Care Project at Hanbury Children's Home & Music Project at Jamvybz

On the whole I can say that volunteering in Jamaica with Projects Abroad was a great experience and had an essential impact on me. I got an intensive insight in the jamaican mentality and everyday life.
Jamaicans are more laid back, which is a good thing mostly, but also a bad thing sometimes. As a european (and maybe especially german) volunteer, it can be very annoying to wait for you-don't-know-how-long-exactly until the taxi arrives or the news that 2 pm is music time reaches all the children or the P A staff gets you the formular you need. On the other hand, living in Jamaica made me view things in a different way. Back in the so-called first world, I don't get mad about not perfectly clean toilets. Instead I think 'at least the flush works'. Well, maybe that's an extreme example, but in general I distinguish more between real problems and luxury problems.
Furthermore helping people in need is definitely a good feeling.

difficulties:
-hard time during first days of working in children's home, because I had to do so much organisational stuff on my own (e.g. finding out my exact working times, access to material I needed (intruments for music class))
-at jamvybz often came for nothing, because the band was out of town and took the instruments with them or my students didn't have time
-> many cases of disorganization!

highlights:
-social activities organized by Projects Abroad staff, e.g. patois class or day trips
-singing with children, love and joy they show
-weekend trips with other volunteers