The first semester of senior year can be a life changing one. It can consist of getting a job, preparing for college, or even finishing up credits to graduate early. It’s the last year of high school football games, the last year of Homecoming, the last year of December finals. It’s the last time to squeeze any possible family vacations in before one moves away from home.
Senior Mikayla Martin didn’t spend her last first semester at the high school, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t make just as many memories, if not more. Instead, she spent it in Jamaica with her family helping those in need.
“I spent the past semester in Jamaica. I took the semester off because I had enough credits to graduate early and instead we worked on doing a mission project,” Martin said.
The Martins have been to many countries around the world, but during this particular vacation, they were drawn to more than just the beauty of the Jamaican island.
“My parents own a summer camp, and over the summer we’re always working, so at the beginning of the school year we take a vacation. Sometimes we go to Honduras, sometimes Romania, just new places to try out. But then we went to Jamaica, and my parents fell in love. We loved the ocean, we loved snorkeling, the people; just this combination of everything great, and the more we went, the more we learned about the need that the people have there. So as we learned about it, we made friends and got connections…leading us to [finding out] who needed the help, where to bring the things…when we bought the house, we had a property that we were able to bring the clothes to and sort out and distribute to the people that needed them. So then it all seemed to come together with the ability to help the people. That’s kind of how it started, it’s grown really progressively,” Martin said.
They were determined to help those less fortunate, providing schools with books and even by starting their own thrift shop where locals could work for their clothes.
“We brought books down there and started seven school libraries with books in the schools because kids down there don’t have access to books and they’re extremely expensive. We also worked with the local Goodwill [in Rolla] and collected a whole bunch of clothes to start a thrift shop that provides cheap clothes to local families [in Jamaica]. And then if they don’t have the money even to buy, like, one dollar shirts or one dollar shoes they can then work, and so that way they can still buy them and it teaches them work ethics.”
The Martin’s thrift shop is much more than just a store like Goodwill where people can buy clothes for very little. On the contrary, for the Martins, this thrift shop became one of the largest outlets to help families in need. Not only does it provide local Jamaicans with clothing, it gives them jobs and provides them with useful life skills.
“The thrift shop is done through the Mission of Hope, which is this really amazing project that works with the youth of Jamaica to try and teach them how to get jobs and trade skills, so it kind of works like our Rolla Technical Institute to teach them lifelong skills that will help them get jobs and help them succeed in life, so through that they’re also being able to do the thrift shop at a giant location that also works like the Community Partnership, since it provides cheap clothes and the work for the clothes,” Martin said.
This large step for the Martins created even more opportunities to help the people in need. The Martins decided to start another summer camp in Jamaica, creating more volunteering projects for Jamaican teens to get involved in.
“We are starting a summer camp down there for teens, so we’ll be working with them, and they’re going to be volunteering as well. They’ll be helping some local schools, doing some rehab projects, teaching kids about the ocean…a lot of kids down there don’t even know how to swim, they don’t know anything about the ocean yet they live right next to it. We’re doing a lot of different small projects that all help the larger picture,” said Martin.
Martins passion didn’t end after she returned to America. She continues to help the Jamaican people with her Leadership project, Care for the Caribbean, even though she’s more than 1000 miles away.
“During the last two weeks in April, I am having all of the advisories collect clothes, shoes and toys, bring them to their advisory, and then my family will be shipping them down to Jamaica to the thrift shop that we set up down there for people. So they’ll help provide the clothes and shoes for people in the local and surrounding areas [of Jamaica]. So when you do this, [think of] spring cleaning…any of the clothes you aren’t wearing anymore, all the stuff that doesn’t fit you, or even if there’s stains you can’t get out [of the clothes], the shoes that are too small for you, kid’s toys that you still have, you can bring all of that in and we’ll give them to families who really need them,” Martin said.
While spending her time helping many families in need, Martin also learned about the culture and outlook on life of the Jamaican people.
“I learned that for them, they’re very happy people. They’re always very religious because Christianity is the national religion down there, and they believe that if things aren’t going well, if you just wait long enough, things will get better, even if they’re bad, which is something I think is really good. They’re always so thankful you’re there to help them…and they don’t expect much, but they’re really happy when they do get help,” Martin said.