In March 2009 Elliot Goettelman and I decided to join Dan Neirling, a photography professor at Hawkeye Community College, and a few of his students, on a Jamaican Mission trip. The project is called the Blue Mountain Project. The BMP is based in Hagley Gap, Jamaica which is 10 miles up and a 2 hour bus ride into the Blue Mountains.  Their goal is to help teach the people of Hagley Gap sustainability. By teaching them to work as a team the BMP hopes it will also teach them to help themselves along the way.

Our mission brought us to Minto School, an all age school that is located an hour hike up the Blue Mountain. Every morning we witnessed the children of our household wake up, put on their tan shirt and brown slacks; eat a small bite of breakfast and head out the door to make the trek up the mountain. We followed them; it took us a little longer than it did those young and energetic kids. We were teacher assistants throughout the week; helping with homework, keeping the children’s attention on the lesson and playing "football" (here we call it soccer) or duck, duck, goose at break.

While we were only there a week, we made friends that will last a life time. Not only with the group had we gone with but with the People of Hagley Gap. They are kind, beautiful & eager to learn.

I tried to document the trip as we experienced it......

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In 2007 I was fortunate enough to travel with Hawkeye Community College Nursing Students, who were doing mission work through Medical Missionaries International team, and document their relief efforts. For two weeks we traveled around Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic from village to village and set up make-shift clinics. Half of the team went around to different villages while the other half were given the second floor of a hospital to do surgery.

I was able to photograph their trip not only to provide the nursing students with photos of their work but to provide a voice to those people of Jarabacoa who otherwise are unable to be heard. I learned a lot about life and myself while I was there and I am so grateful to the people of the Dominican for teaching me life is short and what we do while we are here and the people we touch is what makes us rich or poor.

These are a few of the photos that I took while I was there.......

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