Our Site: Buff Bay Valley

The Buff Bay valley is a beautiful valley in the northwestern parish of Portland. We will be calling this valley our new home for the next two plus years. The valley is approximately 30 miles long stretching from the Caribbean Sea at Buff Bay to the highest peak in Jamaica, Blue Mountain. The valley is broken into two sections: lower and upper.

The lower valley consists of two towns, White River, where Chelsea and I call home and Charlestown. Both of these towns are good sized and have multiple side streets and shops. It gives you the feeling you are living in a small town in the states, minus the random goats and wild fowl.  The lower valley is a hot place due to its proximity to the coast. Because of the heat we are able to grow Mangos and Ackee in the lower valley.  The river is not much of a river in this stretch of the valley. In summer it will completely dry up and go underground. The lower valley has the majority of the people and could be considered a semi-urban area. The upper valley couldn’t be more different.

After you pass Charlestown proper you enter the rural part of the valley. This is where Chelsea and I will be doing the majority of our work. The upper valley consists of multiple little towns including Tranquility, Balcarres, Spring Hill, Cascade, and Section. All of these towns are basically wide spots in the road, with an established town square which consist of a shop or two and a church. Balcarres is where I have spent most of my time. It is where Peace Corps originally placed me and Chelsea.  The move was necessary due to space constraints but at the same time it is too bad because I really enjoy the Balcarres area. I plan on continuing working with the community regularly and especially the Community Development Committee (CDC). The CDC does community betterment projects and I worked with them for the last month cleaning up the community and building a new garbage bin, it has been extremely rewarding work.

Spring Hill is the next community up the road. It is home to Birnamwood Primary school where Chelsea will be working. I have worked with the school off and on for the last month. Working with the schools can be very rewarding and very difficult at the same time. We will be spending more time at the school when school starts back up in September.

Cascade and Section are at the top of the valley and they are deep in the heart of the Blue Mountains. Cascade and Section are very vulnerable communities. They are located on steep hillsides that are prone to landslides due to deforestation. The group I work with is the Buff Bay Local Forest Management Committee (BBLFMC). The BBLFMC is in charge of the multi-agency initiative to reforest Cascade and Section. So I will be working with these communities on a regular basis over the next two years.

Overall I am enjoying my new home and can't wait for Chelsea to arrive!