A Jamaican Christmas

THE WEEKLY GLEANER | DECEMBER 10 - DECEMB ER 16, 2020 | www.jama ica-gleaner.com | I F OR YEARS, popular Christmas prime time feature ‘ Greetings Across the World’ (GATW) has helped to connect families through greetings recorded in thediaspora and broadcast across Jamaica. IT HAS given many a glimpse of their long-lost relatives at a time when they need it themost: the holidays. For producer of the feature, Krystia Royes,“it’smoments like those that propel us to continue”. The feature was created by her father, ClarenceRoyes, a filmmaker, withhis own productioncompany, in1987. It emerged fromhisown longing for home in Jamaica after emigratingmany years before. “Hewent to school inEngland, andhe was there by himself. Although he was with other people from the Caribbean, hewasmissinghome. He toldme a story about howhismotherwouldsit and listen to the radioand thegreetings thatwould come across at times. But in those days whenpeople emigrated, theybarely saw each other, so he thought it would be great if they could actually see, not just hear, each other,”Royes related. 34-YEAR PARTNERSHIP “It took off from there, and Jamaica National (JN) got involved and remains our partner 34 years later,”she continued. The effort was a natural fit, Leon Mitchell, general manager of the Jamaica National Group, who played an integral part in the establishment of JN’s representative offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the US in those early years, said, given the organisation’s strong relationship and thrust to foster Jamaica’s connection with its diaspora. “It was a unique way to keep families and friends connected, most of whom had not seen each other in many years, and as the organisation helping to maintain those relationships, we saw it as ameans of further strengthening that movement,”Mitchell said. The show, which traditionally showcased Jamaicans overseas simply sending greetings to their loved ones in Jamaica on screen, remains popular at Christmas time and is aired throughout December to early January. But similar to other ventures in 2020, ‘GATW’ has not been unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In previous years, the crew would travel to various diaspora markets to film. However, with restrictions inplace in some countries,travellingabroadwasnot practicalthisyear.Therefore,theproduction team has launched an initiative to invite persons,locallyandoverseas,tosendtheir videos to the‘GATW’team. “They can simply videotape their greetings and send it to us,”Royes said. The show, whichhas become apart of themodern JamaicanChristmas tradition, will be aired fromDecember 4 to January 6, 2021. For instructions about how to send videos, visit jngroup.com/gatw. ‘Greetings Across the World’ Clarence Royes (left), film-maker and creator of Greetings Across the World, with the producer of the show, daughter, Krystia. CONTRIBUTED A Jamaican Christmas tradition 36 CHRISTMAS FEATURE THE WEEKLY GLEANER | DEC MBER 10 - JANUARY 9, 2020 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | CHRISTM AS FEATURE