Manifesto/Jamaicahas partnered with the Social Development Commission Kingston and St. Andrew office showing their commitment to “Building Communities….Building Jamaica”. Manifesto Jamaica has gotten involved with community development through various projects in the corporate area, one community that has benefitted from this partnership is Red Hills located in north rural St. Andrew.
The Red Hill’s community for some time has had their share of socioeconomic challenges however, this has not damper their community spirit in promoting growth and development. Manifesto/Jamaica having seen the high level of community spirit has embraced the Red Hills community supporting their yearly Heroes Day Fair and Festival held in October. Manifesto/Jamaica introduces the community to various skills through workshops. These workshops are aimed at molding youths to become better men and women in their community.
Manifesto/Jamaicais the Kingston-based sibling organization of Manifesto in Toronto, Canada with its mission to empower youths through arts and culture. This “ART’ical” Empowerment will be attained by strengthening the local and international networks of youth artists, by disseminating tool kits and other necessary information via this network and by influencing government policies related to the development of the creative industries. The group’s mandate is to Educate, Expose & Empower and it does this primarily through events and workshops.
Through the partnership with SDC, Manifesto/Jamaica is specifically geared towards empowering youths through artistic expressions using a multi-disciplinary approach including arts, music workshops, professional development programs, art exhibitions, filmmaking and concerts. The aim is to stimulate and evoke positive thinking among community residents. However, this has extended into addressing various community needs during community engagements and feedback resulting in wide range of projects.