From Jamaica to the World: UWI Wins Top Education Prize

Three researchers with deep roots in Jamaica have just picked up what's being called the world's biggest prize in education. Professor Susan Walker and Dr Susan Chang-Lopez of The University of the West Indies, together with Professor Sally Grantham-McGregor of University College London, were named winners of the 2026 Yidan Prize for Education Development this month, recognised for a programme that started as a small study in Jamaica back in 1986 and has since reached hundreds of thousands of children across 21 countries.

Their programme, known as Reach Up, teaches parents and caregivers simple, everyday ways to support a young child's development, through talking, playing and responsive interaction rather than expensive toys or formal schooling. What began in Jamaican communities decades ago is now being scaled to reach 1.5 million children in Brazil alone, with versions running from the Caribbean to Africa to the Middle East. It's the kind of story that makes you proud without needing a single headline about crime or politics to go with it: three decades of patient, unglamorous research, born at home, now changing lives around the globe.

It's a reminder of something families across the diaspora already know in their bones: the small, everyday things done with love, a phone call, a game, a bit of attention, carry further than anyone expects. That's the same spirit behind every barrel and box we help pack here at Zan Shipping. Whether it's exercise books and colouring pencils for a niece starting school in Kingston, a bag of toys for a godson in St George's, or simply the ingredients for a proper Sunday dinner sent to grandparents in Georgetown, these shipments are never just cargo. They're how families separated by an ocean keep showing up for each other.

If you've got a barrel or box to send home to the Caribbean, whether it's for a child, a parent, or the whole family, we'd love to help you get it there safely and on time. Our barrel service starts from just £85, and right now it's buy 3, get 1 empty free. Give us a call on 02030867592 or drop us a message on WhatsApp at +447886065894, and let's get something moving home.