Change. It happens everywhere.

14 Sept 2009, somewhere around 1:30pm

Avocados (also known here as zabuca or pear) are in full swing. It has been a very tasty past couple of weeks and the guacamole is wonderful. Still haven't gotten too many into guacamole in my village. My host dad refers to it as pickney tootoo...pickney is dialect for kids, so I am sure you can guess the tootoo part. Still too much of any good thing isn't good for you and it is a comical reminder everytime the avocados come raining from the trees and I gobble them up after missing them for so long...and a couple hours later remember why it isn't good to eat too much avocado. Still, it is too yummy to pass up. ^_^ What a wonderful food avocado is.



The yellow face has tasty avocado...the blue faces have none. ^_^

The political situation in SVG is rather interesting for the outsider right about now. They are in the final leg of an attempt for a constitutional referendum. The government has spent the past 6 or so years pulling in the opinions and other inputs from all walks of Vincentians--here and abroad. The government parties were at one time together on this venture, but for a myriad of reasons have since taken different stances. The government (majority party) has been pushing a YES vote and the opposition (minority party) has been pushing a NO vote. There are many Vincentians here that believe neither party should be pushing any sort of YES or NO vote and should only be engaging in educating the people on the new constitution's contents and empowering them to place their own individual votes that remain unswayed by any particular political influence.

I have heard and seen a great deal of political tribalism during my first year here, but this seems to be taking things to a whole new level. If I was to ever pursue political science as a PhD field of study, I think I would return here for a dissertation as I have never seen such levels of political tribalism before and also seen the public and government so close together and readily accessible--a given considering SVG is a small nation.

I will refrain from discussing the bits and pieces of the constitution or my own personal thoughts on it. However, I certainly raised an eyebrow at the words of the Prime Minister in this week's newspapers. He is an incredibly smart and strategically savy individual who does a great deal of planning in much of what he says and does, which is why I will only guess at his selection of published material.

As published in all of this week's major newspapers, the final paragraphy of his "The Dynamic of Constitutional Reform":
PERVERSE TO VOTE "NO"
It is a perversity based o petty politics or a debilitating, personal vanity to vote "NO" in the "referendum election". A "NO" vote has no credible intellectual basis or national interest consideration on which to ground it. A "NO" vote would make our nation the laughing stock of the region and diaspora. The young people and generations unborn would damn us if we are ever so foolish as to vote "NO".

Interesting way to choice to motivate the public Honorable Prime Minister...


As I try to keep up with the barrage of news in the media back home, I wonder why our country is in the process of devouring itself on this Health Care reform. It seems as if our nation is acting very much along the political tribalism lines I see here on SVG. The whole heath care reform that President Obama's administration has been pushing, or many of the addressed aspects of it, should have not been any massive surprise to anyone. At the very least we should have become rather acquainted with his view and ideological goals for this reform during his campaign run for Presidential office. He won the Presidency by a rather healty margin, which should give credence to his plans for the office term. With respect to the other major contenders for the presidency--Senator McCain and Secretary of State Clinton, they both acknowledged the need for this reform and I honestly feel that if Clinton was voted into office that she would have been pursuing much of the same path as President Obama on this issue.

Health Care reform is something that we truly need in our country. I won't say what is currently in the policy cauldron, bubbling away, is a perfect and ideal solution but it is certainly a step in the right direction. As with any significant issue in our nation's political climate, I strongly suggest people to do more individual investigation on these details and form your own opinion. Look into the health care systems of other nations, especially those with strong democratic governments that have a somewhat/greater socialized health care systems in place that is well supported by their public. Continue listening to pundits and political groups if you wish, but seek your own opinions and listen with an open mind to the on-going debates. Our debate should not be at all focused on if we reform or not, but rather on how we do it.



Enough of my ranting....more on what's up with me.

Went to a wedding this past Saturday. One of the volunteers here just finished up his Close of Service after fulfilling his 26 months this past Thursday followed that by marrying his Vincentian finace! How very cool. I was asked to be a groomsman, so I was all gussied up in a black suit and tie--of course it was Caribbean hot, ug. The wedding started a bit late...nearly an hour, probably on time after including for Caribbean time flow. The whole ceremony was great, but there was just one part that struck me as a bit odd. There came a moment when the pastor was having them agree to their respective duties as husband and wife. The wife was asked to submit to her husband, obey him, and recognize him as superior and the head of the household. The husband was asked to respect and love his wife. There was a bit more to both, but they each held the general outlook that was very clearly spoken to dominance and control of the husband.

I found this interesting given the steps forward to bring men and women closer together in terms of fundamental gender equality. I was certainly not expecting this and from what I understand--one of our female volunteers in attendance let her jaw drop after hearing such things. Of course we had our jokes about it later on, but it does give credence and shed light on how many things can/are interpreted here in the social and family structure.

For those wondering about the vocal dilemma--yes, I'm still hoarse. Currently taking some decongestants and that seems to be helping a little bit, but I'm far from being considered at a normal operative level. As for expected full recovery timelines, there are not any. Just go at it one day at a time.

On a personal note, I was talking with another volunteer the other night and we found that we are both experiencing similar situations. It is a strange concept and I'm not sure what to do about it. There seems to be this cyclic sensation of where I'd rather be and what I'd rather be doing. When I am at home--most notably when I'm on the computer/internet--I find my mind drifting to things back home. What I would be doing if I was there right now or how family & friends are doing. Of course email, chat, and various other social connectivity options help keep in touch, but it doesn't stop the 'what-if' questions from coming and life back home certainly hasn't stopped or slowed just because I joined the Peace Corps. There are lots of things that play through the mind, but the overall sensation is one of wanting to be home.

However, the flipside of that situation is when I am not at home. Whether I am just sitting on the block with guys listening to them rant about the current situations here, helping farm bananas, teach computers, or try to help where I can...it makes me glad to be here. It is when I am out and about in my community that helps me keep myself anchored here. To say things are difficult to get done here is an understatement, but I like interacting with the people in my village.

The other volunteer I was talking to had expressed a rather similar experience and it just seems so strange--as if split between two worlds and desiring to be a part of both, but only when engaging in activities that involve one world or the other. It isn't that I'm fighting to get home or entrenching myself to stay here. I'm happy and comfortable here so don't misconstrue these thoughts as a form of homesickness. Just an observation in what's on the mind.



The only thing here right now that is rather unsettling is what I am 'supposed' to be doing. Most of the volunteers here work in the schools and with some secondary programs outside of the schools. There are also a couple that are attached to community groups and that seems to be keeping them rather busy. My groups are keeping me rather busy too...but something seems to be back-firing with them. When I work with one group, I seem to be experiencing some pressure from that organization's "parent group" to back off from what I do with that group. I think the "parent group" of this community organization would like nothing better than to have me disappear from the community efforts--a sense of turfism if you will.

The other group I'm working to support is extremely new and as a community umbrella group it is dependent on participation from other village groups to participate for support. There are a few key people that have expressed interest in supporting the group and I'm very thankful to be able to work alongside them. Yet the majority of village groups that should be participating to fill out the umbrella group simply not there. I've been the length and breadth of this village. I've talked to people here and spent a great deal of time listening--in shops, the street, and on porches. I've sat back and watched others--how they interact; where they go; and I feel as if I've gotten a decent hold on the village realities. When I communicate with them, there is a sense of interest and desire to see certain things happen to improve the quality of life in the village. So I go about learning what it takes to make those things happen and present findings to the umbrella group. Unfortunately, there has been less and less involvement at the umbrella group meetings and I seem to have been left hanging at the end of a stick.

All in all, it isn't bad to deal with and yet I find the missing component to the equation is the motivation to act on what a person says. I have seen mathematical problems and equations that make heads spin and look as if they were written in ancient languages. They seemed impossible, but there are indeed solutions if one knows how to interpret the symbols and approach the equation. The dilemma of how to motivate a person, group, village, or society is an equation that seems more daunting than the previous math problem. There are methods to decode the social symbols and ways to approach social mobility--but how... Ug. It is enough to cause a headache at this point. Going to lie down now and get up later to fix a few computers.



Stay safe and happy
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

War against apathy

It's been awhile since I posted--completely on me. I'm online almost everyday, but finding the words to say just don't come out I suppose.



So a year on island has gone by now (a year as an official volunteer on 20 October). It was one thing to say that we've been here a year and perhaps it felt as such. Yet I think it really came to me when the current volunteers (both those at the 1-yr mark and those who are still here wrapping up their 2-year service) gathered at the air-port to greet the new, incoming volunteers. The airport here is small enough that we were able to assemble along the outer fence line and proceed to scream, hoot, and pound the fence as we saw them coming off their plane. Then we lined up like complete hooligans immediately outside the arrival exit doors waving a Vincy flag for people to walk through as we chanted various things like SVG, Peace Corps, and being wonderfully obnoxious. Thankfully, security must figure it's only once a year for a very short time--so we're forgiven. ^_^ Thanks airport security.

See the all the arrival shots here!

Here's the boss-man, Mr. Cool coming through.


The arrival welcoming crew


We ventured back to the office for a little meet and greet for a few hours. It was nice to see everyone face to face--even the current volunteers. Some of us here meet up from time to time for small events, but as a group we very rarely all get together in one place. This time we had every volunteer on island there and it was very cool. Scott and I stuck around until each host parent came to pick up there respective volunteer and take them to their new homes across SVG. It was akin to watching the box of puppies seeking adoption. ^_^ This arrival was very different from our group's landing last year. We didn't do a meet and greet, but we were met by a few volunteers at the arrival doors very briefly. Didn't have much chance to say hi, because the moment we got past our greeters our host parents were already at the airports to pick us up. Also, we arrived on a Saturday and didn't have anything specific to do until Monday when our training started. This gave us a couple days to figure out something to do as we settled into our village--no word from the staff or other volunteers. This time around, they landed on a Monday and started training the next day. Neither is better or worse, but interesting to compare.

President Obama welcomes you


The whole volunteer SVG crew is now assembled!


So while that was happy, joyful times--there is still plenty to do work to do.
The past couple of weeks has posed to be rather interesting in terms of 'passing the buck'. With my time and energy focusing on the two main groups I'm working with, I've rolled up my sleeves a bit for them.
--The tourism group, Cumberland Valley Eco-Tourism Organization, really needs to come together since their efforts are going to be launched as a small business group responsible for two tourist sites. I'm trying to fill in the training gaps from the larger development projecct, rather large gaps.
--The Spring Village Action Council has been having a hard time gathering its supposed members and putting our long talked about village enhancement project to paper. Seeing that project through is my driving goal while I am here.



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With the tourism project, there is an controlling group that is responsible for strengthening and training some dozen or so community tourism groups. They are covering everything from business fundamentals, accounting, computer training, marketing, safety & security, hospitality, and all sorts of other small start-up training. However, in my opinion, much of this training (at those I've attended) seem to be nothing more than a light dusting on these topics and are not engaging the groups. A few of our group members feel that the rest of the group is not taking the upcoming responsibilities seriously enough. Sometimes I wonder if the provided 'training' in not designed in such a way as to capture the involvement and bring these members on-board. Additionally, I feel as if this light dusting called training won't be sufficient to help these groups manage their sites if they've never managed something similar before.

I've offered extensively to assist the tourism development project team in any way they might see fit. However, there is a general feeling of turfism in that anyone who is not actively working as staff on the project team or contracted by them should be involved with the training. The project liaison and I have bumped heads a few times with my attempts to do some side training for my local village group. I warned the group about this training situation long ago and they didn't seem too concerned. Now that they are starting to realize that the sites will be ready and they'll be operating them by the end of the year (if not sooner), I'm being approached to assist with all sorts of things from the business plans to site marketing to doing the computer work for them. I haven't entirely let myself do all of their work. Just this morning, one of the members was asking me why I didn't get the tourism statistics they needed and I replied because it was them that needed to get it. So we met on middle ground as I sat her down at my computer and had her use her email to communicate to the Ministry of Tourism. They must stand on their own two feet.




Marketing this group is my lastest drive for them. I have a running goal to get them an internet presence (email, social networks, and website) all up and running within two months. They will be alongside me nearly every step of the way. Thankfully, there are not webhosts with relatively easy to use interfaces that allow a person to literally drag-and-drop their way to building a website. Between that and a few tweaks of help, we should have something looking rather nice in the near future. Score one for them and since I'll make sure they can update it themselves, score one for both of us on sustainability.

I've also started to try help a local couple craftspeople to work on their product marketing as well. One of them in involved with the tourism project also--so the repeat coaching should help reinforce the concepts. I'll be happy to provide links for them in the future...

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The Spring Village Action Council has been it's own bunch of fun. We're going to meet later this evening and have lots to discuss. As a group, we were gathered to act as a networked council--bringing to the table representatives from the churches, non-church organizations, and interested individuals. We've noticed it is extremely hard to get many of the groups to respond regularly and many individuals don't seem to really acknowledge us as yet. Must strategically plan on how who we should target to expand membership and drive to enlarge ourselves in order to have sufficient numbers to share responsibilities.

We've been mapping out a development project--a somewhat ambitious one--as a tool to establish the group and provide several needed services to the community. However, without a strong membership base it seems as if our meetings are just going in circles. Tonight I hope to gain commitment to a general timeline for the project. Even if that timeline is long, it will give them something on a calendar to work along. The things we have planned out would greatly benefit the community and I fear should I be sent home early that much of this will fall through...

• Crossroad direction and neighborhood (rather than street) signs through the village
  
• Bus shed on the highway
  
• Establish a family play/relax park
  
• Establish an agricultural inputs shop
  
• Complete a bridge to gain access to part of the beach. Currently the river we cross can quickly rise to dangerous levels.
  
• Remodel parts of our community center to reflect changing interests
  
• Remodel and establish a computer training lab in one of the community center rooms.
  

We can do this, but we have to get motivated and start to write. I've told the members in the group that funding is available for those that work towards it--which has been one of their greatest concerns.

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I think the hardest part of what I do isn't facilitating any particular topic.

• It isn't working with kids--->way outside my comfort zone.
  
• It isn't patiently explaining a concept 4, 5 or 12 times to someone.
  
• It isn't trying to communicate with people while being hoarse for the past many months.
  
• It isn't doing lots of walking and hand-shaking to track down people or information to make something possible.

The hardest part about what I do is fight a war against apathy, non-motivation, and a general culture of undermining one another. I've talked on many occasions to people in my village and they will all agree on a particular idea, but none seem to have any idea as to how to start changing that culture. They will readily admit such practices run rampant in the village and the greater St. Vincent, but they won't admit to doing such things themselves. The barest strand of this aspect of Spring/Vincy culture shows that a person would like a certain level of happiness/standard of living. While this is not inherently problematic, the common thread continues that if someone else might become better off by helping that person--such as buy from a shop or contribute in any way to an organization, then a person would avoid or even work against the betterment of the person trying to succeed.

Anyone you ask shall tell you just what this community needs, but the vast majority will not provide any assistance towards the work that needs to be done. Invitations to consultations and other meetings would be announced that offer an opportunity for people come and be heard; yet the far majority do not come. Even recently, there was a land and watershed consultation done that actually had a decent turn-out and when the facilitators mentioned a potential of funding for environmental protection work, members of the audience began spinning question after question about when some group will come and fix this and that for them. The facilitators attempted to bring these people on-board with a collaborative venture, yet the audience members turned away from it. It seems apparent that the majority of the people simply want something done for them without personal investment. The local culture is one of negative criticism and perhaps it would be harder to criticize something negatively if that person had been a stakeholder on the effort.

My work here strongly discourages the "do it for them" approach and I don't believe in it either. Sadly, far too many stories have come from previous volunteers that say if you want something done, you just have to do it yourself. I've had to stoop to that before, but am trying my best to bring at least on person with me when something needs to get done. And so the war on apathy continues....

Stay safe and happy
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Start of a new season

Hey everyone.

What does today mark?
June 1st (thanks Wikipedia) ^_^
--a day that marks admitting 2 into the U.S., Kentucky (15th state, 1792) and Tennessee (16th, 1794).
--1963 – Kenya gains internal self-rule (Madaraka Day).
--1967 – The groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album by The Beatles is released
--1974 – The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine
--1980 – Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting.

Today is also:
--International Children's Day in many places around the world.
--National Tree Planting Day in Cambodia
--National Day Against Homophobia in Canada

But most notably--here in the North Atlantic, June 1st marks the opening of the hurricane season.

Communities are gearing up. NEMO (National Emergency Management Organization) will soon be conducting sessions in various communities and disaster preparation jingles will take the airwaves. And what a better way to begin the first day of hurricane season that plenty of pouring rain.

I woke up to the sound of the rain coming down, of course it was 5 minutes before the alarm was set to go off. Don't ya hate waking up before the alarm? The rain has been on and off all day and is closing out the day with another symphony of droplets on rooftops. I got to hear thunder this morning. Sure we get plenty of rain depending on the season, but thunder is something I don't often hear in SVG. Dunno, perhaps it is just me missing it, but given the volume of rain we get--I can probably count the thunder one one hand since I've been here. I don't usually think about it until I hear that rare moment and just enjoy it. Thunder is something I've always enjoyed, coming from Chicagoland where the thunder rolls loudly and crashes like an overzealous timpani drummer. I'll admit a bit of nostalgia and why not. For some it's Starbucks, but for me it's nature's orchestra of thunderstorms and lightning showers that streak the sky.

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Ok before the worry worts back home get ready to unleash themselves--let me say that I've been eating plenty of food and trying to make sure I've got a fairly balanced diet. I even snack quite a bit on crackers/biscuits, banana bread, and was apples (recent addiction). I even started to get a little of what I call my rice pocket belly; alright so it isn't a gut but just my name for it. lol. However, I've still dropped a few more pounds. I was holding steady at 161.4ish for awhile and as of Friday I'm down to 156.7. I haven't weighed so little in a LONG time; I can't even remember how long ago that was. Even in some of my peak training back in high school, I never dropped below 160 and usually sat around 165. I know we are expected to lose some weight.....but I'm going to need to start adjusting my cloth sizes soon.



Voice update--still hoarse, although I can croak out sounds here and there at audible levels. I'm still supposed to keep silent, but have come to the realization that I can't really be an effective volunteer and remain silent. I tried to use my dry-erase board and carry it with me everywhere, but either many people were having difficulty reading what I wrote or noticed I could talk and insisted I do so. Also, I still teach and work alongside community groups that require some level of vocal participation.



My doc on St Lucia (who overseas our med care here) called and told me after consulting with the PC med team in Washington D.C. that I am to go on an inhaler. Not sure what I'll be inhaling or for how long....first time going on one. Supposedly it will take a couple weeks to get here, so more info on that as it comes. I'm told to take it easy on the voice, even with the inhaler, for another 6 weeks and see how we go. If it doesn't get better, more drastic measures will be investigated.

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Got contacted recently from a person on Barbados affiliated with UNIFEM/FAO. She wants my help kick-starting a dormant (but shouldn't be dormant) women's group here in Spring Village. This group started a few years ago, but for reasons I don't know yet have simply stopped meeting altogether. I've been here 9 months now and didn't even know they had existed.

So, now I'm equipped with a list of names and I've been talking to a few of them. They seem interested in regrouping which will make my efforts easier. However, if it's one thing I've been learning--people here love to start and meet for a bit, but the longer efforts/groups last the more the people participating become like magnets with matching polarity.



I'm also prepping to start doing some workshops on organizational strengthening. They will start as a supplement to some communication/leadership training our local tourism has been doing. I'll be testing it out with a fun activity--personality tests and emotional intelligence & how they can affect the work environment communication. If that goes well, I'll be continuing with organization ethics and conflict of interest. I'll be trying to get the Adult and Continuing Education Unit & Community Development Units involved as well--but I'm not holding my breath on that. With proper mobilization, I'll continue the workshops into a series for most major aspects of business/CSO management. I haven't taught these courses, but did rather well on them back in college. Armed with the internet--there is plenty of research material. Now I just need to dig out the time to create my handouts and workshop plans.

In fact, I should be doing that now. hehehehe

Alas, I've been munching on Crix multi-grain crackers...another local weakness...and am starting to slip in my well know food comas.

Stay safe and happy,
ciao tutti,
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Steel song and scales

Hey everyone out there in Never Never Land.

Plenty of stuff since T-day and plenty coming up.

This past weekend, a few of the us in the village rescued and reclaimed some of the old steel pan drums that have been left to rot in a dilapidated shed. Perhaps 9+ years ago, there was a steel pan group--Pan Vibes--in the village. For reasons I am still researching, they broke apart. I am trying to reform some of the pan activity and fortunately there are other revival efforts going on within SVG. If I can prove there is sufficient community interest, we may be able to tap into deeper resources and expand our efforts. So far, all we have are 7 rusty and out-of-tune steel pan drums. Tomorrow afternoon, several of the kids, myself, and any adults (they seem to be the harder ones to motivate for now) will start sanding off the rust and trying to oil up the drums. Tuning will be a much harder issue and we'll need some technical help for that.

I've met with a member of a nearby Catholic Church parish; they own an old library/church building in the village that has been abandoned for quite awhile. The structure needs lots of work and I'm negotiating an opportunity to use the site as an annex extension for the pan music and other hands-on craft works and activities.

Wednesday night after some of my other meetings, I went down to our beachfront with a few of the guy--to one of the local bars set for tourists. There I met a few new faces and listened to some really cool jams by a few steel pan players, who happened to be catering tunes for tourists from 3 anchored yachts. I stayed up there for a couple hours and had a good time...they even had me play a cow bell. I'm no musician by any means, but they seemed excited just to have me playing along with them. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me, however they are a usual group down there and I'm sure to go back in the future.

Meeting Meeting Meetings seem key this week. I met with one of our former trainers for tea and got a bit of a history lesson of my area. Turns out he used to live here for many many years--1 of which was the principal of our primary school.

Further planning for the tutoring/homework club is underway. I'm trying to get some of the local teachers together so I can get their input and advice--but it has been like pulling teeth. Seems the closer to Christmas we get....the harder it is to get willing attention. Either way, the homework club is starting up with their next term--January 5th. I also want to see about some sort of study camp over the break--just to keep them fresh and have something to do instead of wander the streets

The tourism group I'm a part of is still doing their usual thing and we don't cover much ground. However, we were reassured that our beachfront area of Cumberland Bay will should begin construction of the new tourism and recreation facilities in early January. Our community is very divided on certain aspects of the project. As of the moment, there is a large community square that is used for concerts and festivals. The project will be getting rid of the square and combining its use the sports field into a 'rec' field. There are many here that don't like that idea--myself included.

Recently joined an adolescence group that meets at our local nurse's clinic. Yeah, I know I'm not a youngster anymore...but I hope to get in well with them, since the youth of the village are the real fuel for my efforts of volunteerism and NGO activity for the future. Apathy is deadly.

Went to a sports association meeting...we're almost done with our football (soccer) competition here on the North Leeward side. The finals are this upcoming Sunday and there is expected to be a rather large social bash afterwards. ^_^

I've spent quite a bit of time in Kingstown today and yesterday on my latest little side project. It stems from kids approaching me with homework--this time around with civics questions. I knew the answers, but wanted to show them where they could find their own solutions. We went to the Spring library to help them with questions such as identifying the names of current politicians and positions within the parliament. I was appalled to find there was absolutely no information on St Vincent and the Grenadines. Sure, we have a very small and limited library, but I figured the easiest thing and most logical thing would be to have information regarding one's home nation. Therefore most of my past 2 days has had me running all over to find several of the ministries and departments and attempt to collect print information that would serve nicely in a Vincentian reference section of our library. Many pounds of paperwork and ping-pong attempts to locate the right offices has lead to a somewhat successful venture. Some of the offices I talked to are still putting together info packages to pick up at a later day.

On a completely different tangent--some of the people here say I'm looking a bit thin. Now, I am getting lots of walking down and sweat more than I did back home. I would like to say that I don't eat as much processed foods as I did back home--but that's arguable since I tried to eat rather well then too. However, I weighed 183 lbs when I first got to the Caribbean and 173 when I finished our 7 weeks of training. I visited my medical officer today to get weighed and measure out at 166 now--another 7 pounds for a total of 17 since coming here just over 3 months ago. Yes, I had a talk with her to make sure that I'm ok and I don't want anyone to fret about it.

More banana farming early Sunday morning, yeah!
Somebody just gave me a bag of 5-finger fruit (starfruit) earlier today. There certainly are advantages to living in a more rural community with lots of fruit trees. ^_^

Oh yeah, just about EVERYBODY is gearing up for Christmas. They have a festival called 9 mornings that involves all sorts of activities and I haven't met person here yet that isn't psyched up for it. Can't say too much about it yet--since this will be my first. Read from the links to find out more--of course I'll add my own thoughts as I experience 9 mornings for myself.
http://www.gov.vc/govt/News/TopNews.asp?a=5834
http://itsninemornings.com/video/?q=node/27
But holiday fever has gripped the radio networks and I can almost guarantee that there is at least one, if not more, station at any given time that is playing various Christmas music. I don't recall radio stations doing that back home....not nearly this much.

I see now that my post is very....'all over the place'. Oh well--lots to cover and I'm tired.
G'night all.
Stay well and be happy,
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Jacks of all trades?

Busy lil bee...
Rain still came on and off through the weekend. Looks like it might be starting to break now that we are getting several hours at a time without showers.

This past Saturday kept me doing lots of stuff all day.
---Got up to meet up with some of the primary school local boys to go down to the beach. Not sure why, but the older kids never seem to want to go-maybe they are just too cool. This group was a bit smaller than normal, but it was still fun. We really didn't get to swim in the ocean since all the heavy rains have made the sea very rough and very dirty (estuary at the beach with all the junk washing down >.< ). So the kids decided it was better to swim in the river estuary....lots of playing catcha (what they call tag).
A shortcut--Crossing the river in Spring Village on the way to the beach

Me and Lex--I think I am his favorite person in the village since he always wants to hang out.

Wading at the river mouth to get to the better side of the beach

Dem kids having fun

---Almost as soon as I got back around noon, made a quick lunch and skirted down to Clive's Black Struggler's Bar. This is were I usually 'lime' (if I'm hanging out) and am training to become domino master. ^_^ The neighbors had widened a drive road and they had to knock down part of the bar's shed for the work. So the local guys volunteered to rebuild it better than before. Last weekend they laid the concrete and blocks--I got to help this weekend with the carpentry end of things. Some of them were very happy to see me wanting to help and they got all excited handing me a hammer and nail--showing me where and how to use them. A couple thought it would be funny to get a pencil in my ear and tape measure on my hip, then show me to the others as a newly transformed carpenter. Actually, I think I put in about 6 nails, but I did help moving things along up on the framework. Although many of they guys do not have much of a formal education and some nothing past primary school, they are all tradesmen and build things all the time. It was cool to see them working live a bee hive, back and forth with all the little jobs. So I was a bit of the odd man out anyways. No worries; they were glad to have me there. I didn't get to stay until it was finished....had to get ready for a meeting at 5pm.


Rebuilding the frame





can you spot the one Vincy in action pose... ^_^ As soon as they know a camera is pointing, they love to pose.

wannabe carpenter for a few hours

---From kid sitter to carpenter to meeting organizer.....we had a fairly decent meeting this time around with my host organization--SUDO. It was a longer meeting, over 2.5 hours, and we covered a lot of ground. Now the trick will be to move forward on some of the things we talked about. SUDO runs the village library/internet cafe. The library doesn't keep any of the local papers, nor does it have easy access to any info 'Vincentian'. Some kids needed help to find info on local government ministers and our only resource was the computer...which are not always available. We are also hoping to start decorating the library with themes--since there is a large concern with people not really using the library portion and only using the computers. The group identified a lack of book diversity as a possible problem....so if you know of places willing to ship older books and other useful library type stuff....let me know.

My boss came by for the early part of the SUDO meeting to help address a joint concern (mine and his) about my organization's lack of response and function. It took 3 weeks now to gather its members for a meeting, of only 6 people, and that I'm assigned to the orgnaization and I've seen them perhaps 3-4 times as a group since I've arrived on St Vincent. Later in the meeting, I began to address some major concerns I've had about the structure, records, and general functions of the group as an NGO.....they didn't like what I had to say and I think it may have opened a couple wounds. They fall back on the good history and experiences SUDO has done for Spring Village.....so I hope to spend some time with its members and build the missing historical documentation to help strengthen the group. This should help close the wounds. Many of the various activities I am researching right now--steel pan & music, public speaking & debate, drama & dance, tutoring activities--all can be sponsored by SUDO, but I just don't trust them to take those reigns until they can begin to look more like a functioning NGO. They have been around for decades, but if it wasn't for the stories if its members and the communities stories, you'd hardly know they were around for more than a year. Sure, oral history is good and could be defened by saying they are a developing nation--but seriously? There are groups just as old that are the polar opposite in a positive manner that we will try to use as our benchmarks. Revival of this group is supposed to be one of my number one goals....it is the reason I am here. It will be done.


---Sunday was another action packed day. I was supposed to get up and be outside on the road by 6am to meet up with a group of banana farmers. A bit of celebrating from completing the shed construction from the night before helped me to oversleep a bit. Got up by 6:30....and missed the truck. Tossed on my waterboots, backpack and cutlass and began the LONG walk up the road, 'up da mountain' as they say. The walk through the village was good, as I got lots of suprise and positive comments from people here since they got to see me doing things and dressing just as they do for farming. Once I got out of Spring Village proper, I was on new turf. I'd never walked up the road this far....and was surprised at how long the road went--and I didn't even go all the way up!!! This is a really long road...not sure just how long yet, but there are many farm plots along the way. I think I walked a good 45min at least until I saw the first truck. Not the guys I was supposed to go with, but I knew them anyways so I spent the day with them--RasBen, XC, and their wives.

(lol...worked with them the whole morning and I don't know their names yet--yes there is something awkward when everybody already know your name and you don't know theirs. It is commonplace for now.)

The guys showed me around the banana trees and got a laugh at my cutlass--apparently I didn't need it for banana farming. They use a small wickedly curved knife to cut and trim the bananas. Most of my work was washing the bananas in a solution to slow the spread of 'crown fungal rot' as well as bagging and boxing bananas. I got to eat a yellow one (no clue where XC got it from) and it as great. We also had some fresh paw-paw (paupaya) and tangerines; always best super fresh. When we finished at the boxing shed, we loaded the truck and picked up a few other banana farmers & their boxes along the way. We stopped at the Fair Trade shed where a few others would be doing quality checks on all the boxed bananaas. Those boxes would be purchased by the Fair Trade group and loaded onto a big truck and shipped out. Most of the bananas we harvested go to England.


Evergreens in SVG!!!

RasBen clipping bananas

XC in the back of the truck

A banana shed on the mountain road, but not the one we worked in

Busted...washing the bananas in a preserving solution.

Bagging dem bananas--6 to a regular bag, 8 if they are smaller and into 'kid-pack' bags

Boxing up the bags for later shipping

RasBen in the back with our boxed up bananas


---A quick wash and lunch back home and it was off to the Sunday football game. It was decent game and we had our usual social party afterwards till about 9pm. That was also the norm, but what stuck out was the 15-20 minutes music that I really didn't expect to hear from the djs. Typically they play more localized music, Caribbean dance flavors. They started to play a big band song--swing, swing, swing--as well as other American music like Karma Chameleon and some unknown country song. Moreover, everybody dancing along was loving it, some even singing along. Now I love when people around the world share and enjoy music from all over, but in the weeks I've been going to these little functions this was a first experience. Not a bad one at all, just different--a good time.

That makes for a busy weekend and long blog...

Stay well and happy
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Meeting Meetings Meetings

I am seriously going to have to work on organizing all of my notes and filing system. For now, I've been using a notebook the Peace Corps gave us during training to contain all the info I come across during meetings or other functions in my village. Those pages and the extras I tuck into the pages are starting to add up and I find myself attempting to cross check other recorded dates during a meeting and taking too long (well, the Vincentians don't seem to mind).

I'm not really sure about the 'work schedule'--if it could be said that we really have one--of most of my other fellow volunteers. Most everybody else that I am aware of works with the schools or similar institutions during the day and may have an evening activity they lead. My duties seem to be more 2nd shift--going to all sorts of meetings once more people from my area get in from work. This has been leading to some late nights on my part, but I don't mind since I don't have many early morning duties as of yet. That will change....

I've been filling my mornings typically with trips to town and trying to network myself a bit. So far, I've set up shadow time with the SVG Nat'l. Inst. of Technology, a government based organization that facilitates computer literacy courses (the International Driver's License or IDCL) and other advance IT certs (MSCE, MSCA, CCNA, A+, web design, etc.). As soon as I lock down a training facility, I will be teaching the ICDL courses as well and maybe even get a cert myself so I can do advanced work here in Spring (but that can get really costly). I also got to learn where the Lands Department resides--where I can get copies of land surveys and the Physical Planning Department--who carry blueprint info on building structures and requirements. Visited Central Planning at the main government building and am learning the structure of the various ministries and who to contact when I need information or resources. Hopped over to the Ministry of Culture's office and got to meet a research officer, who I hope work with more in the future as I try to revive a few of the cultural CBOs here in Spring Village. Tried to get into the Lions Club and learn more about a recent public speaking event they held--but they were closed. Made contacts at the Center for Enterprise Development (CED), another government organization whose purpose is to train and help promote small businesses here on SVG. Yesterday and today, I got to become more involved with the work of the Community Development Field Officers. So my networking list and how to reach them grows.....because as many of realize that it isn't always what we know, but who we know...

I haven't officially started the tutoring sessions yet. Having a bit of trouble getting the electric current reconnected--between the red tape procedures and the treasurer of the center moved (taking the records with her). Once we get current again, I will not only get the tutoring going, but I can start working closer with the area CBOs. Until then, I might have to try using my place as a meeting location... Not sure if I like the idea, but I haven't seen many alternates yet. I'm being asked more and more frequently by people here when I will start teaching the computer courses and again I'm am waiting the red tape to clear.

Other groups on the table to work with:
--help develop my host group SUDO, a development organization. I hope they will grow to become the keystone of my village CBO framework
--kickstart a 4-H club for leadership growth and youth activities
--form Spring PAC (performing arts club) which would house 3 divisions of interest
--the revived drama group, once renown for its works, but mysteriously went dormant as a group
--the revived steel pan music group, another dormant group but would be open to all musicians
--include a newer public speaking & debate group with possible links to Toastmasters (found out they are here on SVG, but haven't met that group offically yet)

On a more day to day note
I totally failed when trying to juice a guava. I got a bunch of them, mostly rather ripe already, walking back from the beach with a group of kids. I tried to just use my little juicer on them, but made a mess with the pulp and tons of tiny seeds. Ended up with some sorta-decent variety of guava water. Found out this evening when I asked, I was supposed to boil them down with the skins on until the pulp got all mush and just strain it out.

Got some sort of giant foam block for a bed....it slowly makes a large 'dimple' where you are laying. The first few nights were strange, but fine. However, I'm starting to notice lots of lower back pains. Not sure if this is from the foam block or my slouch (which I am trying to be more aware of). No worries, if it persists I will be sure to see my medical officer first thing.

Got to start playing dominoes a bit with the guys near one of the shops. I wasn't very good-trying to play with a partner and not really able to effectively read the board yet. Will probably go back on Thursday when they play again.

Tomorrow night, after my meeting with the local tourism group--I will be venturing out to a playing field with my spotting scope and hopefully a few of the youths and maybe even adults. The moon is nearly full and it should look really nice. I don't have a stand for it and I don't like rigging my camera tripod for it because the kids are too rough. I think I'll grab my cutlass and use the morning time to make a bamboo and rope tripod. ^_^ Go Go Boy Scout Engineering.

Had some tea with my host parents on Sunday evening. We mixed two local bush plants--guinea pepper and shadow vinny--to get a real bold flavor. Very nice. Although I get teased by them every time for not wanting any sweeteners for it.

Before posting this blog, I read in another volunteer's blog about how she feels that the 2 year thing is starting to sink in as a reality. I couldn't agree more. For myself, I wouldn't say it was an uncertainty of why I'm here or a homesickness, more like a reality check. I'm here and things really are different. It is the little things I notice here that remind me where I am. Not just the heat, but long waits for vans that don't pick you up or the interesting times trying to roast my breadfruit for lunch with tiny sticks and the neighbor brings me better sized wood. It is accepting that while I have lived away from my home area before, this will be my first winter without snow (which I actually enjoy). It was thinking that this was a good time in my life to join the Peace Corps and within 3 months of joining, I learn that 2 sets of friends back home are getting married to make it now 3 sets of friends getting married and I'm not sure/doubt I'll be able to attend. My friends are very important to me, so that bothers me. Yet, I feel that the work I will be doing and the reasons why I am here are also important as well. Time to suck it up.

I read a very interesting blog....requires myspace to view it:
Great lil story and analogy with real events; even better if you like Batman

wow....it's late 1:15 here now and WAY past my bedtime.
More to come later I'm sure.

Stay safe and well
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Gettin' Busy Time

Ok I know that I've posted plenty of stuff on beaches and fun times, but I wanted to get the idea out that the 'beach corps' isn't our usual thing. Things are starting to pick up....lots of meetings and little stuff to do. ^_^

Yesterday I went to the Spring Village Primary School, were I did a bit of teacher/classroom shadowning, and talked to the principal and teachers about starting a tutoring program after school. I got over a page of names...a few of them represented almost an entire grade level! All of them needed assistance with literacy, numeracy, or both. The tenative plans will be to run tutoring times Monday and Wednesday 4-5 and 5-6 for the primary kids and Tuesday and Thurdsay 5-6 and 6-7 for the secondary school kids. I have to be very careful with this, because the students really need the extra time and help. However--my major assignment here is not to be a tutor, but to help organizations develop and assist in skills training for all age groups. I will be quickly tying down most of my evenings--which are needed to attend organization meetings and hold workshops. I'll be able to do a limited number of those during the day--but many adults work then.

After talking with the teachers, I went to a nearby town of Chateau--where I helped another volunteer assmble some audio equipment for the primary school there and fixed the principals computer (bad RAM). More computer work came, when I walked to the next village and helped yet another principal's computer because it was running super slow. Hey--what do you expect when you're trying to run bulky WinXP with a host of programs on a 733MHz with 128RAM? That took me all the way till 4pm--grabbed a quick bite at home and came down to the Sping Village Community Center (my main worksite). At 4:30, I sat in on the intro session for an activity sponsored by the National Adult Education Unit (the do skills training around the island). This time around, they were getting ready to start a cake bakig and decorating course--morning and evening classes, 3 days a week for 6 weeks in the community center kitchen. Later on, I worked with the finance sub-committee for the Cumberland Valley Tourism and Environment Group (CVTEG for short. wow, that's a mouthful! Spring Village is in the middle of the Cumberland Valley). We did all sorts of pre-planning and financial guesses for the upcoming tourism renovations for our local beach during the upcoming year. We were there till after 9-930...made long day.

Today, I've been cleaning out a room in the community center that will be for the CBOs and workshops. Scrubbing and mopping away--actually I'm writing this now as I wait for the floors to dry. ^_^ Afterwards, I'll be moving things around in there and trying to make it presentable. It was a dirty storage area beforehand. There isn't any electricity service in that area of the building, although it is already fulled wired with lights and outlets. So I have to meet with the community center committee on Monday at 7pm to discuss getting service in there and maintaining general supplies for the building. I had to pay my own small amount of $ to get wasp spray (EC$7) because of the nests all over the place in the various parts of the center and use my own bleach from home to wash the floors. Mur. >.< Tonight, I'll be tore between my host orgnanization--SUDO--meeting tonight (7?)at the center which will be discussing the upcoming Christmas festivities and the 6:30 meeting at the center with the research and documentation sub-committee for CVTEG.

The fun keeps on coming! I haven't even started any of my own projects yet. ^_^
Need to stay flexible....that's my new mantra.

If anyone wants to suggest good software to create and manage events in a calendar format, let me know. I know that you can do it with MS Outlook--but I dont' like how it looks in the monthly format. We need to create a community calendar and the idea is to be able to print them out and post. We might just end up using the electronic version to track and manage activities and make the posted one by hand.

Floors should be dry now.

Stay safe and well,
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Happy Independence Day SVG!

Hey readers!
It's been a crazy week, that's for sure. Plenty of things going on—both here and at home.
--CONGRATS!
Not sure if I should be doing this, but I want to shout out the Congrats to a particular couple of homies back home that popped the question and said yes. Who? Find out yourself. Haha, that’s my way of trying to cover myself incase they didn’t want it announced. Oh well, cat’s out of the bag. ^_^

--SHOES!
So, anybody who knows me should know that I am not the world’s biggest connoisseur on shoes. In fact, they would also know that I am certainly not a fan of ‘open’ shoes. I like ‘em able to complete cover with grip—like sneakers. Well, I have 2 new types of shoes that go on both ends of the footwear spectrum. A few weeks ago, I got what everybody else would call galoshes; here they are called water boots. They are almost up to my knees and green; got them from the banana association, so I know they are good stuff. It took a bit of saving from my training money (EC$35), but it makes working in the fields here SOOOO much better and more enjoyable. Cleaning muddy sneakers sucks. >.< During training, I would work sometimes with my hostdad in the ‘backyard’ farm and nobody really saw me in them. Lol…there were some crazy looks from the locals when they saw me walking down the main street in my water boots and ‘bush’ clothes. It was a good thing that they get to see me in such a way that I can say—I am one of you. Well, I’m not yet but after 2 years I’ll probably be a bit closer. Hopefully if I budget right, I’ll be able to afford heavy rubber gloves (EC$20) and a cutlass with a sharpening file (EC$20-10). The cutlass is pretty much a machete with a blade partway down the back edge and a pointy tip. I love my water boots and they are great! I was supposed to go up to the mountain farms to work with the banana farmers this morning, but I never got picked up. : ( Talked to them again and I should get another chance soon.

The other pair of shoes will be more of a shock to the friends and family…but where what I called a necessary evil purchase. I got a pair of flip-flops. I hate them, but they are surely useful. I hate the floppy on the foot slap sound and how they kick back mud, sand, and other small bits. I don’t like how the foot is uncovered and how easily I’ve already stubbed and cut up my toes, not to mention how easily filthy my feet get. Mur. However, they are great to quickly slip on if it starts to rain and I have clothes on the line—found out rained on clothes get smelly when they dry. They are also very good for the beach, as I was getting very tired of having sandy sneakers. So I reserve them for certain occasions and still love my sneakers 100-fold.

--Happy Independence SVG!
Monday was the actual 29th Independence Day of St. Vincent & the Grenadines although the event was celebrated across the weekend. People here proudly displayed their colors of yellow, green, and blue. Patriotism is shown on different levels, much like our displays back home. Soca music, the Caribbean flavor, was played more than usual on the radios. I saw a few people making ‘bamboo cannons’ and heard a few go off, but didn’t see any when they actually fired. That is the local sort of firework, which involves putting oil into a piece of bamboo. I didn’t really see any fireworks like we’d know them from home. Something to note from what I’ve learned so far…and sometimes I wonder if this is a reflection in the general attitudes of the younger Vincentians when it comes to national pride. Whereas the people of the U.S.A. had fought a war over their independence, the people of SVG peaceful negotiated and earned independence from Britain—transitioning from a colonial state to a member of its commonwealth.

--Mustique!
As part of the Independence Day celebrations, a few of the US and Canadian volunteers got on a ferry for a special holiday celebration trip to the Grenadine island of Mustique. Some may know this place to be vacation home to the rich and famous. I’m told that Mic Jagger and Shania Twain, as well as several celebs, have massive homes there. No, I didn’t get to go on any little tours and I didn’t see anybody famous. In fact, in terms of the people around—it seemed rather drab. Granted, the locals were great and they reassured us that the tourist season is just starting and the fact that it is a private island does limit who comes and goes. Visually, the island is stunning. It is the first of my Grenadine experiences and the overall look of the place could have gone on any stereotypical brochure for the tropical Caribbean. White sandy beaches, rolling blue waves, and lush greenery were abundant. I was surprised, but I saw lots of cacti not far from the beachfront. Apparently they grow in this climate nicely. The sand was so fine that it stuck to everything and plenty of it came back home in the crevasse of my trunks. I still get nervous when I swim out in the open waters, but I went out a decent distance with a couple others. I can swim, but I need to become a stronger swimmer and practice more. Of course, I ended up with fairly mean sunburn between the shoulder blades—but I’m building a rather solid tan already from being outside so much. We didn’t have much time on the island, so nearly all of it was spent at a place called Macaroni beach—I have no clue why it is called so, but took lots of pics—and another place, the famous Basil’s Bar & Restaurant. I didn’t have any drinks or eats at Basil’s—it was out of my budget, but the look and layout was cool. Every year they have a large blues festival, maybe I’ll get to go someday.

The other half of the trip was the ride itself. The ferry ride over was absolutely nuts! There was food, drink, and music pounding the whole way. I’ll go on record to say that the whole day I only had 3 beers and one shot (out of a passion-fruit rind), so I wasn’t a wild drunk. People were dancing and having a great time. I thought the ride over was fairly wild, but the return trip blew us away. That evening, all the new volunteers got broken in Vincy-style. Ok, now I’ve said that people here dance…..but for the most part there is only one style of dancing. It is called ‘winding’ almost identical to the ‘grinding’ seen in clubs back home, only that some winding makes most grinding look rated-PG. Now most of the volunteers don’t crazy when we wind and are certainly on the innocent & fun-loving side of the things, keeping it rated-PG. Yes, I was winding a bit—but honestly, I’d prefer a more ‘regular’ kind of dancing that is more interactive with the dance partner and doesn’t feel like I’m trying dry hump someone. Sadly, it is expected as a guy to be involved with this sort of thing and helps gain respect and even prestige among the male peers. Nearly all of the men in our little group had plenty of winding experiences. Sometimes we helped rescue our female companion volunteers—who were quite often sought out by the local men. Yeah, the girls winded a bit too…but I think most of them shared my desire for good dancing fun that didn’t feel so explicit. Unfortunately, if you want to dance and hit the dance floor…better stay with one partner and keep to yourselves. Otherwise, it’s considered fair game on the dance floor. Sure, people get plenty turned down—both men and women—but the offers from both sides will keep coming.

We got back into town much later than we expected and were super lucky to catch vans home. They don’t usually run on Sundays and I think part of our luck was due to people moving about for the holiday. After I got home, I couldn’t really sleep and went out to socialize a bit with my community members. There was a Jamaican artist—Ginjah?—headlining a show down at my local beachfront, so I checked it out. Well, turns out that I didn’t get in since I didn’t want to spend the EC$25, that I didn’t have anyways, on a ticket and I’m glad I didn’t. Found out, as I’ve heard is a bit common for shows like these, the artists tend to start really late—I got there after 11 and he hadn’t taken the stage yet. They also don’t use live bands typically and sing along with cd music. Now I’m not sure, but that is almost karaoke-like and I certainly wouldn’t want to pay for that kind of performance. I’ve heard some people love the shows and others, like me, would want more out of it. Either way, they tend to draw big crowds and most have a really good time. Only stayed about an hour, no drinking or dancing, and it got me some positive face time with some people in the area.









--Getting Involved
I think I’m finally getting a bit more ‘in’ with my community. Sure, I’m still in what many might call our ‘honeymoon’ faze, but I am feeling a bit more settled. I haven’t gotten out into our community as much as I’d like, but I am recognizing faces more often and remembering the names to them. People, not just the kids anymore, call out my name when I pass or when I say hello to them. The van driver will sometimes drop me off next to my home instead of just at the bus stop. I think part of this has been due to a good location of my new apartment and the fact that many people walk by it.

Unfortunately for some reasons still unknown to me, my landlady has decided that she does not wish to rent out the apartment further and my boss is searching for a new home in the village for me. There are a whole host of ups and downs to this—but I’ll remain positive and hope that my new place, wherever it may be, will be suitable and as good of a location as this one….although there are rather few places to rent in a smaller village.

Probably next week, I’ll be starting tutoring sessions. I had talks with the local primary school principal and will meet with primary school teachers in the morning. I’ll most likely be tutoring 4 days a week, 2 hours each day—each broken into 1 hour blocks. Monday/Wednesday will be for the primary levels and Tuesday/Thursday will be for secondary levels. Hopefully, I will identify people within the village who will assist in tutoring sessions so that we may reach more students. I’ll also be working more with the Ministry of Youth to revive the old 4-H club in village and hopefully create a big brother/sister type mentoring project. This will take quite a bit of time before that becomes a reality, but is something for the future. I hope to take more of a backseat role in these so I’ll have time to focus on my community organization development, but these things are sorely needed here as well.

Already, I am digging in with my primary group—SUDO—and building ties with another group, who will be responsible for managing/maintaining tourism project for the nearby Cumberland beach. I’m also peeking into an activity session organized by the government backed Adult Education Unit. As of tomorrow, they will be hosting cake baking and decorating training for enrolled participants. This program will hope to provide the technical skills that could aid a start-up business should the participants so desire. I’ve gotten the keys to the community center and will soon be working on cleaning up a large storage room and transforming it into a ‘community organization center’ room. Here CBOs, as they are known, will be able to come and gather—hold meetings and workshops as well as have space to keep documents and other project materials. It will also become my unofficial office I suppose. Good times. The next real trick will be to work on the community calendar project…to help everybody learn what’s going on where and when and so some spaces are double used. The community center is decently-sized, but within the past week has claimed to host 3 different meetings around the same time on the same day. Fortunately, these won’t need the same rooms, but none of them know about the other meetings….this could be problematic and this is exactly the sort of reason why we need this calendar up and running.

Wow…this is lots to read huh? I suppose the rest will have to wait until later. Unfortunately, the dsl internet seems to go up and down lots here and I pre-typed this Tuesday evening around 7-8pm. The internet was down at the time of this posting and hopefully won’t take too long for me to come back to the community center where I use the internet and post this.

I cast my absentee vote into the mail…..do the right thing and go vote by Nov. 4th. It matters less to me who you vote for, but more importantly that you go and cast your vote.

Stay safe and well everyone.
Ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Ready.....Steady.....GO!!!

And it's official! I am now a fully-fledged volunteer, with all the right and duties and ups and downs that come with the role. ^_^ On Monday, the 20th, we had a good-sized ceremony at a government center with several officials and people of note. It was conducted by our boss on SVG, Mr. Cool, and our country director, Margo (out of St Lucia). One of our group was nominated to give a speech it was awesome. Normally I would have taken a ton of photos, but I was sitting in a 'special section' for us....so one of the other volunteers took some good ones. The local media crews filmed the whole thing and they told me I could get a digital copy later....just have to follow up on that.
--Here's a pic of EC78, our crew. Kudos to us, nobody quit! Actually, nobody quit from any of the EC78 crew--including those that went to St Kitts & Nevis or St Lucia. Our staff is so pleased--they say that usually 10% of volunteers drop before training ends.



So becoming a regular volunteer also means that I'm now on my own. Saturday and Sunday I moved into my own apartment in the village. It's a cute little place--kitchen, bathroom, main room and 2 bedrooms--yeah I can have guests. There are a few issues that I won't discuss here....but I will say that a previous volunteer (a couple years ago) made a real hard time for the landlady which is causing grief for the Peace Corps now. I'm in a spot that is conviently located for the places I'll be working and the locals can pass by regularly. Because lots of kids pass by there and they know my name--I get shouted out regularly. I'm still getting used to them calling out my name and when I answer, they don't. I guess they just like to same my name. ^_^

Tomorrow I am going to town to try and negotiate getting my cable internet installed. The dsl here (Cable and Wireless) is down regularly--even though the locals say it is better than the cable internet provider (Karib Cable). What sucks is the massive deposit they require for 'non-locals', even though we are here by request and will be here for 2 years. Sure we get that deposit back (or should), but coming up with the cash right away is not cool or easy. I suppose complaing doesn't help. I mean, I was expecting dial-up and for the cutthroat price of around 10% of my monthly allowance I will get a whopping 1.1 (supposedly) Mbps 'high-speed' service. It really makes me appreciate my job with Comcast back home...

For those that keep tabs on the weather--Hurricane Omar had done a quick sweep and passed over the north end of the island chain, hitting St Kitts & Nevis. Gladly, all of the volunteers and I'd hope the locals are all ok and safe. The waves caused from the hurricane came all the way down here in force. It destroyed lots of fishing boats and jetties on our northern coasts. Even Kingstown, on the southern end, of St Vincent had high waves. The pic below was taken near one of the bus terminals. Previously, there were wooden stalls that lined the row and the waves destroyed them all and washed them down the street. The wave in the pic is probably 10 feet or so high over the cement wall--probably 16 feet or so altogether as it hit the land.



Today, I attended another meeting of the Cumberland Valley Environmental Group--an organization here in the village. They meet to discuss a project that will be going on with the nearby beach. The government had requested tourism facilities be erected around SVG to help cope with the collapse of the banana trades here. After several years, this project should soon be ready to break ground and finish before the end of 2009. Although the government requested it and the European Union is helping fund it and will operate with a non-government team here, the local community will be responsibile for it after it is complete. Unfortunately, I'm learning that the community really isn't on board with this project and feel very closed out of the process. The project team is looking to me to help bring aspects of this group together and train them; whereas the local group will need my help to try and find advocates to bring them into the project process. This one will end up becoming some delicate balancing acts and seems to be one of my first activities....

I'll also be starting my 2nd pupil for computer training. The group's secretary does very well with records and seems to do a good job. She doesn't know how to use a computer--so I'll be showing her how to maximize her secretarial duties. Hopefully my payback will be learning/meeting more people here in the village. I haven't met too many adults yet and this will be a good inroads.

I think the NGO Developer role that I've been assigned to will be a good fit for me and will become a double positive. On one side, I'll be helping the people of Spring Village with skills training and organizational development and on the other side, I'll be gaining massive amounts of practical experience that will assist me in graduate school and hopefully politics & policy.

Before I kick-off here, I thought I'd toss up one last photo....
After our 'graduation', the other volunteers who have already been here a year invited us for a swim & chill on the beach at a place called Beachcombers (total tourist area and not our normal place to go). I decided it was time for another tasty round of coconut water and for only EC$2 ($1.50 away from tourist areas) it was still cheaper and better than a soda. There are 2 common kinds of coconuts--the kind you usually drink they call here a waternut. It was a bit strange to me at first, but it's growing on me. I guess this shot is a bit of a caribbean classic.




The SVG independence day is coming up on the 27th. On Sunday the 26th, I hope to be going on a trip to the island of Mustique--land of the rich and famous--on a special independence boat ride. Still have to figure out how I'm getting to town and back for that--since the buses don't usually run on Sundays...more to come later.

Stay safe and happy
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Culture Spin

Hey everyone!
Hope things are rocking well back home and around the world. ^_^
Today will be a strange post. I like strange. It's a good mix up from the regularity.

First--I sleep on a bed right now. Full size I think; rather nice too and the frame puts the mattress up to my waist. For those that know me, I like to sleep close to the floor and used to have my mattress on the floor without the frame or boxspring. Sleeping up a bit higher and with more bounce simply feels a bit off....if you gather what I'm saying. It is a really nice setup my host family has provided, but I think I'm going back floor bound when I move out in a week.

Second--a shout out to one of the volunteers, Noah, who has suggested read a book called Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Apparently, for those who know philosophy books then you will most likely know the title. He found it at the little library the volunteers keep that our office and gave it to me. I'm about 80 pages (of 380ish?) in and really enjoying it. You don't have to be into philosophy or know anything about it and no, it isn't about Zen or actual motorcycle maintenance either. I totally thought of Greg back home when I got to chapter 3 because the main character is trying to argue a point to his friends about why ghosts don't exist in reality and compares it to gravity. He started to say that gravity doesn't exist.....well, it really wacky and good. Give it a shot if you get the time.

Third--I have a strange confession and fear to admit. I think I am slowly losing my voice over the years and wonder if it will completely go away. My voice used to be quite loud and I could do all sorts of noises, voices, and sound effects. Gradually, it has become weaker and weaker. I can't really project it at all to an audience. I was in a quiet training class here and the instructor at the other end of the tables couldn't even hear me. Actually, I am often asked to repeat things not because I don't speak slowly or clearly but because I am not loud enough. My throat gets sore from time to time, but doesn't worsen my speech when it is like that. I never really gave it any thought back home but now that I am more conscious of the loudness of my environment--depending where I am here--it has been problematic.

Lastly--have you ever been in a position where you thought you are solidly affiliated with a particular social label and then wondered just how accurate that labeling might be? Ok, maybe I didn't make sense.... I'd say that I'm certainly on the left wing of most values making me quite liberal. However, when I see how some of the locals talk, dress, act, etc.......my brain keeps screaming stop it, put something else on, don't say that, etc. The very things that race through my mind are what would normally have been seen as conservative value statements. It seems quite strange to catch myself thinking about where on fence I sit. I know I am still a green, eco-dork liberal--but I still wonder about where I am and how that actually fits. Don't get me wrong, the people here are wonderful, simply a different culture.

Back to more normal stuff--
So what's up with the McCain campaign lately? If the people at his rallies keep getting worked up like they do; I wouldn't be surprised if there were riots and other public disturbances soon.

I performed a professional assessment of the NGO I am working with here in Spring Village. It was part of my final training projects and I haven't gotten my feedback yet. I plan to review it with the organization later-but they are not going to like what I have to say. At least it gives us starting ground for things to work on. I will certainly have my hands full.....

Went to an agricultural and agro-business expo yesterday. It has been raining quite a bit so the fields that had the booths was super wet/muddy. I got totally dirty, but it was lots of fun. I met several interesting organizations and made a few contacts. There is a vested interest here to bring in biogas production from the masses of bananas that end of rotting because they didn't meet export quality standards. Lots of different products were showcased from farmer co-ops on the other islands (Grenada, St Lucia, and Dominica). Got to taste a few awesome treats too. ^_^ good times.

oh....gotta go. the laptop battery has hit near crit power and I don't want to lose this. >.<
stay safe and happy
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Culture.....some things you like and some things you don't

Heya readers!

A bit of a rant to kick this off.....so the Ocean Conservancy has been sponsoring the international beach clean-up and St Vincent was supposed to have a nation wide effort all over the island 2 weekends ago. Due to rain storms, many of the St Vincent locations got rescheduled for this past weekend. Nobody officially canceled our site clean-up, so I spent some time by myself picking up the trash. So the local environmental group chose (and very supportively) to relaunch our clean-up efforts for this past Sunday 9am. There was supposed to be a decent sized group, a beach cook, music, and generally good time. What happened? I sat on the beach for an hour by myself wondering what happened to the enthusiasm and commitment I had heard only 3-4 days prior. Just today I found out that the person responsible for the food wasn't able to fulfill that portion for whatever reason. That single factor got the others to decide they didn't want to do it without the food. It was only expected to be a couple hours of work!
--There is a Vincy dialect saying, "All skin teeth, nar lauf". Some of you might understand it's meaning--just because you smile doesn't mean that you are also happy. That's what I did when I was told why nobody showed. Now I was pre-warned by one of our training instructors that most Vincy's are motivated by their stomachs; be sure to have food at anything we do. I now see just how right he was. This is just one aspect of culture. I'm not looking to change it or fight it......just something to live and learn by while I'm here. Better to realize it sooner with an outside project than one that I put lots of time into.

Today I went on a Heritage Tour with a select group of students and hosted by the Ministry of Youth--as part of the greater effort to kick off Youth Month here. We went to several places including the Vermont Nature Tour info area, the Wallabou plant propagation center where a large varieties of pre-sprouted plants can be bought by farmers at subsidized gov't prices, the Layou Petroglyph site (yeah, rock carvings have been found here and are still being studied), and a place called Dark View Falls. This last place is my new favorite site. It is on the far Northern side not too far from a place called Richmond. Here, there is a a waterfall called Dark View Falls due to the canopys that shade the place and darken the lighting. All around the falls and river is feeds are protected bamboo groves. This place is so quite and tranquil. The bamboo groves reminded me of my time in Japan and I really enjoyed the Kyoto bamboo forest as well. This place is a bit far for the tourist thing, but I highly recommend it.

Saturday, I went to a place called Richmond Beach. That beach isn't super special on my list of places (although a nearby rock outcropping is), but I took a pic that I'm really happy with of the incoming waves on the sand. It is currently my desktop image. If you like it too, feel free to copy it from the site below. I hope that the size and quality were preserved for you.

Here's a link for a few general pics--trying out Google's picasa web. For a free 1GB of space, why not.
http://picasaweb.google.com/friendsofshawn/MyAdventures#

Stay well and happy,
ciao tutti,
~your wannabe jedi
~Shawn

PHONE!!!

Hey out there in Never Never Land.
I got a cell phone today! Of course, if you want the phone #--you'll have to email me and ask for it. No way am I going to post that on the www. lol.
Here's a pic of it and if you click....you'll get a link to the specs.

It is a basic run of the mill phone, but that is GREAT! Shiny things attract unwanted attention....so it is good to have the ugliest, most unwanted looking phones we can get. Plus Nokias like these are very durable and have great battery life. ^_^ It does have one really cool feature that I've never had before.....a led flashlight on the top of it. It's very blinding bright!


Last night I made fake-beef chunks fried rice for my host family. It turned out really well and everyone enjoyed it. LOL.....sometimes they joke that I'm turning them vegetarian. It doesn't help that I am slowly cooking here more and more.

Went to an environmental group meeting for my local area the other night. It was good to meet green-minded folk, but the meeting lacked structure. It seems over the next year we will be transforming a local beach into a tourist attractive area with protective areas for the river that feeds the sea. I'll probably be able to help out on that--lots of good, sweaty work. ^_^ Many of the group members were happy to have me attend and poured their ideas at me. It will take a bit of time, but I think I need to let them know that I'm Peace Corps and not a miracle worker. I help empower, instruct, and assist--not wave my fairy wand and make their dreams come true.

YEAH!!! I'm totally looking forward to the presidential debate tonight. I suppose I'm glad to have access to CNN out here in the Caribbean. I certainly wasn't counting on having it.

Speaking of the Caribbean.....did you know that several parts of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy was filmed here at St. Vincent? There are 3 film sites I believe here around the island--a bit of an attraction. I haven't visited them yet....but I will! Arg!

I'll be meeting with my country director next week. I hope to get some solid info on what I can post in terms of pictures online. Perhaps I'll be able to put up lots more. ^_^
And if you're interested in not only the babble I post, but are interested in hearing from other Peace Corps volunteers I serve with....I will be posting links to their blogs on the side of the page.

Stay happy and well.
ciao tutti
~your local wannabe jedi
~Shawn

Haven't been washed away yet!

Hey all,


First off....I have been advised to let all know about a mailing address change. Well, the address hasn't actually changed, but things being what they are...some mail ends up in Jamaica and not usually heard from in a long time--if ever. So, I've corrected my address listed on the side of this blog. If you wrote it down before--just erase the city name of Kingstown. Jamaica has a city called Kingston and it has caused shipping problems. Mur.


For any of the weather channel junkies....the past few days, there has been a massive storm cycling itself over the entire West Indies. The tons of rain we've received have caused local rivers to flood and in some cases knock out part of roadways. Several landslides have been reported, spilling onto the main roadway. I've heard from my homestay (not officially confirmed) that a landslide even covered a bus/van and it wasn't found until they unearthed it. Not sure of any casualty counts. I posted a pic of the waterfall in our 'backyard' garden. The water from that fall has turned into a full gushing falls and it totally carved out the lil river it made. The muddy banks collapsed and I lost some of the dasheen I got to plant alongside the bank. >.< I did spend some time with my host dad moving unearthed rocks from the riverbed to try and support the new dirt banks. I'll post some pics at the end of the blog--but be sure to compare the water flow with the same falls in the pic from the other blog post.


Today was the international coastal clean-up, sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy. All over St Vincent, different organizations had agreed to go to respective ocean/river shores and clean up the trash--and there is LOTS of it. Data cards are to be filled out for stats collection. There were some sort of communication issues and with the rain still going.....my clean up turned into a lonely event. I was the only one on my beach front (the same beach I posted on flickr--see the link in a previous blog post). Either way I still managed to pick up around 20-25 pounds of garbage before walking with the garbage bag 20ish minutes to deposit it in a proper location.


Funny things to note--coming from Vincy's:

"A Vincentian will take on someone pointing a gun at them. A Vincentian will not have any problems taking on someone with a cutlass [machete]. But a Vincentian will run away as soon as dah rain ah come."

Another volunteer and I were waiting in the rain (of course) last night for a bus. An older local guy approached us and asked for money. We gave him our truthful reply, sorry-but we're poor. He replied, "We are not poor. Only the rain pours. We are but strugglers." He had a big smile and wished us well. Wise words. ^_^


Not sure if I've mentioned this yet....but of the few radio stations, most of them play a regular song list that I swear have a revolving set of the same 5-10 songs. They are replayed more often than any songs on major commerical radio stations back home in Chicago. On top of it, when I go to larger social gatherings, there are djs with large speaker stacks and they CRANK really loud music. Yeah, the same few songs that are constantly on the radio! I am enjoying the style of music here....nearly all reggae (95%), soca and calypso. But if I keep hearing the same songs--it will really kill my radio interests, not that I can get away from it. >.<


Very happy having CNN and MSNBC here. That mean I will get to watch the Presidential and VP debates! YEAH! Not sure when I turned into such a politically interested dork, but I'm liking it now.

ciao tutti,

~your local wannabe jedi

~Shawn