An Unexpected Journey
This week saw the culmination of months of work and planning both at home and on the job. Cheryl rounded out her project, my coworkers and I finally completed the CPFSA Capacity Assessment, and after months of prodding, the camping group I’d been hoping to join (a handful of my coworker Jody-Ann’s friends) went on their weekend trip!
After weeks of working on the Capacity Assessment Tool for the Child Protection & Family Services Administration, the Winrock office finally met with CPFSA representatives at their office building on Monday morning to determine how effectively the agency handles child trafficking cases across the island and to look for areas of improvement. We had a nice lunch event, followed up by a short documentary on trafficking in Jamaica.
The next few days were spent pouring over the results and deciding how best to report them, and starting preparations for the ending of the CLEAR II project. One of our managers from the D.C. Office came down to get an idea of the day-to-day happenings at the office and wrap up a few remaining tasks.
On Thursday Cheryl’s Winrock project came to a close. Representatives from the Winrock office in D.C., the U.S. Embassy, and a number of ministries in the Jamaican Government held a closing ceremony with wonderful speeches and remarks and plenty of press coverage. Cheryl was in charge of the CLEAR II Project, which was a one year long project focusing on child labour. Following the ceremony, the team had a while to network a bit while having some refreshments, then the whole Winrock office went out for a lovely dinner to celebrate Cheryl’s last day of work.
After a brief meeting Friday morning, I took a taxi to the north end of Kingston to meet up with a caravan of 4x4 vehicles that was heading to the Cinchona Botanical gardens for a camping trip. I rode to the gardens with a few of my coworker Jody-Ann’s friends, Krishna and Sharlene, and their two daughters. The groups was a handful of families and one other younger couple, so I spent quite a bit of the weekend playing with the kids. As best I know, Jamaica isn’t known as a hiking and camping destination, but as far as I am concerned it should be; camping in the mountains is maybe the most fun and relaxing way to spend time on the island.
The gardens are near the top of a mountain, away from too many people. As one who loves gardening and a healthy dose of peace and quiet, I could imagine myself as the caretaker at Cinchona in another life. After our night at Cinchona, we awoke to perfect weather and had a leisurely breakfast by the hillside.
We then made our way down to an area called Silver Hill to stay our second night at a cabin on a coffee farm owned by a friend of the group, Lyle. We played board games, flew kites, and played pickleball when we weren’t lounging with a drink or exploring the nearby stream.
I arrived home Sunday night refreshed and ready to start the last week of my internship the next morning. And I’m already planning my next trip to Cinchona, which I firmly believe is a little slice of heaven on earth.