Jamaica Volunteer Expeditions

After excitedly planning this trip for two years, as the day of departure grew nearer both myself and classmates began to get cold feet, overthinking it for one reason or another (notably the price). However, from the moment we landed I knew I made the right choice. The country (especially Manchester where we stayed) was hands down one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, from the breathtaking green landscapes, to the extremely hospitable Jamaican people, from whom I feel we all can learn a lot from in how to live a happy life. Omar and JVE have seemingly perfected how to enfuse cultural immersion, meaningful service, and fun into one trip. After a different traditional breakfast, we worked at the school for the day, dividing ourselves up between helping in the classroom or teaching the primary children baseball, with volunteers freely circulating as they wish to. After school we visited the nearby boys home, playing games (including football, basketball, and dominos) with the 50 some boys there. In my humble opinion this was by far the highlight of the trip, as many of the boys were too in highschool, and shared interests with all of us from back home in the states. At night we came home and had a large traditional Jamaican meal and by 830 we were given the rest of the night to enjoy the 30 acre property as we pleased.

During our engages with the Jamaican people, the phrase “one people, one family” truly set in, as the way people live and interact with another is almost as if it was the same as from the states, only in a different enviroment. It was through this experience that my aspirations of becoming an enviromental engineer were reaffirmed, and I hope to rectory soon. We may have made much progress during our weeklong stay, but there still remains much work to be done to help this amazing country continue to develop into what it can be.

Getting to experience “Jamaican time” and the thrill of driving around in the mountains itself was worth it. Throw in the lasting impact made upon both myself and those I helped, and it’s clear that every penny was well spent. I am embarrassed to have ever hesitated in the first place about going, so please don’t make the same mistake I did, and if you ever have an opportunity to travel with JVE, jump on it ASAP!!

As part of my school’s mission trip abroad, I visited Jamaica in the Manchester Parish for a week during January 2019. Through JVE, I was able to wholly immerse myself in the Jamaican culture through both the food and people that I encountered during my stay. The house, Tan Y Bryn served as a great place to sleep and enjoy Jamaican cuisine provided by the staff working there. Continuing with the staff, all of the employees at Tan Y Bryn were very amicable towards my volunteer group and helped us with every small need from plumbing to toiletries. While the housing accommodations were great, JVE truly shines through the service opportunities they provided for myself and other volunteers. We spent most of the time working at the Mt. Olivet Primary School and the Mt. Olivet Boys Home located only a 8 minute car ride away from Tan Y Bryn. During my time at the school, I was able to connect with many students and had special moment with a few individuals. Overall, I can wholeheartedly say that JVE was an excellent organisation to work with and I would definitely work with them again in the future if I return on a service trip to Jamiaca.

During my time here in Jamaica I learned many new things about the culture and how the people here live. I truly learned how lucky i am to have what I have and how I should be more thankful for all the little things I have. I also learned how you can be really happy with just having the basic things in life. You do not need to have all the best stuff and all of the new toys and gadgets to be happy. As long as you have your friends family and the basics you can really enjoy life. Also just experiencing everyday life really gave me an understanding how lucky I am. I had never had to worry about not having enough water to shower. I also really enjoyed different foods I got to try. Just experiencing all the different ways different foods are prepared and how much time actually goes into making them. I loved the program because of the different things it exposed me to and just being able to enjoy how beautiful this little island really is.

The experience was one of a kind... definitely recommend it! It started with us getting here and while we were eating at ultimate jerk, i found out what real Jamaican culture is like. After, when we worked with the boys, it was memorable because we made real connections with them that i didn't think were possible in such a short time. When we would play football with the guys from the home, they felt what connection with someone was... something that some hadn't felt before. when we did the cultural exchange, it was really meaningful because they showed us so much about their culture with just little bits of music and dancing. They taught me that happiness is more than just owning things. Happiness is about the times spent with people you love and the people you care about and i learned that while realizing the kids dindt have all the money in the world... even coming into school with ripped pants, but yet they all had a smile on their face at all times.

I have been to many places around the world for service and Jamaica was unique. With that being said, it was fun because it was a different. I had never stayed in a house like that for a service project, but I think that it enhanced the comradery and the expeirence. I liked the idea of having a lot of time to play with the kids. Also, being a part of the culture was nice. It was as if we were not only there for service but also for vacation.