Pictures of our Activities

I had trouble remembering what had happened since we last wrote in the blog, so I pulled out the camera and looked at the pictures to refresh my mind.  If I get any more forgetful, I'll have to start using a video camera to keep track of the day.

Last week we had a new set of senior missionaries, the Flakes, arrive from Mesa, Arizona.  They will be working with two of the three Kingston Branches.  We had to go to Spanish Town so they decided to travel with us to see a little of the island.  (Below) Branch President Lui (on right) is introducing us to a gentleman who is working to start-up a training center for high school boys to help give them a vocation - plumbing, electrical, farming.  He has a very large greenhouse in which he would like to install a drip irrigation system.  He will prepare a quote and we will see what we can do for him.  We meet some great people who are doing a great deal of good for the people here.

Michael presenting his plans for the youth in Spanish Town.

Shanna and Gail are modeling their new Jamaica dresses that we bought coming back from Ocho last week.  We see quite a few people wearing them only without the "T" shirts.

You really need to click on this next picture to enlarge it so that you can fully appreciate the hair sty (oops, I left the "le" off from "style") hairstyle.  Yes, we see a lot of amazingly beautiful hairstyles and a lot of dreadlocks and some "deadlocks" like the beggar below.  The dreadlocks are part of the Rastafarian culture/religion - it is somewhat like the Jews not cutting the corners of their hair.  Some require the hair to be in a hat (which requires a very large hat for some of them) and some just let it hang down. 

I don't think he is Rastafarian.  I think he is just unkempt.

This is a blurry picture of Elders Tanner, Schaefermeyer, Cheesman, and President Hendricks singing a hymn in our mission conference on Monday.  The picture is blurry and the harmony was probably a little blurry also.   Elder Wilford Anderson from the Area Presidency in the DR came over for a mission tour.  As i look at the picture, I see that my stomach isn't as large as the other two seniors and I have as much hair as Elder Tanner so I guess I'm doing okay.  This was the first time we've heard anyone singing harmony since we came on the island.  Elder Anderson wore a suit all day and President Hendrick kept saying, "I wish he'd take his jacket off, so I could!"

This is a picture of Patrick Rohden's new wheelchair repair facility that was built for him by Food For The Poor.  It is the same plan that they use in building homes for the poor here in Jamaica.  They are currently building about 200 homes like this each month.  We have several members on the waiting list.  The cost to build each house is about $5,000.  Most of this money is donated by churches in the Southern and Eastern US.  LDS Charities' contribution to the island is very small by comparison. 

We are providing the tools and supplies for Patrick's repair shop and for a second repair facility that will be operated by a Catholic organization's home for handicapped and orphaned children in Spanish Town called Jerusalem Center.  We are also working on a water collection project with another of their centers called Jacob's Ladder.

Patrick is a paraplegic as a result of a random shooting that occurred as he was driving.  He carries no anger and accepts his situation and is making the best of it.  He is working and employing several other wheelchair enabled persons in his repair shop on a part time basis. 

Patrick has a van that he has equipped with hand controls and a hydraulic lift so that he is completely self reliant.  He draws quite a crowd when he gets in and out of his van.  He had quite a laugh when I mentioned that more people stared at him than they do at us white folk.  He is wanting to provide mobile repair so we were able to buy him a generator, welder, drill press, chop saw, grinder, and a good supply of hand tools, most of which can fit in his van.

Lots of Patrick's neighbors came over to help unload the equipment.  They were pretty pleased with what we were able to provide.

 

So, I guess we had a pretty good week.  At least what I remember of it.

 

This week we are picking up the Food Initiative Forms from the 13 branch presidents.  The first packet we got had 40 projects that were requested - now the work really starts.

From the Fair to the Villa

When one project closes (Guys Hill) another is ready.  We received approval for our Achievers Multi-Resource Center School, we have the Salvation Army project submitted awaiting approval, and will submit Godfrey Stewart High School tomorrow.  This means we have been writing and working in our office (apartment); therefore, not a lot of excitement.  It's our planning time.

We did travel to MoBay to see Curt's friend John Hamilton and his family.  They were vacationing in Jamaica and staying in a beautiful villa.  Now the long of the story is that I ate a meal from a deli and it really didn't agree with me; I was ill, got sick up there, and didn't eat.  But, Theron was able to eat their gourmet Jamaican dinner.  We do thank John and his family for being so kind!

We did do one great activity, we went to the Denbigh Fair - it's like the State Fair without funnel cakes or a rodeo.  You all know we are working on the food initiative, well week before last was the fair; the largest in Jamaica and all the animal, plant, and farm learning you have ever wanted.  We really should have had Theron in a white shirt and tie and me in a dress, but we wore P-day clothes as we tromped through the mud - we're in the rainy season you know.

The chicken says it all.

A container garden in old tires.

We learned about square foot gardening in Jamaica.  We met more people that we knew than we have ever met at the Utah State Fair - we met people we had worked with from RADA, two district presidents, and the project director for a grant we helped write.  They were putting up the zinc on the cow pens that LDS Charities had provided in previous years.  It was old home week for us!!  Here's some pictures, enjoy the fair. Green Acres, eat your heart out. 

This was the food court.

The fruits and vegetables of Jamaica.  (We hope our projects are not reflected in wording of the poster at the rear)

Sugar cane display.  The machine in the back shreds the cane and extracts the juice and then they take the juice to the boiling house where they cook it until it's quite thick - delicious molasses.

The zinc donated last year by LDS Charities.  They remove the zinc each year to prevent it from being stolen

Square foot gardening display.  Using sticks for the dividers.

We have approval to start two small demonstration gardens at two of our chapels.  We hope to show the members a little about square foot and raised bed gardening.  They don't seem to understand what we are talking about so we will try to demonstrate.  (I hope our tomatoes grow better than their support stakes)

We had to include baby chicks.  We'll be buying lots of these in the future!!!

Happy 35th Birthday Adrian and Happy 60th Anniversary Mom and Dad Spendlove.

The Food Initiative

As I look back at the previous blogs I find that we have alluded to the Church's new Food Initiative but really haven't explained it.  Maybe that's because it really wasn't explained very well to us.  It's something very new to the Church's Humanitarian efforts in that it is directed at members of the church rather than primarily non-members.  In the past HS (Humanitarian Services) has partnered with Government and NGO's such as schools, hospitals, infirmaries, orphanages, etc, but for this initiative we are partnering with the LDS Church to provide a way of improving the lives of the members!  Often times it is the poor and the humble that are the ones who are open and ready to join the church first.  This is the case in Jamaica and many are in need of the basics.

When we submitted our bee keeping project to the Area Presidency, they approved it but then sent it to SLC to see if it fit the new Food Initiative.  SLC loved the idea and wanted us to be part of the new Food Initiative and use the bees as part of it.

Now let me help you understand what this really means.  The Food Initiative will provide whatever is needed for member families of our13 branches to plant gardens or raise small animals (you see, bees are small animals).  This will include raised bed gardens, regular gardens, hand tools, seeds, plants, fertilizer, fungicides, fencing, etc.  As far as small animals go it will include, chickens, cement, lumber, roofing, etc for approx. 10x20' coops, watering and feeding systems, feed, antibiotic, sawdust.  For goats we need nannys, billys, pen materials fencing, vet supplies, etc.   Pigs, Rabbits, Bees, - We are responsible for submitting a budget for approximately 20-40 projects in each of the 13 branches.  Not a small undertaking.  Plus we are arranging training from the department of agriculture as the church requires that everyone receive "Best Practices" training. Oh, the project also includes food storage, so we are trying to figure out how to provide ways for people to bottle, can, bag, or whatever, to start storing some of what they produce or purchase. 

I hope you see why we have been visiting all of these farms and ranchers and learning as much as we can about all of these farms and animals.  One of our other challenges is to make sure that the projects are sustainable.  In other words, after we give them a garden and they harvest it, how do they replant?  Do they save money from what they didn't buy at the store?  What if they weren't buying these vegetables and now have improved their family's diet, how to they replant?  Well, perhaps we have to give them enough seeds that they can sell some of their produce and use the money to restart their garden.  Same thing with the animals, but how many chickens do they need?  This question I was able to resolve by creating a "Chicken Calculator" in Excel.  This calculator shows how many chickens you would need to raise based on the costs of everything needed to produce the chickens and the weight and price at the time of harvest in order to have a sustainable project.  In case you were curious, if your family eats two chickens each week you would need to raise 59 chickens in Jamaica in order to have a sustainable project.

Now perhaps you better understand what we are doing and why.  Tomorrow we are going to the Jamaica Agriculture Show in May Pen to see what else we can learn.  We have a lot of fun wearing our white shirts and dresses as we parade out in the fields quietly singing the Green Acres theme song and comparing ourselves to Eddy Arnold and Eva Gabor.

I was a little light on pictures, so for those of you from the Uintah Basin, I will add a couple so you can enjoy the blog, also.  On the 24th the mission brought all of the senior couples together for a celebration at the presidents home.  He is the one in red. 

Jamaica Kingston Mission Senior Couples July 24, 2010

And lest you think we are all work, this next picture is taken from our balcony of some old white guy down at the pool.

A Closing Ceremony, A Prayer, A Major Project

Our good friends at Guys Hill

Yesterday, we had the closing ceremony for our first project - Guy's Hill Health Centre.  It was a great event and you just know when you are doing the right thing, in the right place, for the right reason.  Nurse Cummings (Jasmine to us) asked us a week ago if we could spend our closing ceremony budget on paint and they would do the food for the event.  As usual, they went all out.  Four people from St. Catherine's Health Department were there; the first time the director had been to Guy's Hill.  He made mention that rural health centers are the most neglected in the system and this was very pleasing to see what was accomplished.  It was really a great moment for Jasmine, our champion, on this project.  Doing these projects, you develop some very special relationships and we will cherish our time on this project; especially the great service project on Labor Day.  It's almost sad to see it end.

Theron, Kelvyn Cullimore, Pres Smith, Bro Barnett

A member's home - 13 live here (not including the dogs).  They want to raise chickens

Today was a unique experience.  We had a meeting with Monsignor Ramisskon who is the director of Mustard Seed Communities.  Three members of his staff, the Mormon elders (us), and a pastor from the United Methodist Church sitting all together working on a common project to accomplish a common goal-to improve the water system at Jacob's Ladder one of the Mustard Seed Communities.  Monsignor asked Theron to give the prayer to begin the meeting.  A Mormon giving the prayer in such a group; where else but on this type of mission could that happen.  It was a tender moment for me as I reflected on the setting and the opportunity.  We will be assisting with a water improvement project.  A delightful group of people are coming together to make a miracle happen.  Time won't permit to tell all about Jacob's Ladder, but those who visit will be able to see it for themselves.

Last week we had our good friends and colleagues Kelvyn and Kay Cullimore visiting.  They are short-term specialists from Salt Lake.  We traveled a fair distance across the island looking at bees, goats, farms, chicken coops, and talking with district and branch presidents about our family food initiative.  This is going to be a major project with a major impact on Jamaica.  It is far more that just giving temporal relief to our LDS members; it will strengthen them spiritually - if the project is done the right way and is directed by local priesthood.  We certainly see so many things to do on this one and will be very busy now getting some detail, some definition, and hopefully soon the submission.  Each day is a miracle of sorts and it is wonderful to feel the Holy Ghost direct us, mold us, and be a companion to us -- of course Theron is a great companion, also.

The picture is a member's chicken coop they are building for our food project.  They are wanting to get ready for when it is approved.

Touristing with the Cheesmans

The mission office is closed on Saturday, so that is Elder and Sister Cheesman's P-day so we invited them to join us in looking at a couple of proposed Family Food Initiative Projects in Spanish Town and then visit The Eighth Wonder Of The World in Riversdale. 

Cheesmans don't get out of the office much so it's kind of fun to travel around with them.  It helps us realize how lucky we are to have such variety in our assignment and visiting the people we visit helps all of us realize how lucky we are to have the things we have.  You know, like food,  water, electricity.

We met with Branch President Smith and looked at an acre of property on which he wants to create several gardens for some of the members of his branch.  It was very overgrown, which is a good thing as it indicates that the ground is fertile.  It also has a small canal that can be pumped into a drip irrigation system.  We then visited a home in which the father had recently died and the mother was not handling life very well.  She has three sons but we were told there are seventeen people living in the house.  She has a chicken coop which we will probably refurbish and re-chick. 

The picture is a members home that is out away from just about everyone except those who prey on homes that are away from everyone.  This family has been robbed 25 times.  They have a bicycle as the only means of mechanized transportation.  Water is carried from about a mile away.  The father works occasionally at a little concrete block "factory".  The land is too dry around their home to grow much of anything so President Smith is wondering if they could be included in the bee project.  He doesn't think the thieves will bother bees.

Hopefully we can help bring these people out of total poverty.  (By the standards of many of you reading this blog, we are bringing them to a higher standard of living as they accept and learn new skills through the food initiative.)

Oh, about that Eighth Wonder of the World. . . . It's a natural arch in a canyon that was formed by a small river. 

It really is quite nice but I don't think I'd run right out and buy a ticket to Jamaica to see it.  It's not exactly Delicate Arch, and they haven't even put it on the local vehicle license plates.  But, it was a fun activity that gave four old people a little exercise and a new adventure.  It also gave Elder Cheesman a little contact dermatitis on his leg, but that's a story for him to tell.

Every mission adventure provides an opportunity for an interesting picture or two.  You'll have to decide if this one was staged or just happened.

This last picture is a roadside restaurant that had a name that we thought described the four of us.  (Click on it to enlarge if needed)

Next week Bro and Sis Culimore are coming down to look at the food projects so we may not get much time to blog.  However, they are bringing the goat milker so we may have a few interesting stories to tell.

Chickens, Goats, and Gardens

We had a great day traveling to some communities where RADA and Food for the Poor have helped farmers with tools, seeds, and yep -- chickens and goats.  We are doing discovery learning for our LDS food production project.  Research has lots of benefits.  We got to meet some wonderful farmers in the community of Rocky Hill that is over the ridge north of Kingston.  This is our view on top.

Theron met his first goat.  We watched as the chickens were being plucked on killing day.  We walked several gardens and saw yams (these are the tall vines on sticks), cabbage, and tomatoes.  We scoped out several chicken coops and different designs.  We watched the pigs mellow out in the mud.  All-in-all it was a very interesting day.

Let's talk frankly about what really happens day-to-day on farms such as these.  The woman who is raising the goats also has 60 chickens and 4 pigs.  She has to haul all the water to the chickens daily and takes very good care of them; of course she walks over rocky terrain, down winding paths, and through jungle to get to things.  Two of the other farms are also owned by women.  One hauls water long, long distances if there is a drought.  The other explained to us how she rotates her crop from one side of the valley to the other based on the season -- we're talking the better part of 1/3 mile distance from one side to the other.  You get the picture.  It's not easy, they load produce in bags and catch a bus to take it to Kingston to market, they do what needs to be done.  We admire their hard work and knowledge of all the plants and growing conditions.  It's not an easy way to make a living. The "fork" in the picture is the way the soil is prepared for planting.  It's a very backbreaking way to earn your daily bread but the people are very proud of what they do.  We had to visit a couple of neighboring farms to prevent jealousy between the female farmers.  They all wanted to show-off their farm and the condition of their plants. The black pot in the picture is the hot water, heated by burning wood, where the chickens are boiled to be plucked.

We have done a lot of traveling this week and are trying to get some projects going.  On Monday we did paperwork, on Tuesday we went to visit Port Antonio Hospital, today it was farms and gardens, Thursday we will be in Montego Bay, Friday we will be at Guys Hill and then in a meeting with the government Office of Emergency Preparedness (learning our duties on this committee) and on Saturday we will be in Spanish Town visiting a member's farm and hopefully hiking a natural arch in Riverside.  We are doing all the tourist things and hitting all the highlights of the island :)  We love it.  There is so much more to Jamaica that you just can't see by dropping in on a cruise ship or staying at an all-inclusive resort.

Our first of two fourths

The celebration of the Independence Day seems even more important when you are outside the USA.  So we planned an American picnic and party on Saturday which is P-Day for the office Elders Dale and Stevens, the APs Elders Tanner and McGrath, Cheesmans the office couple, and President and Sister Hendricks.  Every day is P-Day for the Schaefermeyers so we were there also.  We had real beef hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans, Jello, chips, and olives.  Then for desert we had brownies and Devon House ice cream, which is pretty close to homemade.  The adults enjoyed the food but the Elders Really enjoyed the food.  It was a good treat for them and quite a day of diversion.  We hope you enjoy the fireworks back home and remember all that they represent. 

A couple of days ago we decided that we should make the bean bag game that we play at Elynn's every 4th of July.  I found a hardware store that would cut the wood to size but I ended up having to cut the round holes with a small hand saw.  That was more work than I wanted, but I got it done.  I needed the exercise but talk about sweat, I was dripping on the board so bad it about washed off the line of the circle I was cutting.   We found a fabric store in which the wholesaler was visiting and he said he could get us a yard of denim for the bean bags if we would come back in a couple of hours - which of course we did.  We had to go to 2 hardware stores to find latex paint.  It's never easy or fast in Jamaica.  Then home to paint the boards and sew the bean bags.  We filled the bags with popcorn as we figured that was the only seed that wouldn't sprout or go moldy. 

The Cheesmans are in charge of the Young Single Adults in the area and have a game night every couple of weeks, so we thought that the game would be something they could use.  They were pretty impressed with the work we went to to get it built for them.  But it was a fun project and we had the time right now to devote to it.  In the photo with President Hendrick, Shanna is in process of throwing all four bean bags in the hole on one turn!  She was the only one who accomplished that feat. 

We met with a couple of schools this week that we will probably do projects with.  They both want computers, which seems to be a continuing theme and certainly something we are comfortable with.  We currently have requests for about 75 computer from various schools so we hope we can do a little volume purchasing.  Food for the Poor introduced us to a great way to set-up networked computers in a school lab using one computer and up to six monitor, keyboard, and mouse.  It's a pretty slick system that will save a lot in price of the systems as well as desk space. 

President Hendricks and Sister Schaefermeyer (my team won!)

Just got a call from our Short Term Specialists in Utah, Brother Cullimore.  He said the goat milker had arrived at his house and he would be bringing it down in a couple of weeks.  He asked how to get it through customs and I told him to hook it up and tell them it was a urine collection system.  He said that at his age they would definitely believe him.