Falling In Love With An Island by Zara

Falling In Love With An Island by Zara - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

Jamaica is a country with a rich, diverse culture. Although the island is known for its tourist beaches and luxury cruise ship stops, many communities inside the country are in poverty and in need. Over the course of two mission trips to Jamaica, I have truly developed a love for Jamaica, Jamaican culture and the Jamaican people. I served in a variety of ways, from construction projects to visitations with the elderly, to leading children’s programs. I have a passion for serving others and a love for medicine, both of which have led to my pursuit of a nursing degree.

In 2013, I was offered the opportunity to go to Jamaica to serve. When I arrived in Jamaica for the first time, I immediately fell in love with the island. The atmosphere, people, and culture captured my heart at first glance. Jamaican culture is unique in that Jamaicans are very open, welcoming, and family-oriented. Jamaicans easily welcome visitors into their homes, treat them like family, and want to get to know them. While on the island, I visited orphanages for children with disabilities, infirmaries for the elderly and local churches. Our team led a Vacation Bible School for the children in local churches and the surrounding communities. This trip began my initial love for Jamaica, the people, and the communities in poverty on the island.

During my second trip in the summer of 2016, my love for Jamaicans was cemented and I truly developed a heart for the people and their well-being. On this trip, our team worked with Praying Pelican Missions to partner with local churches and Jamaicans on construction projects for the benefit of communities and other churches in nearby areas. As leaders of a children’s Vacation Bible School, I worked alongside Jamaicans to love, teach, and encourage the children in the community of Christiana, Jamaica. We also visited two orphanages and an infirmary, where we interacted with Jamaicans of all ages and circumstances, ministering to them. At the orphanages, our team led the children in worship, played games, and spent most of the time interacting with the kids in whatever way they wanted. One girl in particular, Elizabeth, had minor mental disabilities and wanted to play with me the entire day. She showed me how much children need to be loved and how even just a day of love can bring a great amount of joy to a child. Elizabeth, along with many other girls and boys, spent hours braiding hair with me and the other girls on the mission team. At the infirmary, our team sang to, visited with, and assisted in caring for many of the elderly and mentally disabled adults. These and many other experiences throughout the trip opened my eyes to see the opportunities and needs in Jamaica for unconditional love and service.

Through both of my trips to Jamaica I saw immense poverty and a lack of health standards within Jamaican communities. For a country that is rich and thriving in tourism, poverty is still very present on the interior of the island. The same is true for the United States and my community of Durham, North Carolina. Underneath all of the success, business, and revenue coming in, many families are struggling to make ends meet and to gain access to health care. In the future, I would like to use my college education and nursing degree to benefit the lives of others by bringing better healthcare to those in poverty.