Trials, Triumphs and Challenges

Changes

After along battle with staff to obtain separate housing, a decision was made that my roommate will move to Moengo.  While bittersweet and certainly not the outcome that we originally had in mind, this arrangement will allow each of us to have our own sites and, most importantly, our own homes.  Suzie Kay has already established a relationship with the RGD health clinic in Moengo which, given her experience as a dietician, should open the door to a variety of project options. I will continue to live in Rica and work with the stichting on existing and future projects. Managing two separate sites will also expand our collective impact, enable us to work with a larger section of the population.

Daycare Center Update

The daycare has been under construction since January 2012.  Progress has been coming in waves depending on the availability of labor, the weather and the supplies that have been purchased.  On an extremely positive note, the stichting bought the remaining building supplies and budgeted materials for the daycare center (i.e. baby cradles, mattresses, wash buckets, mops, a water catchment system), which were delivered Monday, April 23^rd.  Final construction should be completed within the next two months with a training schedule for its local employees and an operational plan to follow in June and July. 

The community has taken some liberties with the initial building blueprint, but all changes have been unanimously approved.  The price of gas has also recently gone up, which has increased the price of several of our building materials. Receipts are due back to Rotary, at this point the sole funder, by the first week in May along with a progress report. 

Photos of progess:

The original structure (the former dance/community hall) was falling apart. The wood was decaying, eaten by termites, the cement floor was foll of holes and broken nails protruded from the busted walls.

A picture of the original structure on the inside.

Local construction worker Lando builds new walls from cinder blocks and concrete.

Construction worker Daniel takes a break after sealing the new wall.

Rehabilitation of the floor before the new cement was poured.

A young mother, Saa Dindin, with a handfull of the villages young children.

New walls built. Heavy duty screen will be applied to open areas to enclose the space while still providing for a comfortable breeze.

A makeshift door keeps young children off the newly poured floor and away from the other building supplies.

Wood beams mark the demarkation between where the napping and play rooms. A wall will be consrtucted. The far door space is where the bathroom is to be constructed. Small matresses (left) will line the baby cradles and the larger ones will lay on the floor.

Girls Empowerment Camp (i.e. Camp GLOW)

The girl’s camp for Marowijne has been funded!  A fellow PCV, Michelle, and several local women and I are working full time to secure lodging, transportation, guest speakers and local support for the event, which will cover a range of topics from nutrition and sexual reproductive health to career paths and protecting the environment.  Sessions and activities are designed to educate and empower, with a strong focus on improving self-esteem and developing leadership.  Given Peace Corps’ impending withdrawal from Suriname, we strive to involve and train a group of local women (school teachers, community leaders) in the planning an implementation of the camp so that they can replicate it in the years to come. This year’s camp will serve 30 5^th and 6^th grade girls from the villages of Ricanaumoffo, Wan Hatti, Moengo, Erowarte and Tapuku.

Ideas Requested

Rica has been active in UNICEF’s Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program for the last few years. Trainings have been excellent, when available, but have been cancelled since August 2011. As with any large organization, the application process is long and the pace is slow.  In light of the latter, the community has secured some of its objectives, namely Durotanks and garbage pick-up, without UNICEF’s financial assistance.  Now, with the daycare center project winding down the toilet project is next in line. And here I find myself in a bit of a pickle: UNICEF has pledged to help but we don’t know how much and by what time.

What we know—We know, for example, that UNICEF has about USD $48,000 to be split amongst 16 different villages.  If every village gets an equal part, and there’s no guarantee they will, Rica would recieve about USD $3,000 (~ SRD $9,800).  Rica’s own community development organization has a small store of cash earmarked for the toilet project, in addition to any amount provided by external sources. Also, it has been agreed that each of the family 61 households that would to obtain a toilet will have to put up half the cost of the materials and do their own labor.  However, all of this considered, and assuming we get the money from UNICEF, Rica still won’t have enough money to buy the materials.

It is important to consider that the community should also have an engineer come out to verify where we can and cannot build toilets and to help us draw a model of the septic tanks and the structure that will house the toilet so that we can draft a budget. Plus, there’s always the possibility that UNICEF will not provide any money or technical expertise, or that it will take a very long time before any funding may be received.

A final complication is that members of the community do not agree on how to go about the project generally: Should a modest number of shared toilets be provided to the community to be shared at no cost to individual households or should each household be able to buy into an in-home pour flush model that would be subsidized by the community development organization and its funders?

What we don’t know—What to do? So, here’s where I solicit you clever folks for suggestions.  I’ve listed three basic options below and am open to other suggestions.

1. Wait to hear back from UNICEF. Assume they will provide technical expertise and the maximum funding (USD $3,000). In the meantime, devise a way to make up the difference in funding between the UNICEF funding plus what the community already has, and what it needs.
2. Assume that UNICEF will not be able to help in a timely matter (if at all) and seek all funding and technical expertise elsewhere.
3. Abandon the project entirely. Perhaps the community is not ready for a project of this scale at this time.

Random Project Ideas

The project ideas below are small in scale and outside the priorities of the community, which still doesn’t have running water, regular electricity or, in many households, toilets. You’ll notice that all of them involve Rica’s youth, who are its best chance for a better, more developed future.  In my opinion, that is why these projects are of the utmost importance.

I do not have any plan of action or funding scheme in mind for any of the items below at this time. Therefore, I look to you as creative individuals and experienced professionals for ideas about how to get them done. Thank you, in advance, for your feedback!

Just Shoe It!  Most children in Rica own two pair of shoes: A pair of flip-flops and a pair of dress sandals that they where to school/church.  A handful also has thin, plastic boots for the rainy season. That means that they do not have closed toed shoes to play sports or go to grounds.  You can imagine the amount of injured feet I see in a day! I’m trying to get in touch with the organization Tom’s Shoes about getting a donation, but a shoe drive would serve the same purpose, if the former isn’t feasible. (Heart & Sole; Take a Walk in Their Shoes…Or Not; Not-So-Famous Footwear; Keeping Toes Intact)

A Book A Day (…Keeps Poverty Away)  I’m fully absorbed in the Hunger Games trilogy right now and have been spending a good part of my afternoons over the last week lost in the pages of the second book, thanks to my newly acquired Kindle App.  Two days ago, my neighbor girl, 9-year-old Simone, asked me what I was doing on my computer. After explaining the logistics of how a book could be in my computer in the first place, we got to a more confusing question: Why do you read books? 

With the exception of those in my house, most kids in Rica have only ever seen one book: The Bible.  We could debate its merits and intrigue or even its instructive value, but I don’t think many would argue that the Bible is most kid’s idea of a good time. Additionally, the Bibles in Rica are written in Sranan Tongo, a language all of the kids can speak and understand, but not one that they learn to read or write in school. School instruction is in Dutch as is the professional sphere outside of the Interior.  Oral story telling is so valued here and yet the children don’t have access to the written word—the world of stories, of history of imagination!

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that without books, kids don’t learn to read. And, if you can’t read it’s unlikely that you will learn to write worth a damn.  Children here are held back year after year.  Some drop out, others push on and a lucky, gifted few will make it past middle school. What does Rica need: It needs books. A lot of them. As such, I would like to build a small library.  I’m pretty confident I can get the books donated, but the community will need a small amount of money to buy the wood, zinc and cement to build the structure itself and some shelves.

Written in the Stars; Pinworm, Ringworm, Bookworm?; The Written Word; Giving Your Word; Read Between the Lines; Kindles Are for Rich Kids; A Book A Day; The Power of Words; Great Books

Play First  Other than the football field, which is in serious disrepair, there is no location within the community that is designated for children to play. Kids collect found objects to use as toys. These object vary but include sticks, empty metal fuel barrels, mud, pieces of Styrofoam and even razor blades.  While the kids’ creativity sometimes leaves me awestruck—like when I realized that they were making kites from plastic trash bags that they found or that their play cars are constructed from old nails and empty water bottles, but there is an additional need. There is plenty of space surrounding the primary school and a playground would provide a safe environment for the children to play.  I envision something minimal: A slide, swing set, teeter totter and perhaps a series of half-buried large tires.

Women’s Group in Pikin Santi

I’m continuing to work with the women’s group in Pikin Santi to help sell their handbags and identify artisan bazarres and other local markets.  At the Suriname Heritage Festival the group sold over SRD $1,000 in products and we hope to exceed that number at this week’s Made in Suriname Fair.

Wildlife

I have killed yet another Fer-de-Lance (viper) snake outside my home in Ricanaumoffo.  The little bugger was hidden underneath my trash bag and poised to strike when I removed the bag to take out to the garbage truck.  Thankfully my new machete was nearby and the snake met his end after about five slashes (the machete needs to be sharpened).

I killed it. Take that, you deadly viper, you!

My counterpart's new baby monkey. The mother became someone's dinner.

Tarantula on the side of my house.

Alms for the Poor…Peace Corps Volunteer That You Love

Special thanks to recent benefactors Davis Smith, Bob & Janet Bennett (i.e. Grandma & Grandpa) and my mother and father for their lovely packages.  I relish your treats and they make the hot days so much more enjoyable! For any of you benevolent readers out there, ideas are below. Surprises are also welcome—I like EVERYTHING except tuna.

Things I need:

• Duct tape—an American brand like 3M or scotch or something
• A USB stick (my four sticks are almost full with project proposals, etc.)

Things I would like, but don’t technically need:

• Books in French or Spanish (even just printed articles) to help me retain the languages
• Books/magazines in general. I have the Kindle Ap on my computer so you can send electronic books via Amazon.com too!
• Stationary, American stamps, envelops (and your address if you would like a
• Granola
• Dried cherries
• Almonds or pecans
• Parmesan cheese (the grated kind, not fresh)

Things for the kids:

• Tennis balls (for the girls to play slagball)
• Coloring books and children’s books in English or Dutch (for the children)
• Crayons/watercolors/markers
• Lanyard material



GO BLUE!

Photos

 Paramaribo on New Year's Eve

Another view

And another...

 Yet another

Guess where? That's right--Paramaribo on New Year's Eve. Oh yeah, and that truck was moving!

Post-New Year's bash in Rica with friend Drusilla. Note my purple extensions :)

With one of my counterparts, Tante Mina

The gorgeous ladies of Rica taking a break from dancing

Christmas and New Years

Fair warning: This is a very long blog entry. I have a sneaking suspicion that only my family will want to read the chronicle of my folks trip, but since it was exciting for me I decided to include it. More pictures to come--download speed is slow on BlogSpot. Otherwise photos are available on Facbeook.

New Year’s Done Right

On December 31^st Paramaribo is an absolute zoo! It’s no surprise to me now why it’s considered one of the most exciting cities in the world to visit for the New Year holiday.  On Domineestraat whole city blocks were wrapped in firecrackers, the street and balconies overflowing with Surinamers and foreign visitors gathering en masse to view the festivities. 

Early in the morning tents began to pop up on the street corners housing vendors of beer, pickled fruits and barbeque. As the hours passed, marching bands and dance team performances began the chaotic parade-like scene and the bands and other entertainers set up on the multiple stages downtown.  Two monster trucks jam packed with DJs, dancers and a handful of lucky bystanders laid on their horns as their drivers tried to roll the big machines through thousands of onlookers in the street.

At noon the fireworks began—cracking around buildings, shooting up into the sky and every other direction. The air smelled like sulfur as the smoke filled the sky and visitors pulled on their surgical masks, put in their earplugs. 

Those of us who started off on Domineestraat made our way down to the Waterkant where, a much more subdued location, to share a few beers and conversation before the night’s parties began.

A few hours later, as darkness began to fall on the city and the sticky heat of the tropics began to fade away, our group pushed onward to the Palmtuin (Palm Garden) to watch the fireworks that were exploding in every direction and catch a bit of fresh air.  By 9:30 PM we were off to Zus & Zos guesthouse for drinks, donuts and dancing before the countdown to 2012.

My (Peace Corps) New Year’s Resolution for 2012

It’s hard to believe I’ve been here for seven months! Seven months without running water. Seven months without changing seasons. Seven months without seeing my friends and, up until just now, my family. 2011 constituted such a dramatic shift in my life that it’s often difficult internalize how I came to be here. While I’ve given up so much to be a volunteer, I’ve found as much in the process: New friends, new skills, new challenges.  2012 arrives just as my life in Suriname is beginning to normalize—on the heels of great emotional stress and on the doorstep of previously unforeseen opportunity. 

As one of the last class of Peace Corps volunteers in Suriname, I feel a certain obligation to help my community realize its potential, to bring about some kind of lasting, positive change.  All things considered, the 20 months that remains in my service leave little time for action, but I’m confident that, with careful planning, some small but very important goals can be realized:

·      First, I aim to work with Rica’s youth to broaden their perspective on environmental and gender issues, and to empower them to adopt positive behavior changes that will improve their lives.  My first step toward this goal is planning a Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) in coordination with my roommate and fellow Rica volunteer Suzie Kay and two volunteers in the Amerindian communities of Erowarte and Tapuuku. Ideally a boys leadership camp will follow.

·      Second, I will continue to work with Rica’s internal community development organization to identify future projects and project partners in order to ensure that the village continues to improve the collective livelihood of its residents through a formalized, sustainable process.  We will begin construction of the new daycare center in the next two months. Also, we plan to host some of our partners with Rotary as well as a guest from the UN Development Programme and, potentially, a school teacher from the U.S. at the end of January. This visit will serve to build on existing relationships and to develop future partnerships.

Post New Year’s Extravaganza: Village Style

Last night Rica hosted a roaring post-New Year’s bash complete with live music, plenty of alcohol and a visit from the Minister of Social Services. For those of you who can’t imagine me with purple hair extensions—and I assume that’s most of you, please enjoy the photos.  I didn’t resist the temptation to go dance, though I was admittedly a little embarrassed to try shaking my booty to Aleke music in front of a group of people that could easily have a career in traditional dance. All went well and I managed to sneak away by 12:30 AM to get some sleep. After the festivities I was, for the first time in country, able to sleep-in until 10:00 AM.  Thankfully, J

January 3^rd was an unusually quiet and pleasant day, given that the children are still on school vacation.  I was able to bribe a few kids with left over candy canes and they were happy to give me peace for the whole day in order to clean the house, take down the Christmas decorations and read a bit.  For the second time I was thrilled to have one of my eight-year-old buddies stop by to request a big plastic bag so that he could go collect garbage in ganda, the “downtown” area of my village. He’s determined to keep Rica clean and I’m happy to fit the bill for his trash bags :)

Chronicle of Mom & Dad’s Visit to Suriname

My parent’s visit was also quite the adventure. We started with a whirlwind, one-day tour of  Paramaribo.  A cup of home-made ginger beer got us off on the right foot as we wandered through the Central Market—a dizzying array of colors and smells painting the stands of different vendors throughout the two-story hall.

Next, we walked up to where a large mosque and the old Jewish temple stand side-by-side in the city center.  After a few photographs and a quick jaunt to the souvenir shop RedyTex, we took shelter in a DVD shop while the afternoon rain poured down.

A while later we headed into the Dutch quarter to get a feel for the old colonial architecture—white wooden buildings with wide porches overlooking the streets. From there we continued on to the Presidential palace and old Governor’s mansion, now the site of the Ministry of Finance, through Independence Square, past the National Assembly to Fort Zeelandia.

My parents and I backtracked to the Waterkant after a brief tour of the Fort to get some Surinamese bami and a Parbo beer.  We almost beat the rain on the way back to the hotel for a snooze before crossing the bridge into Comowijne for a holiday party with a handful of other volunteers and their visiting family members.  Despite the fact that our chatty cabbie felt the need to share a few of his less politically correct opinions on Surinamese society and its respective ethnic groups, excluding his own of course, the drive was agreeable. Mostly it gave my folks a different picture than what they had seen in the city and would soon see in my village on the Cottica.

Friday’s trip to site presented a few obstacles but nothing out of the ordinary. Our wagi (taxi) was fuller than usual and the driver had quite the time trying to pack in all of our baggage.  On the way to Moengo a few stray items fell from their place, crashing into some pour little boy’s head who had the misfortune of sitting in the back, middle seat.  After short cry and slight reorganization, we found ourselves on the way again—this time with a lap full of frozen meat, a bucket of laundry detergent, a box of granola bars and several pieces of luggage.  Thankfully, the road to Moengo is now fully paved so the bumps and dives were limited.

In Moengo, where we normally would have caught the boat to Rica, we noticed that our boat was being packing by Power, a man who normally drives a different boat to and from Wan Hati.  As it turned out, his motor died that morning and our boat was on loan to him for the afternoon since many of his stops are not accessible by road and Rica is.  A small bus collected those of us en route to Rica and dropped us off at our location. My parents were thrilled to see Suzie Kay walking up the path from the river with a bucket of freshly washed dishes on her head as we arrived—a great snapshot into our lives as Peace Corps volunteers. The first day at site we greeted my neighbors and enjoyed pumpkin stew while telling stories: A relaxing night before yet another travel day on Saturday. 

The morning of Christmas Eve we woke early to catch the wagi to Albina with my counterpart. It was smooth sailing minus some mild confusion about with forms we needed to fill out in immigration and whether or not we had to come back for a second round of passport stamps upon our return from French Guyana.  The boat ride across was beautiful and we were able to get to the market in no time. Unfortunately the rain caught us mid lettuce purchase and we had to take cover inside. On the bright side, a warm bowl of Vietnamese pho and fresh pressed juices awaited each of us inside.

A tour of the old labor (i.e. prison) camp followed our shopping.  The camp does not offer guided tours to my knowledge, so we wandered about reading the information plaques. Inside the tiny cells, we could see were the inmates had been chained up.  A couple of cold Belgian beers completed our adventure before pushing through the mobs of boat drivers eager to hassle my counterpart to secure their services for the ride back across the Marowijne River.

Some two hours later we were back in Rica, washing up for the Christmas Eve church service. The Pastor was kind enough to pass out song sheets with the English versions of various Christmas carols so my parents would have some idea what was going on.  Several of the children also performed, included a duet by two girls in English. Somehow most of the church going adults seemed to forget to come on both Christmas Eve and Christmas, but the ceremony was nice regardless.  Most important of all the events on Christmas Eve, we ate beef, salad and Christmas cookies. Oh yeah, and there were two bottles of wine to top it off. Take that for a jungle holiday!

Christmas day we attended another church ceremony and took it easy for the rest of the day.  We made and distributed a batch of “Hello Dolly” cookies, which were a big hit and then I taught Mom how to wash dishes in the river.  She turned down the opportunity to go for a swim. I couldn’t tell you what her reasoning was, but I vaguely remember some comment about piranhas…

On the 26^th, our last day in Rica, Dad and I went for a nature walk and spotted several interesting birds (see Facebook for photos).  Highlights include an eagle, a beautiful hawk, several parrots and a macaw.  We squeezed in some final visits with friends in the village and packed up the suitcases.

On December 27^th it was back to foto (the city) via the boat to Moengo and a two-hour wagi ride. We made a quick stop at the Peace Corps office, grabbed some roti at Albea’s Restaurant and taxied back to the hotel where our old room was conveniently waiting for us in all its air-conditioned glory.  We shared a lovely dinner with Suzie Kay and packed for phase two as the first half of their trip came to a close.

Bergendal Ecotourism Resort was the destination of the next part of our Suriname adventure and thankfully they provide transportation. In a moment of confusion we were concerned that we had lost our reservation when the concierge at the Krasnapolski Hotel, the point of departure to Bergendal, informed us that we had not paid for our stay by the date listed in the reservation confirmation. Dad sorted that situation out just in time for us to hop on the bus for the trip down South toward Brookopondo.

Although the room wasn’t quite ready when we wanted, we were quickly reminded why Bergendal made it onto our itinerary: A ten zip, twelve platform canopy tour!  Even Mom was convinced to suit up—harnesses, helmets and all, and glide through the jungle on metal cables despite a moderate amount of comments ike, “this is my worst nightmare,” and, “oh my God, I’m never letting you two sign me up for anything ever again,” under her breath. The views were spectacular, particularly the zip across the Suriname River.  In the end, all three of us had an amazing time.

Another perk of going to Bergendal was getting to see my host mother from Community-Based Training, who works there.  When we arrived in our lodge, Fernanda had written “I <3 Kate” in towels on my pullout bed—a nice welcome!  After our canopy tour we hopped a bus to Company Creek to visit my host aunt, Thai, and her children. Despite the fact that we only had an hour—the bus we chartered wasn’t exactly cheap—we had enough time to catch up and exchange a story or two. Upon returning to Bergendal, we met up with Fernanda for drinks and she and my parents were able to get to know each other a bit.

The next morning, much to my father’s dismay, the water cut out mid-shower.  Apparently there was a problem with the resort’s pumping system and our section of lodges had no water for the rest of the morning.  Gratefully, two bottles of water resolved Dad’s soapy situation and we collectively decided to spend the rest of the morning beside the pool.

Back in the city the folks were able to enjoy a quiet night at the hotel before their last full day in Suriname.  I, on the other hand, met the other volunteers for a night of dancing at Havana Lounge until the wee hours of the morning.

On the 30^th, Mom and I accompanied Dad to ReadyTex for some last minute souvenirs before heading to Jerusalem Bazarre—the pangi shop.  Hundreds of bolts of colorful fabric in plaids and African prints peaked Mom’s eye in the bustling shop on Saramaccastraat. Several purchases later, we pushed our way back to the hotel through the mobs of visitors arriving in Paramaribo for the New Year’s celebrations.

 The hotel’s masseuse pampered Dad and me while Mom treated herself to a manicure and pedicure out on the pier.  Our de-stress sessions were the perfect precursor to our final meal at Café d’Optimist, a local steak and pasta joint in a different section of town.   When dinner was finished, I dropped the old fogies off at the hotel to catch some Z’s then stepped out to meet the other volunteers at Parbo Nights—a street fair sponsored by the Parbo Brewing Company.  I got back to the hotel at 2:00 AM, just in time to wish my parents safe travels before they jumped on the airport shuttle. Overall I think the trip was a great success and now I’m certain my parents have a better appreciation for the complicated little country I’ve called home for the last seven months.  It was great to share a piece of my adventure with them!

Things I Would Love to Receive in a Care Package

• Canned spinach
• Canned lentils
• Cream of mushroom soup
• Cream of chicken soup
• Ankle socks
• Pens

Thanksgiving and Srefidensi

I'll provide a quick update while I have internet access in the capital:

• On November 19th I ran the Srefidensi Half Marathon at, admitedly, a very slow pace. I was, however, very pleased to finish and enjoyed the race and time spent with other Peace Corps volunteers.
• Yesterday the Ambassador and his wife kindly hosted the PCVs and a couple other American's in country to Thanksgiving dinner at their home. The food was excellent and it was a wonderful way to spend the holiday. Unfortunately I may have overdone it with the food--I very nearly had to be rolled out to the taxi!
• Today is Sredifensi Day, or Surinamese Independence Day. I will not be staying in the city for the festivities but am sure it's bound to be a wild time.
• Special thanks to Ringa Bulatovic for sending me a new camera! It's up and running so I should have a new batch of pictures to upload the next time I'm in the city. Very exciting :)
• The first week in December I will be attending a boys camp in a Saramaccan village on the Suriname River. I'm very excited to see how the camp is executed so that Suzie Kay and I can replicate it in our village to correspond to the Camp GLOW we plan to hold for the girls of Rica in the Spring.

More to come!

6 Months in Suriname

The last month at site has been, well, busy! On several occasions I accompanied women in my village to their grounds (i.e. jungle farms) to help them with their planting. The planting season here generally begins in late August and goes through early to mid-December. While labor is often paid, usually SRD $65/person for one day’s work, many individuals yuu themselves, or rent out their labor in exchange for a day’s worth of labor from the person to whom they have provided services.  Since I cannot accept payment and have no grounds of my own, I come along for free to learn, work and spend time with the people of Rica. Occasionally there is a cold soda or beer in the occasion as well, which I never turn down!

The day’s work is long and hard. Once at grounds, the day begins at 10:00 AM with a prayer, from which point the digging and planting continues (in the hot sun) until 12:00 PM. At noon a snack is served and workers observe a 30 minute break. At 12:30 PM, work resumes until the lunch break from 2:00 – 2:30 PM.  The work continues until 5:00 PM, or thereabouts, in order that the farmers can get back to the boats, load them up and return to Rica before sundown.

Keep in mind, grounds are often over 30 minutes to 2 hours away and the trip usually involves extensive boat and foot travel. This system originated in the years immediately after Suriname’s Maroon slaves escaped into the bush so that their former masters would not also be able to locate the villages if they happened across the planting grounds.

Watching my friends and acquaintances navigate oversized canoes powered by outboard motors through narrow jungle creeks, which are laden with sunken logs and thick reeds, has been nothing short of amazing. Moreover, I have really enjoyed seeing how people here manage to make what would otherwise be an endless continuum of exhausting days into something amusing and social: Song and dance often interrupts furious digging; two boats destined for the same grounds suddenly find themselves in a race.

Project work is occupying a fair amount of time as well. Now that SKB and I have passed the 3-month mark at site, we have Peace Corps’ official blessing to begin projects.  The primary task at hand at present is writing a detailed budget for the conversion of the old dance hall into a daycare. Thankfully our predecessors and a select group of community members did a lot of the leg work already, so we’re mostly fine-tuning and price checking.

I’ve also submitted a proposal to host a community meeting on or about World AIDS Day in which several children from the village will perform a skit on the various means of transmission of HIV. If the presentation is well-received, I hope to follow it up with a series of formal HIV/AIDS trainings for the various demographic subgroups in our community. The proposal includes an incentive, of course—food will be served to the first 100 individuals that come to see the performance. Cross your fingers!

Once the daycare project is completed the community will use what money is left from a previous project to build six to seven pour-flush, community toilets.  In the coming months, the schedule is also replete with personal travels and challenges. I plan to run the Sredefensi half marathon in Paramaribo on November 19^th. Under the circumstances (extreme heat & humidity, lack of an appropriate place to train, etc.), I have no intention of running under a certain time or setting any personal records—I just want to finish.  I’ve done two long runs thus far in preparation, both at a turtle’s pace, and I’m hoping the adrenaline will give me an extra boost.

In early December I hope to observe a camp similar to Peace Corps’ Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) in a Saramaccan village. This one is different, however, because it’s designed for boys. SKB has recently observed a Camp GLOW on the same river. Together, we hope to learn from our counterparts in Saramacca about some of the planning and logistics that go into these camps so that we can host two, one for the boys and one for the girls, on the Cottica River.  We also have the notes of the prior volunteers in Rica to help guide us through this process.

Perhaps most exciting, my parents are coming to visit over the Christmas holiday! We’ve planned a whirlwind itinerary that has them stopping in Paramaribo, Ricanaumoffo, Saint Laurent (French Guyana), Brookopondo and Company Creek. I’m very much looking forward to sharing a little bit of my life in Suriname with them, and to give them a sampling of some of the different cities and activities the country has to offer.

On the flipside of all this fun and exciting news, my patience (of which there was little to begin with) is running thinner and thinner with the behavior of some of Rica’s youth. An episode in the last week of October resulted in my writing and posting formal rules on the door of our house to be abided to by all children visiting our home. The kids have grown accustomed to braking the crayons and puzzles, leaving them strewn about on the balcony. In the aforementioned episode, a group of boys returned SKB’s brand new Adidas soccer ball flat with what appeared to be two razor blade cuts in the side. 

Many of the children here have a real difficulty with the concept of listening, much more than any American children I’ve ever encountered. They also seem not to understand the practice of taking turns. More importantly, several of the children, if not most, disregard all attempts at discipline unless there is a threat of physical violence. 

Unfortunately, the primary form of parenting here comes from the end of a reed or belt. Children are hit for crying, for misbehaving, for making mistakes, etc. In most cases, there are no rational conversations about their behavior, about what is acceptable and what is not and why. There are no warnings preceding the blows, apart from perhaps tapuu i mofu! (shut up) shouted from a distance. The system, in my opinion, does not breed obedient, conscientious children, but unruly ones that don’t understand social systems or behavioral norms, ones that seek power and respect in the form of a fist and are quick to question any authority that tries to maintain order otherwise.  One of the greatest detriments of this system is that it does not enable the children to analyze rewards and consequences because, apart from getting hit, there are none.  Example:

If I cut this ball, I won’t have a ball to play with anymore. If I break or lose the crayons, perhaps Kate/SKB won’t buy me new ones. If I return the ball in a good condition, they will lend it to me again tomorrow. If I put the crayons away, when they run out, Kate/SKB will buy more.

These types of thoughts are, for many but not all, completely non-existent. When we try to explain the rules and consequences, we’re either met with blank stares, ignored or mocked.  They know damn well that neither SKB nor I will ever beat them, so what’s the point of behaving?

There are, of course, a handful of kids who consistently have good manners, listen, clean up after themselves and follow the rules. We try to give these children extra attention and benefits, but the others often spoil their fun.

Another observation I’ve made of the children in our village is that they have an apparent lack of special intelligence with regard to certain specific tasks. Forget reading a map, completing a nine-piece Dora the Explorer puzzle that should take a five-year-old five minutes takes most of Rica’s ten, eleven and twelve-year-olds up to twenty minutes to complete—and that’s if they can do it. They don’t seem to understand that a corner piece has two straight edges, that both the picture and the shape need to fit. And these aren’t dumb kids I’m talking about either—they’re extremely bright. I can’t figure it out.

Lastly, I have two requests. The first is that you shoot me an email, blog comment or Facebook message with the kinds of content (topics or pictures) you would like to see on my blog. I’m not sure what interests people and I’d like to tailor the website to include things that you folks want to read. If you have any suggestions, please share!

Secondly, I’m assembling a reading list for myself and need your help. Kindly share with me (via email, blog comment or Facebook message) the title(s) of your favorite book(s). We have a pretty decent library in the Peace Corps office in Paramaribo and I need help filtering the quality from the garbage. If it helps at all, below I’ve included a list of literature I have enjoyed and that which I do not.

Likes: The Stieg Larsson series, Outliers (M. Gladwell), Half the Sky (N. Kristoff, S. WuDunn), The Kite Runner (K. Hosseini), Atlas Shrugged (A. Rand), Freakanomics (S. Levitt, S. Dubner), Brick Lane (M. Ali), most Shakespear, any and all poetry, short stories—especially anything my Alice Munroe, anything interesting regarding political thought or the history of social progress, themes of social trends

Dislikes: Anything written by Michel Foucault or H.D. Thoreau, books on American politics, most biographies/autobiographies

And for the ever eager philanthropists among you, the list of things I would love to receive in a care package ;)

·         Dried fruit, nuts (favorites are apples, cherries, pecans, almonds)

·         Maple syrup

·         Milk powder

·         Beef jerky

·         GrapeNuts cereal

·         Gatorade powder (in any flavor but grape)

·         Gallon ziplock bags

·         Any instant box salad mix (tabouleh, couscous, etc.)

·         Chocolate chips

·         And for the kids: Coloring books, markers and simple puzzles

That’s all for now! Stay tuned.