First Visit to the Portland Rehabilitative Management Shelter

     We just woke up from our first night at Great Huts to the sound of birds chirping. Our first night was quite the experience, there was a rain storm during the night that was loud enough to wake some of us up. This was the first time that I had to sleep under a bug net and it was pretty exciting. I also had my first outdoor shower which was amazing but a little bit strange. Our breakfast was eggs made the way we wanted, some of the best coffee and orange juice that I have ever had, and fresh fruit.

The Portland Rehabilitative Management Shelter team working on their training program. 

     After breakfast we discussed what we were going to do at the Portland Rehabilitative Management Shelter. The plan was to take a short taxi ride to the shelter, experience the sensitivity training that the manager, Andrea Parsons, is currently using, and then receive feedback on the training program that we have created.

     The taxi ride was absolutely terrifying. The driving in Jamaica is much different than what we are used to in Canada, and the roads are much more narrow. Our driver would pass on a bend or when there was a car coming straight for us. It also felt that we were going to side swipe the cars coming from the other direction.

     After arriving at the shelter we were given a tour of the gardens; this is where they grow vegetables, and where the chickens roam. we were then shown the female living quarters, and the dining/lounge area. The shelter surpassed my expectations in terms of cleanliness and space.

     We were then greeted by Andrea and she began her training that she would normally give to volunteers. This way we could see what type of discussion and activities would work and what would not. We also learned a lot about Jamaican perceptions about mental illness, homelessness, and gender gaps. It was a very eye opening experience. After we experienced the training, we made some changes to our training program to match the goals that Andrea had expressed to us.

     We finished our day at the shelter and were waiting outside for the cabs when one of the residents approached us. She saw that we had taken a picture and wanted to be in a picture with her. She was very sweet. When the cabs arrived we got a different driver who was listening to Whitney Houston and began serenading us. We started to sing along with him: "AND I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU". It was really fun.

Members of the iLEAD Team taking a photo with one of the Portland Rehabilitative Management Shelter's Residents 

     Once our cab driver dropped us off at Great Huts we took some time to relax and we sat by the ocean before dinner. We ate dinner, which was amazing.  I was able to enjoy a local delicacy; garlic shrimp. Now we are working on our presentation for tomorrow where we will be taking Andrea through the training program that we have created. So far this whole experience has been incredible and humbling. I cannot explain how excited I am that I am here and get to hopefully make a difference at the shelter.

Breanna Lemieux

Travelling to Great Huts

     Today we departed from our accommodations at the Holiday Inn Sunspree in Montego Bay at 9 am to travel approximately 200 km to Great Huts Resort in Port Antonio. 

      During our travels around 11 am, we entered Stewart Town and we came up to a road block. We were told that it is common for the locals to block the road by placing trees across the road way. This time the locals were blocking the road with their bodies to protest the fact that their roads need maintenance. They had been promised that road work would be started by February of 2014, and it still hasn't been started.  This caused them to interfere with the flow of traffic of another road way. They were demanding to see Member of Parliament to discuss their road conditions. They also allowed women and children to participate in the road block.

Protest on the Jamaican streets blocking the road

                                     

     

     Our driver strategically told the protesters we were on our way to the airport. Since we are tourists and they do not want to hurt the perception of Jamaican they were peaceful and let us through, after an hour of waiting in the traffic. This may be because their economy cannot take the risk of losing tourism or having a negative perception. This was a peaceful protest and we were in no danger while it was taking place.  After we were passed through the protest, we made our way to our Eco-tourism location where some of the team would be doing their consulting work. 

Lauren Westervelt and Team arriving at Great Huts

      After we arrived to Great Huts Resort in Port Antonio we settled into our rooms which are huts with sand floors and bamboo walls. We then sat down and ordered our lunch, we tried things from Jerk Chicken, chicken wraps and a stuffed chicken.  Before dinner we were able to enjoy a swim in Great Hut's cliff-side pool.

Great Hut's amazing cliff-side pool

We finished off our night with a nice dinner and a team meeting in preparation for our work at Great Huts Resort and Portland Rehabilitation Management center. 

Members of the Portland Rehabilitation Center team working with Professor Leslie Wardley.
From left to right: Jenny Bateman, Haleigh Ferguson, Lauren Westervelt, Leslie Wardley, and Brea-Anna Jacksic

     Our first day at Great Huts was an experience we won't forget, and we look forward to what our first full day here tomorrow will bring!

Kimberly Knobel 

Day three in Jamaica: Activities and Excursions

        Day three in Jamaica allowed us to experience a lot of the activities the Holiday Inn Sunspree had to offer    
       At 10 am most of the girls participated in a water aerobics class. It was a very fun and nice workout to start the day. After this we headed off to the beach to go kayaking and paddle boating.

       Later in the afternoon we all met up with our iLEAD faculty members Leslie and Natalya for group photos. After group photos were taken we all went and played some volleyball and tennis.  This was a great opportunity to display our Nipissing shirts for the resort to see while getting some exercise.

                     The 2015 iLEAD Jamaican team 

Pictures of the iLEAD team playing volleyball in their Nipissing shirts

                           

   










        The best part of the day was going to Luminous Lagoon. Eight of us went and swam in the lagoon. Anytime the water is agitated in the lagoon the water would light up due to a very unique mix of both fresh and salt water with a high level of phosphorus.  This is one of only four places in the world that has this majestic attraction. When we came back from the Luminous Lagoon we enjoyed some cultural dancing, that were accompanied by hand drums. they were very intense performers that looked like they were enjoying themselves.  The third day of Jamaica was one we won't forget, and we are looking forward to the upcoming days.

  

The iLEAD Team experiencing Luminous Lagoon 

Jenny Bateman

Day two in Jamaica: Valentines Day

Day 2 – Saturday February 14, 2015

Happy Valentine’s Day!

     This morning everyone woke up early to get a good start on our first full day in Jamaica. I even woke up without my alarm. The sunshine and warm weather made it pretty easy though, it’s much better than waking up to -30˚ weather.

     At this morning’s orientation our facilitator asked us how we were doing, naturally we all replied “I’m good” or “I’m great” but for every answer he shook his head, “No, no, in Canada you say I’m good, I’m great, I’m fantastic but when someone asks you how you’re doing in Jamaica you say I’m irie.” Meaning, I’m doing alright, I’m on top of everything, I’m fantastic. I thought that was kind of neat. They have they’re own Jamaican way of saying ‘life is good’.

     I think we’re all finally starting to embrace the Jamaican culture. Jamaicans are so easy going and carefree, it’s really quite a change from Canadian culture. In Canada, we’re so consumed with our busy lives that we stress about the littlest things, but being in Jamaica I can see that the lifestyle is extremely stress-free. I’m quite a worrisome person by nature but being here has really opened my eyes that life doesn't need to be stressful and we all shouldn't let the little things bother us so much. Talk about culture shock!

     Tonight we all went for dinner at the Jamaican a la carte restaurant on our resort. The food was pretty good, but definitely different from what Canadians are used to. One thing’s for sure about authentic Jamaica food is that it is SPICY! At least for my taste buds anyway! I had the jerk chicken, which is pretty famous around here. It was very flavourful but again, so spicy! It was really nice to have everyone together for dinner, we joked that we all had 13 dates for Valentine’s Day!

The iLEAD group enjoying tradition Jamaican cuisine.

Tomorrow seems like another exciting day, stay posted!

Gina D'Antonio 

First day in Jamaica

Day one:

After an eventful trip to the airport, all twelve students and two professors left Toronto around 7:00am for Jamaica.

 Pearson International Airport, 4:00am        

         

  

         
    Upon arrival in Jamaica, we navigated through immigration. Jamaica is one of the only countries to require visitors to go through immigration on their way in and out of the country.  This complicated our process as we had to retain some forms for our trip home. Finally we got on a bus to take us to our resort.

       

Bus ride from the Montego Bay Airport to the resort, 12:15pm

            On the twenty minute bus ride, we all experienced a bit of culture shock. We had been prepared for the fact that the life in Jamaica is very different from Canada, but to see it in person was a new experience. The houses range from huts by the road to million dollar mansions up on the hills. We were all surprised to see vehicles that we also see in North America (Toyota, Honda, etc,) and a motorcyclist with his helmet hanging off his handlebars instead of on his head.  Driving on the left side of the road was something very strange for us.

       Once we got to the resort we dropped off our luggage and set off to explore the resort. We spent the afternoon chatting with the resort staff and napping since many of us had not slept the previous day. We are all beyond excited to start our first full day in Jamaica so stay tuned for day two! 

                      Exploring the resort, 1:30 pm. 

-Kerri Sawyer

Pre-Departure Post

The 2015 iLEAD Jamaica Expedition Details:

Great Huts:

›  What: Eco-resort

›  Where: Boston Bay, Portland, Jamaica

›  Project: Job descriptions, working to establish a performance appraisal system.  

›  Website: http://www.greathuts.com/

Portland Rehabilitation Management:

›  What: Homeless Shelter and Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre

›  Where: Port Antonio, Portland, Jamaica

›  Project: Creation of training framework

›  Website: http://www.prmhomeless.org/

The bags are packed, the students have done their research and implementation report to be presented to the Great Huts managers, and we will soon be off to Jamaica!  Follow us on this blog for daily posts about our experiences.  

Follow us on Twitter: @iLEADJamaica

For more information on iLEAD: http://ilead.nipissingu.ca

Matthew Lewis

iLEAD and Jamaica Expedition Liaison