John Roberts Foundation

Skipping ahead to something a bit more recent!  Last week some friends and I volunteered with the John Roberts Foundation which was founded to provide youth in England and the Caribbean with sports programs.  Last week the foundation focused on youth in Grenada with special needs.  My friends had so much fun with one of the schools during the week so I decided to tag along on Friday for the big event where all three special needs schools would come together for a sports day in Grenville.  A group of people from England had flown in to oversee all of the week's events.  Hearing that accent gives me some bittersweet feelings!  I really miss England sometimes!

We made a few stops before heading north including a beverage distribution center and the Carib Brewery.  Between these stops we obtained bottles of soda for the kids (tons of glass bottles), a crate of Carib, and free Carib plastic cups...SCORE!

On the drive to Grenville.  This is the Atlantic side of the island.

After about an hour drive we made it to Grenville.  Our bus driver somehow knew everyone on the roads and stopped every few minutes to have short conversations.  It was exciting for me to see another city on the island.  We then pulled into a parking lot alongside a huge field.  As we got off the bus we saw the kids who were already there.  Talk about feeling welcome.  We got so many hugs just when we walked up!  I instantly knew these kids were wonderful.

Slowly more and more kids unloaded from buses and gathered under the Digicel tent.  The main guy from England running the show divided everyone up to play Football (the soccer kind), Cricket, and "other".  I was in the "other" area which turned out to be a blast.  In our section of the field we did all sorts of exercises to get the kids involved who were not playing in the games.  It was so much fun!! After several games we made our way back to the tent for a break and drinks.  The kids who played football LOVED it.  They were so good!

The highlight of the day was the track and field races.  Different age groups from each of the schools were called out to run in races.  We cheered everyone on and they all did so awesome!  A boy I had been passing the soccer ball around with earlier (I paled in comparison to him) dominated his race and I think he looked so much like Kirani James!!  This is him running his race.

Something amazing I noticed was how nice all of the kids were to each other.  They all wanted to help each other out and cared for one another.  So incredibly inspiring.

This group is patiently waiting for their turn to run.


One (of many) of the most touching parts of the day was when a little boy (on the left) was running in a race and another little boy ran in and took his hand from the teacher and encouraged him to keep running and they finished the race together. 

And then we had the wheelchair and volunteer races!  (notice the little girl helping to push one of the wheelchairs)

Then we said goodbye to everyone and received many more hugs.  It was such an incredible experience with wonderful kids and volunteers!  I wish we could do this every week!!