A while ago, when my friends and I were planning our next vacation, we chose Jamaica and found out about one of the poorest schools in the interior of the island. It's called Torrington and it's a primary school (ages 3-7), which is basically comprised of one building loosely separated into 2-3 small rooms, and all the students are crowded in, without real partitions between classes.
Several years ago, a group of tourists formed Friends of Torrington, and they started visiting the school, bringing with them school supplies and cash donations. I had the honour of visiting the school this past week and spending time with the students, teachers and the wonderful principal. The school is pretty much an open building, without doors. Hurricane Ivan ripped off portions of the roof and other parts are leaking rainwater. A number of us visited this past week, bringing all sorts of supplies and goodies for the kids, as the teachers proudly took us on a tour of their very basic surroundings. There was an incredibly pride in their eyes as they showed us around the resource centre, and told us how they run parent-child workshops and teacher conferences. The children were just amazing, all happy to get a moment's attention and absolutely in love with any and all digital equipment. They quickly took control of our cameras, clicking away at smiling faces of their classmates and painstakingly filming a bucket with blackboard sponges with a mini-DV. They were clearly pros at it and soaked up every moment. A big hit was a huge magnifying glass provided by one of the people who came along, although I am certain the Skittles and M&Ms were quite popular as well.
It was one of the best experiences of my life, and it helps so much in providing that healthy amount of perspective that is so easy to lose when your life doesn't consist of walking several miles up a mountain to school as a 4 year old child in the oppressive heat, only to arrive there and find that your best resources are the people around you and not computers and high tech toys. What really impressed me are the teachers, who essentially teach under the proverbial tree with incredible pride, who know every student and every story and put buckets around the classes to collect water from the roof and do it with such pride.
Some pics I took are below, hopefully it's a nice break from the campaign and all the nastiness in the world that we take in on a daily basis.
Yah mon.
Several years ago, a group of tourists formed Friends of Torrington, and they started visiting the school, bringing with them school supplies and cash donations. I had the honour of visiting the school this past week and spending time with the students, teachers and the wonderful principal. The school is pretty much an open building, without doors. Hurricane Ivan ripped off portions of the roof and other parts are leaking rainwater. A number of us visited this past week, bringing all sorts of supplies and goodies for the kids, as the teachers proudly took us on a tour of their very basic surroundings. There was an incredibly pride in their eyes as they showed us around the resource centre, and told us how they run parent-child workshops and teacher conferences. The children were just amazing, all happy to get a moment's attention and absolutely in love with any and all digital equipment. They quickly took control of our cameras, clicking away at smiling faces of their classmates and painstakingly filming a bucket with blackboard sponges with a mini-DV. They were clearly pros at it and soaked up every moment. A big hit was a huge magnifying glass provided by one of the people who came along, although I am certain the Skittles and M&Ms were quite popular as well.
It was one of the best experiences of my life, and it helps so much in providing that healthy amount of perspective that is so easy to lose when your life doesn't consist of walking several miles up a mountain to school as a 4 year old child in the oppressive heat, only to arrive there and find that your best resources are the people around you and not computers and high tech toys. What really impressed me are the teachers, who essentially teach under the proverbial tree with incredible pride, who know every student and every story and put buckets around the classes to collect water from the roof and do it with such pride.
Some pics I took are below, hopefully it's a nice break from the campaign and all the nastiness in the world that we take in on a daily basis.
Yah mon.
