[Another version of this story is in the How to Write Persuasively Today by Carolyn Davis, published by ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Press in 2010]

Strathmore House was an unregistered  Children’s Home in Spanish Town, Jamaica that was under the auspices of the Peace Corps in Jamaica.  Neglect, filth, and the accompanying parasites were pervasive for the residents.  There were about five times the number of children and young adults in the house could be accommodated comfortably.

As Peace Corps Volunteers in Jamaica from 1997-1999, a group of us tried to help the assigned Volunteer and the residents once a month or so by cleaning the house, helping the residents to bathe, and giving some lessons in care-giving to the staff.  The Volunteer who was assigned there introduced changes in hygiene and attempted to introduce attitudinal changes towards people with disabilities.

A young woman who had lived at Strathmore for quite a while talked to me about her condition.  Her body was emaciated and paralyzed; her intellect was clear as she relayed her story.

In 2006, Strathmore was no longer a Peace Corps site.  Few Americans or people of the European Union will ever live in such a home, since laws, policies, and funding reflect priorities that prohibit that degree of neglect.  In other parts of the world, however, not only does it exist, but it is condoned as care-taking.

Carolyn Davis, 

Guest Blogger