Kiwanis Club of The Garden Parish

The other night I had the honor of being the guest speaker for the Kiwanis Club of The Garden Parish. I was invited to come and speak about the Peace Corps program and what I've been doing in Jamaica over the past nine months that I have been here. For those of you who don't know, Kiwanis is a global organization that works to improve the lives of children world wide. Before my speach I sat and listened to members discuss upcoming community events to volunteer at for this upcoming month and chat about exciting things happening within their club, including work at a nearby mental health institution. It was insping to be amoungst a group of such motivated and caring women.

When it was my time to speak I took the first part of my presentation to talk about a general overview of what Peace Corps was, its history, its goals, and types of things volunteers are doing world wide. But the fun started when I began talking specifically about my time here in Jamaica. Everyone was so intereseted in how I have been adjusting to the culture, that I can speak patios and use public transportation, and that we as pcvs are willing to give so much time to help others in foreign places. They also had questions about water quality in their parish which I was happy to address and help clear-up some misconceptions.

It was a very refreshing and inspiring night, reminding me of the reasons I decided to be a pcv. And it was motivational to see that these women are making a difference in their community! With an active community group, so much change is possible. It reminds me of quote from President Barack Obama:

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. "