Report from the Bahamas Reflection

Report from the Bahamas Reflection

1982

            June Jordan’s story, “Report from the Bahamas,” sends the message that anyone has the ability to connect with others.  No matter the circumstances and situations that other people come from, a common ground can always be found.  The main character in the story forms relationships with other women who she never thought would be interested in her.  She has realizations throughout her travels of what she could have done to form even more relationships along the way.  She has her own problems and so do the other women, but she never considers them being connected in any way until her plane ride home.  She contemplates, “Even though both ‘Olive’ and ‘I’ live inside a conflict neither one of us created, and even though both of us therefore hurt inside that conflict, I may be one of the monsters she needs to eliminate from her universe and, in a sense, she may be one of the monsters in mine” (Jordan 47).  Olive, the maid from her most recent hotel obviously goes through many daily struggles that the main character would never think about.  However, at this time she begins to worry that she may be a part of Olive’s problems.  This idea disturbs her, because she has been so involved in thinking about her own problems, that she did not think about how she was affecting anyone else.  She may be a “monster” in Olive’s life instead of finding ways to help people less fortunate than she.  She begins to realize that she should put her own problems into perspective because other people are struggling more than she.

            I had a similar experience to the main character while I was participating in a Customs Week activity.  During the activity, everyone got a piece of paper with different facts on it.  For example, “You feel safe at home,” or “You look forward to joining a club in college.”  There was a wide range of facts on the paper, and we had to go through and circle all of the sentences that applied to us.  We were then randomly handed someone else’s sheet.  The group leader began to read out the sentences and if it was circled on the paper you were given, you had to raise your hand.  This gave us the ability to keep the information private and find out the circumstances of everyone else in the room.  The number of people who raised their hand for some of the sentences shocked me.  For example, around five people raised their hands for the statement, “I worry about whether I will have food on the table every night.”  There is a stereotype that everyone who goes to Bryn Mawr is rich because it is such an expensive school to attend, but this is not true at all.  I was devastated to find out that some of my new peers had to worry about something like that.  I am fortunate enough to never have had to worry about whether my family would have enough money to feed me dinner every day.  The idea that other people have those types of problems, really helps me put my own problems into perspective.  Compared to many people, my problems are not real problems at all.  I am very grateful for what I have and this experience motivated me to help others more.  Everyone is deserving of food and I want to find new ways to help people in my community who struggle to find life’s daily necessities.

            One way that I have helped others in my community is by volunteering at a preschool summer camp for at-risk and homeless children.  It is really special to see the impact that I can have on other people, especially kids.  The attention that they get by having a conversation with me or playing on the playground with me is something that they cherish.  The positive energy I can send as a volunteer is what they need before going home to their stressed out parents trying to find work and a way to get out of the shelter they live in.  I never would have thought that I would form such nice relationships with a bunch of preschoolers, but they have positively influenced my life too.  Just like the main character from Jordan’s story realizes her connections between new women, I enjoy making connections with others in my community.

            Another connection that the main character made was with an Irish woman.  They teamed up to help a Black South African woman struggling in a relationship.  This unlikely bond was formed because they both realized the help they could give the struggling woman.  When I was in seventh grade, I joined an organization called, “David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.”  This organization saves many elephant lives in Africa.  I foster a five-year-old elephant named Shukuru.  She was found in a man hole when she was only three days old.  The caring workers from the organization nursed her back to health and she is now a leader for the younger elephants.  Every year I send money to the elephant orphanage where Shukuru lives because I know the difference that it can make for so many elephant lives.  The relationship that I formed with this organization at first seemed unlikely but we had a common goal and coming together only gives us more power.  Similarly, Jordan writes, “And here I was following an Irish woman to the room of a Black South African. We were going to that room to try to save a life together” (49).  The tone Jordan uses makes the main character seem slightly surprised that she would be taking on this role, but she is proud.  I too am proud of the influence that I have made, and it motivates me to find more ways to help and to find other people who can help with me.  I have learned that at first there may not always be a clear connection between two individuals or animals, but if you search deep enough you will probably be able to find one.