Lesbians are Sweet Volunteers

What began as a conversation between two friends about travel and doing something meaningful became reality when 1,200 lesbians gathered in New Orleans for the inaugural Sweet cruise last week.

Sweet CEO Shannon Wentworth and co-founder Jen Rainin turned that dream into a ground breaking vacation experience at five ports during the cruise. At each stop, volunteers, led by Wentworth and Rainin, completed community service projects and then enjoyed the company of old and new friends over a lunch of local foods and beverages. The tired troops were all grins when they saw the results of their work and felt the appreciation of the local community.  Some 360 women lent a hand with the half-day projects, leaving plenty of time to tour or head back to the ship to enjoy parties and activities on board.

The work began in New Orleans where volunteers replanted 600 grass plants destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Then, after an early departure and some onboard rocking and rolling thanks to Hurricane Ida, the ship pulled into Costa Maya, Mexico, where volunteers headed to Uvero Beach to clean up trash, mostly from other countries, that had washed ashore.

Teams filled more than 200 large trash bags with everything imaginable - bottles, dozens of flip flops, vacuum cleaner parts, a TV, a toilet seat, an empty piggy bank, a Buddah.

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Next stop was Belize City, Belize, where volunteers tackled two projects. Sweet partnered with Hand Wash Hand to create a children's story time corner and to paint classrooms. "Sweeties" - the name the cruisers became affectionately known as -- donated more than 1,000 books plus other school supplies, and cruiser Erin Cottom donated a much-needed copier, toner and paper.

Working with Lifeline Foundation, another group added color to cartoon characters drawn by a local artist on the on the walls of the pediatric ward at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. The first lady of Belize even stopped by to help.

The local press covered the Sweet visit and a news website commented, "The charitable work being done by the group is commendable but for us as a society it is also a huge step towards liberalism and accepting people for who they are. The organization is made up of lesbians on a mission to show the world that they are able to contribute productively."

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Then it was on to Roatan, Honduras where Sweet worked on an E-Learning Center operated by Partners in Education. The women painted walls, set up two new computers (paid for by proceeds from the tour) and cataloged hundreds of books.

When the volunteers learned that just $150 would provide one student with a year's tuition at the center, they dug into their pockets and in a matter of minutes collected enough to fund four students for a year.

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At Cozumel, Mexico, Sweet's last port before heading home, volunteers cleaned trash from the beach and planted 25 mangroves in a swamp. They also worked with the local Rotary Club to plant trees and paint park benches and trees (to protect them from bugs).

As important as the volunteer activities were to the communities, many of the Sweet volunteers said the projects were life changing for them too. It's hard to look at piles of plastic trash marring the beautiful Central American beaches without thinking about the materials we use in our own lives.

The trip was all Wentworth had imagined and more. "All you have to do is care," she said. "That's the great bridge between cultures. Our caring built bridges in every port. The exciting part is that this is only the beginning. Before you know it, it's going to be a sweet, sweet world."

Read more of Edie's Stories

See the other photos from the Sweet Cruise here (first 2 days), here (days 3 and 4) and here (last day)!

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