What's New in Bull Bay?
Katie Stennes, St. John's Parish Council Member

In October of 2005, the first group of St. John's parishioners traveled to our sister parish, the African Martyrs of Uganda Catholic Church in Bull Bay, Jamaica. On 16 May 2007, a second group from St. John's traveled to Jamaica to visit Bull Bay and found that a lot has happened in the past year and a half!

The School: By far, the most drastic change in Bull Bay has been the construction of the new Basic School. Built by contributions from St. John's parishioners, the new school will provide a Catholic education for 20 children, three to six-year-olds. Over the next few years, the enrollment will grow to 40 students. This school will also provide clean drinking water and a daily lunch for the students. We were able to deliver multiple suitcases filled with school supplies donated by the students of St. John's School and Parish Faith Formation, and we had a lot of fun showing some of the students how to use the donated jump ropes. We participated in an opening ceremony for the new school, and we attended Mass together with many of the Bull Bay families.

Housing: On our pilgrimage, we were joined by a group from Massachusetts who had raised money to build a house in Bull Bay. Their gift provided a mother and her three children with a sturdy, reliable house that they can now call "home." Currently, there are about five or six houses in Bull Bay that have been built by Food for the Poor, Inc., but there is much more work to be done. At least 40 families are living in houses that have been built from scrap sheets of metal, wood, and other materials. In a country that is prone to hurricanes, these makeshift houses leak, and, sometimes, are even washed away in storms. We need to intervene, and, through the continued generosity of St. John's parishioners, we can help to further improve the lives of our sisters and brothers in Bull Bay.

The Fishing Village: The fishing village opened recently in Bull Bay with the support of Food for the Poor, Inc. Now people have boats and other tools to allow them to bring in fish as a means of sustaining the community. We were able to watch fishermen bringing in fish that they used to feed their families and to sell for profit.

If you would like to make a Bull Bay housing donation, Food for the Poor, Inc. envelopes are in the kiosks in St. Paul Plaza. Envelopes are printed with a code that directs donations to Bull Bay. If you are interested in a future pilgrimage, or in helping with fundraising events for the Bull Bay community, please call me, Katie Stennes, at (651) 324-7281. Thank you, St. John's!

The Clinic: When we first visited Bull Bay in October of 2005, their most pressing need was to fix the roof on their Medical Clinic after it was torn off in a hurricane. St. John's generously contributed funds to repair the roof and the inside of the clinic. Food for the Poor, Inc., was then able to not only build a hurricane reinforced roof, but also put in new flooring, running water, electricity, and restroom facilities. We attended the official opening ceremony of the clinic with members of the community, including medical staff. Currently, doctors from Kingston are visiting the clinic twice weekly to provide free services to the members of Bull Bay.