Photos

More to come soon!

Future Site Visit, etc.

Please forgive spelling and grammatical errors. I did not have time to edit/review this post before publishing.

I am currently sitting in Bugger King in Paramaribo which, perhaps only rivaled by MacDonald’s, seems to be the nicest building in all of Suriname. A) It’s air conditioned. B) It has WiFi. C) It has food that I recognize. Within the city I have also located a “restaurant” called Power Smoothie, which sells smoothies as well as submarine sandwiches with lettuce, tomato and cold cuts. It’s pretty much the best place ever given that I’ve now tried every Surinamese dish about five hundred times and am desperate for American food—particularly fruit and vegetables.

BAD NEWS

Unfortunately, I have recently been notified that, due to budget cuts, Peace Corps Suriname will not be training another class of trainees next year.  While this should not impact the program for existing volunteers and does not necessarily mean that the post will be shut down in the future, it’s not a good sign.  PC Suriname is a small and traditionally low-functioning post for a host of reasons. It is also very costly site to operate. Although I am not surprised that it was one of the five sites in the Americas being “downsized,” so-to-speak, I am disappointed.

FUTURE SITE VISIT

I had the opportunity to visit my future site with my roommate-to-be, Suzie Kay.  Rica is a really wonderful place a part from the mud—It seems that urban planning is not a familiar concept in Suriname so the city is more or less built at the water table.  Our house is amazing and extremely Western relative to those of our fellow PCVs.  We have electricity from 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM each day, which means that we can keep food for more than a day, a pour-flush toilet IN OUR HOUSE and two durotanks to catch rainwater. The “KSK Osu.” as we’ve fondly named our residence, also has two bedrooms and a beautiful balcony.  We are hugely grateful to the two volunteers we are replacing for leaving us all of their furniture, tools and kitchen supplies. Their generosity represents a huge financial burden being lifted off our shoulders as we won’t have to purchase all of those items ourselves.

During our week at site, Suzie Kay and I were able to get to know each other a lot better.  We had several heartfelt chats and I can’t express how lucky I am to have her as a roommate. I think we’re going to make a great team and provide each other with much needed emotional support over the next two years.

Suzie Kay and I also had the opportunity to go to grounds while visiting Rica.  We visited the grounds of a local couple (Fankali and Christine) where we helped them bag 160 kilos of Pomtaya (taro root).  That evening they invited us over to tell Surinamese fables (Anaisi toil). I laughed so hard that my eyes watered and my stomach burned as I watched Fankali act out certain parts of the fable, complete with sound effects and gestures. Story telling is still very much alive in Suriname and it’s great to be a part of the tradition.

We also had the pleasure of watching the local Slagball team practice. Slagball, a sport played by the women of Suriname (in lieu of Soccer), loosely resembles a hybrid of baseball and cricket. I couldn’t believe the athleticism of Rica’s women, nor the level support they received from the local men and children as they practiced. Their coach was very professional too.  One of my biggest concerns about my time in Suriname is my ability to empower women in an overwhelmingly male-dominant society. This was an important example of female empowerment in Suriname that brought me some peace, however small.

Lastly, I have to admit that while away at site I very much missed my morning runs with Michelle, reading Dale’s daily quotes on the chalkboard and late night laughs with Elliott, Patrick and Brooke at “Club Hollandia,” the local bakery that lets us drink Parbo on it’s covered deck. Our group of trainees is truly phenomenal. I’m going to miss them intensely when we leave for site. 

POTENTIAL CHALLENGES

·      My limited experience in Rica has demonstrated that the local men do not understand what a professional, respectful relationship with a woman is or should be and the cultural norms around gender relations in Suriname’s interior make broaching that topic almost impossible.

·      Following in the footsteps of two volunteers that have had tremendous success and that have built impressive relationships with so many of the people in the community.

·      Keeping my own biases and cultural filters in check.

·      The frustrations of not fully understanding the language and culture in which I will be working.

·      MUD—limited access to a safe running path.

·      Trying to process emotions and stresses brought on by so many new experiences. 

Site Assignment!

Yesterday we received our site assignments and I'm pleased to announce that I will be moving to Ricanaumofo with one other volunteer. Rica has ~400 inhabitants and is located about 12 km from Moengo.  This week I will have the opportunity to visit my future site as well as to visit a volunteer further down the Cottica River. Stay tuned :)

Community-Based Training (CBT)

After completing the first week of CBT (i.e. home stay), we’ve returned to Lelydorp to take our language proficiency examines and find out the location of our future sites. Needless to say, I’m very excited! 

Thus far CBT has been an amazing experience (the second part of CBT occurs in about three weeks from now after a visit with a current volunteer and one to my future site). I stayed in Company Kreek, an Aucan village near Brookopondo. My host mother, Fernanda, was wonderful and cooked for me throughout the week. I actually stayed in her mother’s home and was pleased that she had electricity and the associated appliances. The homes in Company do not, however, have running water. Instead, the inhabitants use duro tanks (rain catchment systems) and water from the creek to satisfy their washing and cooking needs.

The people of Company Kreek have been wonderful—they’re extremely kind and welcoming and have been very patient with my language (or lack thereof). I feel I’m made tremendous progress in terms of what I can speak and understand in Okanisi, though I am still struggling with trying to explain myself on a regular basis. The kids in particular have been a huge help in terms of language learning. Their patience and explanations have made my experience so much fun.

There are, of course, a few things that have been noticeably different from the U.S. that have me pondering potential future projects.  The first of which is the apparent absence of waste management. Although some of the residents of Company Kreek do collect and burn their trash, many through it directly into the forest or river. I was appalled to see plastic bags and soda bottles all over the village and in the water.

Second, there appears to be very little understanding of health and nutrition. Men and women do get exercise from various manual tasks (i.e. working at grounds, husking rice, walking to and from the creek), but they do not exercise voluntarily and/or for recreation.  All meals are prepared with excessive amounts of salt, oil and Magi (a meat bullion cube loaded with MSG). As far as I can tell, residents do not drink water throughout the day and much prefer a soda or “strop” (sugar water that tastes similar to Kool Aide) over juice or milk. Not surprisingly, then, most of the adults are significantly over weight. I continue to try to find ways to talk about nutrition and health without insulting my hosts or devaluing their culture, but it’s a huge challenge.

Lastly, I’ve noticed that there is little to no early childhood development. Children of two have few if any words and no real capacity to communicate. I have not seen parents play with their children, count with them, help them to speak. Rather, parents tell their children to go play and speak to them only when giving instructions about chores or disciplining them. They ask their children whether their homework has been completed as opposed to helping them with it.  In many cases this is largely due to high adult illiteracy rates, but it also seems to be cultural.

I don’t want these observances to caste a negative view of the community—It’s a really wonderful village and people seem genuinely content with their lives. Rather, these are some areas that I see as opportunities: Opportunities for me to provide an alternative viewpoint and, ideally, to promote positive change.   

More to come. Stayed tuned!