www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday November 14, 2007 - 15 Canadians keep P.A.C.E. in Jamaican schools By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Want to become great in just 100 days? SERVICE EXCELLENCE. RE/MAX can make you a better real estate salesperson in just 100 Days, guaranteed.* Buying or selling a home is one of the biggest decisions people make. When they are in need of professional services, they rely on RE/MAX. RE/MAX in Canada is proud to congratulate Adrienne Lake in becoming a Certified Mentor in our local mentor training program from Buffini International, called 100 Days to Greatness. Through this program, RE/MAX mentors help RE/MAX Associates facilitate excellent service in buying and selling real estate. Contact a mentor to discuss your career growth today. Pamela Appelt, Canada's first black female citizenship court judge -- and an Oakville resident -- was there when P.A.C.E. (Project for the Advancement of Childhood Education) Canada began. As the group, which aims to ensure children in rural Jamaica have educational opportunities available to them, celebrates its 20th anniversary at a gala in Toronto this Saturday, Appelt is joined by other prominent Oakville residents as P.A.C.E. Canada members. There's Anna Jarvis, a paediatric Emergency doctor at The Hospital for Sick Children and a University of Toronto professor, and Dorothy Moosai-Maharaj, retired wife of a physician. The trio are just a few among Oakville's large Jamaican population working hard to ensure education is available on their island homeland. "Pam has been involved since the very beginning," said Moosai-Maharaj, a longtime P.A.C.E. Canada member who just recently jumped into its fundraising activities full throttle. They are among many P.A.C.E. Canada members who live across southwestern Ontario and who are not only celebrating the anniversary this weekend, but attempting to get word out to other Jamaican natives and other Canadians about the work P.A.C.E. Canada does. Denise Bishop of Carlisle has a similar story. She has been away from her Jamaican birthplace for more than 40 years, but is now chair of the organization's fundraising and public relations committee. Bishop is a retired senior lecturer in music at the University of London, in England, and Queen's University in Kingston. Bishop now plays piano at singalongs at Alexander Place in Waterdown and at the School Sisters of Notre Dame Motherhouse and the Alzheimer's Society in Burlington. Despite its impending 20th anniversary, P.A.C.E. Canada is not as widely known as its members would like. Twenty years ago, a small group of Jamaican women led by Dr. Mavis Burke gathered to form a charitable organization that focused on Early Childhood Education. Today, P.A.C.E. Canada supports more than 200 rural and needy adopted basic schools in Jamaica, which benefits some 10,000 children annually. Bishop learned about P.A.C.E. Canada about a year ago while attending a dinner party in Oakville and was drawn to its goal of "Helping Young Children Everywhere." In this area, Susan Low of Burlington who is director of the steel band The Vibe is also a member, along with Bill PhilpottDelisser of Hamilton, Mary Long of Milton and Cathy Henry of St. Catharines. P.A.C.E. Canada, through its members, works to support Jamaican basic schools as well as pre-school programs in Canada, particularly for children who experience racial, cultural or economic disadvantages. Bursaries are awarded to students pursuing schooling in Early Childhood Education in Toronto and Jamaica, and P.A.C.E. partners with George Brown College's Early Childhood education department in a yearly student and teacher exchange. P.A.C.E.'s annual Christmas Book and Toy drive, along with the assistance of Sangster's book store in Kingston, Jamaica, delivers gift boxes of school supplies to needy schools. Bishop and MoosaiMaharaj are involved in fundraising for P.A.C.E.'s Adopt-A-School program that looks for sponsors to make a yearly commitment of a dollar a day -- $365 a year -- to support a basic school in one of the many rural communities in Jamaica. "It's just a dollar a day. What it does for the school is that it provides desks and materials for the kids to use in class," said Moosai-Maharaj. It also provides for reconstruction work of schools, even plumbing and kitchens for the buildings. "Anything so the children can learn in a better environment," said Moosai-Maharaj, Adrienne Lake Manager Aboutowne Realty Corp. 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