Capital: Kingston
Area: 10,991 km²
Population: 2.7 million (July 2006)
Ethnic groups: African descent, East Indian, European, Chinese, or other ancestry
Official language(s): English
Religion(s): Protestant, Roman Catholic, others
Currency: 1 Jamaica dollar = 100 cents
SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country
The beginnings of the SOS Children's Village work in Jamaica go back to 1970. The National SOS Children's Village Association was founded then, on the initiative of the Jamaicans, Harland Hastings and John Rollins, and the Austrian Consul-General, Heinz Simonitsch. Just two years later SOS Children's Village Barrett Town, situated about 15 kilometres from Montego Bay on Jamaica's north coast, was ready and the first children were able to move into their new homes. The second SOS Children's Village followed in Stony Hill, near the capital, Kingston in 1984.
SOS Kindergartens were added to both of these SOS Children's Villages over the years. These are open to children from the neighbourhoods as well as to SOS Children's Village children. The first SOS Youth Facility was built in Montego Bay in 1988. Here, the youths who have outgrown the SOS Children's Village are readied to live on their own. Because the population of Stony Hill was steadily increasing, the local schools were soon bursting at the seams. It was not uncommon for there to be more than 50 pupils in a class. Many pupils had to attend other schools, which were much further away. In order to alleviate this situation, an SOS Hermann Gmeiner School was built in Stony Hill in 2002.
At present there are two SOS Children's Villages in Jamaica, two SOS Youth Facilities, two SOS Kindergartens and one SOS Hermann Gmeiner School.
Website of SOS Children's Villages Jamaica (available in English, Spanish and German)