By THÉRÈSE MARGOLIS    

After more than four years in Mexico, Jamaican Ambassador Sandra Anita Grant Griffiths will be returning home to Kingston at the end of this month.

But before she left, Algerian Ambassador Rabah Hadid and his wife Farida Hadid, in cooperation with the heads of mission of the entire diplomatic corps accredited in Mexico, offered a lavish sit-down luncheon at their residence on Sunday, Dec. 10, to bid adieu to their Jamaican colleague.

The speeches were short and heartfelt, but the most moving part of the ceremony was an improvised a cappella rendition of the Caribbean folksong “Jamaica Farewell” (with the lyrics adjusted to mourn a departure from Mexico) by all the ambassadors present, led by Grant Griffiths herself.

A career diplomat with 40 years of service under her belt, Grant Griffiths, who has concurrent credentials for Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, was, previous to her appointment here, Jamaica’s consul general to the southern United States, Cayman Islands and Bahamas.

She also served as her government’s chief of state protocol and worked for Jamaica’s Diaspora Affairs Program.

She will be assuming a new position in her country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January.