The Days of our Lives - Final Day 19

It's Saturday, this is the day of the week that most senior missionary couples take it easy, sit around the pool, grocery shop, and do all the things that have to be done around the house.  Not humanitarian missionaries, we don our missionary attire, pick up Whiteheads and Flakes (They just wanted to ride.) and drive 3 hours to visit with President Collins for a half hour in Junction.  Well, we needed to introduce Whiteheads to President Collins and show Whiteheads where the town of Junction is located.  Following the meeting we drove another 45 minutes to have pizza at Jack Sprats in Treasure Beach. Makes for another morning of driving and riding depending on which seat you sit in and then an afternoon of driving and riding home.

Missionary couples and President Collins.

We got home in decent time tonight, 6:30ish, and we left fairly late 9:00ish.  What's that just another 9 hour day?

We were able to take school kits to President Collins for him to distribute to the children in his branch. They will be so excited to have them.  Late last night, President Richardson called to thank us for the school kits we dropped off at Hopeton a couple of day ago and to tell us that the 17 wild bee swarms he has captured are now registered and certified by Bodles as disease free, healthy hives.  This means he has 22 beehives.  He is excited and so are we!!  This is looking like a successful project.  We are in the process of ordering extractors to help our bee keepers harvest their honey, that's when they will see their reward for their training and bee care.  We wish them all the best!

Mom, show this to Sister Wilkinson, it's her granddaughter who will be home a week after we arrive.  Our Sister Wilkinson and Sister Everette are great missionaries.  We were all comparing shoes and wow, have we all worn them out.  Sister Wilkinson and Sister Smith (who has already returned home) were the first North American sisters to serve in Jamaica.  She can return proud of the job she did!

Sister Everette and Sister Wilkinson in front of the Junction Branch Building (it's in the corner)

Sister Schaefermeyer and Sister Wilkinson in Junction.

We took the sisters with us to Treasure Beach.  (Thanks Andersens for introducing us to Jack Sprats and the sisters say they miss you.)  On the way back, we stopped at a watermelon stand and all the couples bought a watermelon.  We asked the sisters if they would like one and they just smiled -- that means yes.  Enjoy!  The owner of the stand cut one open and let us all have a taste; probably the best we have tasted on the island. Salesmanship is not a big thing here, so that was totally unexpected.

We are now home safe and sound doing paperwork and getting ready for Sunday, and so ends day 19.

The Days of Our Lives - Final Day 20

We are grateful that Whiteheads went to Ochie and delivered the top soil and rocks for the service project at St. Ann's Bay Regional Hospital.  With each project we do, we incorporate a service project.  The project at St. Ann's Bay Hospital is providing them with a new anesthesia machine for the hospital.  How would you like to have an operation without anesthesia  equipment?  We will not be here to see it delivered to the hospital, but we know it will be appreciated.

With Whiteheads doing this chore, we were able to stay in Kingston.  Elder Schaefermeyer got a hair cut, I dyed by hair, we took a final picture of the Salvation Army project and no day is complete without a trip to the hardware store.  We had to go to Ace and purchase the paint and supplies for the YSA Service Project (painting the emergency container at Spanish Town).  Not bad for one day.

Remember the container?  It will be painted the same color as the building.

At the paint store, the lights went out during an afternoon rain/thunderstorm and the paint mixing machine would not start back up.  So we left and went back later.  I won't go into all the detail on the paperwork side of this transaction, just know that Theron had to sign his name 3-4 times in order to get the paint out of the store.  We can't wait to be able to walk into a store, look at all the merchandise, pay for it and walk out without a security check.  Enjoy your freedom.

Theron cooked dinner tonight and the Chinese food was delicious.  Elder and Sister Smith ate with us and then Theron taught her about PowerPoint.  All in all, not a bad way to spend the day.  We relaxed a little today.

Just thought we would throw in some pictures of the giddy house at Port Royal.  Who knows why, just because you need to know that we did do some fun things.

The giddy house at Port Royal, the building literally stayed together and just sunk during an earthquake.

T is standing straight; my he's good!

The Days of Our Lives - Day 21

Today found us in Old Harbour, about 1 hour west of Kingston.  The Church has a small branch here that meets in an upstairs area of a shopping center (the bar is just around the corner).  We met with Monica Gardner the welfare specialist and branch president's wife.  She works for the Social Development Agency and is really excited about the food initiative.  She is wonderful.

After a short meeting, we traveled to Paulette Hamilton's home to look at the location for her chicken coop.  We were expecting a site to build a new coop, not so.  Her husband had started to build a coop, so we will just help complete it and stock it with chickens.  Sister Whitehead had a little trouble crossing the bridge; all you had to do was stay in the middle.

Monica, Corliss, Me on the bridge to Hamilton's home

Hamilton coop in Old Harbour

Then it was on to Frank Knight's home.  Frank has been a member since May and helped convert his brother.  Both of them attended the YSA Conference.  Great young man.  They also have a "pre-built" Jamaican style chicken coop.  We'll give them a little help.

One of Knight's coops in Old Harbour

After stopping by the lumber yard, we are all hungry and drive to Angel's for Pizza Hut pizza.  Theron has been working long, long hours and driving long, long miles, so we headed home and at 3:00 p.m. got home a little early today.  Both of us are pushing to get some things done -- designing a 6-plex chicken coop and writing final reports. But, first a little afternoon nap and some TV time watch the "Big Bang Theory".   Another day in our lives.

The Days of Our Lives - Final Day 22

Theron left before 8:00 a.m and returned around 6:00 p.m.  Another long day for him.  He went immediately this morning to get the new irrigation pipe (a 1.5 hour drive to Mandeville) and the right size drill bit.  I wish I had a picture of how wet his shirt and pants were from "sweating" all day.  He was drenched.  The work is complete and the farmers can irrigate.

Placing the irrigation lines.

Weeding and winding the pipe around the sorrel plants.

Water at last!!

I on the other hand was at home, without a phone (yes!) and started cleaning out the spare bedroom closet, putting some things in suitcases and completing the project reports for our 15 open projects.  That sounds like a lot of projects, but most of it is just waiting for the financial expenditures to clear the system.

Some of the tasks to complete our open projects include getting members of the Linstead Branch together to spread some gravel in the Ewarton Primary School parking lot for a service project.  Writing a check request for the seeds and water system for the St. Elizabeth Co-op greenhouse project.  This was the project that we helped them write a grant to get $50,000 US to build a greenhouse.  The funding for this project comes from the World Bank.  Another project is monitoring where literally thousands of hygiene kits, newborn kits and school kits are given and distributed by us and Food for the Poor.  Then there is the tracking of the ship carrying our 500 wheelchairs -- they are on the high seas between Jamaica and China someplace.  See, just little things like this that we do on a daily basis and send continuous reports to the Area Welfare Manager.

I did get the washing done today, also.  I have been very grateful to have a washer and dryer in the apartment.  Most missionaries have to go to a public facility.  Glad I didn't have that task to do each week. Yes, this was just another day in the life of humanitarian missionaries.

Yes, it's going to take 21 days to get things packed.  You accumulate stuff in 18 months.

The Days of Our Lives - Final Day 23

I thought I'd make some quick blogs of the days of our lives, the final episode.  It is going to be a sprint right to the finish.  Day 23 - install a computer lab at Pepper Primary School.

7:30 a.m. - Leave Kingston, stop in Spanish Town and get 30 boxes of school kits for Santa Cruz, Hopeton and Mandeville Branches.  Haul 15 boxes of school kits into President Lue's office in Spanish Town for his branch and give Nurse Brown from Kitson Town 17 boxes of school kits - total hauled: 62 boxes of school kits.

9:00 a.m. - Leave Spanish Town drive to Pepper (near Santa Cruz about a 2.5 hour drive).  Move the desks and chairs out of the room they want to use for the computer lab.  Set up the 12 station computer lab - sweat, sweat, sweat - the days are literally so humid that we carry around a roll of paper towels to wipe the sweat.

Myrtle Hall, Theron and two teachers

Principal Nodine Burton is in the stripped shirt.  They salvage everything!

We still need additional extension cords, a DVD with Encarta and the other software we usually install (they forgot to install Encarta), and figure out how to put the ncomputing unit on the monitors.  We never expect to complete one of these labs in one trip.

4:00 p.m. - Leave the school and take 10 boxes of school kits to Myrtle Hall for the Santa Cruz Branch.  She gives us some sweet sop, pears (avocados) and bumps (small bananas) - great stuff.  Drive to Hopeton and deliver 10 boxes of school kits to President Richardson's house; travel to Mandeville and meet President Morrison and deliver their 10 boxes.  Now, we can start for home.

Tomorrow we were scheduled to meet President Collins in Junction, but on the way home we received a call that the farmers are having trouble installing the drip system on the 5.5 acres.  Junction is moved to Saturday, Theron will go to the farm tomorrow and get them straightened around.  We are trying to reschedule 2 dinner appointments for the 26th - more about that later.  We get home around 6:30 p.m., dinner and a shower, the blog and Theron starts designing our mega chicken coop.  Oh, the air conditioner isn't working in the bedroom; they promised to come and fix it tomorrow.

Summer mango, just get a ball point pen and see how big it really is.

Check out this avocado.

This is sweet sop.  You pull off a pod and eat it.  Quite good.

30 days but who's counting

Last week was a whirlwind of activities that are rapidly spinning us toward the end of our mission.  We were able to close the community center roof/water collection project at Brokenhurst.  They still have a little more to complete the water collection system but we are confident that President Morrison will continue to monitor the project.

Community members at Brokenhurst who attended the handing over.

Another trip to Santa Cruz to purchase and deliver 350 chicks, 60 bags of feed, and purchase materials for another two broiler projects.  Santa Cruz is a 3 hour drive, it takes two hours to purchase the coop materials, three trips to the farm store to load and deliver the feed and chicks, and then a stop in Mandeville to purchase a third set of coop materials. 

Friday we accompanied Daniel Almeida, the Director of Temporal Affairs for the Caribbean and Brother Ulett, Jamaica Facilities Manager,  on a tour of three of the chapels and several of our food initiative projects.  We took Daniel and the Whiteheads to dinner at Jo Jo's Jerk shack.  Hopefully we were able to get Brother Almeida to agree to modify some of our financial restraints which will make it easier for the Whiteheads to do their purchasing. 

Saturday we went to the Denbeigh Agricultural Fair (think state fair only without the entertainment). We didn't get to spend much time there as we had to stop in Spanish Town to purchase block, cement, and sand and gravel, for their first chicken project.  This took a couple of hours to find a store that would take a credit card, (the first one wouldn't) would deliver the materials, (the second one didn't, but they agreed to charge our card and pay a man to deliver for them) and that also sold less than a full dump truck load of sand and gravel! 

We have most of the month of August planned, so the time will go quickly. 

This week we will help construct the first raised bed garden in the Boulevard Branch, buy chickens and feed to finish some projects in the Constant Springs Branch, discuss the irrigation system on the 5.5 acre garden with branch president Smith in Spanish Town and prepare our workshop presentations for the YSA Conference on friday and Saturday in Ochie.

Next week we will travel to Santa Cruz and install a computer lab at Pepper Primary School and introduce Whiteheads to President Collins in Junction.  We hope to start a food project or two there and then work with the branch in Old Harbour to get something started with their food projects.

Week three, August 15 - 18, Bennie Lilly the Area Welfare Manager from the Dominican Republic is coming to visit and this will give us a chance to visit some finished projects and tell some people good-bye. 

Week four will be spent cleaning the apartment, moving and taking care of odds and ends.

As we look at our month in this way, we don't have enough time.  How soon it will be finished.

We may not have an opportunity to do many more blogs until we get home and write the final one, so here's some pictures of our everyday life.

Theron picking Jamaican Apples that were displayed at the Agriculture Fair in Denby.

President Morrison's new home, it's almost ready to move in

The senior missionary couples at the July 24th activity with President and Sister Hendricks

The best sisters in Jamaica - Kingston Branch

A loss, a school, a container, a race to the finish

We dedicate this blog to the memory of Sister Palmer from Mandeville and Brother Robinson from May Pen.  Both of these great people died suddenly and unexpectedly.  It appears that both had heart attacks.  Sister Palmer at her home and Brother Robinson in his car on Sunday traveling home to May Pen from Hopeton after church.  His wife responded quickly so the car accident was minor.  We wish the families the best and know testify of life after death and going home to a loving Father in Heaven.

The light at the end of our tunnel is getting very big, very fast - I think these last few weeks are on hyper-speed.  Last week found us at the west end of the island in Sav-la-Mar installing a 12 station computer lab and 6 computers in the new library.at Mt. Grace Junior High School   We did have a little time to take a dip into the ocean and on Saturday we rented jet skis and explored the area around 7-mile beach in Negril.

Installing computers in the lab.

The remodeled library - Sav Branch painting job and installing computers.

This teacher is so excited - well, she doesn't look it here, but she is absorbed.

This is the cover to a textbook - Fran pay attention to this and the next picture.

Can you read the evaluation section heading?

The computer lab will help the teachers encourage kids to read and will help them teach computer skills.  This school is located in the middle of sugar cane country.  Parents encourage their kids to start work in the cane fields early and forget about school.  The principal told us that there are about 40% of the students who read below grade level or are illiterate.  They are not encouraged to read at home and they really have very few books to read in the school library.  Our project included knocking a wall down between two rooms, putting new bookshelves all around the rooms, and installing 6 computer stations for the library use.   We were able to obtain many boxes of books from Food for the Poor and donate these to the library. The Sav Branch helped us paint the walls of the library.  It's a good project and we wish them well as they put these computers and this new library to good use.

Coming home, we started the week buying two more ncomputing modules for Pepper Primary School's computer lab, supervising the delivery of a 20' container for equipment storage on the Spanish Town farm, buying a dump truck load of gravel for Ewarton Primary School parking lot, delivering school kits to the Ochie Branch and buying paint and brushes for the St. Ann's Bay Hospital service project.  We are both preparing for presentations we have been asked to do at the Island wide YSA Conference on August 5 and 6.  In other words, we haven't had time to breath; Theron has spent 8 - 10 hours each day behind the wheel of the Toyota!  What we are trying to do is wrap up several projects before we leave so Whiteheads don't have so much to clean up.  We feel like this is a race to the end and the time is zipping past so fast that we can't believe it.  It is truly now a race to the finish.

Glad OSHA isn't on the job here.

We are the proud owners of a 20' container!

We have heard from the Springwood Ward at home that September 11 will be our homecoming.  Hope to see all of you who read the blog! :)