Saturday, January 19th & Sunday, January 20th Journal

Saturday (January 19th) and Sunday (January 20th)

Hand with whole team's names that will be hung in the Harmony House :) 

Statue I bought for mom & dad. I think it represents the three of us :) 

Statue I bought for mom & dad. I think it represents the three of us :) 

Bought this for myself.

Bought this for myself. 

Dunns River Falls (Picture taken from Google) 

Ocho Rios 

Kayley (Tri Sigma) 

Ocho Rios 

Kayley (Tri Sigma) 

Ocho Rios Beach

BK :) 

The three Sigmas on the trip! Lauren & Kayley

Saturday

Morning: We woke up and loaded the vans to head to Ocho Rios! The drive was about an hour and a half – two hours. When we got to Ocho, we had a quick meeting to find out who we would room with, then the people who were going to Dunns River Falls (me!) got back in the vans and went straight there.

Afternoon: After Dunns River Falls (we were there an hour or so), we went back to the hotel, got our money, and went to eat and shop. We ate juicy patties for lunch, at a fast food type restaurant. Then we went to the market, and I bought some presents for family and myself. After shopping, we went back to the hotel and sat on the beach. The hotel we stayed at was called “Rooms on the Beach” and the hotel was literally right in front of the beach!

Night: After some beach time, we all went to shower and get ready for dinner. We all ate pizza by the hotel pool/beach. Then we all sat in a circle on the beach, and had two tries to guess who our “Caribbean Comrade” during the week was. (A Caribbean Comrade is like a secret pen pal who you write notes to all week. Guys had girls, and girls had guys). My CC that I wrote to was Mike Yemm, and the CC that wrote to me was Nick Droege. After we all knew who had been writing to us all week, we went around in a circle and said what we have learned from the trip, and hope to take back with us. Then we stayed on the beach, and hung out in small groups talking. I actually stayed up until 3:30 am talking to people!

Sunday

Morning: We woke up Sunday morning, and had a small breakfast that the hotel was serving. Then, we loaded up the vans to go to the Montego Bay airport, which was about an hour and a half away. After we got through security, we had about an hour before our flight. Most of us got more food there, because by then it was 11 am, and our flight was at noon. I had a Cinnabon cinnamon roll! I was so excited (and surprised!) they had it, because the only time I ever get to have it is when I’m in airports, which is usually only every two or three years! I also bought a cool wood carved statue for mom and dad. I will post a picture of it on a different blog post.

Afternoon: We flew out of Montego Bay at 12:15, and got to Atlanta around 2:30 or 3:00. We then had a 6 hour layover, before our flight to St. Louis around 10:00 pm. The time actually went really fast. We mostly just sat around talking, and played a game (that we played multiple times all week) called “Signs.”

Night: Our flight to St. Louis left around 10:20 pm, so we didn’t get to St. Louis until around 11:30 pm. Parents of people on the trip who are from St. Louis picked us up, and took us to the church where I had left my car. Because Columbia is two hours from St. Louis, and because it was already almost midnight, I spent the night at Kayley’s (one of my sorority sisters that went on the trip) house (well, her parents’ house) in St. Louis. We went back the next day, Monday afternoon. Classes did not start Monday because of Martin Luther King Jr. day, so it worked out well! 

Friday, January 18th Journal

Friday (January 18^th, 2013)

Journal Entry

House dedication

 

House dedication

House dedication - Picture I used for thank you support letters 

Boys at Stickman's 

Girls at Stickman's

Boys at Stickman's

Girls at Stickman's

Whole group at Stickman's  

Whole group at Stickman's  

My feet after the hike with my Z strap dirt lines from my Chacos

Helena & Katie, the girls in my dinner group (groups that met to have dinner with multiple times before the trip, to get to each other each!)

Jamaican baby :) 

Jamaican boys :) 

Opal, an amazing Jamaican woman

Justin :) 

My "husband" when going through customs!

Ganga! 

Friday morning almost the entire group went to marl hall, while the rest of the group went to the houses to put on doors, windows, and the roof.

Then, around 11 am, the entire group went together to both houses we built during the week, and dedicated them. It was really cool. We gave the homeowners a plaque, a Bible, a bag of rice, and of course, their keys to their house! I loved that the WBO director Josh told us that this house dedication to the Jamaicans is like Extreme Makeover Home Edition. They are so excited, and thankful for the house!

After the dedications, we went back to the Harmony House to eat lunch.

All of Friday afternoon we were given “free time.” The only requirement was that we could not be inside the Harmony House. A few people went down the road to play soccer with some Jamaicans, but almost everyone decided to go on a hike to “Stickman’s” house. Stickman carves beautiful pictures and Bible verses into walking sticks that are available for purchase. He also can carve your name on the sticks if you want!

When I say we took a hike up to his house, I’m completely serious. It was a hike. I know I’m out of shape, but this hike was crazy hard! (For me at least, probably not for some!) Although even a girl who says she runs said it was super hard for her. Parts of the hike were very steep, to the point where you had to squat down to climb up some rocks! I cut my knee on a rock pretty early on the hike, so it was bleeding the rest of the way, which was pretty gross. I had to stop multiple times to (try) to catch my breath, and was sweating. It was crazy. I wanted to quit so badly, but everyone just kept going together, and finally we all made it to the top! It was incredibly beautiful (like everywhere else in Harmons) and the view was amazing. You could see so far out.

We took pictures up there, and hung out up there for awhile, then climbed back. The hike down was definitely easier, but terrifying too, because it is so steep. I was scared I would fall on the person in front of me, or that the guy behind me would fall on top of me! With a lot of grabbing onto to trees, a couple times of sitting down on my butt to jump down to a rock below, we made it to the bottom.

Just like Monday night, local Harmons people came to dance in the courtyard! Then, inside the Harmony House, the employees had set up different stations to walk around to. Each station had different Bible verses and questions or things to reflect on that related to different days/activities we had done. We also wrote letters to ourselves that we will get back in 6 months to read. After going from station to station, we moved into the courtyard. We sat in a circle on chairs, and each person had their feet washed by someone, and then washed someone else’s feet, just like Jesus did for his disciples. Very cool.

Wednesday, January 16th Journal

Wednesday (January 16, 2013)

Journal Entry

Jack & the girls :) 

BK, Stanley

BK

Whole group at worksite :) 

Woman at the infirmary

Courtney at the infirmary 

Lauren (Tri Sigma) at the infirmary

BK at the infirmary

Ben playing the guitar at the infirmary - the Jamaicans absolutely loved it!

Jack at the infirmary

Ben with his guitar at the infirmary

Whole group at the infirmary

This morning we went to worksites for a half-day. I was at foundation/marl haul with a ton of people. It was really fun. I was lucky enough to stand by BK most of the time we were there, and I really enjoyed talking and getting to know her better. We also talked to a Jamaican, Stanley, was has cerebral palsy. Won by One actually helped pay for him to go to the US to have surgery (not sure when).

After working in the morning, we went to the Harmony House, had lunch, and then loaded the busses to go to the Infirmary.

The Infirmary is basically like a nursing home, I believe run by the government, where people are usually just there waiting to die, which sounds so horrible, but it’s true. Many of them have family, but never see them. Many of them either have mental or physical disabilities.

Before the trip, I had been very, very excited about going to the infirmary, because I heard it was life changing. We loaded the busses to make the hour drive, and I was still excited, but also nervous and unsure what to expect. I sat by Eric, and we had a really great conversation about his older brother who has muscular dystrophy.

Before going to the infirmary, we were told many things. We were told that the people there really look forward to us coming, because they rarely get visitors. We were told just us being there to talk to them, read scripture to them, paint their finger nails, put lotion on their hands/feet, and pray with them, makes them incredibly happy.

When we arrived, the first thing I noticed was how many buildings there were, and how open the buildings were (doors, windows). The men and women are in separate buildings.

I went to the women’s side first, and was shocked to see a person (I can’t remember man or woman) crawling/dragging their body on the ground, and I assume it was because they could not walk.

I walked into one of the big rooms, and was shocked to see how many beds were lined up and down on each side of the room. There were a couple women in the beds, sleeping. There were flies all over them. The room smelled of urine.

I went and sat down on the bed of a woman I believe was named Rebecca. She was very friendly, and happy. Then Ben came in, and started talking to her. It was absolutely incredible to see the smile on her face. At that moment I had to hold back tears. I was so amazed by how this young, American fraternity boy was giving up a week of his winter vacation, to come visit this woman and other Jamaicans, and put those huge smiles on their faces.

I moved around to many people, and almost none of them I really was able to have a conversation with, so instead I just read some Bible verses to them, held their hands, and prayed for them.

 Towards the end, I decided to go over to the men’s wing, which I knew would be tough and make me think of Grandpar –yes with an R. Not that being in the woman’s wing didn’t make me think of Granny & Grandma Rose, because it did, but it’s different because Grandpar has passed away, and they have not.

I talked to a couple men, one named Henry. He had some nice pictures on his wall of people who had come to visit him. He said he had children, but that they did not visit. My heart broke hearing that. I read him a few Bible verses, and he prayed with me.

On the bus ride back, Eric and I sat next to each other again. I was crying because I was thinking about how I had not gone to visit Grandpar the day before he died, because it was my birthday. Eric was crying too, and put his arm around me, and I told him about Grandpar. I’m pretty sure he was only the second person I’ve ever told about the guilt I feel about that. (If you read Thursday’s blog, you’ll see that I told the rest of the group about it Thursday night).

Wednesday night the girls and guys separated and had bonding time, so that was awesome. I loved getting to know every girl on such a deep level. 

Monday, January 14th Journal

Monday (January 14, 2013)

Morning Journal Entry

Today is my first morning waking up in Harmons! It’s hot. Yesterday we flew out of St. Louis to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Montego Bay. I slept on both flights, since I had not slept much the night before at the church.

Going through customs in Jamaica was nerve wracking! Mike Yemm from Phi Delt was my “partner/boyfriend/husband” to go with me through customs to make it look like we were just on vacation as a couple, and not on a mission trip. The customs man drilled us on why we were visiting Jamaica (we were told  by the group leaders to answer “vacation”, which we did), and asked if we are traveling with other people. The leaders had not told us how to answer that question, so I was honest and said yes. He asked what Mike and I have in common with all of these people, and I said they are our friends. Then the Jamaican asked which airline we were flying home, and I (stupidly) said Southwest, when it was actually AirTran. The Jamaican said there is no such airline called Southwest, and was very mad. He asked who booked our flights. Thankfully, Mike stepped in and said he had booked the flights, and that he had misspoken when he was Southwest (even though it was me who said it! Haha). The Jamaican man still seemed mad/annoyed, but he let us go. Phew!

Then I had to go through one more stop with my two checked bags, and my carry on. They asked what was in my bags and I said clothes, shoes, and toiletries, and that they were all mine for personal use, and that they would all be coming back with me. Apparently we have to lie about this because the Jamaicans are afraid we are bringing these items to sell and make money for ourselves, not just to donate.

After that, most people got on the Won By One busses to go to the “Harmony House” in Harmons, Jamaica, where we would be staying until Saturday morning. I was one of the last people to (attempt) to get on a bus, so I ended up actually riding in the Won By One van. It was very nice compared to the busses. Much less crowded! I was very lucky to ride on it. The other people in the van were the two trip leaders, Sam and Joanie, Helena, Trent, and Lauren Sharpe. A Jamaican Won By One employee, “Creamy”, was our driver. He has this nickname because he is also the ice cream guy!

It was a loooong ride to the Harmony House. It only took the busses about 3 hours, because they were going normal speed. However, since we were in the van with Creamy, and the truck loaded with everyone’s two each checked bags was following us, Creamy went slow in case the truck needed to pull over to fix the suitcases. It took our van/the truck behind us about 4 or 4.5 hours I think to get to Harmons.

Despite being long, the ride was beautiful, and a lot fun. It was interesting to see the “cities” in Jamaica that have bigger/nicer houses, gas stations, fast food, before getting to Harmons where they are very poor, live in very small houses, and have very little tangible things in general.

My favorite part of the entire ride was being up on a hill, looking down, and seeing green everywhere! The hills, down below, were covered in trees. Absolutely amazing. I think I felt God in that moment.

I also really enjoyed hearing the stories of the returners in the van with us. Joanie (one of the trip leaders) kept saying our bus ride was also giving us our first stories, which is true! We laughed a lot, slept some, asked each other questions like who would play you in a movie or what is one thing on your bucket lists.

When it started to get dark during the drive, and the windows were open, it got a little chilly. The night breeze/air reminded me of Florida breeze/air at night.

Once we made it to the Harmony House, we ate the food they saved for us, since everyone else had already eaten. We had “festivals” (SO GOOD!), a juicy beef patty, and soup with chicken in it.

Then, we unloaded the suitcases off of the truck, and unpacked them. The guys held garbage sacks under signs like “shoes” or “toiletries”, and the girls sorted the suitcase items into those bags. It was mass chaos, crowded, and a little hot in the room, but also fun! They played cool music (***at the end of the week I ended up buying the CD with these songs), which made it way better, and it took us less than an hour to get every suitcase unpacked, with the items in the correct bags. I couldn’t believe how fast it went!

Next, we had a quick info meeting, put our valuables (phones, most of our money) in the safe.  

I am in a 3 person room with Brewer (also a Tri Sigma) and Helena. 

Monday Night Journal Entry

            This morning we had orientation, then went on a tour of Harmons. There is definitely a big difference between seeing Harmons in pictures, and seeing it in person. The houses are very small, and you can see the poverty all around you, yet the Jamaicans smile and wave as you walk by.

            After lunch (PB & J on the most amazing bread I’ve ever had!) we went to our first work sites.  I was at house #2 with Melanie, Courtney, BK, Arianna, Addison, Mike Yemm, Austin (Pi Kap), Eric, and Jack.

It was really fun! We put up the “wall”- Styrofoam with metal on it, and cut out the two doors and two windows. We also sifted the rocks out of the marl, and put the sifted maul in a pile inside the house (to use later for the walls).  It was very hot in the sun, but when it the shade it felt great, and the breeze felt great too.

            The house owner, a woman, was there with her 8-month-old daughter, Kimone Shakira. She was so adorable, and had the best pouty lip ever!

            I just read my first note from my ***“Caribbean Comrade” and it was really sweet. 

***Caribbean Comrade is someone that anonymously writes you a note every day of the trip. The guys have the girls and the girls have the guys. My Caribbean Comrade, who I am writing to, is Mike Yemm, the only Phi Delt on the trip.