Ja Ja Jammmaica!

Day 1 (Wednesday)



We have arrived in Harmons, Jamaica! In case anyone is curious, we are essentially on Central Time. Technically, Jamaica is EST, but they don’t observe day light savings, so time-wise, it’s CT.

Liz and I both just got done typing to our Ryans (her husband’s name is Ryan as well)…and we’re pretending we’re in an internet café (wifi of course), even though we are really on bunks in our dorm room…the wifi (via satellite) part is true though! ☺

My flight from Tucson to Newark, was pretty entertaining. I sat next to a 76 year old woman who was really engaged in the safety video. Anytime they said something like, “We at Contintental are the best in our business”, she’d chime in with a “wow…really!?”. Or, when they said, “Thank for choosing us and welcome aboard”, she gave them a firm “Thank You” back. She was very sweet and cute indeed.

I met up with Liz in Newark and we flew together to Montego Bay, Jamaica. The excitement of that flight was getting a hot roastbeef/swiss sandwich and a salad! And, the fact that twice the pilot had to comment on the intercom about people smoking in the bathroom and how that is illegal.

Arriving in Montego Bay…it’s very very humid here! I’m used to the heat, but the humidity is unreal. The airport was a lot like Nogales, Mexico in the sense that everyone was offering to carry bags, show you where to go, etc…all for a tip. That is always such a hard thing for me. Here they are trying to work and make money, yet we’re told to say “no” and be firm. And, once we say “no”, they pretty much back right off. Which, I think is the best thing to do…but is it? I don’t know…it’s a hard thing to know I suppose.

We got picked up at the airport by a couple (Lloyd and Candy) who live here for part of the year leading groups down to Harmons, Jamaica (Manchester County) to do service, building houses and relationships. I don’t usually get car sick, but I have to admit I was feeling quite nauseas part way through the drive because of all the winding roads up the mountains. It’s almost a 3 hour drive to Harmons from the airport…and the entire way is winding roads and cars almost hitting one another. (Mom, you’d love it! ☺)

Just before we reached Harmons, we stopped at the closest town and had dinner…Burger King. I don’t even like going to chains when we are in the states, let alone in another country, but who am I to complain…it’s probably fancy dining for a lot of people here…I have a lot to learn this week, I’m sure.

Our first interactions upon arriving in Harmons were very tear jerking. As we drove down the street the kids that were outside ran to the street waving because they recognized the Won By One van. Then, when we pulled into the driveway a woman came towards us with a small child (about 4 years old) and was very upset and told us that over the weekend her sister had died. She had gotten sick and went to drive her to the hospital, but she died on the way, and the little girl with her was the daughter of her sister who died. It was neat to see that she wanted to come and share this right away with us in a way of knowing that the people at Won By One really care about her.

Harmons is a village, with very jungle-like landscaping. It has a population of about 2,500 people, and an unemployment rate of 80%. There is no running water or telephone lines anywhere in the village, with the exception of the Harmony House. The reason that the Harmony House (where volunteers stay) has water, electricity, and even wi-fi is so that they are able to communicate with groups and bring down so many people to help, and be able to provide the resources that they can to the village. Normally people who come down, don’t bring computers like we did, but since Liz and I are going to be working in a school setting up a computer lab…it’s a bit different for us…and allows me to communicate with all of you! (although, please don’t expect emails returned) ☺

So, to tell you a little bit about the organization I’m down here with. It is called Won By One, and was started in 1996 when the current director's parents came down to Jamaica after Hurricane Gilbert. He felt like he was being led by God to Harmons, which really, he had to have been led by God, because there is no way he could've possibly found Harmons any other way...it is soo remote.
At that time he had come down with his wife and 2 children (one of those children being the now current director) and they slept on the floor of an ‘abandoned’ government medical clinic. During the day they would go out and build relationships with the people of Harmons and help people in any way that they could. They only stayed for a week or so and then went back to the states.
They came again the next year...and then the following year they came a couple of times, and friends of theirs had asked to join them...so it grew...and then those friends had friends they wanted to bring down...and those friends had youth groups and college groups to bring down...and it just kept growing and growing on its own...and the guy said he felt like he was being called to make a big difference in a little place, as opposed to a little difference in a lot of places...
so, they built the harmony house (where all the volunteers stay), and now they have about 600 "friends" come down every year to serve.
The Harmony House/Won by One is the largest employer in Harmons. They employ 40-55 Harmons residents to do cooking, cleaning, farming, etc...and it's considered one of the best job to have in Harmons. I’ve only been here a day, and already I have a lot of respect for the organization and what they are doing here. They are always looking to create new jobs so that they can begin employing more people of Harmons.

Since there is no running water and Harmons doesn’t have any lakes or rivers, people collect the rain from their roofs to use it for cooking, washing, etc.

Won By One encourages anyone who comes down to serve to bring 2 full suitcases of clothes to give away to the people of Harmons. The clothes that we bring down go in a store that is part of the Harmony House, and the residents of the village are on a waiting list to come and shop...their are currently over 1000 people on the waiting list and when it's their turn to shop they pay 75 cents and can fill 2 grocery bags worth of clothes. They charge a small amount just to help the people appreciate what they are getting even more. And because of the waiting list, people usually only get to shop every 2-3 years.

Well, I think I’m going to leave you with that for tonight…I’ll type more tomorrow.