Soon Come! (Thursday July 26th)

Lots of mixed emotions the last few days!   Today was really really hard saying goodbye to everyone :(. 

Thursday July 26th - We celebrated "Thank you Thursday" and it was the perfect ending to our trip, but it made it even more emotional.  We started our day attending 4 a.m. adoration, etc.  It proved again to be a very moving and wonderful experience and we swear they were the singing the loudest the have since we've been there :).  The first time I cried was when one of the residents prayed for his mom "wherever she may be" because it was her birthday, it was so sad but so sweet at the same time.  I was able to record the kids singing, I'm so glad I'll be able to listen to it when I'm missing them!  We also got a picture with Monsignor Ramkisoon and Father Garvin.  Monsignor (on the far right) is the founder of Mustard Seed, which now has homes in Jamaica, Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, and Dominican Republic, pretty amazing!  Father Garvin is his right hand man, he told the story about how he thought Monsignor was crazy when he bought him a plane ticket and gave him $100 dollars to go start a home in Zimbabwe.  That home now feeds over 500 children daily, I want to go there so bad one day!  MSC Zimbabwe.  They are both so inspirational and I'm so glad we got to meet them!

After adoration we enjoyed breakfast with the short term group from Atlanta.  Then we got ready for our last day of summer school.  We had a lot of fun as usual with the kids who were all dressed in their Sunday best for our celebration.

Of course they couldn't wait to put on their "Give Thanks" tee shirts that we made (excited is not even the word, they were so proud of their shirts!), and they represented us well sitting at the front of the chapel :).

Some of the boys helped play the drums and tambourines :).

We were lucky enough to have Marlon (Natalia's assitant) be our MC he ran everything and did a great job! 

One of the residents read a poem, we sang songs, listened to a skit, and shared what we are thankful for!  The poem was called Be Thankful:

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know everything,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
because it means you’ve made a difference.

-Unknown Author-

We thought it was really appropriate for the day and it was great that one of the residents read it.  Once again we were blown away by how little the residents have but their amazing ability to thank God for everything.  One of our students said that he was thankful for "life, and for God waking him up this morning"!  As everyone was listing what they were thankful for some of the staff prayed for us and that started the tears again.  At the end we played the song "I Saw What I Saw".  Kathryn wrote a really nice "thank you" so the three of us took turns reading it, definitely hard to get through especially because now we feel like part of their family!  This is our volunteer group for summer school under our "Thank You" banner (Marlon, Nicholas, Lindsay, Janeel, Kathryn, Shanique, myself, Mandy, and Breanne - Melanie helped us last week :).

We took a few group pictures that I love even if they are a little chaotic :)! 

After the celebration we went shopping for some last minute items in downtown Kingston.  If you want to appreciate true Jamaican culture come to downtown Kingston.  We were looking for toys for the kids, and although we weren't successful with the shopping we had a great time walking through the streets.  Downtown is so crowded with people walking that on most streets cars can't make it through.  There are people EVERYWHERE.  Every inch of the pavement and store fronts are covered with vendors selling anything from CDs to underwear.  The vendors are constantly yelling about how amazing their products are and often try to pull you over to check it out.  There are women giving haircuts and manis/pedis under umbrellas out in the street.  There is reggae music blasting from every other store and most people are singing or dancing along.  Although it sounds overwhelming we loved it, and because we've been here a few weeks we appreciated it even more!  We went to "Tastee" for the last time and got Jamaican patties (so good!).  We really enjoyed our last trip to downtown.

Then we had to come see the kids one last time!  Saying goodbye to these kids was one of the hardest things, for them too :(!  As most of you know I never cry but I cried the majority of the day. 

As everyone was saying we have to come back so we told the kids as all the Jamaicans say, "soon come!".  I just couldn't say goodbye and now I have the bug so I have to see them again asap!  I have so many ideas of things that I'd like to help them with and I'm really praying I'll make it back!  

Also Mustard Seed sent me a link to one of the residents that I referred to in an earlier blog (its not the same video but its pretty cool!).  You can also see some other links that introduce other residents that we were able to spend time with (we taught both Brandon and Ricky).  Check it out when you have a chance :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRGUSL-ILq0&list=UUINDu-HsMkkP1SypxIQ1sbA&index=6&feature=plcp

I'll be writing a few more blogs to thank everyone, but just wanted to describe our last day and how much we'll miss this place!!

Summer School

This week was our first full week to run summer school at “My Father’s House”.  We have 15 kids (most days it was 12-15 kids) and we work under a little veranda outside the children’s home.  We are also lucky enough to have 4 high school volunteers who have been a huge help.  We focused on starting to prepare and practice for “Thank you Thursday” which we will be running this week.  We have to prepare an hour long prayer time for the staff and kids at “My Father’s House”.  The kids are really looking forward to it!  Each day has had its ups and downs but teaching summer school has been one of my favorite times so far! 

Monday July 23^rd – Summer school was great today, the group of kids is so vibrant, and they always keep us smiling.  Some of these kids are nonverbal and can’t move much in their chair but their smile can light up a room and you know that they understand and appreciate everything we do with them.  We kept the kids busy with calendar, story, snack, and a craft in the morning. 

We allowed the kids to choose a variety of songs that they will help sing during the prayer time for “Thank you Thursday”.  In the afternoon we watched part of Toy Story 3 with the kids in our summer program and they were excited about it!  We got back to “Sophie’s Place” in the evening and helped feed the kids, it always makes my night when we pull into “Sophie’s” and some of the kids are sitting or standing at the gate waiting for us.  We also got a new roommate, Lindsay, she will be here for 2 weeks.  Lindsay has been here 14 other times, once as a long term volunteer and she’s come on several short term trips, pretty cool! 

Tuesday July 24^th – We worked at “My Father’s House” again and also went shopping to buy tee shirts for the kids and many of the staff.  We decided to have the kids decorate shirts that they could wear for “Thank you Thursday”.  We wrote “Give Thanks” on the shirts and traced the kids’ hands on them and allowed them to decorate, they were so pumped about decorating the shirts J. 

They all seem excited to wear the shirts together on Thursday and keep talking about what we will be doing.  Tuesday night we worked on tying up loose ends to help prepare other volunteers to run summer school while we are gone.  Although it is a struggle organizing 15 kids for summer school with very limited space and resources we’ve really enjoyed our time with this group of kids!!  We ate a late dinner as a medium term family J (Kathryn, Mandy, Charcey, Lindsay, and I).  We’ve had such a fun time together, laughing all night and probably driving the short term group crazy!  It’s so nice to have such a great group of girls that we can talk about our day with and just hang out, amazing what no internet and t.v. does!

Wednesday July 25^th – Today we worked at “My Father’s House again and the kids had a great time finishing up the shirts.  They have started to sing our calendar song pretty independently and a lot of the kids are picking up more on the sign language we’ve used.  We attended “Recollection” with the kids which was a prayer time for the staff that involved singing and reflection.  We watched “Finding Nemo” at the end of the day and the kids were really excited about having popcorn.  We got back to “Sophie’s” in the later evening because our bus took a little longer.  We played with the kids when we got back and then we helped them eat dinner.  We were able to help wake up the baby boys so that they could come sit in their wheelchairs for dinner, which was the cutest thing.  We got a lot of really good pictures hanging out with the kids!

We also had to say our first goodbye, to Deleene, the cook and housekeeper at “Sophie’s”.  From our very first day she welcomed us with a hug and considered us part of her family.  Not only does she cook us amazing meals but she would call us if she hadn’t seen us in awhile because we worked late just to let us know she was thinking of us and missed us.  She is truly one of the most genuinely kind people I’ve ever met and I’ll miss her dearly!  Thank you for all you did for us and for all you do everyday Deleene!    

Having a really hard time accepting that we're almost done :(...love this place and these kids!

“What-a-gwan?!”

This title of this blog is in Patois and means “What’s going on?” J.  One of the residents at “My Father’s House” has been teaching us a new word every morning, we’re getting pretty good!

My pictures won't upload, so I'll upload them when I get home!

I have continued to fall in love with the kids and staff at Mustard Seed and everything about Jamaica.  At times we run into caregivers that aren’t as accepting, but I feel as though we have now earned the respect of the staff and the kids throughout Mustard Seed.  I feel like we fit in and feel comfortable with everyone.  We’ve learned so much about the Jamaican culture, and even the aspects that are different or sometimes seem crazy to us we’ve come to love and accept.  All of these things are making it really hard to prepare to leave because I feel like we’ve gotten the hang of it all and there’s so much left to do and I wish I could stay for much longer! 

I thought I’d share a little of what I’ve learned about the very rich and strong culture of Jamaica.

There is so much that I love about the culture!  First and foremost I love the people in Jamaica.  I was explaining to Natalia that I’ve never felt as welcome as I do here.  When you walk into a room immediately everyone stops to greet you with a smile on their face, we just don’t see that at home because everyone is so absorbed in what they are doing or what they have to get done.  I can’t get over how pleasant everyone is and their joy is contagious.  At times I’ve witnessed quick tempers that usually stems from many of the people’s extreme honesty, but I love that the majority of the time if someone has a problem they openly discuss it (sometimes loudly), resolve it, and quickly move on.   I love the music and everyone’s ability to sing, I swear everyone on this island has a good voice.  People often join into song together on the bus and I love that the people love to dance every chance they get.  I love the way Jamaicans worship, despite all of their poverty so many of them have shown me acceptance, love, and true untainted faith that they easily share with everyone.  They are unashamed of their faith and will engage in deep theological/philosophical discussions without reservation but with great poise.  The Jamaican church that we’ve attended and the devoted staff at Mustard Seed have taught me what it truly means to pray without reservation and what it means to take your faith to the next level.  Jamaicans seem to be overall a very passionate people in every aspect, they love to engage with others and the majority of their day is spent interacting with others not watching T.V., traveling, playing video games, or using technology…talk about refreshing!  I forgot to mention that August 6th is Jamaica's celebration of 50 years of independence, and everyone is busy getting ready, I'm sorry we'll miss the celebrations :(.  To say the least everyone is very excited and proud of the Olympic team that is representing them in the next week, they even have a new reggae song about their team!  I love Jamaican food it is seasoned so well and really really good!  I’ve been slightly adventurous and tried goat and pig’s tail (sounds HORRIBLE but both are actually quite good as long as I don’t think about it)!  I love the beauty of the island, we’ve seen so much amazing scenery that can’t be compared.  I will certainly miss the people and their zest for life!    

There are several aspects of the culture (as in any culture) that seem negative and difficult to overcome.   I have mentioned “Jamaican time” and I’ve learned that this a phenomenon all over Jamaica, resulting in a laid back attitude, changes in plans, and lateness.  Although I appreciate the laid-back attitude it sometimes leads to extreme laziness and it’s sad to see the bus in the morning full of women who are most likely single moms while the majority of people playing card games on the street throughout the workday are men.  In Jamaica marriage is actually very uncommon but most people have many children from different partners and there sometimes seems to be a lack of responsibility when it comes to parenting.  Because having children is so expected a woman is called a “mule” if she is 24 or older without children (so guess what that makes me)!  The gender inequality is very evident in many places in Jamaica.  As I learned from a talk we attended many men often consider their children a “collection”, they say “I got 6 kids” instead of “I have 6 kids”, when hearing this speech it was really apparent the difference in their attitudes when using this kind of language.  When I say we’ve learned to use public transportation it hasn’t been an easy feat.  It involves taking a “taxi”, a.k.a. someone’s personal car that they will drive you down the mountain in for 80 Jamaican dollars.  It is the absolute norm here to pile 5-7 strangers into little Toyota Camry’s that are probably from 1990 and then fly down/up the mountain going at least 85 km/hr J.  In Jamaica there are no double yellow lines and most roads are extremely narrow and FULL of potholes, which makes their love for passing each other and playing “chicken” all the more fun as they yell at each other as they speed past.  They all drive EXTREMELY fast, ignore stop signs/red lights, and beep continuously as they drive through the mountains.  Although the whole taxi and bus stuff seems crazy to us we’ve never had a bad experience and I think they’re actually some of the best drivers around because despite all the crazy driving I’ve felt safe (besides almost being pick pocketed while waiting for the bus – but I said almost!).  We’ve loved talking to the taxi drivers who entertain us with their stories and singing.  We’ve had some that have been so kind and will explain how to get to anywhere we need to go.  We’ve had drivers that will brag the whole way down the mountain because they have a car full of “whities” (not sure what there is to brag about but we’ve had to get used to that lovely nickname and the marriage proposals that often come with it)!  One of the saddest sites throughout the places we’ve been in Jamaica are the immense piles of trash that are all over the side of the roads.  They have to pay for trash collection which many people can’t afford so they just litter everywhere or burn their trash which makes for a horrible smell and of course more pollution, it’s really sad to see!  The stray animal population is also extremely sad, there are stray dogs literally everywhere all over Kingston.  Most look malnourished, beaten, and/or slightly crazed as they eat out of the piles of trash or fight with each other.  As a dog lover that was one of the hardest things to get used to and I’m still not quite over it, we quickly learned that in Jamaica they definitely do not treat pets like we do in America!  Although some of these things are rough around the edges I see so many who are working to overcome these downfalls. 

 It has been as usual a busy two weeks.  I’ll try to recap each day, internet connection has been rough lately!

On Wednesday July 18^th we were caregivers for the day at "My Father’s House".  We helped with breakfast and brushing their teeth.  Then we spent most of the morning in the PT room.  I was able to hold a little boy for over 2.5 hours.  I worked on stretching him, interacting with toys, and got to rock him to sleep when he was done J!  I also fed him his snack, I love feeding the kids it is the best time to bond with them, it can also be really sad when a kid struggles so much with eating that is a chore for them.  That day the little boy struggled repeatedly just trying to swallow some peanut juice, it’s heart breaking holding a little one in your arms while he constantly chokes but you know he needs to keep eating, once again an eye opener to all of the blessings that I take for granted, just being able to eat a meal without almost aspirating!  After working with the kids we were able to join a group of teens from the inner city listening to a motivational speaker, who also happens to be a popular comedian in Jamaica who grew up in Trenchtown (a really rough area in Kingston).  The speaker was arranged by “Roots” the Mustard Seed radio station.  It was an awesome talk that focused on overcoming poverty and gender inequality that is so prevalent in Kingston.  It was really sad but interesting to hear the teens’ perspectives on the poverty that they experience in their daily lives including their exposure to gangs, drugs, sex, and violence.  It was also great to see how intently they listened to the speaker.  I loved one of the messages that the speaker shared, he said, “Tings don’t happen to you, you need to happen to tings!” (I didn’t spell ‘things’ wrong, that is just how the pronounce it J).  Overall it was a great day and I really enjoyed acting as a caregiver!

On Thursday July 19^th we woke up at 3 a.m. to attend 4 a.m. praise and worship, adoration, mass, and recitation of the rosary.  I know I’ve mentioned this in past blogs but I wanted to explain a little more, it all takes place at “My Father’s House” because that is where Monsignor Gregory (the priest who started all of MSC) lives.  As I’ve mentioned many of the kids attend this prayer time and their example and witness is truly something to see, especially when they lead the rosary.  I’ve considered it to be the most valuable experience in my time here in Jamaica because I’ve never seen such pure worship.  We had to say goodbye to Ben (the medium term volunteer who was here for a year in the past) that morning, we’ll miss him greatly as will all of the kids!  After attending that we joined the short term group for breakfast and then headed back to “Sophie’s Place”.  We were able to work at “Sophie’s” for the first time (even though we live there we are never usually there during the day).  We brought our bag of donations and used it to read stories to the kids, give them different sensory experiences, and play different games.  Kathryn even helped do one of the girl’s hair.  We then attended their “Thank You Thursday” celebration which included singing, praying, and playing games as a Sophie’s family.  Ugh this video won't upload but I'll put it on facebook, it is an example of why I love this place and I’m not ready to leave! 

 

After working with the kids we left Sophie’s around 2:00 and decided to go get lunch at Wendy’s, I love Jamaican food, but we were tired of rice and beans so Wendy’s was our best option.  We enjoyed our lunch and then had the bright idea of walking back to Papine which is near Sophie’s, it was a lot farther then we originally thought but a nice walk.  That evening we helped feed the kids and then packed for the weekend, because we were going to Montego Bay!

 Friday July 20^th – Since it was our last weekend Natalia allowed us to go to the beach for the weekend in Montego Bay.  We left at 6 a.m. on the Mustard Seed bus to drive with the short term group who was going to “Jacob’s Ladder” (about 2 hrs away).  Then once we were at “Jacob’s Ladder” we were picked up by Kevin who is in charge of short term groups in Montego Bay and he drove us the rest of the way.  It was so nice because we didn’t have to pay for transportation and the Mustard Seed team is so protective and helpful while we are traveling.  We were able to go to Cornwall Beach with the short term group and even though it was cloudy we had an awesome time at this beautiful beach. 

Afterwards the group went shopping quickly and we headed back to “Blessed Assurance” which is the apostolate we stayed in.  It is also the apostolate where my God-daughter lives (whom I didn’t think I would be able to see again), so I was so happy that I got to hang out with her again even if it was for a short period of time!!  We came back and explored “Blessed Assurance”, ate dinner, and went to bed early!  “Blessed Assurance” is a beautiful apostolate about 30 minutes away from the beach at Montego Bay. 

That night was an eventful one, because we were out in the country, we had a few extra roommates including a rat (that bit Mandy’s finger, ate Charcey’s bag, and was eating things under Kathryn’s bed – but didn’t bother me J) and Mandy and I were bitten ALL over by some mysterious bugs, which we think were sand flies.  When we woke up we were covered all over in red bumps, but luckily they didn’t itch (until later).  Although it was eventful we chalked it up to a good story and were excited about going to the beach on Saturday!

Saturday July 21^st – We woke up early and helped feed the kids’ breakfast.  Then we headed to the beach for most of the day.  We swam most of the time, climbed the “iceberg”, and jumped on the trampoline, which was of course a lot of fun!

After a day at the beach we got to have dinner from Pizza Hut and hang with the kids.  We had a great time getting to know the kids there and the caregivers were all so welcoming and sweet.  We laughed about our experiences the previous night and we had the bright idea of sleeping with the lights on all night to discourage our four legged friend from visiting and it worked (and we all slept well even with the lights on)!

Sunday July 22^nd – We got up early to leave “Blessed Assurance” but first I ran and said goodbye to my God-daughter L

I’ll really miss her, but I’m looking forward to keeping in touch through Mustard Seed.  We took an express bus back from Montego Bay to Kingston, which was an extremely windy, mountainous 4 hour trip, with beautiful scenery (and 2 lovely movies to watch).  As we were coming back to Kingston and we started seeing more and more of the metal and cardboard shacks that people live in, it felt like home.  I realized that staying in Kingston has been a major reason this trip has been so wonderful because we are surrounded by poverty and corruption yet Mustard Seed has started up something amazing right in the middle of it and we get to witness that working with them every day!  This is a picture of the gate at "My Father's House" and what the surrounding neighborhood is like, so you can see its right in the heart of the city. (with lots of security).

Kingston will always have a very special place in my heart and even though the other side of the island was beautiful I think the true beauty remains in the daily struggle to overcome so many obstacles!   After arriving back to “Sophie’s Place” we met the new short term group from Atlanta – all 27 of them J (our 6^th group we’ve met).  We joined the group to go to “Matthew 25:40”, which is a home for boys with HIV/Aids.  This house is full of life despite the illness these kids are facing.  They are so much fun and we loved playing cards, being taught card tricks, playing soccer and other games, and just hanging out with the boys.  As we were leaving one of them kissed my hand and looked at me with a huge smile that just melted my heart, providing a loving place for these kids to live is just one more miracle that Mustard Seed has made possible (the stigma against HIV is still extremely negative in Jamaica, so these kids are truly ostracized members of the community).  We knew it was our last time seeing the boys so of course it was really sad saying goodbye even though we’ve only met them a few times!  After we went to Devon House and got some amazing ice cream!  We came back home and hung out with the kids from Sophie’s and helped to feed them dinner and put them to bed, always my favorite time of day.

A great week overall :)

A Great Day!

Hi everyone! 

I heard the link to the song wasn't working, try this one: ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt_WpluguwE. Really love that song I hope it works!   

We had a great day at Jerusalem yesterday and today with the usual feeding of breakfast, snack, and lunch.  Yesterday I spent most of my time in the physical therapy room which I really enjoyed.  I helped stretch some of the kids and monitor behaviors while they received their PT massages.  It is wonderful that Mustard Seed has a room for PT because it is essential for the children's well-being.  I was in the room with 4 kids, one of whom is an 18 year old boy that is so small that he looks no older than 7 or 8, his limbs are extremely tight and contorted, and his one leg is completely backwards from the knee down.  Despite all his physical difficulties and limitations he never ceased to smile anytime I addressed him and his smile said it all!  Today I spent most of my time in the sensory garden with a group of older boys that I haven't been with yet, so I enjoyed my time with them!  There is such as sense of community among the kids at Jerusalem, they all look out for each other, even if there are the usual fights here and there (and the constant food stealing).  This picture is me with my little friend that followed us to lunch 3 times instead of staying in the children's home and the 2 big boys are the entourage that were sent to bring him back :). 

It amazes me how helpful and engaged the older residents are and it really enhances the community at Jerusalem. 

This lovely pic is Kathryn and her friend who was slow dancing with her for well over 10 minutes, everyone got a kick out of it!  The other is her sitting and talking with 2 of the residents that are typically in wheelchairs. 

 

We are continuing to learn from these kids and we're hoping they learn something from us as well!  Unfortunately today may have been our last day at Jerusalem, we're also learning "Jamaican time" usually involves: changed plans, altered schedules, and many stops along the way!  We're hoping to make it back to visit before we leave.

Tomorrow we will be at My Father's House acting as caregivers because they will be short-staffed.  So it should be a fun day!  Have a great week everyone!

Love This Place

What a week and a half!  We worked in Jerusalem Monday-Wednesday wherever we were needed, which mainly meant working in the Children’s Home.  We were busy once again feeding the kids, engaging them in play, and trying to encourage communication.  In case you were wondering these children are amazing and make me smile everyday (even if its a scary smile haha)! 

Then Thursday was our day off, we went to 4 a.m. adoration and mass and then spent the day at the beach and visited the craft market. 

On Friday and Saturday we ran “summer school” at My Father’s House and loved it!  We have such an awesome group of kids there that surprise us with their knowledge every day. 

 Last week was great because we got to see spend a lot of our time with the short term group because we rode on their bus with them.  We also got to hang out as a “Medium Term” group quite often this week: Mandy, Kathryn, Charcey, Ben, and Dominic.  We’ve all really bonded, here’s a pic of our happy blended family with Natalia as our mom J (she is the amazing director of missions and had us over for dinner both Friday and Saturday night). 

We met Dominic two weeks ago, and we’ve had fun with him ever since!  We welcomed Ben (far left) last Saturday, he’s an old pro, he volunteered with MSC for a year in the past!  And then Charcey joined us last Sunday J!  We’ve had so much fun together and in a short period of time have become really close!  Dominic had to leave Saturday so we had a get together Friday evening before he left, and we miss him already!

Every week there is a short term group that stays for a week and primarily they do physical labor and play with the kids from different apostolates.  Each group we’ve met have all been very different but awesome and it’s been an amazing experience to meet so many new people from all over (we’ve had Pittsburg, Atlanta, New York, and now South Carolina).  We were really bummed we didn’t get to say goodbye to our short term group this week because they were in mass before we left for work, but we came home from work to a table full of goodies and a really sweet note from all of them!  I’m excited to keep in touch with them and possibly look for advice from them if I want to look into organizing a short term group (hint hint if anyone is interested J).  And then another short term group started with us on Saturday, a really big group of 22 this week!  

On Sunday we walked with 15 kids to the church down the street.  Their mass is so wonderful (a little on the long side – this week was 1.5 hours, last week was 2.5 hours), I’ve never seen a greater demonstration of faith as seeing the people who live in this extremely poor community come together in their Sunday best to sing their thanksgiving. 

After mass Mandy, Kathryn, Ben, and I got a taxi drive up to “Strawberry Hills”.  It is a hotel and spa on top of the mountain and honestly one of the most peaceful and beautiful places I’ve ever been (I took 82 pictures there!).  It was so relaxing and nice to feel refreshed! 

We came home and I was excited to hang out with the kids from Sophie’s because it’s been such a busy week we’ve barely seen them.  I really enjoyed just sitting with them and feeding them dinner.  I was able to sit with one of the kids and look at a coloring book with him and I couldn’t get over how he was trying to use full sentences to have a conversation with me about the pictures (if you’ve ever taught a kid with special needs you can understanding how special moments like these are!).  Then one of the workers arrived who is one of the kindest and most devoted men I’ve ever met,  some nights he comes in just to help feed the kids dinner even if he isn’t on security duty that night.  The child I was sitting with yelled “My Peter!” and went running to him as soon as he saw him.  Then the two of them went hunting for frogs together because that was the picture we were looking at J, what an awesome father figure for these kids!  I got to listen to them sing their nighttime songs and say good night to all of them, which made my day! 

Then the perfect ending to a great day was having the privilege of watching an old video that Ben took of a current resident.  This resident is one of the most amazing men I’ve met.  He is in his late 30’s and lays in a wheelchair that is actually an old lawn chair rigged with wheels.  I’ve only spoken to him for a few short minutes but it is quickly apparent that there is something truly special about him.  If you didn’t know any better you would think he just lays there all day, can’t speak, and just fades into the background.  But if you take the time to speak to him you’ll never be the same.  I learned so much in the five minute interview that Ben showed us.  The resident explained that he is so grateful for everything that he has (mind you he has been completely abandoned by all family members, has very little control over the activities he participates in on a daily basis, and he has no possessions to his name), but he has his faith.  He eloquently explains that he is one of the lucky ones because he can tell people what he wants and he can tell someone if he doesn’t feel well.  He expressed his sorrow for his friends at his apostolate that can’t speak and who become frustrated and then act out because they can’t communicate.  He explained that he doesn’t like if there is tension in the room and just wants everyone to get along.  He was asked if he needed anything else from Mustard Seed and his response was that there is nothing that he needs because if there is no one there for him to talk to he can always talk to Jesus; and Jesus understands everything he needs!  He then proceeded to explain that everyone at his apostolate is his friend.  I wish I could share this video with you so that you could see what I mean but take my word it is truly amazing the wisdom, love, faith, and understanding that this resident conveys.  He made me think about all the blessings I have in my life that I take for granted.  The other day he told me it was going to be a great day because they were going to move his chair so he could spend some time under a tree, can you imagine that sense of gratitude?! 

There are many days where I feel like I'm not doing enough because we're just assisting where needed and the resources and knowledge in a third world country are so limited.  I've had some moments where I've felt truly helpless.  But my lovely sister Ali wrote a quote in a card for me and I love it: “I am only one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do” – Edward Everett Hale.  Definitely keeping this in mind!

I’ve learned so much from these residents and I will never and can never forget the amazing experiences that I’ve had!  As you all know my parents are awesome and my dad sent me a song the other day that describes the experience very accurately.

I Saw What I Saw

Thanks for taking the time to check in!  I'm going to try to blog more often, but our internet is very sporadic so I'll try my best!  I miss everyone and I appreciate all of your support! 

Love, Christina

Guest Blog!

Hello dear friends and family!

It's Kathryn.  Christina and I decided that I should do a guest blog so everyone could read a little about Jamaica through my eyes thus far.  Summing up two weeks is going to be hard so this is going to be long, my apologies in advance.

So first of all I want to say that this has been one of the most rewarding, challenging, and overall life changing experiences of my life.  I have met so many new people, seen so many different places, and learned even more about myself and the world around me.  Everyday here is something new and there is always an adventure to be had in each and every day.

Speaking of adventures, I have now experienced first hand what it is like to go to a Jamaican doctor.  An entire day spent in the doctor's office and four medications later I am finally starting to feel a lot better. 

Moving on to brighter and better adventures.  This past Sunday, we were able to walk eight of the children from Sophie's Place, where we live, to mass down the street. I honestly do not think I have words as to how moving this mass was.  It was two and half hours of pure worship and praising God for all of the blessings that we have in our life.  The people are so alive and put everything they have into praising God.  As I looked around at the people in that church I know that some of them live in the shacks that surround our home for the month. Many of them do not have running water, but rather collect the rain water to do wash, rinse, and bathe.  There are no floors and their rooves consist of metal sheets. However, these same people that live in these places, have taught me more than they could ever even imagine about the true meaning of giving thanks and appreciation.

There have been several days here that I have felt completely overwhelmed and frustrated. I have at times questioned why I had ended up here and what exactly I had to give to this place and these children.  There are so many children with so many different needs. I find it frustrating that I am not yet a nurse because I feel as though I don't have as much to give to these children and at times don't know where to even begin.  However, it seems as though everytime I feel this way one of the children has a way of bringing me up and it is then that I refocus on the fact that I am exactly where I need to be.  The one day I was close to tears with all my frustrations when one of the children came running up to me, lept into my arms kissed my cheek and looked up at me saying mama.  It was then that I knew that nothing else mattered.  It didn't matter how much caregiving knowledge I have, or how much I felt I had to give.  The one reason I know I am here and the one thing that I absolutely have to give is to love these kids. I wake up every morning striving to remind myself that I am truly the most blessed girl in the world, having the privilege to love and care for these amazing and perfect children every day no matter what happens in the day.





Ha thought it would be funny to show you just how frustrated I have gotten.

Not flattering at all but I think it captures that joy and laughter they bring me everyday. 

Me the boy that calls me (and all three of us mama) and Mandy a week and a half ago before the baptism.


When people ask me what is my favortite experience so far it is so hard to answer because there have been so many high points.  However, one of the most moving experiences for me is when the children, that mind you have physical and/or mental disabilities, and on top of it all are orphans, get up at 4:00 in the morning for praise and worship.  They get up to sing praise and worship songs that are all about giving thanks. Talk about at a loss for words.  All I can say about this is these children inspire me everyday to live with such gratitude and such a joyful heart each day.  I find more and more now that I am here, I am aspiring to live the life of gratitude that these orphans live every day.  I can only hope and pray that I can teach and give these children half of what they have taught and given to me.

We have also been getting a true taste for the Jamaican culture, which is also one of my favorite parts of the trip as well.  We have successfully learned public transporation with no mishaps as of yet although one gentleman did attempt to pickpocket Christina at the bus stop one day.  Thank goodness we have made bus friends that now look after us along the way.  We learned that in Jamaica you do not sit on the ground.  Every morning we sit on the ground at My Father's House waiting for the Mustard Seed bus and everyone always yells at us saying our bottoms will catch a cold.  We asked a few of the teen girls what that was all about and they said it was very improper.  Woops.  Lesson learned. We have also had what must be the best ice cream on the island at a place called Devon House, tried the infamous Jamaican patties, and have learned that Jamaicans eat rice with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Here is a picture of Leroy, Christina, myself, Mandy, and Bashy after getting ice cream at Devon House.

 
Last night we went to this little place they call jackets with the short term group.  It's really a man's home to which he has converted his roof top deck into a restaurant.  The food was awesome and the view was breathtaking, really, a hidden treasure.  It is at the top of the mountain so you can look down on the entire area. 

I must end saying that I am forever grateful and thankful to all of my friends and family that have gotten me here today in whatever way.  It is because of all of you that I know and can share the love that these children need the most.  I ask for continued prayers for Christina, Mandy, and I as we enter into the second half of this trip. 

 Kathryn

                  "I can do no great things; only small things with great love." -Mother Theresa

Happy 4th of July!

We've had a great week so far!  We were super busy at "Jerusalem" (Mon-Wed) which is an apostolate that has over 150 kids/adults with disabilities and/or HIV/aids.  You can see a description of each apostolate at: MSC apostolates. 

We've learned to safely maneuver public transportation to get to My Father's House and then take a Mustard Seed bus to Jerusalem (which isn't on the best side of town).  These little shacks are what we see all along our way.  I tried to upload a video of our drive but no such luck.

We start our day with morning prayer and then help with breakfast in the children's room, which takes a really long time because there are so many kids and they all need assistance.  Several of the kids that are able to walk or crawl are constantly trying to take food from kids in the wheelchairs, which is so sad to see and hard to help with (they all are fed plenty of food but they all tend to try to get more by grabbing handfuls).  I was with the severely physically handicapped kids on the first day and we spent over 2 hours during "stimulation" time - I was with up to 15 kids (that are typically in wheelchairs) all laying everywhere around the floor and I was given a few toys to interact with them (3 big lego blocks, a baby toy, a squishy ball, and a sort box).  As you can imagine it's hard to play with that many physically handicapped kids with just a few toys and many of them lay there just falling asleep as you move around with other kids.   I've also spent time in their play room which is awesome, they have a trampoline, swings, a ball pit, and all kinds of appropriate interactive and stimulating toys - I wish they had more areas like this as their population is so large.  I've also spent time in the "Sensory Garden", we were given a few books for them to look through but most of them weren't engaging books and the kids just sat around for a long time.  It is very hard to engage all of these kids when they have limited staff and especially limited resources.  Their day mainly consists of the life skills of eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner and taking a shower, because these kids are so dependent on adult assistance this takes HOURS (can you imagine what a difference it would make if the time they had in between could be spent interacting with engaging toys/academic materials???).

You can always check out My Fundraising Page (most of you know I HATE asking for fundraising but as you can tell I really love this place and these kids!).

We've had so much fun this week with the kids and continue to feel welcomed by the staff. You can tell that it is difficult for some of the caretakers to accept us as new comers, but most of them are warming up quickly. The staff at Sophie's are all amazing!  We were wished happy independence day by so many people yesterday.  Dalene is the cook here at Sophie's and she threw us an All-American celebration complete with decorations, chicken, hot dogs, potato salad, corn on the cob and the Jamaican twist of coconut drops (soooo yummy!).  Check out her decorations and welcome sign, sweetest thing ever!!

They've made us feel at home and the short term group that is here is great!  The group brought tons of glow sticks for the kids and they absolutely loved them :)

Today (Thursday) we went to adoration and mass at 4:30 a.m. with the Brothers and many of the kids from "My Father's House".  Although it was early it was such a great experience, seeing kids climb out of their wheelchairs to try to stand up to sing is an amazing sight.  Every Thursday they have "Thank You Thursday" and they focus on expressing their gratitude for all of their blessings.  It was our first true day off and we had a great time going to the beach with the group (which was awesome because we had Mustard Seed transportation)!  It was a little seaweedy but still fun :)!

We work Friday and Saturday at "My Father's House" with a smaller group of kids, starting a basic summer program with them!  Can't wait to see how it goes! 

Miss you all thanks for taking the time to check in :)

Sunday Funday

What a whirl-wind week!  We've learned so much from using public transportation, eating Jamaican food (which I love so far), starting to understand Jamaican Patois (they speak English, but trust me it doesn't sound like it), learning how to effectively hang a misquito net, meeting tons of staff, learning to fall asleep to all kinds of bizarre sounds, and most importantly of all meeting, playing with, and feeding a lot of children (they have over 450 children at different apostolates all over the island - and we've visited 7 apostolates so far). We've really enjoyed helping to feed the children here at Sophie's where we are living and it's helping us to quickly bond with the kids.  We've figured out a tentative schedule for the rest of our stay and can't wait to start lesson planning.  PS...I saved the best event so far for the end of this blog :). 

We woke up today bright and early excited to go to a baptism at "Jacob's Ladder" which is an apostolate about 2 hours away...we knew we'd get to see the country side and it would be a fun trip!  The sights were beautiful even though the bus ride was hot. 

 
The part that broke my heart was how we transport the kids.  Mustard Seed is lucky enough to have nice buses for transporting groups but the problem is they aren't wheelchair accessible, so these kids who are SEVERELY physically handicapped (I was sitting with a little girl today whose legs are so contorted you can't tell if it's her right or left leg) just sit/lay on your lap as you bounce around the narrow very bumpy mountain roads (feel free to check out My Fundraising Page :).

Saving the best news for last...GUESS WHAT...Kathryn, Mandy, and I became Godmothers today!  I was honored to stand for a little girl as her co-godparent (the Brothers that live at the apostolate will be their true Godparent).  Today was the first day that I met her, but because she is an orphan and most of the caretakers aren't Catholic we were asked to stand in during their beautiful ceremony where children from each apostolate were represented.  She is a precious little girl and I can't wait to stay in contact :)!

      
This is Kathryn, Mandy, and I with Kathryn's new godson :)

Definitely a good day!  Can't wait to see what is in store for this week.  We will be starting at "Jerusalem" tomorrow where we'll be meeting the kids and preparing to help run a summer program for some of their students.  Wish us luck!