Turkey Day passed uneventfully and while I did not enjoy the traditional dinner with my family and friends, I did make mini pumpkin pies thanks to a package sent to me by my friend Nancy containing all the ingredients for pumpkin pie, including 6 mini graham cracker pie crusts.
This week has been extremely busy. National Youth Month continued with a breakfast fundraiser on Friday organized by my office to raise money for the Residential Summer Camp sponsored by the Department of Youth. We offered 3 meal choices in a pre-order sale to people who work in the various Ministries. Option 1: Salt fish, hard boiled egg, fruit, muffin, rolls, salad and potatoes. Option 2: Sausage, hard boiled egg, johnny cakes, pancakes, fruit and salad. Option 3: Whatever was left over that didn't contain meat or fish. Food was prepared by volunteers and brought to the office by 6:00 a.m. so that we could put it together in containers for pick up. About 100 meals were served and $1,000 was raised. Later that afternoon I was a volunteer worker at the World Aids Day March. This time I was on garbage pick up, following the walkers and retrieving their discarded water bottles, food wrappers and unwanted condoms passed out only moments before. I will confess mine was not an especially sought after assignment, most volunteers opted for information/condom distribution or banner holding, but then again it wasn't as bad as the person who has to follow the elephants in a Circus parade.
And finally on Saturday morning, I participated in a building project similar to Habitat for Humanity, where a team of volunteers built a house in one day for an 85 year old displaced man who had worked for Public Works here on St. Kitts for some 55 years. Now a squatter living in a one room shanty without doors, electricity, plumbing or water, the man watched patiently sitting in a folding chair across the street while we gathered his belongings and set them aside before the caterpillar arrived to raze the place he'd called home for 17 years. Working from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. we were able to demolish, clear debris, build and furnish a new home that will hopefully bring the comfort and peace this man deserves in his remaining years. After the initial demolition, the caterpillar and backhoe left the site and the carpenters arrived to erect the structure. Once the floor was laid and the sides were in place, I knew that the many hands of caring people gathered together would transform this dream into reality for a fellow human being who had somehow become one of the many neglected and forsaken elderly. I am grateful for the experience and for the opportunity to be a part of this team.
I have become quite fond of the rooster who sleeps in the tree outside my kitchen window. He is a handsome specimen, with black feathers, a greenish sheen, and green blue legs. He has excellent lungs and uses them often, flocking calls to gather his hens. He has become my touch stone, climbing into his spot at the same time everyday around sunset and crowing at the break of day whether I'm ready to listen to him or not. Actually he crows all day, an especially vociferous bird and very territorial it seems.
Getting up early has become one of my favorite things to do here. Coffee in hand of course, I love to look out the window at dawn as the sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean. It is especially breathtaking and a powerful moment of nature at its best. It is a time that makes me feel blessed.
And finally on Saturday morning, I participated in a building project similar to Habitat for Humanity, where a team of volunteers built a house in one day for an 85 year old displaced man who had worked for Public Works here on St. Kitts for some 55 years. Now a squatter living in a one room shanty without doors, electricity, plumbing or water, the man watched patiently sitting in a folding chair across the street while we gathered his belongings and set them aside before the caterpillar arrived to raze the place he'd called home for 17 years. Working from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. we were able to demolish, clear debris, build and furnish a new home that will hopefully bring the comfort and peace this man deserves in his remaining years. After the initial demolition, the caterpillar and backhoe left the site and the carpenters arrived to erect the structure. Once the floor was laid and the sides were in place, I knew that the many hands of caring people gathered together would transform this dream into reality for a fellow human being who had somehow become one of the many neglected and forsaken elderly. I am grateful for the experience and for the opportunity to be a part of this team.
Getting up early has become one of my favorite things to do here. Coffee in hand of course, I love to look out the window at dawn as the sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean. It is especially breathtaking and a powerful moment of nature at its best. It is a time that makes me feel blessed.
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