Dreams and visions are what give us hope and purpose in life. All the important moments of our lives whether it is education achievement, a home, a wedding, a church building, a funeral needed resources to power them to a satisfactory achievement.
Most of us however are faced with the short money month syndrome, where the month is always whipping the duration of the money. Well, although this may seem to be a modern challenge, our for-bearers invented an ingenious means to use community collaboration to overcome the money challenge and realize the dream.
A Pardner is an agreement among people to save collectively. Usually an established member of a community manages the pardnership and is referred to as “the banker”. The pardners contribute a regular sum on a time basis decided by the pardners. At the agreed upon time frame, one member of the pardner receives the total amount contributed by the pardners over that period., less the equivalent of one contribution, which is given to the banker as payment for the banker’s services. The banker determines the order in which members can make their draw.
You can then imagine my excitement when I saw the newly published book, Pardner Money Stories by Deanne Heron. Deanne possess two important ingredients of great writers, passion and skill. Maybe you have seen some her many stories published by the Jamaican Observer. Well in this new work she skillfully uses the social contract of the Pardner as a backdrop to share the richness of Jamaican family life in Britain.
Deanne was kind enough to enter into a conversation with us and share what motivated the publication and what pleasure we can expect to gain from it.
Click to listen to her wisdom.
Maybe you like me can trace your success journey to a pardner. Many times, it was the pardner monies that paid my tuition to Howard University. It was vital in my parents acquiring their first home. My mom was a banker and I clearly remember the many envelopes dropped through the mail slot.
O if we could just restore this level of social trust on a broad basis. New dreams and visions will be realized instead of festering like raisins in the sun. I would highly recommend getting a copy of Deanne’s fine work and give your dreams a fighting chance.
