Karlene Rickard

In this latest book, Karlene expands on her relationship with the Lord as she chronicles her childhood in Jamaica, meeting her mother and family for the first time in the UK, challenges in Education, marriage, mother-hood, and parenting. Her life has had its ups and downs, positives and negatives, challenges and triumphs. Through it all, she has clung to her Faith. In writing this autobiography, Karlene has had to go back and remember events, incidents, comments, and remarks made throughout her life. A journey in itself that results in reliving and revisiting trauma. Delving into hidden secrets not shared with anyone before. Dredging up painful memories, experiencing the pain and hurt and deciding what to do with it. Karlene has chosen forgiveness. In this autobiography, Karlene reflects on the power of forgiveness as an act of love which sets us free and gives us peace. Forgiveness is a conscious decision to stop blaming, punishing or being angry with someone for something they have said or done to us. Not only do we need to use our mouths to say we forgive, but we must use our hearts to ensure that we extricate all grudges and bitterness from within--We can let go. We acknowledge the hurt and move on. By forgiving others, we forgive ourselves.

Every individual has a family. This can be by birth, formal adoption or mutual adoption. However, when we come to families, the life within them is fundamental to us achieving, or not, self-actualisation. Family is important to society.Families are made up of adults and children who are related to each other either by blood or through marriage. Healthy families are fundamental to contributing to and creating a healthy and productive society.Families are micro ecosystems where communication, education, values and love are central to the overall development of all within the family structure. At the beginning of the relationship between parents and their children, the focus is on providing for and raising their children. Sometimes, this can be to the detriment of the personal growth and development of the parents. In this book, Karlene guides you through the key points of family life and stresses the importance of families growing together and individually. Karlene shines a spotlight on what family life is and consciously unpicks what makes families function, within the home and outside of it. Karlene celebrates families, their influence and all they bring to society.Karlene Rickard is a childcare expert who has overcome paralysis in order to write an acclaimed parent's guide to raising happy, well-adjusted children.

The A to Z of You is a exploration of all the parts that make up your body. It looks at how they work, what they do - and what we need to do to look after them. I truly believe our body is the template of every system, machine and organisation that has been or will ever be in existence. I believe that the car in some ways is similar to the human body. In the same way that we need to take our car in for a service to keep it running smoothly, so too do we need to look after our bodies to keep them healthy. We need to both look after those things that are without as well as those that are within. By being aware of our amazing body, and knowing how to look after it well, it will last us a lifetime!

This book contains a series of illustrations of fruits and vegetables from different parts of the world which are available to people in England. When Mark (Pianki) visited the local markets in London, he saw many fruits and vegetables such as mangoes, bananas, zaboca, plantains and pineapples. When he visited the markets in Bridgetown, Barbados and Kingston Jamaica, he was thrilled to find similar fruits and vegetables. All the fruits and vegetables illustrated in this book are grown in the Caribbean, even though most of them originated in places such as Africa, The Americas and India. Cassava is one of the native foods of the Caribbean. The variety of fruit and vegetables was taken to the Caribbean by explorers, colonisers and Africans who were enslaved. The Caribbean is a group of islands surrounded on the west by the Caribbean Sea and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. The islands, although generally very hot, vary in the amount of rainfall, prevailing winds, soil compositions, rock formation, topography and mineral wealth. These climatical and geographical factors affect the fruits and vegetables grown in the islands; for instance, Jamaica grows a wider variety of mangoes than Barbados. The foods mentioned in this book can all be found growing in different parts of the Caribbean Islands. It is possible to grow Caribbean foods in other parts of the world for example; tomatoes are grown in England, mangoes in India, yams in Africa and so on. These foods can be bought in most large supermarkets and certain small shops worldwide. In England, they are sold by many ethnic shops as well as major supermarkets. These are generally available in markets such as Ridley Road, Walthamstow and Brixton in London as well as markets in Wolverhampton and Birmingham in the West Midlands.

Karlene began her career as a science teacher and later got involved in community work and counselling. She has worked extensively as a parent facilitator, trainer and counsellor in the UK, USA, Jamaica, Grenada and Trinidad for over 15 years. Her powerful 'Empowerment for Parents' parenting programme is credited with changing lives and creating happier families. She was presented with the Millennium Award for it in 1999 and for her work with African Caribbean families. Karlene's autobiography 'He Speaks' has been widely read and has spread her message that positive relationships, genuine love and being attuned to the voice of God is essential to building well-balanced adults. She has achieved all of this despite the challenge of living with Multiple Sclerosis. In this book, Karlene shares not only her experiences of living with MS for 33 years, but also the strategies she has employed on her journey to conquer the limitations of the condition. This has equipped her to return to her mission of supporting families.

Parenting is one of the most joyous jobs in the world but is definitely not for the faint hearted. Tears, tantrums, adolescent anxiety and potty training are but a few slices from life's rich cake of parenting - so why not feast on The A to Z of Parenting, an essential guide to being a successful parent. Nourish your parenting skills with this invaluable pocket-sized easy to digest, guide to happy parenting.The recipes include emotions, the critical areas of communication and relationships. Also included are the ingredients for effective listening skills, praising and quality time which are outlined in clear and simple practical 'What to do' terms.Karlene Rickard has a background in education and community work. She began her career as a teacher and then went into community work and counselling. She has over fifteen years of expertise as a parent facilitator, trainer and counsellor with international experience.In 2000 Karlene was awarded a Millennium Award by a pre school alliance. This has laid the foundation for Empowerment for Parents. The quality of the programme has been recognised by eminent individuals including Baroness Howells who wrote the foreword and nation bodies such as Dfes. The programme has been piloted both nationally and internationally and currently being delivered in the United Kingdom.Underpinning The A to Z of Parenting is a common set of principles identified by the Every Child Matters agenda.