Day 4 - Visiting the schools in Castries

Day 4 (December 4th, 2013) Another amazing day on the island! Beautiful day – partly cloudy with a nice breeze, not as muggy as the previous days have been. First, WE HAD HOT WATER! Tonight was the first night I’ve taken a shower and had hot water. It felt amazing. The guesthouse where we stayed the first night was repairing their water heater and this house’s hot water uses solar panels; it had been rainy and cloudy the previous days, therefore, the water did not get hot. So very thankful for hot water. Back to the beginning, we headed to the Health Ministry early this morning to meet with Lisa, Mary Anna, and Melva (Mary Anna and Melva are Lisa’s staff). Amelia, Dr. Hansen, and I went with Mary Anna and Ursula and Lekei went with Melva. Our day with Mary Anna was amazing; she is such a fabulous women. We walked the city of Castries and visited four preschools. The first preschool we visited was Servé’s Early Childhood Education Centre; the preschool coordinator was very passionate about the health of her students. I received very important information to be included in the capstone project. Processed foods and boxed fruit juices are popular choices of parents; these foods may be easy to prepare, store, access, however, they are not nutritious. After we spoke to the preschool coordinator, we watched Mary Anna give her presentation; she discussed the 6 food groups with the students – staples, fruits, vegetables, food from animals, fats & oils, and legumes & nut. The children were asked to name food from each group; Mary Anna is a fabulous teacher. After her lesson, the children sang “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” for us and a song about vegetables. The children are adorable; I am glad I was able to take pictures. After leaving Servé’s, we went to Nica’s Early Development Centre. The preschool coordinator was very helpful at this preschool as well. Herself and her staff were also very passionate about their student’s health; the same problems were seen here, an increase in processed food and boxed juice. It is a shame the country is having these problems; Saint Lucia has an abundance of local fruits and vegetables including grapefruit, oranges, five finger, watermelon, banana, guava, lettuce, cucumbers, golden apple, dasheens, sweet potato, tomatoes, etc. Local foods should be utilized since they are readily available and much healthier. Our eating habits are trickling down to Saint Lucia, impacting their culture and society in a negative way. Anyways, continuing with our day, we left Nica’s and went to Alphabet-Land. The preschool coordinator was amazing – she takes her students on field trips and invites the neighboring preschools to join. The curriculum is based on the month; since it is December, the students do activities involving the holiday season –coloring, songs, etc. The last school we visited was Paddington Fun House Preschool Education Centre; we spoke to a teacher here but did not spend much time as the children were napping. I learned a great deal visiting the preschools and visiting with the coordinators and teachers that will be helpful with my capstone project – I only mentioned a few as to not bore my readers  We went back to Mary Anna’s office after visiting the 4 sites to have lunch. Mary Anna cooked us an amazing meal – chicken with spices; Chinese cabbage, pumpkin, & okra salad; plantains; sweet potato and dasheens. The meal was delicious. She also made us fresh grapefruit juice. I love the fresh squeezed juice. We had learned previously that Mary Anna makes her own wine. She was willing to share and we taste tested in her office after lunch. The first wine was made from jahmon grapes; these grapes grow in trees and only bear fruit once a year, around Christmastime. The wine had an interesting taste; Dr. Hansen, an experienced wine drinker, loved the flavor. I am more found of sweet wine and this wine had a different taste, not dry or bitter, just different. The second wine we tasted was made with guava, cherries, and golden apple. This wine was delicious! So sweet and flavorful. After lunch and wine tasting, we walked back to the Health Ministry to meet the rest of our group. We stopped at a local supermarket before we returned to the house. We debriefed about our trips and retreated to our rooms to relax and do homework; I showered – with HOT water!! The owners of the house were downstairs retrieving coconuts from their tree. Amelia and I tried fresh coconut water, fresh coconut jelly, and dried coconut (like the shredded coconut we use for baking). Coconut water is delicious. The jelly, not so much; Rianna the daughter of the owners was eating the jelly coconut jelly with a spoon; she’s adorable. I enjoyed the dried coconut – yum! After our coconut experience, we had supper; Amelia and I had turkey sandwiches loaded with fresh, local veggies. The internet has been out for a while tonight so hopefully I can post tonight or in the morning, with pictures! Tomorrow we are traveling to Soufriere with Lisa from the Health Ministry; we will be visiting a health center and presenting to the locals. My topic is water safety. I need to write my 5 minute speech so I need to wrap this up. Thank you all for reading; it was another wonderful day on the island. Peace, love, Saint Lucia. My Capstone Project – During my time in Saint Lucia I will be visiting with the preschool coordinators and teachers and discussing physical activity and nutrition. When I return home, I will create educational materials that will be distributed to the preschools by the Health Ministry to aid in educating the parents and students about proper physical activity and nutrition. Things to know about Saint Lucia: • Students in preschools call their teachers “Auntie” • All students wear a uniform to school – preschool, primary & secondary schools • The preschools are either government or privately owned