Tragedy In Galina

About a month ago tragedy struck a family very close to home, both literally and figuratively in Galina.  Trudiann, a 23 year-old mother of three was outside of her house visiting a relative in the yard near her home and her house caught on fire.  Inside of the house were her three small children.

The remains of the house after the fire

She ran into the burning house in order to rescue them from the flames.  She was able to grab her two-month old daughter, Tiana and her three year-old daughter, Loreale, but she was not able to get to her two year-old daughter, Brittany before the entire home was a mass of burning fire.  Trudiann sustained 3^rd degree burns over more than 50% of her body while attempting to save her children.  All three were rushed to the Port Maria Hospital and later driven to two different hospitals in Kingston where they could receive the medical attention that this type of injury required.
Pastor Watson has been making trips to Kingston in order to sit and pray with Trudiann as she endures the excruciatingly painful treatment that is necessary with burn victims.  Pastor was unable to go to the other hospital to visit the children.  He’s been told they are ‘coming along.’  We’ve all been praying for this family for supernatural healing and for spiritual healing for the pain of losing a child.
Well, great news!  This past weekend the now three-month old, Tiana was released from the hospital and sent home with her grandmother.  And Sunday at church I got the opportunity to hold her in my arms during the Altar Call.  I was both saddened and yet relieved because even though a lot of her body is burned, it wasn’t quite as bad as I had imagined.  Although it appears that she will have lost of pigment that is permanent, it doesn’t appear that there are any grossly disturbing burn scars.  She was so precious.  Pastor Watson prayed over her and I said silent prayers for her as well.  She looked very peaceful and was even smiling at times.  What a gift!
Before I left for the U.S., I went to visit Tiana again and got a few pictures of her.  What a little miracle she is.
Please join us all in prayer for her continued healing as well as the healthy release of her mother and sister from the hospital soon.  Please prayer for their physical and emotional healing.
You sometimes wonder how such an atrocious thing could happen to these innocent children, but “… we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28.
I am not sure how this will be turned for good, but I am certain it will.

Thank you for your prayers.

~Teri

Birthday in Jamaica!

This was my first birthday celebrated in Jamaica.  I am not usually very big on birthday celebrations, but my friends in Jamaica had other ideas!

I woke up yesterday morning to a chocolate chip pancake breakfast prepared by Morgan.  As I sat down to eat I had a gift bag waiting on me and about a dozen cards that the kids at Children’s Church had made me on Sunday.  I looked through them all.  What a great blessing!
I also had a homemade card that Jordan McMahan had sent down with Amber.  She and Amber had both made me cards last month while Amber was home on her furlough.  They were the so beautiful!  I love homemade ones the best.  And these two girls have the biggest hearts of anyone I know.  God has blessed me by putting them into my life.  Amber also had a few presents for me…a goofy pair of Groucho Marx glasses, some playing cards that are ridiculously large and Pledge and Windex wipes.  Amber knows how much I love the smell of a freshly cleaned house!  What a great way to start off my day!

Then a micro-business partner and friend, Albert called and wished me a ‘Happy Birthday.’  He made me a Jamaica-styled kite.  I can’t wait to fly it.  I also received two cards in the mail from my sisters, what perfect timing.

In the afternoon we went to the Infirmary for our usual Wednesday visit.  On Monday I had informed the gentlemen residents that Wednesday would be my birthday.  To my surprise, a man named Frazier was the first to remember it was  my birthday and he wished me a ‘Happy Birthday.’  Next, Richard came up to me and sang the Happy Birthday song ‘American-Style’ to me.  It was wonderful.  Then Alvin spoke to me.  He informed me that the three most important people in my life are God, the Creator, and my parents.  He said that I should make God number one in my life — which I agree!  And that I should be thankful for my parents  — which I am!  He went on to say that the Lord has plans for all of our lives and that he is right where God wants him until he is called home.  Wow! That brought tears to my eyes.  Here is a man whose body is so crippled that he spends his entire days in the same position in his bed with a radio near his head so he can keep up on the world and he is praising the Lord for where he is and what he is supposed to accomplish!  HUMBLING!!!
After that wonderful experience Mr. Stanley Campbell sang a lovely rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ to me.  Stanley is fairly new to the Infirmary.  He is an older man who is blind and he has a delightful voice.  I sat on the bed across from him and just took in the beautiful melody with which he was serenading me.  I love these people; they are such a godsend to me!

When we returned from the Infirmary Morgan and Amber surprised me with a delicious dinner — Buffalo chicken chunks, celery and blue cheese dressing and nachos.  I know it’s not the most nutritious meal, but it was delectable!  It was so scrumptious that even when I was full I didn’t want to stop eating!  One word – YUM!

After dinner we went over to Pastor Watson’s house for Bible Study.  We didn’t get very deep into the study before everyone started singing ‘Happy  Birthday’ to me!  Pastor played a Happy Birthday song Disney-style on his computer for me.  It was very cute.  I went ahead and gave Kemar my camera because I knew that I would not be leaving that night without the traditional ‘flouring’ that is celebrated in Jamaica.  And it didn’t take long.  Amber surprised me again with a cake complete with 45 candles burning on it.  I thought the house was going to catch on fire!  And as Kemar was taking my picture with the cake Lushane came up behind me and hit me with the flour.  I embraced the whole experience. It was very nice.  Kemar wrote me a very heart-felt letter and gave me a few items to help me clean up afterwards.

What a wonderful day!  On top of that I had probably 100 birthday wishes on Facebook.

It’s overwhelming, the outpouring of love that I have received this day.

Thank you all and God Bless,
Teri

Stewart Castle

Saturday Amber and I drove to Montego Bay to pick up Morgan at the airport.  Morgan was returning from her 2-week furlough to the U.S.  We had been talking on the way home about some of the places in Jamaica that we would like to visit some day.  As we were passing through Trelawney I asked if they had ever been to Stewart’s Castle. Neither of them had so I asked if they wanted to stop.  I had been there once by myself but was afraid to get out of my car and look around.  It can be a little scary and because of the potential threat of squatters probably not a safe thing to do alone.

Panoramic View of Stewart Castle

According to what I have been able to find on-line, Stewart Castle was a plantation home built around 1754 by James Stewart who fled to Jamaica from Scotland.  It functioned as a large-scale sugar plantation through the early nineteenth century. Due to a massive decline in sugar prices, the property gradually converted to a cattle pen by the mid-19th century.  A short distance from the main house was a slave village.  It is speculated that the fortifications that were built around the main house was evidence of a perceived threat that the Maroons (runaway slaves) and the approximately 300 Africans that he enslaved might revolt and attack the castle.  In which case Stewart had the ability to secure people and animals inside the courtyard, as well as ensure a large supply of safe drinking water as result of a large water cistern inside the main house.  The estate remained in the hands of the Stewart family for three generations. Before his death in 1828, James Stewart II was known for having set up a free slave village subsequently named after him called Stewart Town.

The whole estate is in ruins, but I had fun walking through the rummage of what was left and imaging what this place looked like and the daily activities that might have taken place when it was an active plantation home.  I also described to Amber and Morgan how this could be a cool spot for a scary movie.  They laughed at me as I plotted out the story line.

If you want to know more about Stewart Castle click on this link.  It is the best website I could find.
For more pictures you can visit my Facebook page.

Another great adventure with my roommates in Jamaica!

Blessings,
Teri

How About a little T.L.C.

Once again I find myself reaching out to my friends and family asking for prayers.

Although there are many, there is a man at the Infirmary that has really taken a special place in my heart.  His name is Winston Hey and he is 75 years old.  He has only been living there for about 6 months.  I have enjoyed watching him do a little dance when we have teams there that bring their guitars and sing to the residents.  He is a quiet man and doesn’t move very fast, but he is very endeared to me!
Today when we were at the Infirmary I found Mr. Hey covered up in his bed.  I asked if he would like some soup and he waved me off.  I got down closer to him to find out why he didn’t want anything to eat and discovered that he couldn’t breath out of his nose because it was stopped up and runny and he began shivering quite uncontrollably.  I got some tissue to wipe his nose clean and asked a nurse for an additional blanket to warm him.  It has been raining all day and the air is quite cool.
I could tell that he wasn’t feeling well at all.  I held his hands for a while and prayed for the Lord to heal his ailing body.  He motioned to me that his head and his back were hurting him.  I inquired of the nurse on duty if they had any medication they could administer to help him with his pain and flu symptoms.  Not surprisingly, she replied in the negative.  She did however give me a second light blanket in which to cover him with.  I tucked him in and prayed one more time for him.  I hated leaving him there in that condition.  A tear fell from my eye as I made my way back to the van to head out.
I couldn’t get the image of Winston out of my head as Amber drove us back to Galina Breeze.  I reflected back to being sick in bed when I was home on furlough in February and how comforting it was to know that even at 44 years old I could still count on my Mommy and Daddy to take care of me when I was ill.  So I called the Matron and asked if I could take some Advil and NyQuil back to give to Mr. Hey.  She said that would be fine.  So I packed up my supplies and grabbed a slice of Easter Bun for him to eat because I didn’t want him to take pain reliever on an empty stomach.
When I arrived back at the Infirmary Mr. Hey was completed cocooned in his blankets in his bed.  For a moment I was afraid that he had died while I was gone because that is how they wrap them up if they had passed.  When I bent over to let him know I had returned with some medicine he reached down to a shoe next to his bed.  I wasn’t sure what he was doing.  He pulled out a piece of paper that was wrapped around his I.D. card.  I’m not certain why he wanted me to see it.  I don’t know when this I.D. was made, but he pointed out how he had a full head of hair — almost Don King-like.  I think he was telling me that his full head of hair helped keep the cold weather off of him helping to keep him from getting sick and now his hair was kept cut short.  I am not really sure.
I gave him the bun to eat and then I gave him the medicine.  I tried to comfort him the way a mother would comfort her child.  I held his hand and rubbed it to help ease his pain and show him that I cared.  I got some tissue and had him blow his nose a few times.
Then  Nurse Ratched – not her real name, (One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest reference) came in with his ‘dinner’ and forced him to sit up and told him to eat.  Now, I agree that eating might help, but he just didn’t feel like it.  I soon got him tucked back into bed.  I thought to myself, she could have been a little kinder to him; maybe showed him a little compassion.  I gave her some additional pills to give him later tonight – I am doubtful that he will actually receive them.
Before I left I explained to him that this medicine should help him feel better.  I stroked his cold hands and prayed for him one last time.  I told him that I loved him and I would see him later and suggested that he get some rest.  I left the Infirmary with tears falling down my face.  I cried out to the Lord for mercy and healing on him.  I know our God is capable of doing great things and that if it be His will that he would restore Mr. Hey back to health.

Please join me in praying for Mr. Hey and all of the infirmed living in Jamaica and around the whole world.

Thank you,
Teri

He is Risen!

This was my first experience with Easter in Jamaica.  The island tradition is going to church and then having ‘Bun and Cheese’ to eat.  The bun is a bread with fruit cooked in it, almost like a fruitcake but better and then they cut a piece of cheddar cheese to put in the middle of it.  After a wonderful church service I served the Infirmary residents who attended church with us some Bun and Cheese.  I’m not sure that this would be served at the Infirmary.  I think they enjoyed it.

Coloring Easter Eggs is not a Jamaican tradition.  But Amber decided she needed to share this experience with Althia’s children, Tahira and Tarique.  So on Saturday she brought them over and we all colored eggs.  Tarique was more interested in eating the eggs than he was in coloring them.  This struck me as funny because with my nieces and nephews it was the total opposite, they all wanted to color all of the eggs but had no interest in eating them!

Amber and I both missed our families and gathering to eat a Heavenly Ham for Easter brunch.  The closest we could come was pizza…Hahaha!

 

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter and remember the reason we celebrate it…

Love,
Teri

Creepy Critters

It’s been a couple of weeks since my last post.  We have been so busy here with our Spring-Breakers, but the last two teams left this morning.  Whew!!  It’s been a very busy 4 weeks!  We got a lot accomplished and many Jamaicans’ lives have been forever changed!!

Over the last few weeks I have encountered a few critters around the house….

The biggest cockroach I’ve ever seen!!  Luckily Amber was home, so after I took a picture of it (just for the record) I locked myself in my bedroom while Amber disposed of it properly.  I love her!!!

The other night just before going to bed I found this hopping across my bedroom floor.  It’s a Jamaican Tree Frog.  These little guys sing me to sleep every night.

I came home one night and was startled by two flashing lights coming from inside of my house.  It scared me for a minute because it looked like someone was inside of my dark house with a flashlight.  It turned out that it was two Jamaican Fireflies.  These are much larger than U.S. lightning bugs and they actually have two lights on them.  The Jamaicans call them Peenywallies.  I Googled them and found out that they are actually called ‘Click Beetles’ because they make a loud clicking noise and jump about 6 inches into the air when they are distressed.  I got to witness this action first-hand.  I guess they were a little distressed after I sprayed them with Baygone.

Another day I ran across this small fellow in the yard.  I think it took him all day to get a foot or two.  When the midday sun hit he was quietly tucked away in his shell and out of the heat.

But the most surprising one of all I did not take a picture of…I was making some spaghetti for lunch and I opened up the Prego tomato sauce and found a maggot squirming around on top.  The funny thing was that my first inclination was to simply skim it off the top and go ahead and use the sauce.  Then my brain finally clicked in and made me realize that he could very well have been swimming in the entire jar and quite possibly with friends.  I had to laugh to myself that I have been living in Jamaica long enough that I was almost willing to eat it.  Don’t get me wrong, I was mostly completely grossed out!!!  I was hungry though, so I just used ketchup .  I know, sad, right?

Never a dull moment around this island!

Blessings,
Teri

Albert’s Great Talent

Albert is someone I met a few months ago through our micro-business program.  Albert, or ’Ali-Barba’ as he is known in Port Maria, has been making crafts since he was a young boy.  He gives credit for his talent completely to the Lord.  As he tells the story, he was in a field praying one day asking the Lord what he should do with his life and the Lord gave him the divine inspiration to begin braiding the palm leaves which surrounded him and transforming them into crafts.

Unfortunately because of the financially impaired area he lives in there isn’t much of a market for such crafts. That is why we have partnered with him to find a market for his wonderful creations. Although we have not extended a loan to him yet, he has become a good friend.

Over the last couple of months he has been telling me that he is working on a special project for me.  Well, yesterday he presented it to me; a custom-made, one of a kind, backpack.  I just love it!  And I know how proud he is of this creation.  I will treasure it as I do the hands that made it and even more the Spirit that inspired it!

Some of the local teens were around after he gave it to me and wanted one too!  So they modeled it for us and I snapped a few pictures.

Albert also roasts peanuts and makes brooms and rakes to sell in Port Maria.  Additionally, he makes turtle purses, welcome mats, place mats and other items that we sell at the bookstore at SouthBrook Christian Church.  He is quite talented!

 

God is so good!

Blessings,
Teri

 

Meet Mimi

You knew it wouldn’t take long, right?
Well, this little girl happened into our lives quite on accident.  When I returned to the island about 4 weeks ago I found this puppy at my neighbor, Ken’s house.  Ken is the owner of Momma Dog.  If you remember from previous posts, Momma dog was the mother of Nikki and T.J., the two puppies who I took care of, fell in love with and then each was tragically killed.  So it was upsetting to me to see Ken with another puppy.  I reminded him that the reason we had Momma Dog fixed was so there wouldn’t be anymore puppies running around.  He asked me if I would take her, and my first answer was an adamant, “No!”
About a week later Morgan mentioned how cute she was.  I said that if she wanted to take her in I would be willing to do so, but we’d have to get Amber’s approval as well.  So the night before Amber headed up to the U.S. for her furlough we had a ‘house meeting’ and it was decided that we would adopt Mimi.
It’s been an interesting two weeks.  Baby is not at all happy about the new addition.  Gradually she is starting to warm up to the idea, but she is still very jealous.  The cats growl and hiss at her, but she barks at them and when they swat at her with their paws she just jumps back and then comes around for more.  It is very entertaining to watch.
I had to screen up some of the front gate because she was escaping through the grill work.  Baby has resorted to climbing the front wall to escape and roam the neighborhood.  So now she is sequestered to the front veranda when we are not home to watch her.
Oh, the lengths we go through for the love of our pets.

Current count…2 male cats, 2 female dogs, and numerous strays that stop by for a bite to eat, a drink of water and a little lovin’!!

Pickin’ & Pluckin’

WARNING!  This post contains photos that are not for the faint of heart!

Wow, did I get an education today?!!!
Being the ‘City Girl’ that I am, I did not know the difference between ‘picking’ a chicken and ‘plucking’ one.  Well let me share this new wealth of knowledge that I have acquired.
I paid a visit to our micro-business partner, Lorna Barker-Suer.  I knew that she would be very busy this morning because it was her scheduled day to slaughter the chickens that she has been raising.  I have never attended this process and so she allowed me to observe the event.  I’ll give it to you play-by-play along with pictures so that you can get the whole experience virtually.

First, you grab a mature (6 week old) chicken…place it head down into a jug..and then cut its head off and let the blood drain out.

Next, you dip it into boiling water and then you begin the ‘picking’ process.  This is where you take all of the feathers off the body.

Now, I thought this was called ‘plucking’ a chicken, but oh, no!  Plucking a chicken is when you cut it open at its rear and pull all of the insides out!!!
(This is where it gets really gross…you may not want to scroll down any farther!!)

Now, don’t you just want to go to the kitchen and fry up some good ol’ chicken for dinner??

I couldn’t let the day end without joining in the fun!

Aren’t you glad you checked out my blog today?
It’s an exciting adventure here in Jamaica!

Blessings,
Teri

A Day In the Life Of…

Outside His Home

Monday afternoon Morgan, Kemar and I went to Friendship to pay a visit to Mr. Myers at his home.  Mr. Myers has worked for ACE for many years.  His heart for the children of the surrounding area is insurmountable.  He greeted us along the main road and then walked us down the lane to his house.  We passed over a bridge and he shared a story with us about how when he first got his motorcycle he crashed it into the creek below us.  I could almost picture the entire scene as he described it.  We also passed by a star apple and some cocoa trees.  Although the homes in this area are simple and sometimes sad, the surroundings are beautiful.

Father and Son

He gave us a tour of his three bedroom house.  His home actually has an indoor bathroom, which is rare in these hills.  He showed us pictures from his wedding day, some 50 years earlier.  His home was full of pictures of him, his wife and children.  I found out a lot about this man who I have known for a number of years.  We even got to meet his son, Junior who is home for a while.  Junior works on cruise ships as a waiter.

 

You think that you know someone, but getting the opportunity to visit them in their home gives you a whole different understanding of who they are and how they live.  He was a wonderful host.  He had bought some coconut drops, chocolate cake, ice cream and ginger beer (soda) and served them to us throughout our time together.  It was a day that I won’t soon forget.  I got to experience a snapshot of Mr. Myers’ life on this island.
It was priceless!

~Teri