As an athlete, you can say I have seen my fair share of hard work. Well, think again. Jamaica has given me a whole new meaning to what it means to put in a good day of hard work. Today at the St. Anthony Mary’s Child mission home for teen moms, I worked on the soil all day in the sun, ok so it was only about 2 hours with plenty of water and breaks. The landscaper Mr. Reed must have thought he was being punished, because it was difficult to get our group to focus on the task to get it done. Oddly or maybe not, the two athletes endured the longest and I actually feel our contribution was a big help. Let me explain. We were given the task to plant Bok Choy cabbage so that we provide fresh vegetables for the mothers and their children of the home. The sun was hot and terrible, but I got through it by teamwork and perseverance, which definitely comes from being an athlete. This experience is teaching me how to build endurance and be more appreciative. I realize that I don’t have to work as hard as the people here for food.
Thinking about the explanation from the one of Jamaica’s representatives from the National environmental agency about the difference between dirt and soil, I can compare some of that definition to the things my life. Like the soil we were using for the plants reminds me of education, because if you put seeds in dirt they won’t grow, like if you put kids in bad school they won’t learn. Dirt is dead with no nutrients to support life and bad schools don’t have the systems or resources to support academic achievement. A good education helps its students prosper and learn more, which helps them gain more opportunities, like Learn Serve International.
I originally thought I was traveling to South Africa and was disappointed mostly because I wouldn’t be with my friends. As we continued to work on the garden and surprised Mr. Reed by how much we were able to get done, I know I was meant to be in Jamaica. It is after all a part of my history I don’t know that well. I can now say, the rows of plants we worked on are required to be a certain distance apart, next to the valleys that laid next to rows that would support other plants’ growth are the same rows that reminded me of the rows of desk at school, as the rows of books, as the seats on our transportation here and traveling across land and water, all representing order stacked up for our usage that we often take for granted.
Malik G., Eastern Senior High School DC