With Love

Once the group arrived in Negril, the whole environment changed. Negril is much more densely populated with better infrastructure and professionals. The school we are working on is Higher Heights Academy for young children. We started building an extension for the school by first, making cement by hand, laying the cement, and then placing the cinderblocks. We are accompanied by Paul, Shavon, and Richard. Working together with them is an extraordinary experience, I've learned many tricks of the trade while also connecting with these people. This offered a true glimpse into the life of these people which is truly what is benefitting me the most on this trip. To learn about their struggles and the daily hardships truly shifted my perspective and confirmed that I am here for the right reasons. The first work site at Saint Mary's held a similar experience. The work was similar but it was the relationships and connections formed that changed. Working with Scratchy, Patrick and Kirk are all genuine, whole-hearted men, whom I've learned so much from. We talked about our personal lives and truly learned many invaluable lessons from each other that would never occur without face to face interaction. Although two days seems short, the time spent at each site felt like an eternity. I hope all the workers, school communities, and people of Jamaica the best in all of their future endeavors and hope the wore here done is not in vain. I hope the Global Service Initstive has made/left an everlasting impact in Jamaica. I've grown immensely in these six days more than I've ever have and am extremely grateful to have been a part of such an amazing group project.
With Love,
Ryan Mullins