There are TWO Jamaicas…
We quickly learned that there are two Jamaicas.
The pretty one that the government and the Tourist Board wish you to see… sand, surf, fun in the sun, lavish resorts, and rich (mostly American) foreign nationals who own big fine homes
…and….
The very, very poor people - really, most of the country. It seems that the government prefers them to stay hidden. We heard that the average salary in Jamaica is around $30US per week, and the unemployment rate is staggering. It’s really no wonder that we met children who’d never owned a pair of shoes.
Rich people live here…
and here
and poor people live here
and here…
I’m not saying that all things should be equal. I understand that the rich will be rich and the poor will be poor. However, when the rich are very rich, and getting richer, and the poor are very poor, and getting poorer, there’s a problem. If in order to earn the tiniest of incomes to eke out an existence the poor must serve the rich, is their situation any better than slavery? Sure… they could refuse to work, and starve. No one’s forcing them to do it.
Jamaica has its fair share of homeless people as well. Here is Dave (mentioned in a previous post):
Dave usually sleeps on a sidewalk somewhere. We’d fed him and given him some clothing the day before, and told him we’d get him something for breakfast. We told him we were missionaries and he figured he’d best wait for us. He was so afraid we’d leave and he wouldn’t get anything to eat, he spent the night on the sidewalk across from our hotel. The girl who works security at Casa Blanca (the hotel across the street) came out at about 6:30am and hollered at him to move because he’d scare the tourists. We caught up to him later with some breakfast, though.
Dave’s certainly not the only one… we met and prayed for several homeless men, including one poor fellow in a wheelchair who had an abscess on his foot so bad that the infect had twisted his foot to where it was barely recognizable AS a foot. We saw many more people we assumed to be homeless but didn’t get a chance to interact with. Remember… this is right on the Hip Strip in Montego Bay. If you go into downtown Mo Bay, there’s a lot more… and there’s apparently only a very few Christian ministries helping.
More later…
April 11th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Convert any of the heathen down there, ma’am?
April 12th, 2008 at 7:28 am
On THIS trip, most of the people we met were already believers. The ones we weren’t sure about heard about Jesus. In many ways, though, Jamaica is like America… particularly the American South. “Most” people are “Christians” but only a few of them know Jesus. Or even know they should.
We’re planning a trip back to two or three areas. We’d like to stay at least a week, maybe two, in each… working with the local churches (or independently - there’s some towns not served by a local church) to do a Vacation Bible School sort of thing for the children, practical helps like food and clothing for families, arranging men’s and women’s meetings, talking with gang members, encouraging the pastor, training leaders, etc.
We’d like to stay in these areas, but they’re so remote that there’s no hotels. It would be a hardship on them for us to stay with most families… even if we provide the food. We MIGHT be able to stay in the church building and roll out mats on the floor, but that leaves us in a pickle about some things (like showers). But God will work it out.
We’d probably stay in one community 7 days, take a 2-day break, stay in another community 7 days, take a 2-day break, and then come home.
Lots of prayer and bug spray.
April 12th, 2008 at 8:35 am
You should’ve went to Hati; from what I’ve heard it’s chock full of heathens! Heathens! Heathens!
April 13th, 2008 at 6:19 am
What exactly makes them MORE (to borrow your word) heathenistic than, say, unsaved Jamaicans or unsaved Americans?
Just curious
I would actually like to go to Haiti… but would prefer to do so with a shipload full of food. There are many who are starving to death there.
April 13th, 2008 at 6:38 am
“What exactly makes them MORE (to borrow your word) heathenistic than, say, unsaved Jamaicans or unsaved Americans?”
Why VooDoo, or course!
April 13th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Hey, why are you suddenly on moderate status?? Maybe it’s a new “feature” in this version of WP??? I’ll try to sort it later after more coffee.
What makes voodoo any “worse” (apparently in your eyes) than wicca? (which of course ranges from the very serious to the fluff-bunny-glitter-sparkle-read-a-book sort)
Or why is it more eeeeevil than obeah? Or atheism? Or Buddhism?
Just curious
(BTW, obeah is the “hidden” religion of Jamaica. Similar to “voodoo” but less rigid and more pragmatic in practice. Very secretive. )
April 13th, 2008 at 8:28 am
“Or why is it more eeeeevil than obeah? Or atheism? Or Buddhism?”
Atheism and Buddhism aren’t evil. Besides where else can you find zombies and movies like The Serpent and the Rainbow but VooDoo?
April 14th, 2008 at 9:02 am
And at least spring has finally arrived where I live; the first demonic locust of the year just flew by my window screaming “Abaddon! Abaddon!”…
April 17th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Yay, the first demonic locust of the season! Ours scream, “Giambrone! Giambrone!” The smog kills them all in a couple of weeks, but until then the colours are just stunning.
Kathi, I actually hope you can talk folks around to your way of thinking there. I know you don’t approve of homosexuality, but I know you also don’t approve of violence against homosexuals, and that’s something that’s concerned me very much about Jamaica for a few years.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Ichy hon… I thought Shaun of the Dead was the best zombie movie ever…
Cat… agreed. All it takes is for someone to think you’re a “batty boy” and violence ensues.
From what we saw amongst the tourists, the gay men were afraid to show it, and the lesbians flaunted it (and no one said anything to them, people seemed happy to trade with them…)
I saw no incidence of homosexuality among the local folks we dealt with.
April 18th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I imagine it would be like my hometown: if you’re gay, you don’t let anyone know, and get out as soon as you can. Here there’s always the cities, but I guess there you might actually have to emigrate!
April 19th, 2008 at 7:34 am
“Ichy hon… I thought Shaun of the Dead was the best zombie movie ever…”
But did it have……VooDoo?
April 19th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Not that I recall… just zombies and flagrant f-bombs. Tho it was funnier when they shot the scene with Pete, with the F changed to “funk”…