Last year, my tiny cooperative high school, consisting of 6 students, traveled to Christian Fellowship Church, in the small, rural, mountain town of Catadupa, Jamaica, through Experience Mission (donations through this page go directly into EM's account to be sent DIRECTLY to Catadupa).

We spent a week living in the church/community school so we could participate in their children's ministry and provide much needed support with local building projects. We played games with the children, cleaned up garbage, moved cement materials and painted a recently donated preschool space.

What we found there was a small, close-knit community of kind, God-fearing, and hardworking people. They live only 20 miles away from Montego Bay, but because of poor winding roads and indirect route, it is about a 2-hour drive.

In the early 1990s, the local railroad system, which was the main source of employment and a hub of activity, was shut down, leaving the community devastated economically. Today, the railroad station is dilapidated, and the train tracks have become overgrown with weeds and brush. Residents either commute to Montego Bay by taxi or live by farming.

Although it was evident by the worn-out buildings that the community was economically oppressed, this special place was full of life. Surrounded by lush, tropical vegetation, most thrive on its natural resources and varieties of local fruit trees and vegetable gardens. This is a beautiful part of Jamaica that most tourists never get to see.

Hurricane Melissa tore directly through Catadupa. The massive nature of the damage to their community and those around them left nearly every home and building broken, damaged, and in need of repair. Most of their natural food sources have been wiped out, and many of the roads that were already in need of repair are further damaged or impassable.

The people of Catadupa are desperate for help! Much of the emergency relief stays on the coast, never reaching the poorer people in the interior. The people of Catadupa are starting to see shortages of food and safe drinking water, plus the hard-to-reach areas lack the needed materials to put their community back together.

We're reaching out to anyone who can help us raise money to send through Experience Mission to reach them directly. We are only 6 students and our families. We do not have a lot of reach, and hope that sharing about these beautiful people will reach your heart and you will help us reach them.

(Donations made through this page go directly into Experience Mission's account to be sent DIRECTLY to Catadupa. If you'd rather, you can go to their website to send funds directly through their relief page. Either way, needed funds will reach this vulnerable, beautiful community. Thank you!)