Half Way Mark

Trip Start Sep 15, 2005

Trip End Nov 11, 2005

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Flag of Suriname Paramaribo, Suriname
Monday, October 17, 2005

October 16, 2005

The last ten days since I updated have been filled with many activities and new adventures here in Suriname. I can't believe that my visit here is half over! Although the focus has been very much work related, I have managed to attended a Maroon Entrepreneur Fair, three more birthday parties for Oma (76), Sylvania (45), and different Oma (90), Salsa dance classes every Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and another day at the private beach! I have never had such a busy social life.

Let me tell you about the Maroon Fair. It was held to celebrate 245 years of independence from slavery and had an entrepreneurial focus. The Maroon people were first brought to Suriname as slaves, but escaped almost immediately after arriving and fled into the interior region of the country densely covered with tropical rain forests, where they still maintain their villages

Black Version of Grandma O

. So there history is not that of slavery but that of defiant independence. My friend, Erna Aviankoi (who spent three weeks with HIV North last fall) was one of the main organizers of the event. I attended one meeting prior to the Fair and drafted some invitations in English, as well as some sponsorship letters in English for the committee. The event was very successful with about 3000 people attending throughout the week-end. Mary and I tried to make it as successful as possible for some of the women selling their wares by buying as much as we thought we could carry home. That translates into presents for everyone! There were booths from craftsmen doing the most incredible carvings and benches from wood, as well as clothing and trinkets. Three of the local ASO's had displays as did The National AIDS Program. There were also displays by groups doing community development in the interior show casing water projects, and of course the gold mining companies trying to convince everyone that they are good corporate citizens. The best part, however was the cultural entertainment including a professional group of Maroon dancers. I attempted to load a video clip of their performance but unfortunately I was not successful.

I need to mention pange's (no idea if I am spelling this correctly). A pange (pang-yee) is a traditional garment within the Maroon culture. It is presented to a young girl by her family when it is determined that she may be at the age to become married or take a sexual partner

Condom Presentation in School

. It is an honored right of passage and the age of the girl depends on her circumstances and that of her family wishes and plans for her. Although the pange is still presented to young girls it is also worn widely by many women in the Maroon culture and seen as a piece of artwork. The patterns of these beautiful wraps are diverse, as are the colors. In the photo of Erna, she is wearing an absolutely beautiful one.

The other highlight of the last few days was the opportunity to tag along with Donavan while he gave an HIV/AIDS presentation at the local school in Tout Lui Fout. Donavan is a volunteer for PepSur - a youth driven ASO. School just started again the beginning of October and the presentation was made to a group of 10-15 year olds. Although it was in Dutch, it was obvious that a wide range of topics was covered and that there was complete frankness in the discussion. Six teachers sat in on the presentation as well and added information and asked questions regularly keeping it lively. The students warmed up after about 15 minutes and became quite interactive. I am enclosed one photo of a boy helping Donavan with a condom demonstration - you can see both were having some fun with the exercise.

Work wise I have made some more connections. I am pleased to have found a top rate director to take on a production of The Vagina Monologues. Her name in Sharda Ganga and she is the Coordinating Director for Stichting Projekta. She is part of the SHAN network, but also has an incredible reputation in the theatre world here in Suriname. She will be receiving an award in November from the Caribbean AIDS Network for a short edutainment movie she created on HIV/AIDS. I look forward to receiving a copy of her movie which is sub titled in English

Erna doing Interview

.
I have set a date for a Fund Development Workshop I will present. Although the topic will focus on fund development (which is what every ASO indicated to me as their priority), I see the underlying reality here in Suriname as a need to develop stronger networking. This is an area that is extremely weak - almost not existent in the HIV movement - and I hope to use the workshop as an activity to bring people together and have them work on a project together. The Vagina Monologues and another event that one of the Peace Corp volunteers is organizing will be used as practical application of information given to them on event management and perhaps through the experience of working together some of their difficulties in working together can be ironed out. Mary will then work with them individually on circle facilitation and future search activities and that may also help bring them to a new understanding. They have never looked at the big picture as a whole to identify if all the needs within the HIV field are being met, if there is duplication of services or missing services, and how they can compliment one another rather than compete with one another. If I had more time, this is not were I would start or the approach I would take but in the very short two months I have here this is the best that I can see as an attempt to get people at the same table. If time were unlimited I think the work should start with individual organization visioning at a staff and board level - not even strategic planning but just visioning - followed by some very specific professional development to bring staff to a level of understanding the importance of "working on the business, not working in the business". Right now the organizations do not have the skill or capacity to move forward. There relationships with one another are more than dysfunctional they border on destructiveness. For all the ACCH members reading this, I just need to say how proud I am of the work we have done together and the ability most organizations have in looking at the greater good!

That is it for this update. Hope everyone is well.
....Brenda