Marie Atkins Center

This month's visit was just awesome. Especially after what had happened last month, when everyone had circled around my father. This month was a lot more under control, everyone was sitting down, even if it meant sitting down on the floor. This whole morning was just really touching, seeing everyone there, trying to be on their best behaviour, just to get a small plate of food, one, maybe two cups of tea, and a box juice. Though I had returned to Mr Big Jo, and Mr Chin, I still felt a sense of achievement shaking hands with a lot of the people there.
Not to mention, seeing how much the foundation had improved, I felt really proud to say that I was working there, helping out. I think I'm also getting the grove of things a lot better, growing more vocal, growing faster with how I give people the drinks. Hearing the 'thank you' at the end of the day really makes it all worth it.
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The Bernard Cridland Memorial Shoot

Today, my parents and I went to volunteer our help at the Jamaica Skeet Club for the Bernard Cridland Memorial Shoot. While I wasn't shooting, I was assigned as a referee to one of the teams. While I had helped at the Shoot last year, my dad was doing most of the work. This time, I was working alone with one of the groups, keeping score of the teams. While I made a few mistakes scoring, the group was more than patient with me, correcting and helping me as we went along. Even though we would joke around on occasion, once we reached the shooting stations, all joking was put aside and all focus was on gun safety and handling. All in all, it was a fun experience, especially since nobody was hurt as we progressed to the end.

-Peter
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Marie Atkins Center

After braving through Hurricane Sandy, I started back up my self-initiated project, by helping to feed the homeless at the Marie Atkins Center. As usual, I woke up early, and made my way to the homeless shelter with my dad and a few of his friends. Unlike usual, however, the crowds were a lot more rowdy than usual. Even with added muscle, the crowds swarmed around me and my dad, begging for one of the boxes of juice. We normally run out of boxes, so its not uncommon that people fight for one of the seats by where we start handing out the boxes, but having swarms of people surround my dad to the point where he refuses to give out any more boxes is something that has never happened before. I don't know whether this was as a result of the hurricane, or if it was as a result of there being more new people at the breakfast feeding, but it certainly shocked me.
Another thing that shocked me, but in a good way, was the fact that while working, I was no longer 'Big Jo', the brand of the juices we give out, or 'Mr. Chin', but 'Peter.' This realization that I've been working long enough for people to know my name, and call me by it was something that really took made me notice how much of a difference I've made in these people's lives. I'm no longer a brand of juice, or a typical Chinese man to them. I'm Peter, and that really made me feel like I've impacted these people more than I thought I have before.

-Peter
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Digicel 5K Runathon

So, today, my dad had taken me to a 5km run, in which I was asked if I wanted to take part in. Already being there, I said sure, considering I didn't have much else to do, and it seemed like it could be interesting. After the first few kilometers, I had started feeling exhausted, and my eyes strayed to several shortcuts. However, I kept on keeping on, and just repeated to myself that a winner never quits, and a quitter never wins. Keeping this in mind, I felt inspired to finish all 5km, whether it was by running, walking, or crawling over the finish line.
After 45 minutes, and hundreds of negative thoughts, I finally finished the race, and felt great about it. Finishing it, I thought to myself that the motivation of keeping up with my dad really paid off, and made me feel less tired that I was while running the race. All in all, it was a really great experiment, but I doubt that I would be up for another one for a very long time from now.

Peter
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Beach Clean Up 2012

Today, we went out to the Palisadas strip, to help clean up the beach. Like last year, I was assigned as a group leader, but this year my group consisted of five boys who I've never met before. At first, there was a bit of confusion in the group, but we started getting along, getting more work done than we had thought we were going to get done. This was because we were one of the last groups to set out, but my team was thorough, going through everywhere, examining everything. We actually got the "prize" garbage, taking in a giant mass of ropes, and binders. While two of the group members went back to headquarters with the mass, the rest of us kept scouring the beach before returning, feeling proud of what we've done.
This while activity showed us just how much our actions can impact a beach, a place of recreation, and a habitat for animals. When we walked along, it really wasn't somewhere where I would want to spend a Sunday afternoon, much less live, with all the trash scattered around. Not to mention it really showed me how important teamwork is, because I know that one person alone wouldn't have been able to carry the mass of ropes. In addition to this, it showed us just how important perseverance is, because we could have just turned back, and given up on trying to clean the beach.

Peter
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Leadership Workshop

Back in late May, we were required to participate in a leadership workshop to become better people. The workshop had put us in groups, making us better leaders by showing us that leadership is more than just doing what you think is best. We were shown how leadership is listening to everyone, trying to work better with everyone. They showed us how to overcome external difficulties, through some of the exercises we did. It wasn't just sitting down in a room, listening to people talk, either. They had us moving around, doing exercises to let us experience just how essential leadership, and teamwork are to get things done.

Cancer Society's Relay for Life

This past Saturday, the Cancer Society held their Relay for Life, an event made to raise awareness and money for cancer patients, as well as to commemorate the survivors and victimes of cancer. In order to give my help to the cause, I had showed up the morning of the event to help shovel sand into plastic bags, put the bags into paper bags, and organize them so that they would fit under the tent. I was fortunate enough to not be stuck doing one monotonous task for the whole time that I was there, and moved around from shoveling sand, putting the bags into the bigger bags, and organizing the bags. This whole thing really made me aware of just how many people cancer was affecting, and how teamwork helps the job go by more quickly, as we had eventually made a production line of people working together to get the job done.

Peter
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