I first set foot on Jamaican soil on August 1, 1976, living and working in St. Mary until June 1, 1978. I did not return to the island until 38 years later. 

I was fortunate to grow up with Ghanaian immigrant parents who are now citizens of the United States. As a child, they taught me the strict values of what it takes to be a good man. 

Ask any Peace Corps volunteer, and they will tell you that the process of getting ready to leave the U.S. and live abroad for 27 months in a developing country is a stressful time. 

The male youth population in Jamaica gets a lot of negative attention.

Born in the Portland Parish to a large family of 24 brothers and sisters, Headley was given away at the age of four. 

Around the globe, Peace Corps Volunteers work with local counterparts to design and implement safe, affordable and sustainable water and sanitation projects.

Around dusk at my new home, I climb pon di oustop* to see Kingston turn on her lights as the dimming sun shoots pink, purple and peach across the sky. 

It goes by different names: tubig, nsuo, wata. In my childhood home, the H₂O flowing through our pipes was known best as “water.”

"Yow brownin! Yuh lookin nice and sweet today honey!" Okay, thanks.