Above: Spanish Town

By Alexander Britell

While the Jamaican government released a report last week showing a dramatic drop in violence, including murders, the country still faces a tall order in controlling the problem — evidenced by a rash of beheadings that terrified the nation.

Rosemarie Greene is an unfortunate student of Jamaican crime — beginning when her brother was murdered on his farm in Spanish Town seven years ago.

Instead of returning to the United States, where she had been living, Greene chose a different path — returning to live at the scene of the incident and help fight the epidemic of gun violence in the country. Soon after, she started a group, Spanish Town Citizens Against Gun Violence.

“The situation is disastrous in Spanish Town,” she said. “My brother was an educated man who came home, and a man took his gun and killed him.”

Greene’s organization works to turn Spanish Town’s youth toward a better path through education — from mathematics classes to literacy programmes.

“Illiteracy is very high in Spanish Town,” she said. “It’s totally high. What we do is try to use computers and teach them through technology.”

Spanish Town was Jamaica’s capital for nearly three centuries — both under Spanish control and then under the authority of the English — until the 19th century.

But the city’s storied history has been obscured in recent years by the rash of violence — highlighted by the beheadings of two women in the city, Charmaine Gloria Rattray and Joyette Lynch, in July, and a similar double-beheading two days before that.

The crime spree has led to an ongoing police presence in the city of approximately 160,000, Greene said.

In spite of it all, however, Greene maintains her group, with limited funds, few donations and a resolve to be part of the solution.

“I’m an old woman who has come home and tried to make a difference in Spanish Town,” she said. “I came here, and I’ve tried to make a difference.”