Two stonecutters were asked what they were doing.

The first said, “I’m cutting this stone into blocks.”

The second replied, “I’m on a team that’s building a cathedral.”

How do you teach your children that every single action they take has meaning?  That smiling at a stranger can change that person’s day.  That helping an elderly person cross the road has a butterfly effect that can literally change the world?  So many adults lose their sense that they have the power to personally affect the universe.  I want my children to know for sure that they can and already have changed the world for the better, just by being in it.

Teaching these life lessons was made much easier when I met Harriet and T.L. Linskey, founders of Hands Across the Sea.  Harriet and T.L. created an organization that brings books to schools across the Caribbean and helps them to build libraries to promote literacy.  The organization has grown and now gets volunteers from colleges and the Peace Corps to help institute their programs.  The Linskeys themselves are busy throughout the winter, taking their boat from island to island to deliver books and school supplies and to organize libraries.

“Dedicated to raising the literacy levels of Caribbean children. Hands Across the Sea sends great new books and works with local educators and U.S.Peace Corps Volunteers to create borrowing libraries and sustainable positive change.”

www.handsacrossthesea.net

We met the Linskeys on their boat in Carriacou.  When we told them we were headed to Union Island, they asked for our help.  We were very excited to bring school supplies from New Jersey to the Stephanie Browne Primary School in Union and to work to organize their library.  Both our family and the Boyers were on board to volunteer our time to help the children of Union Island.

 

With little internet and no phones, we were not able to make an appointment at the school.  So Wendy and I just marched our whole little gang up the street and into the principal’s office one hot and sunny day.  Luckily, Harriet had given the principal a warning that our crew would be arriving some time that week.  She brought us to the library and we told her we would find her if we had any questions.

Harriet has created a system for library organization that requires little maintenance, which is a high priority in Caribbean schools.  We quickly went to work putting the system in place.

 

 

First, we had to take all the books off of the shelves and divide them into reading levels.  Next, we cleaned and reorganized the furniture in the library to make better use of the space and to get rid of the things that didn’t belong.  The kids worked hard for hours, checking the books and dividing them into piles.  Wendy and I weren’t unhappy to catch one or another of them with their nose stuck in a particularly interesting book once in a while!  We all worked well together.

We took a needed rest for lunch and then Chris and Craig joined us to finish up the job.  Throughout the day, the students poked their heads in the door or peeked through the windows to see what we were up to.  When the bell rang at 3:00, we had a group of students join us.  They were eager to help and we could tell that they relished having visitors.  By 4:00, our kids were worn out and ready for a break.  We sent them outside to play while we finished up.  Our children mixed right into the group of students on the field and they had fun running races around the track.

As parents, we were so proud of our children for giving their time and energy to such a worthy project.  The students loved their new library and our kids saw the immediate effects of their hard work.  It was an altogether wonderful day.  If you feel moved to learn how you can help Hands Across the Sea and the amazing work they are doing, please see their website at www.handsacrossthesea.net.  They accept monetary donations and have specific wishlists from schools all over the Caribbean.  They were named a 2012 Top Rated Nonprofit by “Great Nonprofits”.

Knowing is not enough.  We must apply. 

Willing is not enough.  We must do.

–Johann Wolfgang Von Geothe

The starting line for the running race

So now it was time for some fun!  Union Island is a hopping little island with lots to enjoy.  Wendy and I took an instant liking to the tiny little reggae music store on the main street.  The owner is an old Rasta with a most impressive pile of dreads.

 

 

We parked ourselves there for awhile one night and asked about a million and one dumb questions about reggae music.  He agreed to make us some mixed tapes.  Well, mixed CDs.  But doesn’t mixed tapes sound cooler?  I finally found a Bob Marley t-shirt in the shop and Wendy got a shirt that proved once and for all that she is inherently cooler than I am.

We took the kids to see the Steel Pan Band that plays every night.  They seemed like a nice bunch of young men and were led by an older Rasta.  We learned that their leader makes the steel pan drums himself.  They are exceptionally beautiful instruments.  When the kids were invited to try them out, I had a mini-daydream about the kids forming a little Von Trapp Family Steel Pan Band and touring the Caribbean…

Reese had purchased fabric in Carriacou to make a Caribbean-themed skirt.  The colors on many of the flags down here are yellow, green, and red.  Reese measured, cut, and pinned her skirt and had made excellent progress in hand-stitching it.  While visiting a cute little gift shop on Union Island, we made friends with the proprietor, and we noticed she owned a sewing machine.  We asked for her help and the next day she helped Reese to finish the waistband and hem so she could start wearing her new skirt right away.

I enjoyed the many produce stalls on Union Island.  The produce was fresh and the ladies were very pleasant and helpful.  Reese fell in love with the daughter of one of them and had fun holding her while I picked out callaloo and tomatoes.

We also spent a few nights having sundowners at Happy Island, which very much lived up to its name.  The family picture at the top of our website was taken on Happy Island.  This island was created by a local using conch shells.  This island-proud man was not happy with the piles of conch shells that the local fishermen left all over the island.  He decided to take them out into the harbor and dump them in one spot until he had a little island.  He shored up the sides and built himself a popular bar on top of his island with a perfect view of the Green Flash at sunset.  Happy.

What else did we do on Union Island?  Oh yes.  We watched a cow get butchered on the side of the road.  What?  As we strolled into town one day, we were literally stopped in our tracks when we saw a group of 5 men skinning and gutting a cow on the side of the road.  They had set up a piece of plywood on some tree stumps and had set the cow up on top to butcher it.  A man asked us if we wanted to buy some steak.  Fresh.  What?  Crazy questions were starting to form in my head.  We said we’d check in with them on the way back from town and got out of there.  When Chris learned about this “amazing opportunity” later, he was not happy that I passed up on filet mignon.  I am still hoping that he was kidding.

We found out later what was going on.  Ready?  I’m not sure you are.  Here’s the deal.  During the dry season, which we are in, livestock that are not fenced in or tied up make their way down to the airport runway, which ends up having the only patch of green grass left on the island.  It has become such a big problem for the planes trying to land that a law has been put into place.  It allows anyone who finds a loose animal to slaughter it.  Even though they know who owns what cow (it’s a very small island).  They don’t tie it back up.  They don’t fine the owner.  They just kill the cow, right there on the side of the road, and sell the meat.

I found this to be disturbing.  Is anyone else with me?  Add this together with the stories we heard about rampant domestic violence (including domestic homicide) that goes unchecked and we have decided to scratch Union Island from our list of “Places We Want to Live”.

Despite the cow thing and the DV thing, we really did have a wonderful time on Union Island.  We would have stayed longer so that Chris could take kite surfing lessons, but the Tobago Cays were calling…