May 16, 2017
Vanderbilt student-athletes will blog all week long from their service trip to Jamaica in partnership with Soles4Souls. Follow @vucommodores on Twitter and check back on VUCommodores.com all week for updates.
Lauren Johnson, Vanderbilt women’s golf
We arrived in Montego Bay on Sunday afternoon. It’s not my first time in this particular airport; I was a rising junior in high school five years ago when I traveled with a group of kids from my church’s youth group on a service trip in Jamaica. Some things are familiar: the brightly colored, concrete buildings lining the street’s edge; the people walking, almost haphazardly, across the road despite the rushing of cars and buses through their path; the cacophony of music and car horns, sometimes accompanied by shouting and laughing.
When we arrived at the hotel, I relished the clear, blue water and the sound of the waves hitting the sands. The school we visited the next day, however, was something unfamiliar. We are here to deliver shoes to the kids. They are dressed in purple uniforms, the boys in button-downs and khakis and the girls in jumpers. Some smile shyly. A few volunteer their names, their ages, their favorite colors.
As we fit the kids in shoes, I take a moment to reflect on my own  a pair of nondescript, gray running shoes. These shoes were part of a number of gifts that I received from Vanderbilt throughout my four years as a member of the women’s golf team. To me, they represent security and comfort. They fit well. They are comfortable and soft. I have never doubted that I would be well-fed, well-clothed and well-dressed as a student-athlete at Vanderbilt and as a privileged member of American society. I don’t know the circumstances that these kids are in. Perhaps, like me, they’ve also never gone without, though this is unlikely. What’s important, though, is the feeling that we now share in having a comfortable, well-fitting pair of shoes. Through giving and receiving, there is something special, if small, that we share.
Kathryn Babbin, Vanderbilt women’s swimming
While I’ve been to other islands in the Caribbean, today is my first full day in Jamaica. I really had no idea what to expect when I got off of the airplane, but somehow the most striking difference from Nashville was that the cars drive on the other side of the road. I’ve never been to a country where that is true and I continually think that we are about to turn into the wrong lane. I’ve even glanced over into a car at one point and thought that a child was driving the car, when really they were safely in the passenger’s seat. Every time we pile into the packed bus it is startling to me. It is a constant reminder that I am somewhere new.
I love experiencing new places and interacting with the locals. I like to learn how the locals think, what they eat and the challenges they face on a daily basis. It is part of the reason that I chose a track in International Leadership and Development for my major. Thanks to Vanderbilt, this is the second time that I have been able to travel internationally during my time in college and broaden my horizons. It seems fitting to end my time at Vanderbilt by serving others in a very personal way. Vanderbilt has given me incredible support over the past four years and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help others in return.
Over the course of the week we will help deliver shoes to more than 1,000 students in Jamaica. It is incredible to know that Vanderbilt is committed to not only helping student-athletes succeed, but also investing in the global community.
Lydia Simmons, Vanderbilt women’s soccer
Yesterday we arrived in Montego Bay, and it was a pretty hectic day, but once we got the hotel and saw our view, the minimal stress we had from traveling quickly vanished. But little did we know that the view of the ocean from our windows in the hotel would be the furthest from the best view we would see on this trip. The smiles on the children’s faces today quickly surpassed that tropical view.
As we drove to Patrick’s house (our on-site coordinator) yesterday morning, he showed us many of the different communities in which Jamaican’s live in. From the mansions to the concrete jungle, we saw first-hand a spectrum of different living conditions. It was eye-opening to say the least. Once we arrived at Patrick’s house, we organized the shoes by sizes that were donated by companies, such as TOMS, Adidas and Converse. After we organized the shoes, we began an assembly line as we passed box after box preparing for the distribution in the afternoon.
Before we went to the distribution site, we went to the Pork Pit J for lunch, which was AMAZING! It was our first local food experience since we arrived and it hit the spot.
After we ate, we went straight to our first distribution site, Bogue Hill Primary School. It was a school of roughly 300 children, ages four to 12. As we walked through the school, all the children’s heads were peeping out of the classroom doors! As they came to the room, one classroom at a time, we were able to size each of them and put a new pair of shoes on their feet. My heart was so full as we saw their faces light up as they walked away, smiling ear-to-ear, while their heads were down staring at their new shoes.
After all the children came in and got their new pair of the shoes, they began to play with the toys that we had all brought. They were playing with all different types of toys, but right before we were done playing with them, a young boy pulled out a soccer ball. That is when I felt the closet connection to these children. It was such a surreal feeling as we juggled the ball back and forth, and in that moment I realized what Vanderbilt had given me. Not only had this university given me an opportunity to compete at a Division I level and earn a degree from a prestigious university, Vanderbilt had given me the opportunity to love on children and connect so purely from something as simple as a stitched ball.
As we were waving and saying goodbye, the children were running up to each and every one of us. They then gave us the biggest hugs. It was so amazing. But I was speechless after this one little boy hugged me because he ended the hug with “I love you.” It was the clearest representation of God’s love. It was the simplest gesture, but ended up giving me the most fulfilling feeling coming from a boy whom I had just met and loved on. It just goes to show how we expect to go into these places to give and love on these children, yet our hearts come back more impacted than we ever could have imagined. To think that this was only our first experience at a distribution site makes me excited for what is to come later this week.
