St. Lucia Service Trip

The Fab Five (my four roomies & I)

If someone told me you could make friends who feel like family in 17 days, I would never believe them. I’ve been in Georgia with my family for a little over a week and I miss living in a room with four other girls. It was so comforting to have the same experiences with others and have them know all the pieces of the story without having to hear it. I’ve learned so much from these girls and have formed lifelong bonds with them. It so interesting that people who I had brief conversations with at school, became my confidants and part of my extended family over a 17 day period. Leaving St. Lucia was an emotional experience for me because it meant only being able to relive memories through pictures.

I miss the laid-back Caribbean atmosphere and the friendliness of the people. I even miss taking the bus to various places for EC $1.25 which is strange because I don’t remember taking the bus more than one time before going to St.Lucia. I miss Anse La Raye. I miss interacting with the trainees at C.A.R.E. I have mixed feelings when I think about C.A.R.E. because I don’t think that enough support is given to the two-year program. I am a firm believer that skill-based education is more beneficial than a theoretical education in preparing someone for the real world. The C.A.R.E. program teaches skills that will always demand more workers, these include; automotive repair, garment making, and carpentry.

The most valuable lesson I learnes from service-learning in St. Lucia is that you don’t have to do a whole lot to inspire someone, sometimes just being there is good enough. Another lesson I learned is that you cannot always plan ahead, you have to be flexible. In addition to these lessons, I’ve learned the truth of the saying that someone is always in a worse situation than you. I met a young man named Cornelius who was at C.A.R.E and attentive to all that was said despite his hunger due to lack of funds. I cannot think getting up in the morning and going to classes all day with eating anything but school was just that important to him and that really touched me.

St. Lucia has changed me, I will never be the same.

Before coming on this service-learning program in St. Lucia, I had no idea what service-learning was. We were asked to read two articles about service-learning prior to our week of classes (May 12-16) in preparation for spending 17 days in St.Lucia. Initially these articles meant nothing to me when I read them. After spending four days with the trainees at C.A.R.E (Center for Adolescent Renewal and Education) Odsan, I understood how rewarding service-learning is and the information I had read before made sense to me. I think that every undergraduate student should engage in service-learning and/or a study abroad program before he or she graduates. It is well worth the time and the money.

I never knew spending 90 minutes every day for four days could make an impression on someone’s life. We met the trainees at C.A.R.E on Monday(May 26) and began sharing some information about global issues with them. Each day, a group (2-3 students) did a 45 minute presentation on a topic followed by an activity which involved the trainees making practical application of the information they learned. The topic on Monday was the devastation in Burma as a result of a recent cyclone which affected that country. On Tuesday, we discussed the Olympics, from the history of the Olympics to the Beijing Olympics to be held later this year. On Wednesday, the topic was Caribbean trade, especially relations between the Eastern Caribbean States and China or Taiwan. On Thursday, we discussed genocides in Sudan-Darfur and Uganda.

On Thursday, the trainees openly expressed their appreciation for spending time with them over the four days. Tameka, a very intelligent trainee who readily participated in the daily discussions, sang for us. Alpha, another trainee who readily participated in the class discussion, wrote a poem highlighted all that he had learned from us. These are just two examples of the trainees’ personal expressions. I decided that I really want to make a positive influence on people’s lives and I really want to pursue a service-oriented career.

I am very excited about the trip.

I think the most meaningful aspect of this for your academic self will be interacting with the trainees at C.A.R.E and learning from them. I am really looking forward to meeting new people and trying new foods.