Good morning...it's 4:30am...5:30am...6:30am. Needless to say, I didn't sleep all that well. But I have to say how thankful I am for air conditioning. Most everyone was up at 7am. Breakfast (eggs, sausage and fried bananas) was served at 8am and we enjoyed morning devotions at 8:30am. (Philippians 2 and 4) We were on our way shortly after 9am.
Before I tell you about our day, let me describe the Springburn House. It is in a very quiet community. All the houses/buildings have gates and fencing around their properties. The Springburn is a large guest house. There is a welcome desk in the foyer; office space, dining rooms, kitchen and three guest rooms are on the first floor. The second floor has all the rest of the rooms and a fairly large open space with couches. The building, inside and outside walls are made of concrete (like every building here) and the floors are all tile. And the humidity has got to be close to 100%. The clothes and towels are having difficulties drying.
Our other driver, McKensi, picked us up and we were off to YMCA of Kingston. But before we got there he was kind enough to bring me to a DigiCel store so I could purchase a cell phone for the week and some water at the supermarket. Matt Brown could not pass up 4 liters of Cola Champagne. (A fruity cream-like soda) The phone will be helpful so I can contact our drivers and coordinators. And also, the students will be able to call home in limited fashion. If you have not heard from your son or daughter...don't worry. Either they didn't want to talk to you or they sold their 3 minute phone call to someone else, but they are fine. (just kidding about selling minutes)
The YMCA school serves boys ages 11 - 16. They are generally students who have dropped out of regular school, have had behavioral issues or learning disabilities. We arrived and were met by the General Secretary, Mrs. Martin. She gave the team a brief history of the association and what they currently try to do for the boys. She then introduced Marcie; she was our contact today. Marcie gave us a property tour, introduced us to 5 classes and their teachers and then told us to break into 5 groups. I said "Great, can we come alongside the boys as they do their classwork?" Marcie replied, "The teachers will turn their classes over to you...you have lessons, right?"
Ok...maybe the that bit of information was lost somewhere between Marci, Mrs. Martin, Ms. Gallimore, Ms. Redwood and myself. Hmmm, I DID tell the team they would need to be flexible...but how about incredibly resourceful and improv professionals. Action plan #1: Make sure the girls on the team are "escorted" by capable boys on the team. Needless to say Sam, Shannon, Kerry, Aliza, Carolyn, Emily and, yes, Nancy...were very popular today. Action plan #2 Do something "schoolish". Wow! Great action plans.
Can you imagine? First of all, one class was meeting outside under trees. They each had chairs and the teacher was writing on chaulkboard on wheels. Several classrooms were shipping containers. Complete with windows and side doors. Very resourceful school...but highy usual circumstances for our Mt. Abe students.
You'll have to ask your child, or favorite team member about their individual experiences. Personally, Kerry-Sam-Wayne and I had the class under the trees. We covered long multiplication, careers and me singing the "Star Spangled Banner". The others joined me for the Pledge of Allegiance, but I was on my own for the national anthem. It was no problem. What was very cool...the 20 or so boys then stood up and, in unison, sang the Jamaican national anthem.
At lunch, the team was buzzing about everyone's experiences. Tutoring, reading, answering questions...the students were very interested in learning about us. The whole time they referred to us as "Sir" and "Miss or Ma'am". Our team was struck by how even the "drop-outs" were respectful.
After lunch we returned to the class rooms...or class "tree grove". Wayne, Sam and I came back during "Life Styles" class. The topic: relationships, dating, sex. I gave Wayne the first 15 min of class to lecture on the above topics. haha. No, but I certainly did. The teacher gave me full reigns...and I took them. What a great opportunity. I think it was helpful for the boys (13-16) to hear these things from a man. I covered HIV, Abstinence, STD's...it helped that I subbed for Ann Pollender's class a few weeks ago. I moved to the topic of Sexual Purity...it was great to be able to have the boys turn to God's word and read about purity, integrity and God's plan for marriage/family. I got to talk with them about God's cleansing and healing; about forgiveness. OH MAN! I was thrilled to have this time. The boys tossed a lot of questions at me...they were participating. I trust that they will consider what it means to be a young man who honors God.
The classes all broke about 3pm. Then we all headed to the gym. The big draw was soccer. One boy told me (speaking of Emily) "She's a baller". Jake and I started a basketball game. It doesn't take much physical activity to sweat down here. So, the YMCA let us use their pool before we left. So nice!!!
Back to Springburn. It was chill out time. Some played cards, some read and some sat outside in the courtyard. Dinner was Curry chicken, beef/beans and rice. Good stuff. At 8pm we met for evening devotions and a team meeting. We affirmed team members, discussed the areas of success and challenged each other to improve in other areas. We read I Cor. 12 and spent time in our journals. By the time we ended, we had a bit more time to wind down, play games. build sick "card towers" and get ready for bed.
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