A Forgotten Paradise

It’s on beautiful days like today that my mind drifts back to Bequia, a slice of a forgotten paradise in the Caribbean. I first visited the small island my sophomore year on one of the nineteen international trips offered at William and Mary. Seven other students and myself traveled there with Dr. Pelco, a professor in the education department. We worked in the two main schools on the island: Bequia Community High School – running a winter camp for the kids on the island and tutoring students in reading. We also volunteered at the Sunshine School, a smaller school for students with special needs. We worked with teachers on creating effective curriculum and offered one on one attention to the students.

Because of the small size of the island, we forged very close relationships with the locals and when I returned for my second year I even stayed with two of them – Steve and Jutie. They, along with the other natives not only opened their homes but their hearts to the students on our trip. They gave us tours of the island including the turtle sanctuary and whaling museum, introduced us to local fruits and traditions, and accompanied me to St. Vincent when I needed to pick up and transport paint for the high school back to the island.

While there, we conducted our own research projects; I compared the histories, beliefs, and practices of Rastafarianism and Judaism. I interviewed a lot of the Rastas on the island and made a documentary of the footage — presenting my findings to the School of Education when I returned. We kept a journal and had nightly discussions with the rest of the team members and our professor, which helped us to reflect and adjust to our new environments. Each individual participating in the research component was given a stipend and three credits when we returned to school. The trip was one of my defining experiences at William and Mary and I only hope I will have the opportunity to return again soon.