Shaka Pow receives Ambassador for Peace Award

Acting senior medical officer at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital, Dr Garth McDonald, also known as recording artiste Shaka Pow, was last week honoured with the Ambassador for Peace Award from the Universal Peace Federation for the work he has been doing in different communities across Jamaica.

In an interview with THE STAR last week at the Kingston Public Hospital, where he assisted with the annual Labour Day project, Shaka Pow said that he was surprised to get the award.

"Helping others has always been a part of me. I don't do it for recognition. I do it because I can, and because it's the human thing to do. When I'm working, I'm not thinking about who will see, but it really feels good when someone does see the work you have been putting in and rewards it," he said. "I am really happy about the award, and I just want to say thank you to those who saw it fit to recognise the work I have been doing."

Annually, the Universal Peace Federation, which supports the work of the United Nations, chooses persons who they award as peace ambassadors for charitable work in their communities.

For the past 15 years, Shaka Pow has been helping to feed the homeless, and he has been assisting schoolchildren through grants and scholarships provided through his Dr Garth McDonald Scholarship. He has also been encouraging fathers to live up to their responsibilities through his Best Baby Father initiative, and he has been targeting the youth through his NO To Violence campaign.