Barbara Ellington, Lifestyle Editor

Journalist/entrepreneur Dianne Regisford-Guéye is married to a Senegalese man and is the mother of two sons. - Barbara Ellington/Lifestyle Editor

Diane Regisford-Guéye was the sole delegate representing her 60 countrymen/women living in South Africa at the third biennial conference of the Jamaican Diaspora in Kingston last week. She learnt about the conference through our diplomatic mission there and decided that with or without sponsorship, she would be present. It has paid dividends.

The married mother of two sons - including a seven-month-old, told Flair she was happy to have attended. "I was hoping to get a first-hand experience of who these diaspora people were and I did. The conference was life-affirming for me. We are all united as Jamaicans, yet we all look so different. I am not disappointed and I now have a greater opportunity to play a part in advancing the movement," said the Mouride Muslim.

World citizen

Regisford-Guéye could easily be described as a world citizen. Born to Jamaican parents in Britain, she has seen and lived in several parts of the world, thanks to parents who were in the medical field. These include Zambia, the United States of America, Senegal, the Caribbean and even the Middle East. She feels blessed to have had that experience and hopes that being a part of this great diaspora movement will give her the opportunity to strengthen the links that have shaped her identity.

The links will also help in her multi-faceted career as a journalist/interior designer/cultural activist and entrepreneur. "Through communication, we can bridge worlds, share out transient experiences, look at how we vacillate through them and decide how many of us will eventually return to settle here," she said.

Email: diasporasourcenotes@gmail.com

Dianne Regisford-Guéye, a Jamaican living in South Africa for the past 11 years