Make Your Tropical Caribbean Vacation Count. Visit and Donate to a Local School!

Our Story and How You Can Help by Visiting a Local School

Our last visit to Jamaica was our fourth since Caiden was born. On each of our trips to Mexico and the Caribbean we visit a local school and help as much as we can to support the local community.

Volunteering is one of the most special gifts you can give your children. It teaches them empathy and allows them to make an impact in the lives of others. Small Footprints Big Adventures has written a wonderful post on the value of volunteering with children while travelling, whether it be helping local people or animals so if you’re looking for more ideas, definitely check it out.

Our First Experience of Visiting a School

We visited Mexico when the children were just 2, 3 and 6. I had been doing research for our upcoming trip and discovered that there was a school in Akumal that needed supplies. There were several travellers that would bring items directly to the school so I reached out to a few of them.

We took a cab from our resort to the school. Even though it was during their Easter break, a teacher was there and we left a suitcase with clothing, stuffed animals and school supplies. He showed us around the tiny school, explained how their day worked and told us a bit about his students. It was an incredible first experience.

Our First Visit to a Local School in Jamaica – Ask your Tour Guide for Help!

A year later we visited Jamaica for the first time. The guide we hired for a day excursion worked with a local school and mentioned it while we were exchanging emails to prepare for our visit. I asked and she offered to bring us there before our planned excursion. We jumped at the chance.

It was a great opportunity for our kids to see how children on the island lived and attended school. The small school was attached to a chapel and we started the day with morning prayers there.

We then spent an hour with the children and my children, who were the same age, attended class along with them. It was a big difference from their own school.

Want to Visit a Local School in the Caribbean? Ask your Hotel or Resort for Help!

Three years ago, we visited Jewel Runaway Bay in Jamaica for the first time. We contacted the hotel in advance and they arranged for us to visit a local high school, Runaway Bay School. We brought school supplies, playground toys such as footballs and frisbees and pencils for each of the kids.

When we returned from the school, one of our new friends working at JRB asked for us to keep her school in mind if we visit again. That was the beginning of a wonderful relationship.

Our Visit to Runaway Bay Basic School in Jamaica and Our First Visit to Chester Primary

The following year, we planned to visit two schools and we brought much more in supplies. We again worked with the hotel to make a visit to another school in Runaway Bay. This time we wanted to visit a school with younger children so the hotel brought us to Runaway Bay Basic School.

The children were so sweet. We enjoyed our visit in Runaway Bay. The children were lovely and everything we brought was thoroughly appreciated.

Later that week, we visited Chester Primary, the school sponsored by our new friend the year before. We enjoyed all the schools we had previously visited but our trip to Chester Primary was special.

Chester Primary main building

The day we visited  Chester Primary, they also had a visit from a young boy named Rafe Cochrane. He was a 12 year old golfer from Florida who was working with Food for the Poor to raise money to build a proper infant school for the younger children. The infant school was very small, in rough shape and not really safe for the children.

When Rafe left, Lucas, Sydney and Caiden played soccer and school yard games with the grade six children. It was the day before their country-wide exams and they were permitted free time to play.

It was incredibly special. We met the children, played games and truly learned just a little bit about the way of life in rural Jamaica.

The Next Visit to a Local School in Jamaica – A New Plan

With the assistance of the National Education Trust who provided the documentation needed to bring the school supplies in without having to pay duty, we brought several suitcases of school supplies to each of the schools we visited that trip along with hundreds of toothbrushes that had been donated by the kids’ orthodontist. But we knew, even then, we needed to do more.

Throughout the following year, we followed the progress of the building of the new infant school. We remained in touch with the school Principal and asked many questions regarding the needs of the school. We also did our own research.

Children in Jamaica do exams in grade six. Their marks in these exams, in part, determine which schools they will be accepted in for high school.

I had read that many families have difficulty paying the school expenses required for children to attend high school and for some, even if they receive high marks in their grade six exams, they are unable to attend the high school of their choice because their family is unable to afford the expenses.

I asked the Principal of Chester Primary many questions related to school fees, cost of uniforms as well as the number of children per class.

In the weeks leading up to our visit, our children approached their teachers. They had a plan. Although they wanted to donate themselves, they wanted to raise money with the help of their own schools.

Their plan was to give scholarships to several children of the grade six graduating class so that they could attend the school that they wished. These scholarships would go to students who were hard workers, received high marks in their exams and were in financial need.

Lucas’ band instructor ran with the idea. They had done a fundraiser in the past that had raised quite a bit of money for the band. He wanted to do the same with funds going to the students in Jamaica. Ultimately, the fundraiser ran into difficulties as there just wasn’t enough time to do the fundraiser prior to our visit but the school itself provided a donation anyway.

Sydney and Caiden’s elementary school was very excited about helping but they did have other worthy fundraisers happening at the same time and they were concerned about asking parents for too much. Sydney did a presentation in her class and, in the end, the grade 5 and 6 teachers sent an email to the parents and put a jar in each grade 6 classroom and in the staff room to raise funds for the scholarships.

Prior to arriving in Jamaica, we arranged with the Principal a day to visit the school. When that day finally came, we arrived at the school with fewer school supplies than the previous year and a few envelopes in hand.

Upon arrival, we told the Principal of our plan. Once all was said and done, the children presented the Principal at Chester Primary with three scholarships in the amount of 30,000JMD and two scholarships in the amount of 20,000JMD.

She was overjoyed and immediately brought us to the grade six classroom where the children were told. They were very excited and sang us some beautiful songs that they had been practicing. Afterwards we handed out some of the goodies that we brought with us for them.

We then visited each of the classrooms …

… and finally were able to see in person the new infant building. It really was amazing with several classrooms, bathrooms, and a kitchen area. It had a playground area and was painted beautiful bright colours; situated near the road for all to see. What an encouragement for more young children in the community to attend school!

When lunchtime arrived, our children played soccer, ran foot races and played hand games with the grade six students in the back field. An experience of a lifetime that we will always cherish.

How can you help?

For anyone visiting Jamaica or other locations in the Caribbean, I encourage you to collect school supplies to bring with you. They have so little and everything, even small amounts, can make a huge difference.

The cost of getting supplies overseas to the islands results in high sale prices for these items and when combined with the incredibly low salaries that workers earn on the islands, the attainment of school supplies is at times beyond the grasp of many. Some airlines will waive the excess baggage fees if you’re bringing donations.

Start your collection during the back to school sales. Reach out to your hotel to ask if they will help you visit a local school or if they will deliver the supplies on your behalf. I’m sure they will help. Reach out to local tour guides. They would happily collect supplies or bring you to the schools. There’s also a wonderful program called Pack for a Purpose that can help.

Just a few ideas that can help make a difference:

• Go through your own pile of games and books at home.
• Shop back to school sales. Many stores have promotions where certain items are incredibly low priced. I was able to buy pencils for 10 cents a pack. Stock up!
• Shop at the dollar store. While some items are not high quality, others are. I bought a steel pencil sharpener for each classroom. They were less than $5 at a local dollar store when the business store was selling the exact same item for over $30 each. Dollar stores are also a great source for classroom posters, flash cards, puzzles and games.
• Visit your local library. Here in Ottawa, our public library has a ‘Mammoth Book Sale” every few months where they sell donated books to raise funds for the library. During these ‘mammoth’ sales, children’s books are only 25 cents each. On our first visit I focused on picture books. On our second visit, I focused on soft cover chapter books. In total, we were able to provide over 200 books to the school.
• Ask your dentist or orthodontist to donate toothbrushes. We have never been refused and one of our dentists also provided small tubes of toothpaste.
• Ask your local schools, sports teams and/or girl guides and boy scouts to get involved. It’s an incredible learning experience for the kids and you’ll be surprised by the positive reaction and willingness to help.

We aren’t returning to Jamaica this year and since we’re staying in a villa, we don’t have someone to ask about a visit to a local school in Barbados yet but there is a young girl from Jamaica that is attending the University of the West Indies. A friend in Jamaica reached out to us last summer and we decided to help her attend university. It isn’t much but to her, it makes a difference. We’ve been in regular touch with her since she started her studies and we’ll get to meet her this March when we visit Barbados. We can’t wait!

Remember, YOU can make a difference!!