St. Lucia Service Trip

Friday, June 6th, we were off by noon for a 3 pm flight (delayed) and we didn’t reach Miami until about 8 pm. As soon as the plane’s wheels touched down, students gleefully shouted for the renewed use of their cell phones. By the time we cleared baggage claim in DC, it was after midnight. Our bus ride back to Lynchburg ended after 4 am Saturday morning, and though some were able to sleep in transit, most of us were stumbling with drowsiness. All the way back, the prevailing feeling, expressed openly and repeatedly by nearly all, is a sense of gratitude and satisfaction for a very successful trip. Student journals wait to be read and papers must be completed and graded. However, Prof. Manian and I expect this to be more than usually gratifying. How much has this study abroad changed or shaped our students, and in what ways? We look forward to finding out. Certainly the experiences with our students in St. Lucia have broadened us.

Thursday, June 5th, was a well-deserved day of rest and reflection – some slept late, some shopped, some spent time at the beach or worked on their daily journal entries. The farewell dinner celebration that evening at the men’s quarters included a steel pan band and the expected bittersweet comments from the faculty, our St. Lucian partners in attendance, and other participants. But perhaps the most notable aspect among our tired students was an undeniable euphoria over work well done and completed. Overheard everywhere were expressions of joyful or meaningful experiences that they continued to discuss well into the evening, many in conversations with new St. Lucian friends.

Wednesday, June 4th, our students gathered at a room in our villa to debrief and discuss aspects of the trip, including things we had learned that might improve a future trip. The talk was overwhelming positive, constructive, and served to help us reflect on what we had accomplished (always with regrets for our limitations). Afterward, Prof. Manian and two students from LC went to the NTN studio to do an interview with a local host (scheduled to be aired the following Monday). Students then took advantage of some free time that afternoon, and Profs. Manian and Bullock finally got a block of time for working at the same time that they also had internet access (a rare, intermittent experience).

Tuesday, June 3rd, was the final morning for the garden, and everyone worked together to finish it. The students at Upton Gardens began to especially warm up to our students and took them on unplanned tours around their classrooms and school grounds. During a break, we led the SJCPS pre-schoolers in grabbing donated sidewalk chalk and drawing all over their parking lot with them (including hop-scotch). It was grand pandemonium, and everyone was shouting and laughing. Finally, the garden completed, our Upton Garden partners hosted us for homemade green mango juice and we got more time to interact with them until we had to leave for our capstone event, the Anse La Rey Word Jam.

We arrived about an hour before the Word Jam was to begin to find the newly painted hall carefully decorated by the Anse La Rey youth. We were treated to a home cooked meal by the community, and then groups ran through last minute rehearsals and changes while NTN, the local government network covering the event, took interviews (scheduled to air the Friday evening of our return). Members of the community and two standing Peace Corps volunteers (Lilly and Nick) were in the audience, as were other friends and acquaintances. We had assured the participants, while preparing or waiting to perform, that whatever they had created was already the point and therefore a success. But the event was a real smash judging by the reaction of the participants and the crowd alike. At the conclusion of the performance, the youth expressed their thanks with strong, beautiful singing, and it was a party atmosphere that our students didn’t want to leave. Many of the young people had clearly become real friends. The bus ride home was also full of happy singing. Several of the RC and LC students remarked that the interactions with the Anse La Rey community were the most meaningful of a decidedly meaningful trip.

Monday, June 2nd, we went early in the morning to work on the garden at SJCPS, with the help of Upton Garden students (for teen survivors or domestic abuse and neglect in the only school of its kind on the island). Ms. Prisca St. Paul, director, agreed that the project would help with her on-going mission to instill social skills and confidence in her students. Since the girls learn gardening as part of their program, they were the experts leading the planting of local shrubs and flowers, some of which they provided. We were also treated to spontaneous interactions with the pre-schoolers at St. Joseph (whose yard we were digging up) – they had been learning about how plants and flowers grow, so they talked about that with us.