WASHINGTON, DC – Christmas Message 2011 to the Jamaican Diaspora from Her Excellency Audrey P. Marks, Ambassador of Jamaica to the United States:
My Fellow Jamaicans in the Diaspora
I reach out to you this Christmas with warm Jamaican greetings, and blessings as you celebrate this tradition of more than two thousand years commemorating Christ’s birth.
Many of you may have adapted to the wintery Christmas here, but no doubt still drawing warm comfort from the treasured memories of a Jamaican Christmas. Aside from the spiritual renewal it carries, the tangible expressions of Christmas treats at home – the cake, sorrel, ham, fried fish, sodas, candies, and Christmas market for children, to name a few – must excite recollections of those good times.
In conveying Christmas greetings to you in the Diaspora in the USA, I must also on behalf of the Government and people of Jamaica, thank you sincerely for the unfailing support you have given in one form or another to advance Jamaica throughout this past year. My earnest thanks, too, to the armies of friends of Jamaica whom many of you have enlisted in that endeavour.
Christmas this year is especially significant, for in addition to reaffirming the importance of faith in God and the meaning that this hope adds to our individual lives and to national life, it also ushers in a great milestone – our Golden Anniversary in 2012 as Independent Jamaica.
As I have tried to stress at every opportunity, the Diaspora is an indispensable part of Jamaica’s nation-building. As such, you will, in due course, be updated on the slate of activities being planned to make this coming Golden Independence Anniversary year a memorable one for all Jamaicans at home and abroad. We do have much reason to be proud as Jamaicans, for we have accomplished great things, against difficult odds at times. We are keen on keeping you informed, so as to also give you an opportunity to add your creative contributions to highlight this extraordinary milepost in our nationhood. Stay tuned.
In offering my best wishes for you and your loved ones this Christmas, amidst the merriment and gatherings with traditional expressions of the Christmas spirit, may you all reflect on the true meaning of the hope represented by the Season and commit yourselves afresh to standing side by side with your sisters and brothers in this mission to build Jamaica, land we love. Again, I wish to draw attention to the need to reach out especially those in need – material and otherwise – into whose lives the investment of your time and treasure can make a big difference for good.
From all of us here at the Embassy in Washington, D.C., a very Merry Christmas 2011and a happy New Year, when it comes.
Audrey P. Marks
Jamaican Ambassador
Washington, D.C.
