Moon Author's Review
Culture Yard (8 a.m.–6 p.m. daily, US$10) is a project developed by the Trench Town Development Association and offers a museum tour based around Bob Marley's former home in the ghetto of Rima. It has been deemed a historical site. Visiting Culture Yard is a decent excuse to see the slums of Trench Town, which have retained the dire conditions that gave birth to songs like "Concrete Jungle" and "No Woman No Cry," even if the cost for a look-around feels more like charity than value. The area is marked by a large mural of Marley, visible from Spanish Town Road. Visiting Culture Yard is safe, but the communities in and around Trench Town remain explosive, so it's not a good idea to go wandering on your own. Colin Smikle can arrange community tours around Kingston, including Culture Yard.
A few years ago the Trench Town Development Association was established to carry out projects to benefit the community. Another success has been the Trenchtown Reading Centre (Lower 1st St., contact Christopher Stone, tel. 876/546-1559, stonec@kasnet.com, www.trenchtownreadingcentre.com), which moved into a new building in 2000 and was refurbished in 2005. The reading center welcomes book donations.
