[ T R A N S F O R M AT I V E ]
Stir It Up Student essays reflect three life-changing weeks in Jamaica [PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIM MANTOANI]
Duncans is a small community just outside of Falmouth, Jamaica. It’s where a group of USD students become immersed in the local culture for several weeks each summer. While students earn three units for courses such as “The Black Atlantic” or “Afro-Caribbean Literature,” what they ultimately learn goes far beyond coursework. Students get involved with an all-age school, spend time at the Granville Place of Safety (a residential facility for girls), play pick-up basketball, visit former plantation “great houses” and interact with locals on an up-close-and-personal level. To hear the participants tell it, they return from their brief journey transformed. I had never experienced the idea of tourism until this trip. I can see both why it can be beneficial and detrimental to a developing country like Jamaica. Before going to Jamaica I had the idea we would be secluded away at our own villas just within our class and not do much with the outside community. I thought we would just be around on the beach learning about the Jamaican culture. I figured we would do some things that would be considered touristy, like visiting other resorts or doing the limbo on the beach. When I thought of going to Jamaica, I knew it was for a class; I did not know we would go out in the community and apply what we had read. — Gyno Pomare ‘09 This whole experience was an exciting, emotional and mentally challenging journey for me. I never expected anything like this to happen to me nor to affect me in this way. I was both shocked and surprised by this experience. I can’t believe the positive reaction I got from the people of Jamaica. Never in a million years did I think that I would come back with such a passionate view of the poverty and (a need to) help the people of Jamaica. I went on this excursion with a passive view of the experience and came out with large view of the effect tourists and tourism have on a third-world country. — Tammy Harmer ‘08 Everything I found and learned in Jamaica exceeded all of my greatest expectations. The people I met opened my eyes to a new view of the 8
world in which pure happiness seems to be a substantial means of survival. However, behind this happiness lies the real struggle to survive. Smiling faces can only go so far, and offer little assistance in landing a stable job or putting meals on the table. Yet, against all odds, the Jamaican people have found a way to see beyond the treachery of the past and the struggle of the present. They have discovered a way to look towards the future and simply say that the perfect life will “soon come.” If nothing more, my experience in Jamaica has taught me to open my eyes wide enough to see the world around me and to embrace my innermost desire to accomplish great things. — Emily Mignogna ‘09 When I think about my experience, the same scene keeps racing through my mind. What was it about leaving the Place of Safety that has left me unable to get the image out of my mind no matter how hard I try? Going to say good-bye to the girls on that Sunday afternoon was probably one of the hardest moments during my three-week stay in Jamaica. As soon as we drove out the gates the tears started rolling down my face. What had come over me? Why could I not control myself? I am not the type of person to let my guard down and show my emotions so openly. Something about the [Place of Safety] had changed me, and on that drive home I was beginning to realize I would forever be a different person. — Liz Bonomo ‘09 I (now) find myself entering conversations I had never considered before. Exploring terrain of debate I would have been scared to approach before. Talking to a black man who has lived all over the world about the insanely frustrating beliefs and actions of most Americans and our footprint wherever we go seemed natural to me, like it was something I had been discussing my whole life. This has been happening a lot lately. Naturally, without thinking, it comes in to the forefront, and I relate it all back to where I have just returned from: Jamaica. — Shane Farmer ‘09 A version of this story appeared in the Fall 2008 USD Magazine.
“Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?” — Bob Marley