I'm coming home!!

Today is the day I get to go back home--yay!!  This trip has been a very good learning experience for me and I look forward to using what I have learned in the future.  But, for now, I am so excited to be coming home!  No more route taxis for me :)

I said goodbye to Ms. Dexter as we were leaving to get a taxi to the airport, here is a picture:

Don't you just love my very "touristy" tshirt?!

She was very nice to welcome me into her home, she made me feel welcome. 

I am waiting in the airport now and my flight is delayed 30 minutes, but I should be home around 5:30 pm.  Can't wait!

I made it home just in time for the Ravens game!! They lost, but it was a good, close game.  On the plane ride home the man next to me and I watched the first half, not as good as watching it at home but at least I stayed up to date! 

I made it through my second plane ride with no problems and am so excited to be settled in at home. I will continue to update my blog as I finish my research and wrap up my experience.

My Last Day at West Haven

I can't believe that today was my final day at West Haven.  While the two weeks went slowly they also went very fast.  I am going to miss the children, they have made me feel so welcome and I have learned so much!  While it was a shock for me to see how different the care is outside of the United States, it was beneficial for me to see that first hand.  I can now appreciate the care that is available in the US even more and can hope that one day every person, regardless of where they live, will have that care available to them.

Today at West Haven there were so many volunteers everywhere!  Two different groups had decided to spend the day helping out, and it was very chaotic!  Most of the children were thrilled to have so many volunteers, they each had someone to talk to, but for some children the amount of people was a little overwhelming!  I know how great it is that all of these volunteers come and spend time with the children and help out where they can.  However, it is very upsetting for me to see how it is always the same children getting the attention, people like to go to the more capable and interactive children.  Which makes perfect sense, they are fun and exciting.  But, there are so many children who just lie in bed all day, and while they won't be able to tell you thank you or laugh with you, they need the attention!

Each day that I have been at West Haven I make sure to spend a few minutes with each of the children who are bed ridden.  I talk with them, tell them stories, bathe them, anything to interact.  Many of them can't talk to me as I am with them, but just because the children are bedridden doesn't mean that they don't want someone to talk to!  They probably need and want it even more!  All they are able to do is stare at a ceiling all day, so I am sure that they appreciate seeing a different face every now and again.

Today I spent a great deal of time talking with Romario.  He is 19, my same age, and has been at West Haven for 14 years the nurse told me.  He lies in his bed most of the time, unless a nurse decides to bring him to the main room where he lies on a beanbag and watches tv.  While he was laying in his bed I helped to bathe and clothe him and then just spent some time talking to him.  He couldn't respond to me with words, but he was laughing and smiling and having a great time.  here is a picture of him:

Romario :)

Another child who often gets left out of the mix when volunteers come is Crystal.  I have spent a lot of time with her throughout my stay at West Haven and have found that she is actually capable of so much more than what people think.  We spent a lot of time sitting and talking, and she is able to answer questions, it may take some time for her to form her thoughts into words, but she is able.  Here is a video of Crystal that I took today:

It was sad leaving today, but I have learned so much through this short visit.  As I mentioned above, the care is so different, and I wish that West Haven had the resources to make it a better environment for these children.  They are all so happy, but the sad thing is that they have no idea how different their lives could be with different care.  I am going to miss the children but am hoping to send them letters to stay in touch.

Tonight for our last dinner Ms. Dexter bought Chinese food, tasted just like at home!  Excited to be coming home tomorrow!!

Route Taxis Are So Much Fun....NOT

Obviously the route taxis are not the focus of my project, but they have become a huge part of my experience.  And to put in simple terms--I really don't like route taxis!  For starters they are not safe. They never have seatbelts, the cars are all falling apart, the drivers drive like madmen, and you place your trust into some driver that you don't even know!  One day I was in a taxi and it was packed, there was someone in the hatchback, 5 people across the back, two people in the passenger seat, and then of course the driver.  It is crazy!  But, that is how most people get around in Montego Bay, and I am happy to say that so far it has gone okay for me.  Another problem that I have had with these route taxis is that they hardly ever go up to where West Haven is.  This means that I am waiting for up to an hour for a taxi to come and get me...annoying!!

Anyways today at West Haven I was able to help out in the classroom a lot.  The teacher asked me to lead the morning routine.  I was at first a little bit nervous because I had only observed it for a couple of days, but once I got started it was fine :)  We started out by going over the days of the week and the months of the year.  Then we went over them in Spanish, which is always funny to listen to!

After finishing the rest of the morning routine the teacher went over the letter C.  The class thought of some words that started with C and the teacher wrote them on the board.  He also had the class sing the letter "C" song, here is a video of a portion of the song:

Oh also, that was Derrick laughing in the background :)

He then called selected students up to write/trace the letter C on the board.  Not every child received a turn, which was unfortunate, but it was nice to watch the kids who were able to try.

Here are some pictures of the kids writing the letter C:

After the children finished writing the letter C, the teacher then put the movie The Letter Factory in for them to watch.  It actually is a very cute movie and is very good at teaching the different letter sounds, it was created by LeapFrog.

I then helped out with lunchtime by feeding a few children.  I spent a lot of time with Crystal today, she is a very slow eater but she loves to talk to you.  Here is a picture of her eating lunch:

Tonight for dinner we had rice, plantains, salad, and chicken.   A classic meal :)

Also, tonight Ms. Dexter took Tae and I to a grocery store to buy some different things.  It was very similar to grocery stores back at home with many of the same items and a few different ones. It was a good experience!

P.E. Day!

Today after feeding and bathing some of the children in the Veira House, I went to see if they needed any help in the classroom.  The teachers of course welcomed my help, they have their hands full :)

The day started out by going over their morning routine, they said the days of the week, said a prayer, went over the months of the year, etc.  After they finished the morning business the class then headed outside for PE.  The children were all so excited and so was I!  I wanted to see how the teachers handled the children in wheelchairs and how they handled the different capabilities of each child, I didn't know if they would include all of the children.

The teacher had a hard time getting control of the class when they first went outside, which is of course understandable.  There were at least 20 children outside and he was only one teacher.  I helped him get them a little bit under control and then he had them do some stretching.  He tried his best, but the children were way too distracted to be standing in one place!  He then sent them on a jog down to the gate of the home and back, it isn't a very long distance, but it was perfect for a warmup!

The teacher then began to group the children and have them run in smaller groups, it was a race!  He sorted them based on gender and speed.  He also included a wheelchair race where another child pushed the wheelchair while walking, which was a nice thought.  The only downside to the races was that not all of the children participated.  The teacher made very little effort to get each child a turn. The children are training for the Special Olympics in June, which they are always talking about!

Here are some of the race pictures!

The girls getting ready to race!

Here comes Ann Marie!

Boys wheelchair race about to start!

Next is the girls turn!

Njaoki and Kerry Ann finishing strong!

After the children raced, Mr. Wells then brought out two jump ropes and was teaching the children how to jump rope, or as they called it, "skip rope".  Only some of the children received an opportunity to jump and I think only one child was able to jump rope continuously, however all of the children enjoyed watching the others attempt to jump!

Colleen gives jump roping a try!  The rope was way too short for her :)

I think that with an adaptive PE teacher to show the teachers how to handle the different needs, the teachers would have a much easier time including the students.  And, the students would all be able to do something!   I believe that at one point an adaptive PE teacher had visited, but I think it must have been too hard for the teachers to keep up with, or at least they haven't kept up with it!  Also, I have recognized how little resources and materials the school has.  There are no balls outside for the children to play with, the only equipment that is laying around is an old playground.  Also, half of the children at the school don't have a pair of shoes to wear, so very few were actually prepared to run.  I am not sure what they do when they go to Special Olympics but I guess that they figure something out!

There was a lot of encouragement going on today and I loved it, the children were all smiles! I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Tonight for dinner we had some sort of pasta dish with a salad.  I also tried sorrel juice which is a very special drink in Jamaica, though I didn't really like it!

The drink comes from this kind of plant!

Sunny and 85

Well, I just have to point it out....today while it was snowing at home, I was in Jamaica with an 85 degree, sunny day.  It was beautiful, not too sure how I feel about coming home to the cold ;)  Just to rub it in a little but more, here I am on the beach and here is the beautiful sunset again!

Today at West Haven it was much of the same thing.  I assisted with bathing and feeding.  I again went to the school to help out and was actually able to do much more today.  Today the teacher allowed me to choose two books from their very slim library.  The library is just one shelf in the classroom that has a variety of random books.  I was able to read Chocolatina and a book about rhyming dust bunnies.  

The children loved Chocolatina! It was just a silly book about a girl who eats chocolate so much that she becomes it.  If you have ever read Pinkalicious, it is basically the same idea!  I asked a few questions as we read the book and after we finished and a few of the kids could answer the questions. We then read the book about the rhyming dust bunnies but it was a big flop!  I had asked the teacher beforehand if the children understood rhyming and she assured me that they did, however it was very apparent as we were reading and asking questions that they did not!  They did like the underlying story even if they didn't get the rhyming portion of the book, so I guess that that was good :)

Before I read the teacher went over the basic things again such as the months of the year and the days of the week.  They try to incorporate Spanish into the teaching so today the teacher tried to do the days of the week in Spanish.  Unfortunately she had no clue how to pronounce them...luckily I had a little bit more of an idea and was able to help her :)

Derrick, I posted a picture of him in an earlier post, sat with me the whole class.  He is a ball of energy!  He enjoyed playing with my hair and watching me draw him pictures. 

After the morning routine and me reading the stories the teacher decided that the kids needed a break. So, what better way to entertain kids than a movie.  Movies are great, but I was disappointed that the children sat and watched a movie that was not educational while they could have been learning. These children only get about 2 hours of instruction time and by the time all the children are in the classroom and calmed down it is already down to about 90 minutes.  She played the movie for about 30 minutes, so that left the children with only 1 hour of instruction.  These children would benefit from more instruction.  

At one point the teacher mentioned that she played the movie because the children all have a very short attention span. I wanted to tell her that that just means that she needs to have more activities and do new things everyday!  It is hard for me to see how great the differences  are between the care given to these children and the care that these children would be given in the US.  It makes me wonder what their "normal" schools are like.  I wonder if those schools challenge the children enough?  I wonder how the average Jamaican school would compare to the average American school. Lots of things to think about!  

I am looking forward to seeing the children again tomorrow, a couple of them have already told me that they are going to miss me when I leave on Friday :(

The First Day of School

Hello!  I actually wrote this yesterday but wasn't able to post it until now.  Last night the power went out, which includes the wifi.  Jamaica often has these power outages and water shutoffs.  The company can turn the power or water off whenever they want, and it is sort of to conserve energy.  To be honest I am not really sure why they do it.  But, they give you no warning whatsoever.  The water can be off for days, luckily since I have been here it has only not been working for one day.  The power can be out for hours, it has been out twice since I have been here, but last night was the longest. Anyways....here is what happened yesterday :)

Just like at home, today was the first day back to school in Jamaica.  There were many more people out and about early in the morning.  Last week there were very little people on the streets and not many children at all.  This morning however, people were everywhere!  I rode downtown in a taxi filled with children, they all looked so nice in their uniforms!  Every school has a different uniform, and there were many different uniforms which can only mean that there are tons of schools.  I wasn't able to get a picture of a child in their uniform because everyone was much too busy, but maybe I will be able to get one later in the week.  Until then, here is an image that shows what the uniforms look like:

The girls wear a jumper, and the boys wear a tan collared shirt with tan pants.  The girls dress colors depend on the school that they attend.

The children at West Haven do not have uniforms, though they would look very nice in them!

I was able to make it up to West Haven with very little problems and when I arrived all the children could talk about was that they had school today.  I was so excited for them!  They talked about school the whole last week when they didn't have it and I was excited to see what was so great about this school :)

But first, the children ate breakfast and bathed just like before.  After feeding and bathing it was about 10am and the children began to head to the school building.

Let me begin by saying that the school was not at all like the schools we have back at home.  The building was one room and there were not even desks.  The children sat in folding chairs, however there weren't even enough of those.  Observing their "school" made me so disappointed and made me so sad that these children will never be able to reach their full potential.  

Because all of the children are in the same room, they are all learning the same thing.  Many are on the same level but the children who are shouting out the answer before the question is even asked are way ahead of the others and are not being challenged.  One of these children is Keno.  Keno is so incredibly smart and if challenged I can only imagine what he could do.  

Today the teachers (there is a man teacher and a woman) began the class by starting with a prayer and reciting Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.   They then went on to read over some of the rules and their honesty pledge.  You may be able to read some of these in the picture below.

After going over their normal morning routine, the teachers went into reciting sight words.  They sang a song to the sight words, and I think that the children had just memorized the song not the actual word.  If you had showed them one of the sight words out of context I don't think that any of the children would be able to read it.  After the sight words the teacher went over some letters.

I am pretty sure that the children have been going over the same letters and sight words for quite some time now because the papers look old and the children had all of the answers memorized.

After their "Language Arts" time, the children then had music.  Music consisted of the children watching a sing-a-long video.  While they absolutely loved the video, I wish that there had been something more interactive for them to do.  Perhaps they could have made some instruments or something along those lines.

Overall, watching their school time made me sad for the children because they don't know how much they are missing out on.  But, I guess if they are happy and healthy that is all that matters :)

Here is there weekly schedule, it is outdated, but I think they still follow it up to a certain extent.  It shows that they go around to the different cottages but I didn't see that...I am hoping that today was just rough because it was the first day back.  Hoping that tomorrow will be better for the children!

On another note....tonight we ate in the dark because of the power outage.  We ate baked chicken, leftover mac and cheese, yams, and salad.  

My First Full Weekend

This weekend has been exhausting but also so much fun!  On Saturday, Tae and I left at about 9:30am to head to the bus park in order to catch a bus to Ocho Rios.  The bus park is a little bit scary, drivers often fight over who is going to drive you, it is a very hectic place!  Luckily, we had no problems and were able to find room on a bus and leave within 30 minutes.  Sometimes you can wait up to an hour because the drivers won't leave until the bus is full.

We were on our way to Ocho Rios because we wanted to go to Dunns River Falls which is a place where you can climb this waterfall and hang out on the beach.  The ride took about 2 hours and then we had to pay for our ticket, get water shoes (see the picture below :)) and get a locker for all of our stuff.  The river falls were very touristy but we had a great time.  The climb up the falls was at times a little bit slippery but it was very fun!  We got to go down a little waterslide, and jump into a pool on the way up.  The guide was very funny and was always getting our group to chant and to do silly things.

Tae and I after finishing the climb!

Here are a few pictures from the day, overall I had a great time!

We got back around 7pm and ate a dinner of some kind of fish (still had the head on--I was not too sure about that part!), a different kind of bread, and salad.

Here I am in front of the falls!

Today I spent my whole day at the beach!  It was a great beach day, the sun was shining and there was a nice breeze.  The high today was 86 degrees!  I don't know how I am going to go back to the cold in less than a week!

While at the beach I was able to do some snorkeling and explore.  I saw many tiny little fish and some cool rocks and shells.  My favorite thing that I saw was an eel.  After looking it up tonight I found out that it was a sharp tail eel.  There is a picture below this that looks very similar to what I saw.  

I spent a lot of time reading in the sun and just relaxing.  It was a nice to chill out before I begin my busy week of volunteering.  I am so excited to see the children again tomorrow--I may even get to see how their school is!

Tonight for dinner we had curried goat mutton (definitely not my favorite thing!), rice, mac and cheese, salad, and baked plantains.  The plantains were so delicious!

Sun beginning to set!

Yet Another Wonderful Day

Today, just like the past few days I made my trip up to West Haven Children's Home.  I've pretty much figured out the taxis, or at least how to ask for help :)  The ride was bumpy just as it always seems to be--the roads have so many potholes!

While at West Haven today, I was able to assist with feeding and bathing (as usual) and then spent the majority of my time coloring, playing, and talking with the children.  I helped out again at the Mission Jamaica House because they seemed to need a lot of help, there are about 20 kids in the house and not enough hands to help!

 After feeding a couple of the children their usual porridge for breakfast I went to talk to some of the children.  We again played some games such as I Spy, concentration, hand games, and of course singing.  Today I was lucky enough to have Kerry Ann agree to be videotaped as she was singing.  I cannot decide on a favorite, so here they both are!

In addition I also colored with many of the older children.  Being here has helped me to remember how lucky we really are.  These children had a pack of crayons and some five page coloring books and they were acting like it was Christmas morning!  It is amazing how the littlest things can be the most important.  

I was also able to visit some of the other houses and spent a good bit of time in the house for younger children.  There are actually very few young children, the majority of the home is older children and young adults.  The little children are so playful and were so excited to see someone new.  I took may of them on walks around the different houses so that they could see some new scenery--most stay put on the porch of whatever house they live in :(  Derrick, one little boy, loved to play with my hair!  He was actually more pulling my hair than playing with it, but he had fun :)

Here is Derrick!

I again want to reiterate how different the care given in Jamaica is to what would be given in America.  While the home is doing the best that they can given their circumstances (they are funded mostly on donations!) it is heartbreaking to see these children not reaching their full potential.

I finally got a phone so that I can call people here in Jamaica! It was another beautiful day at the beach, I think I could get used to going to the beach everyday :)  Tonight for dinner we had some seasoned rice (shocker...right?!) with chicken and vegetables which was yummy.

The New Year

New Year's Day is a very big holiday for Jamaicans, or at least that is how it seemed to me. Practically every store, shop, and even some of the route taxis were closed.  There was not a taxi to West Haven so I wasn't able to visit with the children.  But, I was able to catch up on a few emails, sleep, and just relax.  One of the volunteers and I went to the beach in the afternoon and did a little bit of shopping for our families :)

I thought since I didn't really have much to talk about today I would talk about the other volunteers and where they are from.

Tae is from the United States (Indiana) and arrived a day after me.  She is part of the veterinarian program and will be in Jamaica for three weeks.  Tae lives with the same host family as me.

Nikki also lives with the same host family as me but has already been here for three months! I can't imagine being here for that long.  Nikki is leaving this coming Wednesday.  She is from Austria as I mentioned in an earlier post and is a part of the veterinarian program as well.  Prior to the vet program she did do some work at the orphanage for a few weeks.

Alicia lives with a different host family and is from Germany.  She is spending her time at the orphanage, and will be in Jamaica for 3-4 months.

Lea also lives with a different host family and is also from Germany.  She is volunteering with the journalism program and has already had a paper published in the local newspaper! She will also be volunteering for about 3-4 months.

I am hoping to get a picture of all of us, so when I do I will put it right here :)

I also wanted to mention how interesting the island is when the tourists come.  Wednesday is "ship" day and that is normally when the bigger cruise ships come and all of the tourists pack the beaches full.  It creates a whole different dynamic on the beach and I definitely missed the quiet beach that I had had the previous days!

I am often mistaken as a person on the ship and the Jamaican taxi drivers will ask, "Hey Blondie, you need a ride to the ship?" I will politley say no, but it is funny how quickly you can pick me out of a crowd, especially as you go further from the beaches.

Jamaica is also funny because there are some different food places but they also have KFC, Burger King, and Pizza Hut.  I wonder if they taste the same as the ones in America?  They are always packed full of people waiting to order food.  I also have found it really interesting that I haven't seen any McDonalds, they seem to be everywhere else!

Tonight for dinner we had leftovers which included, pork, rice (of course), potatoes, and green beans and carrots.  There definitely seems to be a trend of having carbs and rice with EVERY dinner. Not that I am complaining...yet :)

I am enjoying my time in Jamaica and can't wait to see what the rest of my time in Jamaica holds!

Bringing in the New Year

The second day on my own was so much better than the first.  I did fine taking the taxis and made it to the school just fine.  I had to ask for help again, but people are friendly and willing to give directions.

My day at the school was much better.  I went to a different building at the home and was able to help out some different children.  This building was a home for all of the older girls.  It is called the "Mission House" and is set up different then the Veira House.  This house had the beds (about 15 beds) but they were in a back room with the bathrooms.  They had a common room where there was a radio, the kids loved it!

I did feed and bathe the children again but I was also able to play with them and just talk to them.  Keno and Kerri Ann particularly enjoyed my company.  I played hand games with them such as Miss Mary Mack, and also played I Spy which they loved! We played and sang songs and talked for about two hours, it was awesome to hear them laughing and enjoying themselves.  

Kerry Ann particularly enjoyed singing, I wasn't able to take a video but I was able to find a video of her singing four years ago.  she actually looks very much the same, she is just as sweet and just as cute! 

The children were also teaching me how to speak some words in Patois, which is the language that Jamaican's speak.  It is very hard for me to understand, but I was happy they were able to teach me some!  Today they taught me how to say "hello", it is pronounced, "wahguan".  

It was another beautiful day on the beach, and I enjoyed a dinner of pork, rice, potatoes, carrots and peas, and pasta. 

I brought in the new year with my host by watching the local Jamaican channels and seeing the fireworks.  It was low key, but perfect for me :) Happy New Year!

The First Day on My Own

I survived the first day all on my own--YAY! I can't say it was easy though, I was so nervous thinking about all that I had to remember.  I took my first taxi rides on my own and while I had to ask many people for help and directions, they were all very helpful and kind.  Eventually I found my way up to the West Haven Children's Home.  When I arrived I was able to help out in the Veira House.  This house is the home for about 30 children.  There are fifteen beds on the girls side of the room and fifteen on the boys side.  The house has a common room with a kitchen area and then a side room for the girls and a side room for the boys.  It is an okay living space for the children but is very plain, the walls are all white and there is little room for stimulation.  I wasn't able to take a picture but will try to get some in the upcoming days.

This is the gate leading into the school, not the most welcoming :(

While at the home helping I was able to assist in bathing and feeding.  It was very sad for me to see the children in the beds being handled.  They were not asked to do anything for themselves.  In the United States children are taught to be as independent as possible.  Teachers hardly do anything for the child without having them try to do it for themselves.  Here in Jamaica they have neither the time nor the resources to give the children the proper care.  They do care for the children but by doing everything for the child they are actually hurting the child by not allowing them to be independent.  Many of these children will be dependent on a caregiver for the rest of their life because they were never taught how to care for themselves.  A majority of the children are in diapers and are spoonfed. They do not know how to take care of themselves.

Some of the children are left in their beds all day, they are bathed in their beds, fed in their beds, and they lay in their beds.  They never leave their beds to go outside or see any different scenery.  It makes me so sad that all they do is lay in their beds.  In the US, these children would be given the opportunities to grow and become more independent, in Jamaica these children have no options.  They are expected to do nothing more then to sleep and lay in their beds.

I look forward to seeing other ways that the care differs in the coming week.

After volunteering from 8:30-1:00 I was able to take the taxi back into town and then find a taxi to take me to the beach.  It was another lovely day on the beach, very relaxing! I then took the taxi back home with the other volunteers and had a dinner of saltfish (the national dish of Jamaica), rice, breadfruit, and salad.

Saltfish--National Dish of Jamaica

Orientation Day

Well, my first full day in Jamaica was pretty good.  Jamaica is much different then I had been picturing, even though I had researched the area!  When you think Jamaica, I bet that you think of beautiful beaches and nice resorts.  There are some of those, but beyond those "nice", touristy places is the real Jamaica.  I am staying in Montego Bay, Jamaica and the beaches are beautiful, there are wonderful views, but there are also run down homes, buildings, and roads.  During my orientation day, I began to really recognize how different it was.

The first thing I did on my orientation day was to ride a route taxi to Downtown.  Route taxis are taxis but they only go on one route/path and they cost less money, a typical route taxi in Montego Bay costs around $100 Jamaican Dollars or about $1 US Dollar.  Route taxis are almost all very broken down and old.

This is a not so great picture but a good example of what I would call an average looking route taxi.

While downtown my project coordinator Shaneil gave me a little tour, which I can honestly say that I remember very little--it was very overwhelming!  After the tour she took me to the bank (Scotia Bank) to change my money into Jamaican Dollars.  The line was so long, it seemed as though everyone was at the bank!

After meeting in her office for a little while to discuss some of the expectations and things like that, she took me on the taxis that would lead me to my placement at West Haven Children's Home.  I tried to keep track of what taxis we were taking, Downtown, Clock, and Copse but it was all so foreign and confusing to me.  The home is in the country so it took us a while to get to, about 35 minutes.

When we arrived I was able to get a short tour of the home.  It is different then what i had pictured but there were many children and young adults with disabilities.  I didn't get to help out or really meet any of the kids today but it was good to get to see where I was going.  We then took the taxi back into town and got lunch at Jerky's.  I ate my first Jamaican jerk chicken, it was delicious!

After that Shaneil rode in a taxi with me to Doctor's Cave which is the beach where we go.  It is more touristic but a very nice beach.  I met up with the volunteers and was able to relax on the beach until heading back to my host's house.  For dinner we had chicken, salad, potatoes, and rice.

Overall today was an exhausting and overwhelming experience.  I learned a lot but am worried about finding my way on my own tomorrow.  I am sure it will all be okay, but we will see how it goes!

Enjoy the gorgeous view, I sure am!

JAMAICA!

Well...I am in Jamaica!  I made it through my first plane ride, and couldn't get over how gorgeous the views were. Look at this picture, it was right before we landed in Jamaica:

I was little bit nervous since I had never flown before, but it all worked out fine, and I enjoyed the trip!  When the plane was landing we got very close to the water, it was both amazing and scary.  Once I got off of the plane, claimed my baggage, got through customs, and found my ride, I was exhausted, it took forever!  The Montego Bay airport was much different than the BWI airport.  BWI was huge and Montego Bay is this tiny little airport.  The first thing I noticed when I got into the car was that they drive on the opposite side of the road--I guess I should've known that but I was very surprised (I tried to get in on the drivers side--oops)!

Shortly after leaving the airport I reached my host's house.  Her name is Christine Dexter, and she is a retired teacher-perfect for me!  I got settled in, unpacked, called my family, and then we had dinner. We had chicken, rice, potatoes, and salad--a typical Jamaican meal. I also got to meet another volunteer who is staying at the same house as me.  She is from Austria and is super nice.  We are going to go to meet some of the other volunteers later tonight.  Tomorrow another volunteer will be coming and she is from the United States so I will have something in common with her.  

Tomorrow is my orientation day so I am hoping to feel more settled in after that.  I will be taking the taxi to get to my placement, meeting the workers at the children's home, and changing my money over to Jamaican dollars.  I am nervous being this far from home but know that it will be a great experience.  Can't wait to update you tomorrow!

Also, I am being placed at the West Haven Children's Home.  I am very excited.  The home is for severely disabled children (and adults too!) and I am looking forward to comparing the care received here in Jamaica to care given in the US.  You can read more about the home here.

The Only Disability in Life is a Bad Attitude

It's hard to believe that in just a month and a half I will be on my way to Jamaica.  I am getting both excited and nervous.  When I first applied for the Pannell Scholarship last school year it felt like December 2014 was so far away, well now it is already November 14th, 2014.  

For those of you who do not know, I have been lucky enough to receive a Anne Gary Pannell Merit Scholarship.  The Pannell scholarships are awarded to sophomores at Sweet Briar College in the honors program.  Here is a link for more information (Anne Gary Pannell Merit Scholarship).  I applied for the scholarship my freshman year at Sweet Briar and wrote a proposal.  

For my project I will travel to Jamaica with Projects-Abroad. (More information on Projects-Abroad) I will be a part of their volunteer care work and more specifically the special education program.  As a part of this program I will be able to volunteer my time to children and adults with special needs.  I will learn about different views the country places on people with disabilities, the way disabled people are treated, and the care that people with special needs receive.  I will be able to take what I have learned in Jamaica and compare the treatment of individuals with special needs and the care they are given in Jamaica to the care individuals with special needs are given in America. 

Background
As many of you already know ever since I was much younger I have wanted to be a teacher, and now, more so than ever, I want to be a special education teacher.  This will be a perfect opportunity to gain experience in a special education setting.  

Through this volunteer experience I feel as though I can be a part of something bigger.  I can help the children and adults who need it the most.  Many of the children have difficult lives aside from their disabilities. Modern day Jamaica is affected by many social problems.  And, while I cannot make a huge impact on the country of Jamaica as a whole, I hope to make an impact on at least one individual’s life. 

Preparation

Through my experiences I have learned a lot about the care that is given in America to people with special needs.  However, I am interested to see what the care in other countries would be for disabled people.  In Jamaica I will be able to learn about the different ways special needs are handled.  I have only the perspective from American educational systems and I am sure that while there will be many similarities between the two systems, there will also be many differences. 

While in Jamaica I will be placed in a school that is specifically for special needs children.  I will assist in activities that will improve their lives.  Whether that is academically or socially.  I will be able to play games with the children as well as teach them academics.  I wills also be able to care for their everyday needs such as feeding and bathing.  These are just a few of the many responsibilities I will have.  

           

I will be departing on December 28th, 2014 and returning January 10th, 2015.  I am looking forward to the two weeks I get to spend in Jamaica.

Here is my current timeline:

Time Frame	Event
December 28th	Depart for Montego Bay, Jamaica Arrive in Montego Bay, Jamaica where I will be greeted by a staff member
December 28th-January 10th	Volunteer in Jamaica with the special needs program Document each day with things I have learned, interesting stories, anything that made an impact on me—whether it is as small as a hug from a child or as big as helping someone learn to write their name
January 10th	Depart for BWI airport Baltimore, MD
April 2015	Share my experience at the Pannell Honors Scholars Fair