Fusion Caribbean Update November 2007

Many of you may have been wondering what has been happening for Fusion Caribbean in the last 3 months, unfortunately everything was disrupted by the Hurricane in late August, and having fallen off the rhythm of sending an update that month it has taken us a while to get back to it. So we will summarise the last three months in this update and then get back to the regular monthly ones. Because of that it will be slightly longer than normal.

Emancipation Day Festival

August 1st is a significant day for Jamaica; the commemoration of the Slavery Abolition Act that was passed on Aug 1st 1834. People all over the country celebrate in different ways, and we see it as a major cultural event in Jamaica, when we can help Jamaicans come together to celebrate and reflect on our national story. Because of this, Emancipation Day is becoming part of a pattern 3 major community celebrations each year that we are working towards as a way of helping local communities reengage with one another in a positive way (the other two are at Easter and Advent).

This is the first year that we have included Emancipation day in our community festivals, so we began in Trench Town, using it to train volunteers from other communities and helping them see the impact that these events can have. So volunteers came from Trench Town, other communities in Kingston and also Spanish Town. With around 300 people participating, it turned out to be a lovely day, and finished off with an energetic go of the Hokey Pokey (if you are in the UK you will know it as the Hokey Cokey) which had everyone singing and laughing together! At the end of the night all the volunteers came together and shared stories from the day and it was encouraging to hear how many stories there were of people being impacted.

Since the Cricket World Cup, we have been working in several other communities, and had planned festivals in two of them following Emancipation Day. Because of floods due to a tropical storm, and then Hurricane Dean we were not able to have these festivals. In spite of this, preparations for Christmas celebrations in these communities are well underway!

Yard Flexx

Also in August we began our “Yard Flexx” program! You might be wondering what this unfamiliar name is all about!? In Australia this program is known as Talk n’ Tucker—a program where young people that come to faith in other programmes can learn more, build relationships and discuss the challenging questions that they have about trying to live out their faith in daily life.

With a regular group of about 12 enthusiastic young people this programme has made a good start and we are excited to how the young people are growing and maturing through it.

Hurricane Dean and Elections

Hurricane warnings are common in Jamaica, but by Friday Aug 17th we realised we were very likely to get a direct hit from Hurricane Dean. We prepared in whatever ways we could – buying canned food, extra water, lanterns and candles, storing water... and by Sunday afternoon the electricity was shut off and we were waiting quietly for what was to come. We sat in the lounge room with roaring winds and heavy rain outside, praying that our friends in other communities all be safe. By 7am on Monday morning we were able to go outside.

Trees, signs and light posts had fallen over as well as house roofs lifted. For the most part, all of our team’s homes were fine, but the Fusion office didn’t fare so well. The roof was peeled back and then the ceiling caved in because of all the rain (see photos). There was quite a lot of damage to other buildings on the same compound, so we have been working from Liz and David’s house but finally the roof and ceiling are almost finished being repaired!

The elections were postponed after the hurricane, until September 3rd. Elections in Jamaica can be quite a tense time, with an increase of violence, particularly in Kingston. We were encouraged to stay close to home around the election day, which we did, and could hear gun fire in the area. The end result was that a new government was voted in, the former party having been in power for the last 16 years. It was said to have been a peaceful election because only 12 people had been murdered.

We are grateful for everyone’s prayers during these challenging times, and for God’s protection through it all.

International Conference

In mid-September it was Fusion’s International Conference in Australia, so Ashley, Lauren and our first Jamaican staff worker to attend International Conference, Kevon Mc Leish, all made the journey to Australia. Kevon was able to see more of Fusion’s work, learn about what happens in other countries, and of course teach everyone some dance moves!

Kenny, who has been working with full time since April, stayed back in Jamaica to work with the rest of the team to keep things going while we were away. This was a big job but we are very thankful for the way he persevered and managed things. Lauren went back to work with the team in Bendigo (Australia) after Conference—she is missed.

Into October

Kevon returned to Jamaica at the end of September, just in time to help coordinate the September Day Trip! Unfortunately our bus driver did not show up on the morning which meant postponing it for a week. This meant that some of our team could not come, so we invited some of the young people who have been coming to the day trips for a while to help as leaders. Without much training they weren't fully prepared, but they were keen to take on the responsibility and help as well as they could, so the day went well.

Since then we have given them more training to be peer leaders on the November Day Trip, and they have been helping the whole process of planning the December one. So the challenges of a bus not turning up and then a lack of leaders has ended up helping some of the young people move from being just participants to being part of the team!

Through early October Kenny and Kevon kept the work going before Ashley returned from Australia over a week later – which was good experience for them because Ashley also went to LA for 5 days later in the month to help train people there who will be taking part in Fusion’s festivals at the 2008 Olympics in Bejing.

We were all relieved when Tim arrived from the UK to help for 6 weeks, and his crazy “white man dancing” moves have attracted attention from Jamaicans in churches, in the community and even in School Principal’s offices when we have been having meetings about Advent!

Kids Club

Kids club continues to be a very special way of helping the next generation get exposed to a more positive way of relating to one another, but we have also faced an unforeseen challenge there as well—a group of about 7 kids that are 2 and 3 years old keep turning up! The age group should be 4 – 11, but we are looking at what it would mean for them to be involved, because they keep coming and although we have asked, we can not find out who is supposed to be taking care of them, or who normally does. (Those are the kids in the photo, they're so precious!). Please pray as we work out how we can care for these children as well.

Conclusion

These months have really challenged us as a team to be creative in how we continue to sustain the work and care for the young people and communities; with our office damaged, national tension around the elections, and then some of the team away. The local team has been faithful in supporting Kenny and also Kevon when he returned, and has continued to persevere with us through the challenges. Amazingly, in many ways the challenges have resulted in growth that we would not otherwise have planned.

Thank you all for taking the time to hear a bit of our world over here in the Caribbean. We appreciate all of the prayers and support through these months as we continue to work for change in the lives of young people and their communities.

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

ashley.hansen@fusion.org.au

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