Do the Jerk

by Andrew Parks

BENEFIT

Smoky jerk chicken, icy bottles of Red Stripe and Rastafarians toking on marijuana: That's what the brochure advertises, right? Wrong. Jamaica is more than a drinking hole for topless 24-hour-party people; it's a grossly impoverished country with an unbelievable teen pregnancy problem. Jamaican Jerk Hut owner Nicola Shirley was shocked by the severity of the situation when she visited the Morant Bay region recently and witnessed how pregnant teens are yanked out of school, hidden away in understaffed, underfunded learning/work centers and shunned by Jamaican society. "The teens are cast as 'bad girls' and considered a high-risk population due to education interruption, the potential for repeat pregnancies and the lack of training," explains Shirley. The Morant Bay Centre is considered one of the worst in Jamaica. Shirley saw 18 girls sharing one sewing machine there, as well as the skeletal remains of a building lacking walls. "No one should be allowed to walk, much less work, in the building," says Shirley. "I was afraid I was going to fall through the floor." After witnessing the dire conditions, Shirley formed Edu-Tourism of St. Thomas along with professors from Temple and Bryn Mawr. Together they plan on rebuilding the Centre in August and donating as much sewing equipment as possible. To aid in the effort, Shirley is hosting a benefit at her popular restaurant, complete with a silent auction of local artwork, a fashion show, free rum punch, saltfish fritters, coconut shrimp and Caribbean music platters served on turntables by DJ Phil.

Morant Bay Centre Sewing Cooperative Fundraiser, Sat., July 16, 6-11 p.m., $15 (in advance) or $20 (at door), Jamaican Jerk Hut, 436 South St., 215-545-8644.