WATSONTOWN -- A 10-day midwinter trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica, was anything but a vacation for eight juniors and seniors at Watsontown Christian Academy. In fact, they managed only one trip to the beach, instead spending their time visiting schools and orphanages in the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation.
They delivered pencils, notebooks and other school supplies to several elementary schools, where they were greeted by children singing songs such as "Jesus Love" and "Have a Nice Day."
Cameron Yarger, of White Deer, was moved by how excited the Jamaican students were to meet them.
"Their school was a very rickety building," he said. "It was surrounded by barbed wire, and when it was time for school, the gate was locked. If they were late, they couldn't get in."
At one school, the WCA students saw a new corrugated metal roof on one classroom, which WCA had paid for, he said.
The Watsontown students and their chaperones stayed in a villa and traveled around in a van. The poor condition of roads, which they described as "potholes here, potholes there, no pavement" surprised them. The homes they saw were often two-room shacks, covered with corrugated sheet metal, with walls topped by barbed wire.
On several days, they visited orphanages, where they played with children. They played for hours, they said, holding the younger ones and reading to them and pushing the swings for the older children.
"They were very excited to see us," recalled Mark Summers, of Turbotville.
The orphanages typically had hundreds of children, some of whom had been abandoned.
"They lacked the human touch, compassion, prayer and love," said Tabitha Beaver, of Milton. "It was heartbreaking."
Beaver, who is the school's "School Counts" adviser, is the Central Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce's business and education coordinator. She said she was honored that the WCA students invited her on the trip.
"It wasn't unusual for the van to be surrounded by kids before it even stopped, and they would run along side us, crying as we left," she said.
"The younger children stay in cribs except to be fed and changed until they're 18 months old," said Jalyssa Russel, of Turbotville. "They didn't get any other attention."
The group also helped improve the Zion Evangelical Friends Church. They moved wheelbarrow-loads of stone and sand to a patio area, where they mixed it and then added bags of cement and water to make concrete. They then formed a bucket brigade to transport buckets of concrete into the building to cover the dirt floors in two rooms, the pastor's office and a restroom.
James Brown, a student from Muncy, still had blisters from that job, he said.
In addition to the concrete work, students also painted walls and helped lay a tile floor.
The students also volunteered with a group of visiting doctors, assisting by measuring and bagging foodstuffs and counting, bagging and labelling medications.
It wasn't all work, however. One night, they visited Glistening Waters, a bay where microorganisms in the water glow so brightly the bay is visible from space.
"It was almost like neon," said Yarger. "It's one of just three places in the world where this happens."
They also visited the Straw Market, where Jamaicans sell craft items to tourists.
"They expected you to try to bargain for what they had," said Brittany Snyder, of Watsontown.
At the end of their stay, they were pleased with what they had accomplished, but they realized there is much more to be done.
"We hoped to do more than we did," said Mark Summers of Turbotville.
All agreed the trip was an eye-opener and a life-changing experience. They gained a better understanding of how fortunate they are to live in this country, while also understanding how much their efforts meant to the people they met.
William Wilhelm, administrator of WCA, said students from WCA have made the trip to Jamaica for eight years.
"It's important for students to learn about other countries and cultures," said Wilhelm. "The experience helps them understand how fortunate they are and how an experience like this can make a difference in the world."
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Student spend 10 days among Jamaica's poor
Students spend 10 day among Jamaica's poor
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