Today was our fourth day in Kingston, Jamaica and also the day we completed our first project at the Sts. Peter and Paul Preparatory School. It was also one of the hottest days I’ve ever experienced and the heat seemed to have taken a toll on everyone throughout the day. We started the day excited about breakfast and anticipating what the menu would be as the food thus far has been exceptional. Unfortunately, we were not pleased with the food this morning as the only options were dumplings and vegetables. The dumplings were fried and I did not enjoy the hard and dry taste. I also did not enjoy the callaloo, a vegetable dish that also has pieces of fish cooked into it and I did not like the salty taste of it. Ryan, one of our trip leaders, loved the breakfast as he is a vegetarian. So instead our breakfast consisted of bread and butter which partially filled us up but we may due.
From breakfast, we made our way to a store similar to what we know in the states as home-depot to purchase more paint in order to finish our project. While there I met a young man named Romario who had just completed the 11th grade and graduated from high school as in Jamaica 11th grade marks the end of high school unlike the U.S. During our interaction I learned that he worked there and had decided to continue to work and not further his education. He did not care to elaborate on why he chose not to further his education but continued to ask me about my plans such as going to college and what’s it like to live in America. He mentioned that he has always lived in Jamaica and has never traveled outside the island before. I shared details of my experience and how crowded and over-populated it can be in my opinion.
Despite the almost unbearable temperature and feeling physically and mentally exhausted, we remained focused on our collective goal to finish the project. We hoped to see the look of excitement on the kid’s faces once they were allowed on the playground to see the final result of our hard work. Once we arrived at Sts. Peter and Paul Preparatory School we went straight to painting. Everyone was in a great mood while painting and everything was going great. We finished everything as planned and had almost used up all of the paint and other supplies we had brought in order to finish the extra requested hopscotch paintings and even added a painting of a globe and the Jamaican flag. I also finally finished my personal project of adding equations which I thought will inspire the kids to learn math at a young age.
While painting, kids were at the door and yelling at us saying “the paint is so pretty”. Hearing them felt like it gave everyone a boost of motivation to finish this painting project faster so that they can play with the area before we leave. It also reminded me of a time where I took my younger sister to a paint-and-sip event. I recall my sister’s face flushed with joy and a huge smile widen across her face once she realized what we were doing. Although the children were not able to participate in the painting, this memory made me optimistic that I would see the same expressions and sense of joy that I was able to give my sister in that moment.
We still had space we had to make use of but were running out of paint so we had to figure out an idea to use the rest of the paint but make it useful. At that moment I thought of an idea to use the remaining black to make a “stick person” family which looked so cute to the children saying “family!”. The time came and we finally finished and I could see the look of “happiness” on everyone’s face seeing what we had created. Ten minutes later I hear a crack of a door open and see three girls run out and go straight to the hopscotch. Seeing them play and having fun with all the painting while running with a smile on their faces made the entire group happy. Deep down I felt as if painting the play area was the most helpful thing I have done in my life. Today was my favorite day so far on this trip and has taught me to be more appreciative of everything I have and what my parents do for me.
Nate R., DeMatha Catholic High School