Back to School!

The Negril Rotary Club donated tents for shade
and tables and chairs for seating.

A LOT has happened in the past three months and the St. Anthony soup kitchen looks very different today than it did in June. The most noticeable difference is the lack of children: almost all the children are attending school now!

During the past months of my service I met with as many organizations and people in Negril as I could: especially the service organizations. At the meetings I would explain who I am, what organizations I've been working with, and ask them to do the same. Invariably, the soup kitchen got a lot of attention. "What do you mean the children are NOT GOING to school?" All it took was mentioning the kitchen to the community and they were on board. What do you need? How can we help? How can we work together to get these children back into schol? NEET dropped off math and science text books, workbooks, and reading books the next day. The Negril Rotary Club donated tents, tables, and chairs so that the children would not have to fight over the limited chairs and space in the shade. A community artist gave a lesson in drawing. Even a tourist couple from Tennesse read about the soup kitchen online and brought down more school supplies that we ever dreamed we would have. Jeanne Fisher and Joan Cooney (rotarians and community members) started coming weekly to teach the children. Jeanne had taught for many years in Montego Bay and delivered excellent lessons in literacy, numeracy, and of course manners. The soup kitchen had transformed into the NYAM center (Negril Youth Activities and Mentoring center).

The final step is reaching the teenage boys who give tourists horse

rides on the beach instead of attending high school.

Throughout the summer we harped on the importance of going to school. Why don't you go? I don't have the shoes miss. No uniform miss. No birth papers miss. Community members have donated shoes, clothing, and old school uniforms. Joan Cooney even paid the fee for birth papers for one of the children: an eleven year old girl who doesn't know how to begin to form the letters to write her name because she has never been to school. She went to school for the first time on Monday complete with shoes and a uniform.

Sandy and I work with the students while Brother Tom looks on.