Farm Primary & Junior High School

April 29, 2008

Farm Heights is considered one of the more rough areas of Jamaica. I wish I could have captured the long drive up to the school because my words couldn’t capture that scene… it was difficult to see some of the homes and living conditions… Roads were ruins and more the half of the homes being built were basically unfinished. I asked one of the locals later in the week why that was so… His explanation was three-pronged… The buyers and builders of the homes passed away, they completely abandoned the project, or they were in the process of building but ran out of funds and are saving to complete it at a later date. Overall, the average home can take anywhere from 3 to 10 years to build…

You could see the small make-shift shacks lined up outside of the part of the security wall that was in existence for the school. Out of these shacks, vendors sell snacks and little trinkets to the students – this was a regular practice at every school… But that was just about the only regular thing this school had… The school itself was a place that lacked a lot of the things that most schools on the island did have…Out front, the conditions and wear were pretty apparent. Many of the schools that we visited had a security wall. Farm Primary had about half of a wall. This was an real issue as several sad stories were told. Intruders had frequented the campus in the past, harassing students for money, and in one case hospitalizing a young boy… Young girls were assaulted by intruders in the bathroom facilities for the school… And the restroom facilities of the school were also not like other schools – plumbing didn’t work, toilets could not be flushed, the walls were unsanitary, many stalls had no doors, and the smell was described as something never experienced before…

Our volunteers initiated a project to complete the security wall around the entire school (400 ft long open section, 10 feet high) and worked to complete a renovation of the entire restroom - cleaning, re-plumbing, and painting the entire facility. Our media team captured the project at about the halfway point…

The renovation project for the bathrooms at Farm School was about halfway there… above is the girls bathroom, unfinished… as crazy as it looks right now – that’s the way it looks after they mopped it up… below is the boys bathroom, almost completed… Cleaned, power-washed, and painted, it was beginning to come together…

The kids were something else… a little more shyness then Barracks Road, but still the same smiles… this is the part of visiting the different schools of Jamaica that I love…

In the above picture is where you could see the security wall coming together. Some locals also put in time to help build the wall...

I hope what all of our volunteers were able to do was a blessing to both the school and themsleves… It’s one of those experiences that you can’t easily forget.

Sports Clinics - Mt. Salem Primary

April 28, 2008 – Continued…

We arrived at Mt. Salem Primary and Secondary School and the other team was exhausted. They started to tell stories of all the kids that basically mobbed them the whole first half of the day. They were trying to run clinics and games, but it was way too hard to do short staffed… The kids were everywhere, but it was a good problem to have in a way. From what I understand, not only was it just an exciting day for the kids, but it was a good way and day to keep them off of the streets. On days when a teacher isn’t there, the kids just leave to do who knows what… Better to spend a day playing games all afternoon then anything else…

In two schools – the pattern was already forming… from what I heard at others schools – they all had similar athletic and recreation facilities… The kids ran, played, and laughed in places that people in the U.S. would deem unlivable… It’s amazing what one single day could do for your perspective… What’s even more interesting is - it’s not like I didn’t know… Almost daily, I bring to mind the posh life that American’s get to live, often at the expense of others - or at the very least – with our eyes averted in another direction. Attribute it to ‘just the way it is’ or ‘unfortunate circumstances’ or ‘the land of opportunity’ – we live the lifestyle we have, the majority of the time, in blissful ignorance – and excess… and we want more of it, never ever being satisfied… Unnecessarily large SUVs for carrying 200 lbs of groceries every day and towing huge tractors out of ditches – EVERYDAY, cuz we always need that feature… Homes with 6 bedrooms for 3 people… 50 inch TVs in 14’X10’ rooms (yah that’s me)… the most comprehensive network of recreation facilities on the planet - yet we still suffer from chronic obesity attributed to our healthy American gluttonous appetites for endless boats of food… And we still want more of it all… Oh yes I am putting us all on blast… And we all know this… we take and take, knowing full well that it may be at the expense of others in the world – and we choose the easy road… cuz it’s easier to turn the other way… I almost feel helpless where I live – I can’t really change a society bombarded daily with the message that we need more… and at the same time, I can't get mad.. because I'm just as much a part of it... It's systemic, and I'm in it... I guess all I was really feeling was frustration... you see it, but can do next to nothing - in the grand scheme of things - about it. Unless of course, our entire culture of consumerism changes. Okay - I'm off of my soapbox now...

It was beautiful to see the team and all the kids playing together where it was only about the interaction and the fun… if only we could be just as free back home – free from the chains of the slavery to ‘things’… we trudge everyday craving more… we’re conditioned and trained for hyper-consumerism… it’s a locomotive almost impossible to stop…

This guy was a former Jamaican Soccer Pro teaching kids a workshop with our team. This guy was awesome – he was playin with the soccer ball like a hacky-sack… he had no problem dribbling the ball in mid-air with his feet, rolling it across his back, over his shoulders, then effortlessly up into the air off of his head onto the next person… STUD. I’m not a big soccer fan, nor am I easily impressed in sports, but this was ridiculous… off the wall, off the floor, off the window, off the backboard – nothing but net.. that kind of ridiculous… and it was cool of him to give his time to teach the kids of the school… he actually gave his time all week with the sports team…

The day was amazing… long and exhausting, but amazing… and this wasn’t even the beginning of the stories that were going to unfold all week…

Blessed are the flexible - Barracks Road Primary

April 28, 2008

My main assignment today was to follow the Sports Ministry as they went to Herbert Morrison Technical High School and capture workshops and a Soccer match. This particular school was a much anticipated place of ministry for the Sports team. You can just see the excitement and look of anticipation in their eyes. As we waited in the lobby to meet the players and the students of the school, the Sports team spent their time passing out the Best Dressed 50 Fest fliers. This was a very productive time for the team, but some news was about to come their way that was gonna test the first rule for all Missionaries – Blessed are the Flexible. As it turns out, there was a miscommunication with the school and long story short – there was going to be no meeting, no match, no workshops, nothing. From that point – we knew it has to be in God’s hands…

I noticed that our driver is playing Christian music throughout the whole ride. When we prayed together, he joined our group in prayer. God’s plan was in the works… Apparently, the bus driver has a son that attends Barracks Road Primary School, a school that was not on the list of places that we were going to visit this week. He offered to take us over there to see if the Sports team could take their ministry there, join them, and work with the students. Being the only real option (the other was to go back to the hotel) we drove over and the administration welcomed us in! As we arrived we were greeted by some of the most energetic and sweetest kids you could ever meet. We ended up catching them right as they were going to begin their daily devotional and were blessed enough to sing and pray with the entire school. From that point, the team split to visit classrooms and many of them began to talk to students individually, laughing and sharing with them, and in some cases, sharing how to have a relationship with Jesus with these kids. I was able to capture so many pictures of these moments – God was showing me so much through this experience. But, there was one picture that captures the theme of the day and the activities that the team and the kids shared, all in one.

This picture was of the soccer field that the kids play on every day. Only one goal on one side, huge rocks everywhere, uneven ground, trash, hills, and these two large concrete slabs directly in the middle of what was their field. Blessed are the flexible indeed. They played on this field because it was their home - and loved every minute of it. It didn’t matter to them, they just played through it all… All these little bumps in the road just added character to them. You truly did have to work with what was given to you, but in the end they were still able to play the game and have an amazing time doing it. The Sports team and the kids ended up playing a very competitive and fun game. This time was filled with so many smiles, so much interaction, and such an amazing blessing.

This was just the first half of the day…with the heat, the activity, and the length of our day, the team could have easily stopped there… But, the other half of the sports team called from another school and said that they could use our help… so what real choice is there? – haha… Barracks Road Primary was so much fun, and being my first school visit, it was a good one to start on… and we didn't even plan on coming here...