One Son to save Christmas - Storm-hit St Elizabeth communities countdown to spirit-lifting street dance

In large sections of St Elizabeth, the imminent arrival of Christmas is furtherest from people's minds. Hurricane Melissa did more than tear off roofs and flood homes; it drained the season of its spirit.

Lights are scarce. Music is muted. Hope feels rationed.

For many residents in communities such as Merrywood, Musgrave, Breadnutwalk and Elderslie, there is just one thing standing between them and a Christmas completely erased. One Son's Boxing Day street dance.

"It come across mi mind fi cancel it, but mi cyaan do that to the people," said promoter Dwayne 'One Son' Cornwall.

The Breadnutwalk resident said Melissa has left many residents despondent about the season.

"A One Son alone keep we Christmas alive dis year," one resident said.

Many residents say the usually joyous period feels hollow as they are weighed down by loss, damage and uncertainty.

"Right now dem have nothing else to look forward to," Cornwall said. "Is a people event, and it woulda feel like mi cancel Christmas."

He insists that "Christmas without a party is not Christmas".

Cornwall has refused to let hardship--personal or national--silence the music. Not even COVID-19 managed to stop the Boxing Day event he launched in 2005.

"I'm a paraplegic. Mi get mi accident February 12, 2003, and mi paralyse from the waist down," he said. "But once you have life, you just haffi move forward. Mi nuh mek nothing stop me."

This year, Hurricane Melissa tested that resolve.

"My whole house flood out," Cornwall said. "With my condition it take days fi get the water out. Mi haffi bore hole through the wall fi drain it. Mi lose mi roof too."

The annual dance, officially known as Jour De Boxe, has grown into a regional fixture, drawing patrons "from Elderslie straight through to Montego Bay and Black River," Cornwall said.

"It become a calendar event. People prepare for it just like Grand Market."

This year marks the event's 20th anniversary, though storm damage has forced significant cutbacks.

"We haffi scale it down," Cornwall said. "The big sound we normally use cyan work. It a guh be a small sound and a likkle generator. Big generator cost over $100,000 fi the night."

The event itself was born out of survival. After leaving Mona Rehabilitation Centre, he struggled to find support.

"Mi did a look help and cyan get none," he said. "So mi decide fi keep a event. The first one was Boxing Day, up inna the hills. We block off Breadnutwalk--and it blow up."

What began as a way to sustain himself has evolved into an act of gratitude.

"Inna the early years it was fi sustain miself financially because of the accident. Now it's not a financial gain it's for the people who supported me when mi needed it."

Cornwall's love for Christmas runs deep, shaped by his upbringing in Breadnutwalk.

"Back then Christmas different. We used to get new suit, if you nuh get clothes all year, you getting it Christmas. We used to go Manuel go pick balloon, and everybody wanted number 33 or number 10."

Laughing, he added, "At that time we didn't even remember birthday, but Christmas was a must."

He said the season was full of work and excitement. "We used to go cane field or coffee field, so we used to have our own money as a child. Back in the 80s and 90s you know what hard work look like. You don't really have lazy people like now."

While he acknowledges times have changed, he insists the joy should remain.

"The culture change, yes, but the fun shouldn't lost out of Christmas. Christmas must have fun."

In his Christmas postcard, to the entire nation, Cornwall urges Jamaicans to embrace the simple things that life offers.

"Christmas is still alive and well in Jamaica. The food deh yah, the wine deh yah, the cake deh yah, and the party definitely deh yah," he said.

As he looks forward to December 27, Cornwall is optimistic that his event will help to put smiles on the faces of persons in and around Breadnutwalk.

"Entertainment-wise this will help people because everybody a go through likkle stress. That's why mi nah further dampen dem Christmas [because] the storm do that already," he said with a smile.