by International Samaritan | Jul 31, 2025 | Jamaica, Weekend Reflections
In Jamaica, “hustling” is more than just a word—it is a way of life. It is not the kind of hustling that carries a negative connotation. Here, hustling is about resilience, resourcefulness, and doing whatever it takes to survive and provide for one’s family. It means...
by International Samaritan | Apr 17, 2025 | Jamaica, Weekend Reflections
In Jamaica, the Easter season starts with a public holiday on Ash Wednesday. For our program director in Jamaica, Sonja Robinson, and her family, that Ash Wednesday church service is the first of many they’ll attend during Lent. “It’s a very religious time for us,”...
by International Samaritan | Feb 7, 2025 | Jamaica, Weekend Reflections
“A lot of our Samaritan Scholars have had to grow up too quickly,” said our Program Director in Jamaica, Sonja Robinson. “They haven’t had the opportunity to just be children without responsibilities.” These students are growing up in Riverton, in an area known for...
by International Samaritan | Dec 6, 2024 | Jamaica, Weekend Reflections
When Christmas nears, the Jamaican Christmas cakes start appearing. “The newspaper man gets a cake, the garbage man, the neighbor, the church, the school,” said Sonja Robinson, our Program Director in Jamaica. “She makes 50 to 60 cakes!” Sonja said, about her older...
by International Samaritan | Jun 21, 2024 | Jamaica, Weekend Reflections
This week we celebrated Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. We thought it was worth sharing a few of the celebrations in our partner communities. These celebrations either commemorate milestones or are intended to raise...
by International Samaritan | May 24, 2024 | Jamaica, Weekend Reflections
Here in Jamaica, we recently took 19 of our primary school Samaritan Scholars to watch the movie Migration. The film features a family of mallards on an adventurous journey from New England to Jamaica, and it captured the imagination of our young scholars. Their...
