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Fusion Caribbean Update May 2008

It has been quite a significant time of transition since our last update, with David, Liz and Zoë Campbell returning to Jamaica from Australia and Ashley Hansen (team leader in their absence) moving back to Canada to prepare for her wedding to Matty Coppin in July (congratulations guys!) However, in the midst of these changes the momentum of the work has kept growing in both the regular programs and the bigger events, so this update will fill you in on that news.

A Growing Team

Team meeting Just after the last update we had a "Friends of Fusion" evening to bring together many of the people who we have been in contact with help them see the bigger picture for each part of the work. The team members outlined all the different aspects of the work and some of the young people got to share how it had affected them. At the end, a volunteer called Jackie spoke about not having any purpose in her life until she started working at Kids Club, and how much difference it had made to her confidence and self-esteem to have a purpose. She has not done any of our training about the importance of purpose, but it was just so obvious to her what had changed in her life.

Ashley's farewell dinnerAt the team meeting just after David’s return, while the team were reflecting on the work and what was significant about it, Kay (from Central Village ) said simply; “It brings out the me in me!”

Another new team member from the same community said that the sense of belonging in each program was what made her keep coming.

I mention these because the team has been growing in number lately, but it is their own words that say best why they have been coming and what has been drawing them, and inspiring them to invite their friends, to be a part of the work.

Easter

Having those extra numbers was a very helpful thing at Easter, because it was our busiest Easter yet in terms of the number of events. After the prayer vigil on Thursday night into Good Friday morning, we then had 5 festivals and 2 marches over 3 days touching 5 different communities!

Payne Land Hokey PokeyOn the Saturday the Festivals were in Majesty Gardens, Trench Town and just outside Montego Bay – all of them with over 400 people attending. The Montego Bay Festival was going well for almost 2 hours until the rain came down so heavily that it had to be stopped. Many of the people sheltered in the school, and the teachers made space for the volunteers to keep playing games with some of the children – so even then, people wanted to keep some of the sense of fun and togetherness going. In Majesty Gardens there was a problem with the P.A. but the festival still went on and the children were much more peaceful towards each other than at some festivals in the past, and in Trench Town a small team worked well together to carry out a busy festival; nobody wanted to leave when it was over and we had an army of children helping to pack up all the equipment.

With so many festivals on the same day we had to spread the more experienced team out which gave some challenges, and meant that for Majesty Gardens and Trench Town we were not able to create quite the open and relaxed culture that was intended. In spite of that it was a great learning experience for the team, and many people got to try out new roles. One 12 year old girl, Janiel, who has been coming to the festivals for 4 years was the face painting team leader, and she and her team of 6 face painters ranging from 11 to 16 years old managed to provide face painting throughout the whole festival. She was so excited at being able to carry this important role!

Trench Town marching to Payne LandOn Easter Sunday we had two marches, from Trench Town and Majesty Gardens and both meeting up at another inner city community called Payne Land to run a festival there. The children in each community had painted banners at the Festivals on Saturday, and marched behind these banners to the other community. It was the first time we had done a march that took people out of their community altogether and into another one to bring the message of hope and new beginnings at Easter through the death of self interest and the coming alive of care. With new volunteers now ready for more responsibility and the whole team together again it was a much stronger event, and really brought the entire community together.

Payne Land Tug of WarThe tug of war between the children and the adults got many of those watching involved, and there was massive cheering from the high rise buildings on all four sides of the venue when the children won … 3 times in a row! As we were leaving all the team were being asked when we would be returning, so we have kept contact and some young people from this community will be coming to the next day trip, as well as some adults coming to see our kids club with a view to starting one there.

7 minutes!Then on Easter Monday we were in Central Village and had the largest festival we have ever had in that community. This time the churches were much more involved, which made a huge difference. The highlight of the festival was close to the end when they broke the Jamaican record for keeping the beach ball in the air; with a time of 7 minutes and 40 seconds! To see the whole community working together on this activity was a beautiful sight, and since then more volunteers have joined in some of the regular programs.

Ongoing Work

Schools workIn some of the ongoing work we have seen a great response to schools work, and young people calling each other out to the values of “build people up, help people grow because people matter” even when they are just in regular school time not just the lunchtime program that we have been running. This month’s day trip (May 10th) will be the first one with young people from the schools work joining in, as well as young people coming from Payne Land – so we have had to order an extra bus in order to have space.

Dominoes on the day tripThe Day Trips themselves have been going well – particularly because of recently starting peer-leader training and including some of the young people who have been coming for longer as leaders. Last month’s day trip started well, but then torrential rain came down during the second set of activities.
Football in the rainSo to improvise some of the peer leaders just started a game of football in the rain, and everyone was just having the time of their lives getting completely soaked! At the end we were trying to get everyone together for a game of ultimate Frisbee, but they were very distracted by trying to slide the furthest on their backsides in the mud. The peer leaders all rallied round and encouraged everyone to get involved in Ultimate Frisbee, and it drew the whole group together for a great finish to the activities. In spite of the rain several of the young people said it was the best day trip they had ever been on.

Basketball matchWith the basketball program we are entering a new phase, where we are starting a separate training time for the 15 – 17 year olds and then getting them to help coach the 11 – 14 year olds. This new structure is due to start this month but we have had positive response from the young people about the plans, and it will be good to encourage them to keep contributing as well as receiving from the programs.

Kids ClubWith Kids club it has been great to see the team growing almost every week, especially as more people have been coming from Central Village as they prepare to start a separate club there for the children in their community. We had some festivals in a community called Marverley last weekend and a team from there is also coming to take part in the Kids Club to prepare to start one in their community. Kids ClubThis month the topic is cooperation, and one 10 year old boy said thoughtfully in the discussion time on the first week “the world would be a much better place if everyone cooperated.” That was where the discussion will point in the fourth week, but it was good to see him understand the significance of the value just from the first week. We also heard from people who live in the community that kids have been telling their parents to keep the values that they are learning at kids club with comments like; “Mum you are supposed to treat others with respect”. They are understanding how much of a difference these values make and now they just expect everyone else to follow them too.

Coming Up… Please Pray For

  • In the next few weeks we are re-structuring some of the monthly timetable to make room for more volunteer training and networking as well, in order to grow the work and build on the momentum that has been building over the past year. We are using the Kids Club example to develop an ongoing program for Basketball and Yard Flexx, so that each week will build on the previous one more clearly, which will really strengthen the work locally but also create a model that can more easily be reproduced elsewhere.
  • New Kids Clubs will be starting in Central Village this month and Marverley soon after that, and we are talking with some leaders in Payne land about possibly starting one there as well.
  • The day trip on May 10th will bring in young people from Schools work and also another new community, but even with extra space we still have more demand than we are able to supply because of not yet having enough trained leaders.
  • Our next major event (as in festivals) will be Emancipation Day (August 1st) but we will be using the time of preparation over the next 3 months to meet with several church and community leaders to hear their heart for their community and help them see the potential for this kind of community work to assist in building towards those goals.
  • Please pray particularly for regular finances for the ongoing work. We can often find support for the major events but just covering our administrative costs like print cartridges, rent, phone bills etc is an ongoing struggle. We are also looking for more office equipment like a fax machine (and are very grateful for desks and a filing cabinet that we have just been told we can have.)
  • Also David and Liz’s 15-seater van has been the regular vehicle for all the programs, so there is a clash any time they need a vehicle and there are work needs, so are now looking to get a family vehicle so that the van can just be for work. Please pray for further provision for this.
  • Of course it would be great to keep praying for Ashley and Matty as they prepare to tie the knot, and the next steps for their life together. Ashley is very much missed by the team here, and young people come to the office every day asking if she is around.

Thank you for continuing to take the journey with us, we have been very conscious of being carried in your thoughts and prayers through some of the more challenging times.

 

The Fusion Caribbean Team
“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”
- Mother Teresa

 

Information and support

If you would like to receive information about how you can support the work of Fusion Caribbean either in prayer, by lending a hand, by telling others about us or financially then please contact us.

Tel: + 876 967 4738

david.campbell@fusion.org.au

7 Swallowfield Close, Kingston 5, Jamaica, West Indies.

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