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Location: Savanna Bay, Virgin Gorda
Today we all woke up to the alarm of music and the beautiful sun on the water in Savanna Bay. After this trip, waking up in a hammock off the port of the boat with the view and the music is one of the things I will miss most. This morning we got up earlier than usual and ate a quick bagel breakfast as we sailed off to Virgin Gorda to serve at a local school. We were warmly welcomed by Julie and her daughter Dory who walked us to their school. The Valley School is a private school that accepts students at all different levels. When we arrived, the first thing I did was tour the school which was pink and green, had the layout of a house, and was quite small as it only taught 20 students. We split into groups and got to work relatively quickly as we knew there was a lot that could be done. The first thing I did was weed the garden in the back so the students would have more space to play.
Along with about seven others, I was weeding for about two hours. After weeding, I helped out in the compost bin which was a large area with compost closed in by lattices. We shoveled out the leaves on top to get to the dirt that had decomposed and broke down to the bottom. We used this fertile soil for the garden boxes. I then played with Dory, a nine-year-old girl who was with us the whole time playing and helping us serve. Alone with a couple of others, we played soccer and handball in the front yard. We got called in for lunch which was a very Caribbean meal made by a very nice woman who worked at the school. She made us seasoned rice, roasted plantains, buns and a coleslaw salad. After everyone enjoyed their meal, we got back to work. My focus after lunch was working on things for the schools’ parade float. Some kids went to the recycling plant to collect recycling that we would use for the float, this includes bottle caps and cans. They also learned that the glass is used to make cement and tiles in very interesting patterns because there is no way to get of it or to disintegrate it. They brought the materials back to the school and along with some other kids; I cut the cans to make them flat so they could be put on the board. I did this for about an hour and after Sophie, Maddy, and I struggled to figure out a way to put together Styrofoam for the parade float. It took us 2 types of glue and 2 types of tape before we figured out that taping attaching Styrofoam to damp cardboard would not work very well. By this time, it was around 5 when we all did a final clean up and said goodbye to Julie and Dory. We took the dingy back to the boat and sailed back to Savannah Bay for the night. Right when we anchored everyone swam off the port of the boat and we ate an amazing chili dinner looking out on a beautiful pink sunset. Overall, our first day of service was a success and we celebrated by a chocolate chip cookie treat made by Maddy!