We started our day at the Culture Yard located in “Trench Town” in St. Andrews parish, Kingston. It is known as the home of Reggae. It’s where Bob Marley was introduced to Reggae music by many of its original creators, like his mentor Mortimer Planno. The Culture Yard was full of artifacts, including photographs of Trench Town in the early 1900s. We had the chance to walk in the rooms that Bob Marley actually slept in and saw one of his early guitars. The tour guide Ms. Sophia reminded us that Bob Marley was not the only Reggae musician from Trench Town and he lived there before he became famous. She explained the many different sects of “Rastas” and that Bob Marley was about love. We took pictures in one of Bob Marley’s first vans (it is old rusted without wheels) and another with a statue in his memory in the center of the yard. We met a Rasta musician named “Ziggy” (not his son), who has a band named Kulture Yaad that still plays Reggae like it was played back in the day. We took pictures with him and brought his CD. We also met a man there named “Stone Man”, who supposedly predicted 9/11 from stones (long story). Some of us actually believed him.
Our next stop was the Craft Market in downtown Kingston by the waterfront. It was so much fun bartering with the vendors for the best price. I was able to get things at a cheaper price than some of the others. It was hard to resist vendors, because each wanted you to buy something from them.
We were so excited with the things we bought, arguing over who got the better deals, then we quickly headed back to Mico University College for lunch, where we are staying. Next we were off to Maxfield Park Children’s home. This was our second trip there, but this time we were going to try something different. We created our first event directly for the older teens. We called it “It’s My Life; Now What?” We decided that this was a good way to introduce the idea of social entrepreneurship to the teens in Jamaica at the home. We learned that they can only stay there until they are 18, whether they have family or not. Brendan thought that his venture on job searching and preparation would go over well for the older teens at the home, so we all jumped into it. Our group leaders divided us into groups, with a mixture of American teens and Jamaican teens, there were some younger children that participated also. Jocelyn, who was our MC for the day, introduced all the LearnServe Jamaica participants, who explained who we were and why we were in Jamaica. She also had each LearnServe Fellow come up and explain their venture to everyone. Our driver, Mr Harrison, also spoke about how he started his bus business on the 6500 JA his mother gave him. Delroy, from KBC, also spoke about the opportunities at KBC.
Once all our speakers spoke and we had a better understanding of what an entrepreneur is compared to a social entrepreneur, we were divided in groups to discuss some of the issues that are in Jamaica that bother teens and then share some of the issues we have in DC. They were almost identical. Our group came up with more healthy food choices for the home. Sara, one of the Maxfield’s home teen residents, said she wanted more carrots in her diet and most of the others agreed. The choices of food the Jamaican teens wanted were totally different from what a typical American teen would say. We were then asked to figure out who the issue affected the most and who you talk to create a solution.
This gave us the opportunity to really hear some of the group home’s challenges and we got to think of new ways to better the home and deal with conflicts that the students felt were their biggest problems. I did this by asking what the kids in my group liked the least at their school. When asked we got the response, “We want healthier and better tasting food.” Hearing this, we planned to find a way to get in contact with the people in charge of the food at the home and suggest building a garden, so that they can have food they can grow, pick and use daily.
Today I feel as though I changed a lot because I got out my comfort zone. The fact that I was speaking a lot when usually I keep my comments to myself, let me know that this is interesting to me, because I was REALLY participating. A time today that I felt had the biggest impact on me and was most powerful, was when a kid that was way younger than me, who was also in a different group, talked about problems in the world. I thought about myself at that age and know I wasn’t thinking about things like healthcare and access, like he was. The meeting with the kids at the school reminded me that far too many American children also suffer from hunger and need better food choices. Many in America, like Jamaica, don’t know where their next meal will come from, if at all. The kids in Jamaica agreed that Jamaica suffers from hunger issues too.
I asked an old man in the BMP named Omar, who has previously lived both in America and Jamaica, which one he enjoyed living in more he responded with, “While though Jamaica and America may share some of the same problems, is not better to me because of the fact the experience is just different, they both had their own separate ups and downs and both are beautiful places.” I agree with him, because for every place there are challenges and strengths, so though its different, it doesn’t make it better or worse.
Hiwan Rezene, E.L Haynes Public Charter School