Nineteen-year-old Bermudian Kate Riihiluoma travelled to Jamaica this month. But she was not in search of sun and sand. Instead, she went to lend a hand to children in need.

While studying at the Trinity College School in Ontario, Canada, Ms Riihiluoma heard about an organisation called Jamaica Self-Help, which goes to Jamaica each year to perform community service. Ms Riihiluoma said a keen interest in international relations and the desire to travel inspired her to go.

"Everyone who had gone before said it was such a great experience," she said.

After passing the necessary requirements for travelling to Jamaica, armed with medication, clothing, toys and school supplies, Ms Riihiluoma and the group left Canada for Kingston, Jamaica on August 2.

"When I got there, it was so overwhelming," she said. "I'd never seen such poverty before.

"People were living in shacks made of iron and all types of animals were walking around freely."

The college freshman said one of the contrasts which stood out most to her was how people of vastly different economic groups lived so close together.

"In some places there were shacks at the bottom of a hill, and lavish houses on the top," she said.

But Ms Riihiluoma said nothing could compare with her experience of working with the children who lived at the Max Field Children's Home. She described the facility as a foster home which housed children, from new-born to eighteen years of age.

"At first I thought it was some sort of summer camp," said the teenager. "It didn't hit home right away that some of these kids were never going home to their parents."

As she reflected on her experiences at the foster home, she said that one thing which stuck out most in her mind was the fact that the children did not own anything.

"Everyday, they would just put on whatever item of clothing that fit them and would leave them wherever they fell because they did not know the meaning of ownership."

And when they spent time locked in a classroom (to prevent the children from running outside), Ms Riihiluoma and her friends had the task of confiscating weapons from their oft times high-energy charges.

"Rocks, sticks, shoes, you name it," she said.

Ms Riihiluoma said she had an instant connection with many of the children - some of whom did not even have names because they were removed from their homes or abandoned before they could receive one. But she said one little boy, six-year-old Trenell, touched her heart.

"The first time I saw him, I wanted to cry. He was so sweet. I kept thinking, `You deserve someone to love and take care of you", she said.

Trenell was the youngest of four brothers who were left behind in Jamaica when their mother travelled to England with their sister.

Ms Riihiluoma said seeing these brothers interact with each other "taught me that there is hope under any circumstance".

But she said leaving Trenell and the others who she had grown to love during her two weeks in Kingston was heartbreaking. "It was hard and we didn't want to leave them," she said. "We weren't allowed to cry in front of them, but when we got on the bus to go the airport, we bawled."

Ms Riihiluoma said she would never forget her time spent at the Max Field home, and realised that she learned a valuable lesson.

"I feel I have no right to complain about anything in my life."