Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Christin Senior (left) and Joleen Grant, Jamaican journalists living in The Turks and Caicos Islands, take a break at the offices of the Turks and Caicos Sun newspaper in Providenciales last Friday. - photo by Vivian Tyson

JUST OVER two years ago, Joleen Grant felt unfulfilled in her job in the advertising department at a Jamaican media house.

That's when she saw an advertisement seeking a graphic designer with the Turks and Caicos Sun newspaper.

"I never had any idea of what the place was like, I never heard of it before," Grant told The Gleaner.

Encouraged by family and friends to take the job, the former Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) student headed to Providenciales (the most populous of the Turks and Caicos Islands with 25,000 residents). She got the shock of her life. "I came in the night and saw a lot of bush, I thought I was in the country part," Grant said, snickering. "It was really hard to adjust."

Home to many Jamaicans

The 23-year-old Kingstonian has learned to adjust since that rude awakening in November 2006. She still works at the Turks and Caicos Sun, one of three weekly newspapers in the British territory which is home to hundreds of Jamaicans.

Like Grant, most have gone there to take up or find jobs. This hunt for a better life is not limited to Jamaicans, many of whom work at the Sandals-owned Beaches hotel or in hospitals.

In the last five years, people from the Indian subcontinent, The Philippines, China, Haiti and the Dominican Republic have entered Providenciales in droves.

The Asians have established themselves in commerce, operating haberdasheries and restaurants. Haitians control the unregulated transport system while Latinos from the Dom Rep compete with TCI citizens and Jamaicans for work in the burgeoning construction sector.

Last week, 34-year-old Ricky Jones from New Forest, Manchester, was looking for work. Since his arrival three years ago, Jones has found steady employment as an electrician on construction sites in 'Provo' and the neighbouring Parrot Cay.

More competitive

But the scene has become more competitive with the arrival of other foreigners.

"The boss dem start gi the Filipino and Chiney dem nuff work … dem wi work fi anything," Jones said.

Twenty-five-year-old Christin Senior is managing director of the Turks and Caicos Sun. She was a colleague of Grant at the Jamaican newspaper and is also a CARIMAC graduate. Originally from Seaforth, St Thomas, Senior joined her friend in Provo last September, five months after spending a 10-day vacation there.

Like Grant, she said adapting to a smaller, conservative country has been tough.

"It took a while for me to adjust, I was very homesick in the first three months," she said. "Things are very expensive, there's only one cinema, one club and no transport system. But there's hardly any crime, you don't have to be looking over your shoulder every time," she added.

The police in Provo have recorded only two murders since the start of the year. Homicide statistics have never passed single digit; burglary and rape are the biggest crime concerns.

Jamaicans have been going to the TCI to work for decades. The islands were under Jamaican jurisdiction in the years of British rule and many police personnel were stationed there.

Transformation

To Jamaicans who have lived in the TCI for over five years, they have seen the country transform slowly from a rustic settlement to a tourist mecca in the making. Swanky hotels like the Amanyara and the Regent Palms are located along the fashionable Grace Bay stretch.

On July 28, the weeklong Turks and Caicos Music and Cultural Festival begins at the Turtle Cove Marina, another exclusive area. It features big names like singers Lionel Ritchie and Anita Baker; past performers include Kenny Rogers and Air Supply.

Joleen Grant and Christin Senior have long got over their homesick blues and are encouraged by the development, albeit slow, taking place in the TCI. Grant says she would return home if she gets a proper job, but for now she will stay put.

"If I had the option, I would do it again," she said. "Jamaica is nice, but not when you are broke."

howard.campbell@gleanerjm.com

Things to know about the TCI

Foreigners working in the country need a work permit, which is renewed each year by their employer.

Although it is a British dependent, the United States dollar is the official currency.

The head of government is the premier Dr Michael Misick.

There are no fast-food restaurants.