Let It Rain

I am typing this on the back porch of the lodge we are staying at. Panoramic view of the Caribbean. The waves are majestic: cobalt blue sharply hitting the clear, shallow waters at the front. A formidable mountain sits against a curve on the shoreline. At night, we gaze out at the moon shining on the water.

Next to me, all of the small group leaders are holding their nightly meeting with Jasmine and Jessica. In a few minutes, each small group of freshmen will meet to debrief the day. Then, we’ll participate in our personal evening worship service. After that, we will play games and exchange stories. I think everyone has been sleeping and eating well. Jamaican food is spicy, which I appreciate.

Today, we began our work projects. My group visited a local nursing home. We spent quality time with the patients. These people do not have anywhere to go, so they were very excited to see us. Some of them have severe physical and mental disabilities, but were still some of the happiest people I have ever met.

In addition to the visits, we worked hard all day on a paint project. We scraped loose paint off the wood  that is over the porch of the nursing home. Then, we placed fresh paint over the old paint. It had not been painted in 30 years. One of the student leaders is about to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, so naturally she spearheaded the painting of a colorful mural on one wall of the nursing home.

We encountered some typical Jamaican thunderstorms, which slowed down our work sites.

A nearby group worked on a farm. Today, that team removed huge weeds everywhere. I was delighted to learn from their leaders that they removed nearly all of the weeds on the side of the large hill.

Meanwhile, a third group assisted one of the Jamaican churches that we visited yesterday. They labored on the roof and painted two sides of the church a shade of blue.

The last group headed to a local school in the city centre where they spent time with the students. But most of the day, they were hard at work building concrete walls.