Good Afternoon!

My adventures in St. Lucia are over...I'm back in Toronto and although I have only been back for a day and a half...I'm already missing everything about St. Lucia, the views, the people, all my kids and all the friends I have made. I'm even missing the mosquito bites, the lack of water and the power outages and even the storms that forced us to remain at home playing dominoes and random card games with our Lucian friends and co-workers!

I know when you think of the West Indies you don't really think development...but after living and working in Anse La Raye, a little village whereby 6,000 people live in a very condensed space, where 51% of the population live under the poverty line, 54% of the population is under 21 years of age and 80% of the village's (a fishing village) income comes from Fish Fry (A Friday night street event where vendors sell their "touristy" goods and fish, bakes and alcohol - rum punch *yum*-are sold through local vendors). Working men who work up North (as construction workers for resorts/hotels, bartenders and so on) are layed off for 2-3 weeks at a time because business is slow, development takes on a whole new definition.

The program ran really well, despite the executive director and another Canadian volunteer falling ill with Dengue Fever. We had approximately 60 youth attend the Youth Leadership Workshop and a total of about 200 children attend the Children's Literacy Camps. I was a Facilitator and Assistant Coordinator of the Youth Leadership Workshop and I had my hands full with the oldest group. My kids were aged between 15-21 and needless to say whoever saw my group of kids told me I had all the worst kids in the village. Some were on the "BLOCK" (which means they are heavy pot users and that's all they are really into), I had the school dropouts and just really all the "MAD" (Crazy) kids of the village. I spent the first two weeks breaking up fights (quite literally fist fights, fights that involved rock pelting and one situation knives were involved) but despite all of that I feel as though I had the best group. I have grown very attached to all my kids and once you take time to get to know them and have one on one sessions you realize they all come with their own stories and their own struggles as to why they have landed in such a situation.

We grew so close as a team, that I was sick one day unable to attend the program, that after camp ended I had my whole group trek up the hill (we lived about a 30 minute walk uphill from the camp location) to visit me and make sure I was ok. It was moments like that that made me realize that I had picked the perfect internship despite all the doubts I had in my mind as I was deciding and even after signing my contract!

Now that I'm back into the real world...I feel like I should be gearing up to go back to Humber tomorrow and start classes with you all again, but alas I shall remain at home and try to find myself a job.

Please stay tuned for some pics that I will be posting shortly! Hope you are all keeping well and I think we need to get together for some Rum Punch and possibly a few games of Dominoes?!?!