There are about 15 of us volunteers here in Jamaica at any given time. We come and go, in fact, three of us will leave this weekend. Several of us blog, and today, I want to highlight five other fellow bloggers who have influenced the way in which I approach this business of documenting my life in JA.
Wendy Lee
Wendy is from Vancouver and has been faithful in writing about her experiences here in JA. Her matter-of-fact and delightful words are highlighted by her camera skills. She has a gorgeous, fancy camera, which she has recently complemented with a skills course put on by our mutual friend Kashta Graham (Kashta is an impressive entrepreneur in her own right, check out her Facebook page.) Unfortunately, Wendy is departing Jamaica next month. I will miss her blog, but I will miss her face way more.
Brianna is from Calgary and arrived in Jamaica in July. She is my new running partner and we are training for the half-marathon next month in Negril. Brianna’s blog is honest and personal and thought-provoking and it has inspired me to delve more into the emotional aspect of living here.
Julia lives up in Montego Bay. We do not get to see her much, but when we do, it is a pleasure and I love hearing about life up on the North coast.
Onyka is from Trinidad and has been in Jamaica on-and-off for awhile now. I love her writing style, it has inspired me to break out of my fact-heavy, “objective”, journalistic style. She has prompted me to seek out different, more colourful words, to stretch the way I express things beyond my normal mandate of telling you what happened.
Erin is a never-ending source of information on all things Jamaican. She is a scholar at the University of West Indies as well as a Cuso volunteer. She is also an awesome writer who inspires me to portray Jamaica with the affection she clearly has for this island nation.
For all these ladies and their blogs, I am grateful for their influence on the way I tell you what it is like to live here in Kingston, Jamaica. It is never a simple existence here, so it is never easy to pick an angle and determine the best way to express it. On another note, notice we are all women? What’s up with that? One reason is that volunteers in the development sector tend to be female (probably the subject of a doctoral thesis), and two, the men here, at least by my count, do not blog. I wonder why. In any case, check out these talented ladies and spread the word.
Jamaican Journal 