amazing young lady, small in stature but shows up in the room 10 feet tall.
Lincoln Tomlinson (1st left), Chief Financial Officer Asia Pacific, GE Infrastructure. Born in Mandeville, went to Campion and UWI, did his masters in USA, worked in Tokyo for 3 years and recently moved to China. Brilliant, articulate, witty. Will be getting married in October in Jamaica to his beautiful Chinese fiancee.Kevin Thomas from Junction, a Munro past student, teaching English here in Shanghai. On a whim he applied on the Internet to teach English(having had enough of Miami) and before he knew it he was on a plane to Shanghai not knowing a word of Chinese. He's now fully competent with the language and has just returned from spending a few months at the Shaolin Temple where he immersed himself in the artform, discipline and spiritual experience of the Temple. He has an incredible spirit, he's a highly evolved being and you could sit and listen to him speak for ever
Julian (Bahamas) and Joyce (Australia) Francis, have two beautiful children and are very involved in the Shanghai International Fellowship. Julian teaches English and he also leads the worship service and plays the drums in the church band. Joyce is Head of parents Relations at an international school here in Shanghai.
Being in the presence of these youngsters I felt their enthusiasm, drive, resilience, boldness and positive energies. It was a very emotive moment for me. Everyone of them is involved in the church - a multi-cultural, multinational, non- denominational church that is packed every sunday in both services.
Stay tuned for more on Shanghai, Hang Zhou and the fantastic experience at the Caribbean restaurant and the tea house/tea farm.
