Article first posted on Live Beyond Yourself:

I have shared a bit of the history of how our church reached out to the Caribbean farm workers in our community, and how that led to my recent visit to Jamaica (http://timarnold1.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/one-love-a-jamaica-story-part-one-of-two/).  I also tried to explain the highlights of my Jamaican adventure – the awesome country and incredible people (http://timarnold1.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/one-love-a-jamaica-story-part-two-of-three/).

The last chapter in this story needs to focus on the workers themselves.  Who are these men that we see walking down the aisles of the grocery store on Friday night?  The guys we commonly see biking down the road weighed down with their shopping bags? The ones who are out in the fields picking fruit while wearing a heavy sweater and a toque in the middle of the hot summer.  What kind of lives do they lead?  Do they have family back at home?  Are they happy to be here working in Canada?

Thanks to Jane Andres for the photo

A year ago I wouldn’t have had a clue how to answer any of these questions.  Thankfully, through some unlikely friendships that developed throughout this past year, I have been able to grow in my understanding.  My recent time in Jamaica however, provided insight at a whole new level.  By living in their homes, spending time with their families, and having the men tour me through their communities, the picture became much more clear.

They Are Barrington – I was able to talk to Barrington while on my trip and learn of both the extreme highs and devastating lows in his life as of late.  For over 20 years he has been coming to Canada, each year with the main objective of allowing his daughters to experience the benefits of education and the opportunities it would provide.  Now both of his girls are young adults and one had just accepted a job as a medical doctor in the States, while the other is about to finish her university degree.  No man could be more proud of his girls.  At the same time, he is grieving.  The past year was the year that his wife lost her battle with cancer; and with him spending the majority of each year working in Canada, he primarily had to love and support her from afar.  Now he was trying to adapt to his new reality – a world where his girls had left the nest in such an awesome way, but this meaning that he had no one to come home to each year when the agricultural season in Canada was over.

These men experience real joy and pain.

They are Bunny – Bunny…“like the little rabbit,” as he always explains with a grin…has been coming to work in Niagara for 22 years.  He is a father of 3 and a grandfather of 5.  He drives cab when he is back in Jamaica each winter, and when I was there he took me everywhere I needed to go. Within no time it became clear that this man was known and loved in Jamaica!  We would be hours away from his house and he would still be constantly waving to men and women on the street who would respond by yelling, “Wah Gwann Bunny!” as we drove by.  He would just chuckle and say, “Everybody knows Bunny.”

Each day he would explain to me that we would depart in the morning, “after he dropped off his kids.” And every day around 3:00pm, he would leave me at his house for about an hour, explaining that he “had to pick up his kids.”  I assumed this was one of his actual children or grandchildren who needed a ride to work or to town.  But I was wrong.  One day, due to some ongoing car trouble (which is a whole other story), he told me he didn’t know how he was going to be able to drop me off in time so he could pick up his kids.  I told him that I’d be happy to go with him.  To that he laughed, and with a playful grin, asked me if I was sure…I wasn’t sure how to answer.  It turned out that “his kids,” were not his children or his grandchildren, but a mix of local kids from his mountain community who had to walk many miles each day to and from school in the hot sun.  He would pile them into his Toyota Camry hatchback – 14 of them in all – to save them the long, hard walk.  It was an experience I’ll never forget!

When I asked him if the neighbours paid him for this service, he almost seemed offended.  He explained to me how important it was that these kids get to school, and how he really enjoyed helping get them there each day.  This was something he did on his own dime and out of a good heart – every day without fail.

These men are kind-hearted and caring.

They are Mark – I stayed with Mark, his wife Janice and their three daughters for 3 nights while I was in Jamaica. What I experienced while living in their home was both humbling and inspiring.  Mark had been coming to Canada for close to 17 years.  The first year that he came, his oldest daughter was only a few months old.  Since the beginning, Mark has been crystal clear that “he won’t be one of these guys still coming up to Canada in his 60’s.”  He is determined to have his goals accomplished by his 50^th birthday – his wife and three girls will all have college education, and he’ll renovate his house so that he can rent out the mail floor and live in the second.

Seventeen years into this plan, his wife is one credit away from her university degree, his 18 year old is in college, 14 year old is in the honour role at high school (and competing in track-and-field on a national level), and his 7 year old is thriving in elementary school.  He is also “one season” away from finishing the upper floor of his house with plans to move the family upstairs as soon as the 2014 agricultural season is over in Canada.  He’s doing well – or I should say “THEY” are doing well.

He will tell you that the decision for him to come to Canada was made by both Janice and himself – as a long-term plan to change the future of their family.  He’ll also add that it’s been a team-effort ever since, saying, “every single morning I spend in Canada begins with a phone call to Janice.  She encourages me and helps me to stay focused.  I couldn’t do this without her.”

And it’s not like Mark takes a break during the three or four months that he’s home each year.  Beyond driving a cab and overseeing ongoing renovations in the house, he is deeply involved in his kid’s lives.  Each day the entire family wakes up at 3:30am and spends two hours studying.  They then gather for a time of “family devotion” where they read from the Bible, pray, and even sing together.   This leads to a quick breakfast and they’re out the door (before I normally even wake up).

While staying with Mark, I mused that if I took the opportunities and social privilege I have here in Canada and mixed it with the same amount of dedication and sheer hard work that this family exhibits every day – I’d be a millionaire many times over.

These men are hard working, focused and determined.

They Are Kevin – Kevin was one of the first workers I met last year, and has since that time become a good friend.   Both of us are 40 and both of us have two children, although his two are in their teens and mine are barely out of diapers.  He’s been coming to work in Canada for 14 years, each year to the same farm.  As you would expect, this has made his marriage very challenging at times, yet he’s still together and committed to his wife Sandra, who takes care of the household and the family farm while he’s away for 6 to 8 months each year.

When I arrived to his small-town called Wait-a-Bit (for real), and showed up to the door of his small cinderblock home, his son Orlando greeted me.  He was a 15-year-old Kevin; so similar in looks and stature, it was shocking.  Throughout the year, I had heard about his boy’s soccer games, school projects, colds and flus, and other things dads talk with other dads about, so to meet the family was quite special.

Kevin told me that for the last few years the boys get very upset and depressed when he has to go back to Canada, so he no longer tells them.  He just quietly packs his things after they are in bed, and heads to the airport without making a sound.  He says it’s easier for everyone if he does it this way.  I told him that I don’t know how he does it – that I find it hard to be away from my family for a few days – but Kevin is clear that this is the only way his boys can get an education and have opportunities that he never had.  That makes the 12-hour workdays, the 7-day workweeks, and even the loneliness, worth it for him.

These men make huge sacrifices.

One Love – Scripture would suggest that beyond loving God, the most important priority in life is to love our neighbour.  This isn’t too hard when our neighbours are a lot like us; when they come from similar backgrounds, watch the same TV shows we like to chat about, and share in things like church, kids sports, or book clubs.  However, the more ‘different’ our neighbours are, the easier it can be to ignore this commandment.  In fact, knowing our neighbour can be a challenge, much less loving them.  As a result, those in the neighbourhood who are the most different, often live in the margins.  They become ignored, excluded, and left out.

One Love (a term often associated with Jamaica), refers to a universal love and respect for all people, regardless of race, religion and colour.   I believe that God put this “One Love” in all of our hearts, but as the years go by and we grow in our comfort, become content in our tribes, and are less aware of our fears, we lose touch with it.  It’s amazing – almost miraculous to me – how quickly we can reclaim our “one love” through the simplest of things:  By saying “hello” to the stranger walking by in the grocery store, offering a ride to the guy on his bike weighed down with shopping bags, or walking out to the field to take someone a glass of lemonade.

A year ago I didn’t know a single migrant farm worker, much less where they were from or what kind of lives they lived.  So much has changed in a year, and my life has become so much richer by having these unique neighbours as part of it.  Now I’m privileged to know that the man walking towards me in the grocery store on Friday night is Barrington, the guy biking down the road is Kevin, and the men out in the field are Bunny and Mark.  My neighbours and my friends.

“One love,
We get to share it.
Leaves you baby, if you
Don’t care for it”
–U2

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“Let’s get together and feel all right.”
–Bob Marley