Child sponsorship update from Stony Hill (Kingston), Jamaica

Update for child sponsors from the SOS Children's Village Stony Hill (Kingston), Jamaica from Winter 2008

Dear Sponsor:

With summer behind us and nature itself is telling us the year is almost over we know that it is time to write to you and send warm greetings from our SOS Children’s Village in Stony Hill, Kingston, Jamaica. Our family currently consists of 116 children residing on the village, 6 girls at the girls’ facility and 12 boys at the boys’ facility. Our staff complement comprises of 14 mothers, 5 aunties and 8 support staff members, 2 of which are youth leaders.

The village has been very active and striving to ensure that the children’s lives are as normal as any other family. Being a former English colony, football and cricket are our two most popular sports; the entire country is excited and eager to see the Jamaican team enter the World Cup competition. We have only made it once but are looking to make it back again. The youngsters at the boy’s house attended a football match at the National Stadium and watched Jamaica’s national team the “Reggae Boys” play the Bahamian national team. We all wore our yellow shirts and waved national flags. We ate peanuts, drank soft drinks and cheered our hearts out. It was great fun, especially since Jamaica won. The tickets were donated by the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and the game exposed them to world class football. We continue to have a very good relationship with the federation and they are very supportive of us.

Music is central to the Jamaican culture and all events have some form of music. There are several indigenous forms of music the most internationally known is Reggae music and its modern offshoot “dance hall” music. With international icons such as Bob Marley, Shaggy, Third World and Inner Circle to name a few, it is easy to see that musical talents need to be nurtured and developed. We received some guitars from an overseas company and are currently sourcing a full time music teacher. In the mean time the children are already getting their practice with the CD tutorial and we look forward to having a complete music programme up and running soon.

Several graduation services took place in July. Approximately 20 children were successful in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) and this allows them to move on to high school. The highest average of 90% was scored by one of the young men. The young ladies were taken to a play entitled “Moon River” at the Center Stage Theatre donated by a friend of SOS. They were after treated to dinner and a fashion show by members of a local church. The young men were treated as well and were also taken to see a play put on by a missionary group, then dinner.

Children growing up in Kingston, Jamaica

During the summer several volunteer groups visited us from local and overseas organisations. One such was a Girl Scouts group from South Florida. They were assigned to our SOS Nursery School and Preparatory schools to help the children with their school work. We also had a young lady from Accra in Ghana and she introduced us to her African culture in the form of songs and stories. The children enjoyed her presentation and we are keeping in touch with her with the hope that she will come again. The church groups allowed the children to participate in their camps and it was a wonderful experience for them. We have a sister village in Barrett Town and they invited us to join in their annual J.A.A.M. (Jamaicans and Americans Making Memories) camp. They conducted art and craft workshops and had music programmes which tapped into the children's creative genes. The annual football (soccer) camp was a huge success and was sponsored by the Rose Hall Development. The activities also included excursions to the airport and historical sites.

We believe in empowering our youths and the National Youth Service (N.Y.S.) sent 4 young people to work with us and they gained vital work experience. They were put to work particularly in the area of tutoring, concentrating on the primary school graduates to ensure that they were prepared to enter high school system. The youngsters were not to be left out and those interested in military service were taken to the Jamaica Defense Force (J.D.F.) military base. There they were introduced to the adults in charge of the cadet programme and showed a lot of interest. Their cadet programme is now being looked into to see how it would serve the older youngsters well as the younger ones who are already participating in scouts and cadets in school. Perhaps this would be a smooth transition from one to the other as the scouting programme is doing well and meetings take place regularly at a neighborhood church.

There could be no summer without a trip to the beach. The Past Children’s Association organised a trip and provided transportation and refreshments. They with the assistance of the mothers prepared a delicious feast. The children had been looking forward to the trip from before the summer holidays and the anticipation was invigorating and this added to the excitement. On the ride to the beach we sang songs and eagerly waited to reach our destination. It was a beautiful day, the sun, the sea birds were out and the sea was as beautiful as ever. We played football and volleyball and after we had eaten, relaxed under the shade of Almond trees while we watched the clouds drift by in the beautiful Caribbean sky. We later went back into the water until late in the evening. Eventually it was time to go and we all felt sad and wished it could have lasted longer.

Time passes quickly when you are having fun and before we knew it the summer days were coming to an end. However we were happy for the exposure the children had because there are some invaluable experiences that one just cannot learn in a book. They learnt to share and coexist harmoniously in unfamiliar surroundings. The sport component taught them self-discipline, the importance of exercise and to how develop skills in order to achieve their goals. All these experiences if properly utilized will help to build well rounded, self confident citizens of the world. With all these experience they were better equipped to face the new school year in September.

With renewed spirits and the crisp feeling in the air our family now looks forward to the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas. A time when almost all the world is at peace, everyman is a little bit kinder to his neighbour. We wish to pause to thank God for all that he allowed us to accomplish and that as he blessed your hearts, you blessed ours. We know that "Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind, to cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas." - Calvin Coolidge

Thank you and may God continue to bless you and your family richly.

Sincerely,

Sean Forskin, Village Director and Anita Tharpe, National Director