Harmons

Work

Every morning after breakfast, our group leaders would read off the "service opportunities" for the day. Some of us were assigned to the school or the store, but everyone else worked on the houses. We built two homes during the week but also assisted in starting to build a few more. About eight people would be assigned to each house to work on putting up the walls, sifting rocks, and applying concrete. The rest of us would get assigned to what we called "the maul haul." A pile of maul (dirt) would be at the bottom of a hill and we would form an assembly line to haul the bags of maul to the top. Even though carrying heavy bags of dirt for 8 hours sounds awful, they were actually some of my favorite days. It was a great chance to get to get to know my other team members and to build relationships. Everyday around 3:00 the kids would get out of school and stop to help us on their way home. Kids as young as 4 were helping us carry huge bags of maul up the hills. Kids in America would have thought of this was torture, while the kids there were so thrilled to be able to help us. 

The School

Luckily, school was in session during our visit to Harmons. Almost everyday, a small group of us got the chance to go help in the schools instead of work on the homes. I went to the preschool, which they call basic school, on Friday. There were about fifteen kids in the school and they were ages 4-5. It was interesting because almost the moment we got to the school, the teacher went into her office and didn't come out for hours. She gave us no instructions and only thanked us for coming. So, my friend Mark and I spent the entire day doing puzzles, drawing pictures, and playing outside. 

Not all of the kids had uniforms on and when I asked the teacher why that was, she said that she prefers that they wear them everyday but by Fridays they are sometimes too dirty to wear. She said she has sent kids home because they didn't have the proper uniform on before, but tries not to do that very often.

Even though we were not working on the houses, I felt just as tired when I returned home from the day at the school. They kids viewed us as human jungle gyms and constantly wanted us to be picking them up. The girls were especially fascinated with my hair and spent hours braiding it. I'm going to admit...it was a little painful at times but they were having so much fun that I couldn't ask them to stop. I payed for that later when I had to take fifty small braids out before I showered.

It was encouraging to see how much the children loved being at school. They knew how lucky they were to be there, since most kids in Harmons don't attend school at all. It is expensive for the families because they have to pay for uniforms, food, transportation, and exam fees. I talked a woman during the week who told me that every morning she had to choose 3 of her 5 kids to go to school that day. I cannot imagine how hard a decision like that must be.

Meals on Heels

Meals on Heels is something that One-by-Won started a few years ago. They divided us into small groups of 4-6 and sent us to different homes in the community to eat dinner with the families. The food was provided for them, but they prepared it and invited us into their homes for food and conversation. My group went to a woman named Carol Reid's home. Her husband, Joe, used to work for Won by One until he died five years ago. Carol has 5 children that she is now raising and supporting on her own. The home was one of the largest ones in Harmons, though it only had 3 separate rooms. We had the opportunity to eat with Carol and her daughters and talk about Jamaica and other things that were important to them. It was a great chance to be able to ask some of the questions we had been wondering all week about what it was like to live and grow up in a community like Harmons. As you can see from the picture, the girls loved my long, straight hair and made me take numerous pictures of them pretending it was their own. 

The Infirmary

I can easily say that visiting the infirmary was the most moving and eye opening experience of the trip for me. We had been preparing for this all week because of the emotional toll it usually takes on the students who visit it. We were told that the infirmary was a place where families send old and mentally-ill people to stay. One of the leaders of Won-by-One told us to imagine the worst nursing home in the United States and multiply it by 1000 and that is what we would be seeing at the infirmary. We were told to try to get past our discomfort quickly, so that we could engage in conversations with the people there. I had heard stories of the amazing things these people had to share with us. As much as I thought I had prepared myself, I quickly realized that it was not enough.

The smell was what hit me first. It smelt like a bathroom that had not been cleaned in years. What I saw there, I honestly cannot put into words. There were mentally-ill people sitting outside on the sidewalks in puddles of their own urine. There were three women curled up in one bed. Some people didn't have pants on, and one man was even covered from head to toe in his own feces. 

Most of the girls were able to instantly go and sit by a woman and talk to her and read the bible, but it took me a little longer. I cannot remember a time I was as uncomfortable as I was that day. I walked around for the first ten minutes just taking everything in and praying for the ability to open my heart to these people. Thankfully, God answered my prayer.

I had just entered the women's ward when I heard this huge voice belt out the song "At Last"by Etta James. This is one of my all-time favorite songs and is usually what I sing at vocal auditions. I looked around the room to find out where this voice was coming from, and I saw Daisy May King. She is the woman in the picture with me above. I felt like this was someone I needed to go talk to, and luckily I did. Daisy turned out to be one of the most extraordinary women I have ever met. We talked for hours about her childhood, music, and all her hopes in life. She had plenty of advice to give me about growing up and enjoying my youth. It was a conversation that I will never forget.

After speaking with Daisy, I made my way over to the men's ward. I sat down next to a man who I quickly realized could not speak very well. I tried to ask him some questions but he was having a hard time responding. He just kept pointing to my bible and saying "God is good." This single moment is one I have thought about everyday since. There I was, sitting next to a man who in my eyes had nothing. He had no family who visited him, no clean clothes, no one to take care of him, and yet he was able to sit there and tell me, someone who has everything, that God is good. 

The night after we visited the infirmary, we sat as a group and talked about our experiences. One of the boys on the trip made a very good point. He said to us, that after seeing what we all saw-how could any of us have a bad day? Since I have gotten home from this trip, whenever I feel like complaining about something or worrying about something small, I remember this place and the people I met.

The Store

The 500 lbs. of supplies we brought down were sold at a makeshift store in the Harmony House. Won-by-One keeps a list of all the families in Harmons and rotates through them. I had the opportunity to work at the store one of the days. I would greet women at the door after their names had been called and walked around the store with them. They only had two plastic grocery bags to fill with clothes. Once the bags are full, they are done shopping. This experience definitely gave me a new perspective on all of my materialistic wants. Most of the time, the women were shopping for many children, their husbands, parents, and themselves. They were very selfless women, filling the bags 90% for the children and 10% for themselves and husbands. It was heartbreaking to have to tell them that we did not have any backpacks left for their kids to take to school or that there are no more shoes left in their children's size. I asked one of the women who I was shopping with how long it will be before she has the chance to come back to the store. She told me that it will be over a year until it is her family's turn again. The thought of only shopping once a year for a family of 5 is unbelievable to me. This was a very eye-opening experience that I am grateful for.

Stickman

Stickman is a man who lives on the top of a mountain in Harmons. During the week we were there, Won by One was digging a sewage pit for him. Everyday, 3-4 boys would be assigned to climb up the mountain to work for the day. Though the work was hard, the boys would come back raving about their experience. He lives alone up the mountain and spends everyday carving detailed walking sticks that he sells to the community. On the last day in Harmons, all the girls wanted to hike up the mountain to meet the man we had been hearing about all week. It was an extremely hard hike, but definitely worth it. The view was amazing and getting to know Stickman was even better. He lives a very simple, yet rewarding life and was happy for the opportunity to share life lessons with us.