We’ve just completed our second Trimester Report for Peace Corps Jamaica and the US Government. It’s a fairly comprehensive outline of all that’s been accomplished in the last four months. While filling it out it occurred to us that you might be interested in some of the smaller activities we’ve been involved with beyond the Wellness Program and the Citizen’s Association.
Our level of involvement may be an explanation for how well accepted we are in the area. The Jamaican’s seem to appreciate all we do. Almost everyone knows our name and greets us with enthusiasm. We are accepted members of the community; they look after us and are concerned for our well being and comfort. So, here is a brief description of what we’ve done in the last four months.
The Citizens’ Association had a huge breakthrough last week when we were in Dallas seeing the boys. They met without us, had the largest turnout ever, and new business items were introduced by residents!! It was great news to our ears. Everyone was very excited about the result. Before our departure the Executive Committee was anxious; until this success they all thought nothing would/could occur without us. We told them that if that happened our work would have been a failure.
Margaret’s been tutoring high school athletic coaches on improved training techniques; the football, basketball and track coaches attend weekly one hour sessions on relevant issues affecting athletes’ health, conditioning, and performance. Topics include: orthopedics/biomechanics and anatomy/physiology. The football coach has taken this very seriously and has totally revamped his training and conditioning regime for the players. She taught him how to analyze posture imbalances in order to identify potential future injury sites. That all began because several of his players complained of back pain. Now he’s analyzing everyone in site, players as well as his high school faculty/staff colleagues.
256 pairs of exercise shoes have been collected by US residents; 100 have been received and distributed thus far; the last 156 are still sitting in California waiting for us to get clearance for receipt of them. Each day Margaret gets a request for a pair of shoes from someone: a player, her exercise students, athletes, children on the street, and/or doctors for their patients. It’s been difficult to understand why receipt of the last 156 has been so hard to come by.
Then there are the regular weekly presentations to the Hospital patients on health related topics like: hand washing, healthy snacks, food preparation, STIs & HIV/AIDS, violence prevention, oral hygiene, exercising tips, breast cancer, cervical cancer, “Active Children and Their Health in Childhood and as Adults"; "Health Concerns for Sedentary Jamaican Women"; and "Osteoporosis, the Invisible Epidemic for Jamaican Women”.
Margaret teaches two sections of exercise classes twice per week for staff at the hospital and residents at the Community Center. So far there are ten regulars with more enrolling each week. They are dedicated and disciplined about getting in their exercises. They even met when we were in Dallas.
Margaret is teaching two men how to read. One has some simple basic goals like being able to right his name but the second wants to become a minister and be able to read the Bible.
Gary has developed the Electrocardiography Laboratory & trained nurses, community health aids, and doctors on how to use it. He’s collected loads of data during this project and wants to find a Jamaican source where it can be presented. Among other items he’s identified that men are three inches taller than their female counterparts but 30 pounds lighter; i.e. rural women are generally obese and the men lean.
Gary also submitted a grant for improvement of sanitation facilities in Sangster Heights, Chapelton environs. 11.2% of households in the community lack toilets or running water. He’ll learn in January what the result will be.
He also participated in a health fair in Canaan Heights, one of the most dangerous places in Jamaica. A wonderful humanitarian, Bill Shagoury, was the source for this initial venture into an otherwise off-limits area. He provided safe transport in and out of the community. It was a possible lead up to our opening a Wellness Program for those residents.
We both participated in the Sangster Heights Football/Netball Association fundraising. Recall we did the same for the Football Assoc. last December. Then the girls got themselves organized to the point that it’s now a joint association.
Finally, we both recently began planning for an Emancipation Day Fundraiser [Aug. 1] for Chapelton Community Hospital's purchases of two computers for the Records Room [Recall the hospital has 69,000 registered patients and all those records are currently maintained manually] and a DVD player for the Patient Waiting Room, as well as funding to repair the water piping system [there are copious leaks] so the hospital can depend on a daily supply of water [imagine your hospital operating without water; it’s a regular occurrence here].
There are more things in the works that we’ll begin working on as each of these activities becomes independently functional. Each day we are occupied with one or more activity[s] but that doesn’t mean we don’t miss many of you and those comforts of home. Several of you have asked if we’re having a good time. If it’s fun they are thinking of, no [accept for our times with Mrs. Rumble and/or our times on leave], there’s nothing fun about our roles. Rewarding, yes; we feel like we’re developing some sustainable programs that will remain after our departure. That is a heartwarming, albeit unfun, feeling.
More lata, Margaret and Gary
We’ve just completed our second Trimester Report for Peace Corps Jamaica and the US Government. It’s a fairly comprehensive outline of all that’s been accomplished in the last four months. While filling it out it occurred to us that you might be interested in some of the smaller activities we’ve been involved with beyond the Wellness Program and the Citizen’s Association.
Our level of involvement may be an explanation for how well accepted we are in the area. The Jamaican’s seem to appreciate all we do. Almost everyone knows our name and greets us with enthusiasm. We are accepted members of the community; they look after us and are concerned for our well being and comfort. So, here is a brief description of what we’ve done in the last four months.
The Citizens’ Association had a huge breakthrough last week when we were in Dallas seeing the boys. They met without us, had the largest turnout ever, and new business items were introduced by residents!! It was great news to our ears. Everyone was very excited about the result. Before our departure the Executive Committee was anxious; until this success they all thought nothing would/could occur without us. We told them that if that happened our work would have been a failure.
Margaret’s been tutoring high school athletic coaches on improved training techniques; the football, basketball and track coaches attend weekly one hour sessions on relevant issues affecting athletes’ health, conditioning, and performance. Topics include: orthopedics/biomechanics and anatomy/physiology. The football coach has taken this very seriously and has totally revamped his training and conditioning regime for the players. She taught him how to analyze posture imbalances in order to identify potential future injury sites. That all began because several of his players complained of back pain. Now he’s analyzing everyone in site, players as well as his high school faculty/staff colleagues.
256 pairs of exercise shoes have been collected by US residents; 100 have been received and distributed thus far; the last 156 are still sitting in California waiting for us to get clearance for receipt of them. Each day Margaret gets a request for a pair of shoes from someone: a player, her exercise students, athletes, children on the street, and/or doctors for their patients. It’s been difficult to understand why receipt of the last 156 has been so hard to come by.
Then there are the regular weekly presentations to the Hospital patients on health related topics like: hand washing, healthy snacks, food preparation, STIs & HIV/AIDS, violence prevention, oral hygiene, exercising tips, breast cancer, cervical cancer, “Active Children and Their Health in Childhood and as Adults"; "Health Concerns for Sedentary Jamaican Women"; and "Osteoporosis, the Invisible Epidemic for Jamaican Women”.
Margaret teaches two sections of exercise classes twice per week for staff at the hospital and residents at the Community Center. So far there are ten regulars with more enrolling each week. They are dedicated and disciplined about getting in their exercises. They even met when we were in Dallas.
Margaret is teaching two men how to read. One has some simple basic goals like being able to right his name but the second wants to become a minister and be able to read the Bible.
Gary has developed the Electrocardiography Laboratory & trained nurses, community health aids, and doctors on how to use it. He’s collected loads of data during this project and wants to find a Jamaican source where it can be presented. Among other items he’s identified that men are three inches taller than their female counterparts but 30 pounds lighter; i.e. rural women are generally obese and the men lean.
Gary also submitted a grant for improvement of sanitation facilities in Sangster Heights, Chapelton environs. 11.2% of households in the community lack toilets or running water. He’ll learn in January what the result will be.
He also participated in a health fair in Canaan Heights, one of the most dangerous places in Jamaica. A wonderful humanitarian, Bill Shagoury, was the source for this initial venture into an otherwise off-limits area. He provided safe transport in and out of the community. It was a possible lead up to our opening a Wellness Program for those residents.
We both participated in the Sangster Heights Football/Netball Association fundraising. Recall we did the same for the Football Assoc. last December. Then the girls got themselves organized to the point that it’s now a joint association.
Finally, we both recently began planning for an Emancipation Day Fundraiser [Aug. 1] for Chapelton Community Hospital's purchases of two computers for the Records Room [Recall the hospital has 69,000 registered patients and all those records are currently maintained manually] and a DVD player for the Patient Waiting Room, as well as funding to repair the water piping system [there are copious leaks] so the hospital can depend on a daily supply of water [imagine your hospital operating without water; it’s a regular occurrence here].
There are more things in the works that we’ll begin working on as each of these activities becomes independently functional. Each day we are occupied with one or more activity[s] but that doesn’t mean we don’t miss many of you and those comforts of home. Several of you have asked if we’re having a good time. If it’s fun they are thinking of, no [accept for our times with Mrs. Rumble and/or our times on leave], there’s nothing fun about our roles. Rewarding, yes; we feel like we’re developing some sustainable programs that will remain after our departure. That is a heartwarming, albeit unfun, feeling.
More laita, Margaret and Gary
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