Jamaica 11/09

This was my most productive trip to Jamaica ever. My co-worker and I literally worked every day from about 7:00 to 10:00 or 11:00pm for six days straight through the weekend. We spent every day in the car driving to all 17 of the homes that we support in the country. It is times like these that I really appreciate the infrastructure of the United States. The roads in Jamaica's countryside are narrow, windy, twisty and full of suprise pot holes. For me, as a passenger, this was like a free amusement park ride, but eventually the hours catch up to you and your back starts aching from the bumps and jerks.

Boys receiving and reading their letters from their sponsors.

One of the tasks that we were undertaking was the complete picture retakes of the entire AOH program in Jamaica. Once a year we like to send the sponsors an "update" which includes an updated picture of the sponsored child and a letter from the home administrator. Retaking every child's picture is no small task. Even though we did take advantage of the weekend, many times the children are on different class schedules and are taking part in many extracurricular activities so it is not easy to accomplish the task 100%. I can now say that I am very familiar with many schools in the country as we did stop by and catch children at lunch or at reccess for their photo opportunity. The sponsors will be happy and appreciate all the effort we put in.

Beds recently received by AOH to equip a new dormitory in one of the homes.

As we made our rounds, I also visited to supervise the progress of some of the projects we have provided for the homes. The homes received their computer labs this year and I saw some in action already, while others were still in the process of installing the equipment.

This year we made a big push for animal husbandry in the children's homes. By providing the homes with their own sustainable chicken coops, goat farms, and pig farms, they are able to be more self-reliant for the provision of adequate nutrition for their children. We are able to distribute rice and beans, but the homes still have the financial responsibility of purchasing fresh meat and produce. These projects allow the homes to produce meat and eggs for general consumption and increase the nutritional value of their daily meals.

The chicken farms that were provided included layer Hens as well as broiler Chickens. They were already proving to be a great success. The children are already harvesting eggs on a daily basis.