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TEAM 62 JOURNAL GLOBAL VOLUNTEERS ANSE LA REYE ST LUCIA JUNE 1 15 2019 WWW GLOBALVOLUNTEERS ORG
S t T e a m G o a l s To know the community To plant a seed To grow oneself To experience the community L u c i a T e a m 6 2 T e a m C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s Compassion Open Mindness Patience Thankfulness Confidence Diligence Cooperation Pleasantness Focus Communication Awareness Enthusiasm Listener Creativity Adaptability Flexibility Empathy 2
To use resources wisely a tenet as to how we should move through this life Unknown
W June 3 2019 AMY PEPKE J o u r n a l E n t r y e go through many cycles in our lives up and down beginnings and ends Those cycles are universal I m in the end of a cycle my kids are becoming adults now They are beginning My time to shape and guide them is coming to an end My time to teach them is closing For me this trip is a celebration and one of the last chances to share my values with my son before he sets out on his own It s a chance to expose him to different cultures beliefs to help him see that no culture is necessarily better or worse and our core experiences as humans are shared around the world So this trip is an opportunity for us as mother and son and for us individually I hope we each take the opportunity and make the very best of it This is the beginning of a wonderful opportunity I hope we each take the opportunity and make the very best of it This is the beginning of a wonderful opportunity 4
A AMY PERKE June 4 2019 J o u r n a l E n t r y fter reflecting upon yesterday and our collective experiences I believe that we are given a unique opportunity to work with those who have been lived with far fewer opportunities than ourselves I feel as though we are able to extend our opportunities briefly to the people of St Lucia so that they may better empower themselves Even after only one day I believe we are clearly going to be catalysts for creating a better future for the St Lucian children and in turn St Lucia After working with a few of the kids I realize that they have more drive than even most regular school children found in the rest of the world they are very eager to learn Even after only one day I believe we are clearly going to be catalysts for creating a better future for the St Lucian children and in turn St Lucia 5
Worthiness through willingness Unknown
June 5 2019 MICAH HOGUE J o u r n a l E n t r y Island Time was one of the first local sayings I heard upon arriving on the island and by far the most repeated Island time As I listen to Chem and Lisa bicker about missed appointments I hear What is wrong with that girl She keeps island time you know Russell my roommate is working hard at the infant school teaching the kids how to read a clock and secretly I laugh inside because surely the children are aware it s Island time The Island is in no rush The people of St Lucia keep time to the beat of the mango tree Never quite certain when the next mango will drop or when the next opportunity will arise yet they rest assured it will and remain confident it will provide I remind myself throughout the day that at home I dream of long peaceful breakfasts by the sea yet while here I struggle to relax and want things done faster I have not yet accepted Island time We start our morning with a quick meeting and a bite to eat then we pile into the van and head off to Anse La Raye The drivers here all beep their horns as if to say hello my friend I am here with you and wish not to harm you May we share the road It s a stark contrast to the streets back home where the drivers rage through their horns I wish you would I will end you I like to think I will take 7
MICAH HOGUE June 5 2019 this home with me but sadly I know I will not Arriving in Anse La Raye it is short walk past the church graveyard to my job site The freshly piled dirt of a few days past serves as a reminder that nothing about today is guaranteed My work day begins at nine o clock island time this allows me an extra twenty minutes or so to walk the streets I am inspired by our first appointment She is so eager to receive her earth box that she is willing to cart it all the way to her house She also gives of herself and creates an earth box on behalf of her neighbor who was disposed The earth boxes are heavy and cumbersome combined with the bad roads it is not an easy task to transport them in the carts Her willingness to do so gives me hope that her plants will be successful Sadly not all of the appointments are kept We spent some time driving to the homes in search of these young ladies Anse La Raye is a tight knit community and while the girls are not home it is no wonder where they are Chem openly laments there are only two things these girls are interested in rum and boys This is okay because I am a big woman with a strong back and I will come and take their earth boxes and I will tell them to pass straight 4 8
MICAH HOGUE June 5 2019 In town the market lines the street Each vendor parrots the last come closer my friend come come and have a look my boy The market is filled with items clearly made somewhere else Another stark reminder of how limited the resources are on the island On the first day I said I wanted to plant a seed and I meant I wanted to leave something here I realize now that I ll be taking that seed with me in several forms Returning to the resort at the end of the day we all head to the bay The next few hours are spent sunning snorkeling and enjoying coconut rum Ahh Island time I am just beginning to enjoy this slower pace and ironically it s too late In a few days I ll be back in the hustle and bustle where Island time cannot exist However certain aspects will remain On the first day I said I wanted to plant a seed and I meant I wanted to leave something here I realize now that I ll be taking that seed with me in several forms The most important being to appreciate and utilize the endless resources I have at my disposal To make due with something readily available and to be flexible and adapt whenever possible And maybe just maybe I won t be such an ass when I honk my horn 9
As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands one for helping yourself the other for helping others Audrey Hepburn
T JACEY CARR June 6 2019 J o u r n a l E n t r y The minute I walked into Anse La Raye I quickly realized the limited resources that the students and teachers have access to However despite these disparities it didn t take long at all to feel welcomed and appreciated just by my presence in the schools A new face Who must she be At the first opportunity the students received of course 10 15 of the sweetest kids I ve ever met came over and began asking a million questions knew right then the impact these children would have on me Access to education is one of the most important things a society can do for its people Access to education is one of the most important things a society can do for its people Education is providing opportunity and prosperity for communities The children of Anse La Raye are ambitious and very eager to learn You can simply see it in their eyes just by how curious they are about the world around them On their uniform there is a quote that stood out to me the difficulties in my path will not defeat my ambition Although I ve only been in the schools for 3 days it didn t take but an hour to see that this is true for every student at that school As I have been reflecting and talking with friends and family back at home about how the trip is going one of my best friends responded with how excited she was for me that I was finding my passion in teaching I know for sure that the children of Anse La Raye are a part of my path and I hope I am a part of theirs 11
A JESSICA HOGUE June 7 2019 J o u r n a l E n t r y few years ago a colleague of mine was talking about a study abroad student who had observed Americans rarely have the opportunity of inconvenience In the past few days I am reminded of how infinitely convenient my life is back home With the turn of a key I can travel quickly and safely in my town With the touch of a few buttons someone delivers food to my doorstep And with the turn of a faucet hot water washes my face and cool water fills my glass Like so many Americans I take for granted the conveniences and comforts of my life in the U S The lives of those living in Anse la Raye are hemmed in at every turn by obstacles so incongruous to my own privileged existence a lack of government supported infrastructure and resources the scarcity of honest employment opportunities an inability to purchase bordering lands and a stretched and underfunded educational system all conspire to make people s lives so much more difficult than my own Our two weeks of inconveniences are their luxuries As I move through the next week and a half I hope that I may use moments of discomfort and inconvenience to practice humility and compassion exercise patience think creatively challenge my assumptions and train my eye to see resources where I thought there were none 12
Peeps are a popular sweet in the U S They come in all different shapes sizes and colors But on the inside they are all made from the same ingredients So just like peeps people come in all different shapes sizes and colors but we are all the same on the inside Unknown
I DOT HOGUE June 10 2019 J o u r n a l E n t r y am now in my second week of my volunteer work in St Lucia Upon arrival I was assigned to work with the Tinnie Tots a classroom of 1 to 3 year olds Each day I look into the eyes of each of these children and I think What will become of you when you are grown Will you be a college grad or will you become pregnant and drop out of school early Will you move away from St Lucia for a better life or will you remain on the island Will you be a gang member and die young or will you be an asset to your community If you enter politics will you become a corrupt politician or will you enact laws for the benefit of your community Will you be consumed by the rum disease or will you keep your body and your soul healthy I will never know the answers to these questions but I want to believe that each of these children will succeed in life And I hope that my time spent with them will make this more of a possibility 14
I SARAH YOUNG June 11 2019 J o u r n a l E n t r y noticed him my first day at Adalyn Leonce As all the other children clamored for our attention he sat quietly in his seat intently watching the commotion going on around him His big brown eyes and quiet demeanor made me pause and wonder what is he thinking Later that day we went outside for playtime Again I noticed him standing quietly to the side So I grabbed a ball and we started kicking it between us I asked him his name but he whispered it so softly that I couldn t hear him As we were kicking the ball other children would join in He would patiently wait for his turn and then kick the ball as hard as he could to me A few times when I praised him on his strong kicks a ghost of a smile would appear on his lips 15
SARAH YOUNG June 11 2019 The next day I was able to work one on one with him The teacher told me his name and even had to spell it for me Niyareh We sat in the library and I asked him to write his name He just shook his head and wouldn t pick up the pencil So I changed tactics Let s read a book I suggested Again I saw the hint of a smile So I picked a book about colors Quietly Niyareh told me each color We then moved on to shapes and he knew most of these as well The end of his tongue would be poking out as he concentrated and again the smile would return every time I said Good Job I began to search him out each morning I arrived so I could say hello I also made sure I hugged him during the morning assembly when the class sung Hug Somebody I watched Niyareh interact with his classmates and I realized he was kind and loving to them He offered food to his friends at his table he shared blocks with his friends while others were hoarding them and he hugged a classmate who was sitting alone during assembly Something about Niyareh s gentle soul and sweet disposition has touched my heart I will always remember him as I return to my daily life I hope that this memory will give me pause when I am complaining or short tempered and remind me to slow down take a breath and Hug Somebody and tell them that I love them 16
It doesn t matter what you are as long as you are who you are Roald Dahl
W RUSSELL MARTIN June 11 2019 J o u r n a l E n t r y hen I first walked into Anse La Raye Infant School I figured I had a fairly simple task ahead of me I needed to teach a cohort of 10 first graders to learn to tell time on an analog clock at least on the hour and half hour Considering I was working one on one with the students my expectation was to make some progress with each student every day and by the end they would hopefully be fluent clock readers Of course that wasn t the case Reflecting back on the last week and a half there were some days where it seemed like I make no progress at all Sometimes it seemed like students forgot what we had worked on in previous sessions But I also learned that there were other inklings of progress to be had I just had to pause and acknowledge them Like when David finally stopped mixing up the hour and the minute hand Or when Tianna told me she was practicing by reading her clock at home Or even when Aedden wore his own watch and I got to help him set it to the right time Thus one thing I ll certainly be taking home with me from St Lucia is this Progress is progress whether it s big or small Sometimes just showing up and going through your day is progress made And as teachers as volunteers and as human beings it s important we keep that in mind and celebrate the small victories as well as the big ones 18
W SOPHIA YOUNG June 12 2019 J o u r n a l E n t r y hat I have learned during my short time in St Lucia is that everything is more down to earth Everyone is on island time and there seems to be no rush to do anything You get to look into yourself in the silent moments of the frogs and birds You get to be in the moment and not have life flash before your eyes The people here have little but still seem to be content and happy with life I wish we had this back in the States But for now I will enjoy being here with the luxury of thinking No problem 19
TEAM 62 JOURNAL Anse La Raye St Lucia June 2019 The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention Oscar Wilde Thank your you for service GLOBAL VOLUNTEERS 375 East Little Canada Road St Paul MN 55117 1628 USA 800 487 1074 toll free 651 482 0915 fax globalvolunteers org email globalvolunteers org GlobalVolunteers globalvolunteers globalvolunteers