Portmore's Mosquitoes Welcome Me

Greetings!

We are both in Jamaica.

I arrived last night and boy is it hot here. Hot food, hot temperatures, hot music and HUNGRY AGGRESSIVE mosquitoes that serve as the unofficial welcoming committee for new blood.

The country is gorgeous. There is music everywhere, the people are warm, and they are proud of Jamaica's heritage, culture and history. School children can buy composition notebooks with the Jamaican flag on it, imagine if our kids came to school with notebooks covered with American flags?

Currently, we are in Portmore, a commuter neighborhood for the many people who work in Kingston.

We spent some time at Hellshire (a fisherman's beach) today. Taking in the sites, sounds and sun with the many many families on a Sunday afternoon, we are ready for tomorrow.

While I was in NYC getting ready for this, Everton was pretty busy in the last few days.

Travelling with Youth Crime Watch, he has visited youth in Arnett Gardens, where the director of Youth Crime Watch and lecturer at the University of West Indies Dr. Knife Kadamawe grew up and is still actively involved in. The youth there were involved with beautifying a local park.

He also visited a voluntary community summer school program where the teacher was discussing the importance of self discipline with a group of 8-13 year olds.

The people involved want to make a change, to reduce poverty and crime, to get kids off the streets and to create jobs and training programs. Mothers, fathers, teens, college students, teachers...people, young and old are a part of this, and we are thrilled to see everyone in action.

Tomorrow, we begin our work. We will be going to the University of West Indies with Knife. We will see more groups in action, learn more about what they do and film/document the groups in action.

Stay tuned...