Carolyn's first Jamaican post!!

It's been 2 and half days and I can't decide whether it's gone hideously fast or whether it seems like it's been ages. Perhaps it feels like the latter because of the warmth and hospitality of our hosts - sometimes it takes only minutes to feel like they have been friends for a while.

Vocational visits - my first happened on the way to my host Mitch's house when we made an impromptu visit to the Shortwood Community Policing centre - a community development project that includes a medical centre, computer and internet facilities, banking and bill-paying facilities, a community meeting room and the community policing base. I spoke breifly with the coordinator and found similarities in our approach though the chalenges in Jamaica are much greater than those in the Clarence Valley.

The second vocational visit- shared with the team- was to the Kingston YMCA. The Youth Development program they run focuses on keeping youth at-risk off the streets and getting them reingaged with the education system. The photo already posted shows us with the young boys that attend classes there and we were fortunate enough to participate in a quiz, hand out some aussie souvenirs and answer some questions about Australia. We then spent time with the Coordinator Sarah and had a tour of the rest of the facilities. It was here that I began to see, not for the first time, what Jamaican service providers (including Rotarians) are acheiving with resources that Australian equivalents would consider impossible. I'm going to find it hard to complain about lack of funding when I return to the Clarence Valley!!.

And not quite a vocational visit but near enough, this morning I had breakfast with the Police Superintendent and the Crime Prevention Committee Coordinator of Clarendon Parish!! Dathan Henry and Bill Shaguri happen to be friends of Mitch and Betty and I was able to hear about the similarities and differences in our issues and strategies.

Hosts - my Kingston hosts are Mitch and Betty Stephenson who live in Norwood, Kingston. They have been very hospitable and generous with their time. My first night I was taken to a dinner for Mitch's Masonic group and just this evening was given a tour of New Kingston and the waterfront on our way to visit Port Royal (the pirate den) and a dinner of Escoveitch Fish (snapper) at a restuarant on the water looking across the harbour to Kingston as the sun went down. I do sometimes have to pinch myself!

The Journey here - Long. And tiring. But also full of new experiences and a chance to get to know my team members further and share both the bad (losing Adam's and my bags) and the good (getting them back in Jamaica) with them! I've found out that international travel is about waiting and boredom and uncomfortable seats. But you also get to drink Budweiser and eat mini burgers with friends in Miami at midnight.

Enough from me for now - I need to leave room for the others!