Building walls and relationships

As Jimmy Buffett would say,"another day in paradise." Well, at least another day at J.J.'s Paradise. For the first team of Global Volunteers going to St.Lucia, Anse-la - Raye might not be paradise, but it is a better place because we and other teams of Global Volunteers will be there. You might want reasons for my prophecy, my prediction. I will give you some from the gound up to the roof. Let's start with paving of some school yards, then go to Earthboxes (everyone wants one), and move on to soap dispensers (see a need-fill a need). Walls and roofs in bad shape? Not to worry, we get some tools, some materials and then working with folks from the community, we repair not only the roof, but the side of a building and paint the fixed-side. Global Volunteers are like the Navu Seabees--we can build anything, anywhere! And, I don't want to forget the toilet seat for a school.

But Global Volunteers is building something else that will last as long and longer than walls, roofs, and Earthboxes. The journal reports have listed our teams building trust, and relationships. We seek in schools, health clinics, and in a church to build with doctors, nurses, community roving caregivers, teachers,principals, government ministers, an archbishop, and a priest something the people of St.Lucia need and want.

No, the seawall will not be built before this first team leaves in another week, but it will be built by future Global Volunteer teams to protect a school, children, and a village.

But Global Volunteers is building another wall-a stronger wall to protect children. It is not a wall of stones, concrete, bricks, steel,etc. It is a wall of better nutrition, better health care, better education to make more opportunity and a better community. It is to build stronger community spirit in the belief that yes I can, yes you can, and we the young people of St. Lucia can!

Now I must end my journal today with something a Frenchman said:"Ours will never be a world in which children are not tortured, but it can be a world in which less children are tortured, and if you don't help who will?" Albert Camus wrote that. And that why I think Global Volunteers is here in St.Lucia. We are here to lessen the number of children tortured by poor nutrition, lack of health care, lack of food, and by disease and violence.