Mt. Tabor

After a busy couple of weeks with school starting and then attending and helping with all the events for Mas John’s funeral I was in need of some rest and reflection time. So our retreat to Mt. Tabor couldn’t have been at a more perfect time! Mt. Tabor is one of Father Ho Long’s missions located near Mt. Friendship one of our missions. Father Ho Long is a man that started the religious order Missionaries of the Poor about 27 year years ago. His order consists of brothers and priests from Uganda, Kenya, Philippines, Haiti, India, and a few other countries. In Jamaica there are around 400 brothers and priests. Missionaries of the Poor has 5 or 6 missions which are homes for those who are neglected and cast off’s in the society. There are homes for adults with disabilities as well as homes for children with disabilities. Mt. Tabor has a home for boys with disabilities located below the retreat center and where the brothers live. Mt. Tabor also has a farm with pigs, rabbits, chickens, cows, goats, sheep, and donkeys. While we were on retreat we didn’t have an opportunity to visit the home but I spent some significant time on the farm…ill get back to those details later. We arrived Monday morning around 10:30ish and met Father John who is in charge at Mt. Tabor. Our rooms consisted of a big room with lots of bunk beds so we all had our own space…for the first time in two months I didn’t have to sleep on the top bunk. We met with Sister Maureen around 11 to discuss what our two day retreat would look like. Monday was to be used for prayer and personal reflection. Sister Maureen gave us some bible passages to read and pray over as well as to think about who you would be in each of the stories. We were to spend the day away from each other and really take some time for ourselves. We would meet back together that afternoon before dinner and when we came back we were supposed to bring something from nature back that was symbolic of our day. I spent the first few hours reading a few of the bible passages Sr. Maureen assigned and then I re-read the book of Ruth. Ruth was my confirmation name and when I took the name I was told that name and person’s story should embody who you are and who you strive to be. Ruth gave up her life to serve and care for her mother-in-law when Ruth’s husband died. She moved away from home and didn’t look to find a new husband; she instead stood by her mother-in-law to serve her. She was a self-less women. I chose the name Ruth for two reasons; one being the story but two because it was my grandmothers name and I see so much of her in me. She was always looking to help someone else out without complaint or compliment…just to do it. While I was reading the book I thought a lot about my grandmother and how much Aunt Daphe reminds me of her and Mas John reminded me so much of my grandfather…ironically his name was John too. I began to reflect on what the past week had meant to me and how much I hadn’t really processed during the week and it all kind of hit me at once. After re-reading the book of Ruth I wrote a few letters home and did a little journaling and then headed outside for a walk. Sister Maureen had told us that she wanted us to bring something back when we met later that day from nature that was symbolic of our day. As I was walking down the hill to visit the farm animals an orange and black butterfly flew by my face and as it flew by it reminded me of my grandmother. She always had butterflies up around her house and at her camp she had fake ones on the trees. I could feel her presence all around which brought an unbelievable comfort to me. I knew that even though I couldn’t catch the butterfly to bring it back that would be my symbol of my day. I got down to the farm yard and headed right over to the pig pen. I let myself into the gate not really knowing if I was supposed to or not. After reaching over a few of the fences I was startled my Brother Lawrence who came in to check in on the pigs. He let me take them out and sat with me for awhile while I played with them. He is from Kenya and has been here for about a year now taking classes and studying to be eventually he hopes a priest. He had been a teacher in Kenya but felt that this life was better suited for him. He stayed with me for awhile and then left for mid-afternoon prayer. I stayed with the pigs for about another hour! I made my way back up the hill to shower and finish my readings and a few more letters home. We gathered late in the afternoon before dinner to talk about the day and our experiences…it was really nice to hear from everyone but also to have had that time to ourselves. After dinner we gathered and talked a little more about prayer. The next morning I was up early for a run down Mt. Tabor. The run down wasn’t so bad, I did have to stop at one point to take off my shoes to cross a small stream but that was kind of a fun little adventure. The run back up was one of the hardest runs I have had here in Jamaica…basically the hill goes straight up for about a mile and a half. Our focus for the second day of retreat was focused on community. We had some personal time to journal and reflect on what it has been like living and community and how it can be improved as well as writing positive words or statements about those who I live with. Our goal was to try and develop a group goal kind of like our mission statements that we wrote during orientation. We didn’t actually get to the writing of the group goal but we got to all share about what we have learned, how we have grown, want to grow, and how to be present in community. Our retreat ended with mass and dinner with the brothers and Father John. For me the two days were restful and peaceful. I got a lot of time to reflect and I realized I really need to take more time to do that. I get so wrapped up in my days and I very often forget to process and reflect. It was nice to just have some “me” time as well…living in a 2 bedroom apartment doesn’t really allow for that so to be on my own was very, very pleasant. The brothers asked me to come back up and cook for them sometime which I am looking forward to do in the future but they also have a home for boys with disabilities that sits down below the retreat center which I visited on Friday (I’ll get to more of that in a bit).
We returned home Tuesday night and it was back to our missions Wednesday morning. I hadn’t been at school for over a week because I took the week before to be with Aunt Daphe. I was excited and anxious to be back at school. I decided to spend Wednesday and Thursday at school and the Friday I would go to Mt. Tabor. School was a challenge for the next two days and I left feeling discouraged and frustrated both days. I’m still not used to and I find the corporal punishment of kids very hard to witness and be around. I find the lack of praise to be hard and the devaluing to be discouraging. The kids were excited to see me which I was very excited about and they were excited that I would be opening the library. My favorite time out of the two days was when the library was open. Sometimes I take time to watch the small room full of kids looking through the shelves and reading alone or with each other. I appreciate that the teachers have allowed me to work in the classroom quite a bit. I have spent most of my time in the grade 2 & 3 classroom reading to the kids, giving spelling lessons, teach math, and work one-on-one with struggling students. It’s hard for me to have come from some really wonderful and supportive school classrooms to ones that are chaotic. I didn’t expect school to be easy and I anticipated a struggle…maybe not this much but I am learning and growing a lot from the experience.
Friday was a huge highlight for me. I headed up to Mt. Tabor early in the morning and met with Father John about my experiences of working with children with disabilities in the states. We walked down the hill to the home and I was greeted by a couple of boys and they lead me into the large porch where Brother James and all the other boys that live at the home were. We colored and hung out all morning; many of them fighting for my attention 2-3 of them trying to sit in my lap all at the same time. I was in my element and complete bliss all morning! There were lots of smiles and laughing…it turned around what had been a stressful week into one of the best days I have had in Jamaica yet. I helped feed one of the boys with Cerebral Palsy and helped clean-up after their lunch. Then the brothers and I had prayer for 15-20 minutes then we had lunch together. It was amazing…we talked about our homes and what it is like being an MOP. They had lots of questions for me and vice versa. After lunch I helped bath and dress the kids and spent a little more time hanging out with them then headed up to the farm to visit my pigs! Like I said it was one of the best days I have had here!