Every summer during July and August a number of Spanish volunteers arrive in Jean Rabel and help out at summer camps for the children.
This year Beatrice arrived on 7th July with Gabrielle and Maria arriving on the 12th and their enthusiasm to get going at the camps was infectious.
Once the preliminaries were out of the way the girls simply got on with the task of planning fun activities for the children in Colette and those from the immediate vicinity of Jean Rabel itself.
Along with Middia, a Religious Sisters of Jesus and Mary Postulant, they entertained up to 100 children each day with two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
In between the two sessions they also assisted Naza with her work in the Atelyer where beautiful handmade crafts are created by 25 local women, often using recycled material to create useful accessories, jewellery and home-wares such as aprons, handbags, pencil cases, lap-top bags, cards for all occasions, wall-hangings and ear-rings.
Beatrice is a final year student of Pharmacy in Madrid, Gabrielle has just finished a degree in Engineering and Maria teaches kindergarten, both in Seville, Naza’s home town. Middia is Haitian and has completed a degree in the Science of Education in Port-au-Prince. She came to Jean Rabel to improve her Spanish while the Spanish girls were here before she heads off to the Religious Sisters of Jesus and Mary in Cuba in the coming weeks.