Suriname Binnenland
Trip Start
Sep 15, 2005
1
9
11
Trip End
Nov 11, 2005
Baku,
Suriname
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
We lucked out in meeting Dara Lipton, a Peace Corps volunteered placed in Suriname for two years. She has just had three months of language training in Okanisi - one of the many native tongues of the Maroon people in the Interior. Following that she was placed in the Village of Baku and has been there one short month to date. We met her randomly while she was in Paramaribo to see the doctor
# 7 My Sweet Masa
. We liked her immediately and she invited Mary and I to come visit for a week end. So on Thursday morning, we headed down to Saramacca Straat to catch one of the many white vans that could take us to Afobaka. This was a two hour drive down a red dusty road to the top of Brokopondo Lake. Brokopondo is a man made lake that was created in the 50's to produce hydro and control the water of the rivers. It flooded a huge area putting millions of trees under water. What is amazing to see is the the tops of these trees still protrude out of the water like grey fingers reaching out of their watery grave. The lake is huge and displaced many villages years ago. The village of Baku that we are travelling to is at the far end of the lake and one of the few villages that was not moved because of the creation of the lake. We negotiate a boat at Afobaka to take us across the lake. When we get out of the van we are besieged by many boat men who would like to take us, but we are hard negotiators insisting on 20 SRD each (which I thought Dara has told me is the going rate but find out later than it is typically more like 40). 1 Canadian dollar = 2.20 SRD. Finally a man with a red bandana looking very much like a pirate and his camoflaged side kick agree that they will take us for 20 each. But of course as soon as the boat is loaded, they inform us that they will go as soon as they have a little beer. So we wait for about 1 1/2 while they drink beer and try to convince us to buy them some too. Finally we are off, and head across the lake on what used to be a river chanel, as the trees make it impossible to travel anywhere else. Mary and I enjoy the view, while the pirate and two friends they loaded at the last minute sleep and the camoflauge side kick drives the boat. We move just ahead of a small rain storm which only adds to the mystique of the watery graveyard.
# 9 Dara's Hut in Baku
We arrive at Baku. Dara hears the boat as her hut is very close to the water and comes to greet us and help us settle in to her hut. She has a small two room hut with a cook house to one side and a two stalled toilet behind - one stall for the chamber pot and another stall for the actual outhouse hole. The village of Baku is home to about 200 people but because of the transient work of the men, we are told that only about 120-150 are ever there at one time. Dara is no longer Dara but has been renamed Yepi Mai by the people of the village which means helping sister-in-law. They have embraced her into their community and do the same with us. We are more than welcome. We do a ritual of walking around the village and greeting everyone. There is a real formality in it and Yepi Mai teaches us enough Okanisi to perform the greeting, over and over and over again to everyone we meet. Ma (or pa) u waki - we say which means you wake ma/pa? They reply with Ya u waki e ma (Ya we woke). Then we say Fai Waki? (how do you wake?). They reply Me waki moi, faii safey waki? (I woke beautifully, how did you wake?) Then we reply Mi waki moi (I woke beautifully). Finally we both respond eeyaa (ya). It is lyrical and sing songing and a delight to learn - until we meet the 50th person and then it starts to get a little old! We have attracted a group of children and my darling Masa has attached herself to my arm. She is a friendly seven year old who I decide I would like to take home with me if I only could figure out how to do this
#1 Our so called "pirate" boat man from Akobaka
. We walk through the village hand in hand, or arm in arm, meeting all the other villagers. The village is a crowded array of thatched roof huts randomly scattered next to each other. The people are all friendly and happy to see us especially after they realize that we will live exactly like them and participate in all their rituals of the day for the next three days. Dara prepares dinner and we get our first taste of this when it is time to head to the river for our evening bath. We have already changed our clothes and are wearing traditional pange's like all the other women in the village. We do wear tops, although most of the women under 40 are in bra's and the older women are bare breasted. Being 45 I probably fit in the bare breasted category but did choose to leave my top on, or tied my pange up under my armpits! I'm sure in the heat I would have been burnt to a crisp (ouch) so took the safe route on that one. Throughout our stay we met the most incredible people. We met an amazing woman by the name of Esther who has started a womens organization that has been instrumental in building a school for the children. She excitedly tells us of her plans to clear ground for a house for the teachers who come from Photo (what they call the city of Paramaribo). She is a visionary and a dreamer and has many plans for the village. We meet her sister Mama who is also part of the womens network and are invited to go look at the school. They invite us into their homes, they share their stories with us, and allow us to be part of the passion that resides within them. They humbly ask how we might be able to help to make sure the children have note books and pencils, or toothpaste and brushes, or even to get them a lawn mower to cut the grass by the school so the children don't have to worry about snakes. They are excited by our interest and look forward to hearing from us in future whether we can help or not. I promise myself that I will do what I can when I return to Canada even if it is on a personal level for I have fallen in love
#10 Esther and Mama along with me in Mama's house
. We hang our hammocks in Dara's hut and fall asleep quickly from our exhausting day. In the morning we rise at first light - shortly after 6:00 and are told that the first thing we must do is a vaginal cleanse. This happens every morning by every woman by boiling special plants in a kettle and pouring the hot water into a chamber pot. Woman are not allowed to touch or prepare food until this is done as it is said they are not clean. The women embrace this process, as do Mary and I as we truly want to have the complete village experience. Besides that, it is the first hot water for bathing I have seen since coming to Suriname six weeks again and if you know me well you know that a hot bath at the end of the day is a ritual for me. After that it is down to the river to wash the dishes from the night before, wash ourselves, and then wash the pange we were wearing. There is an art in doing this so that you are never really naked. This is an interesting process as they flood the river with soap, they stand and fish in almost the same spot, and it is said that the illegal gold mining operations are filling the rivers and lakes in Suriname with mercury. The villagers also drink this water although Dara has a Duro tank that catches rain water. The little freak that I am, I have brought plenty of bottled water along to ensure that I am not ill. The day evolves by preparing breakfast, playing with children, greeting everyone again with the formal greeting in the Okanisi langauge and then paddling over to another village a short distance away called Lebi Doti to check in with another Peace Corp volunteer by the name of Nathan.The dynamics in these villages are very interesting. It is obvious that the women play a very powerful role in many ways. They are in chargre of the day to day life in the village, the organization of school, the campaigning to bring in Peace Corps volunteers and the like. However the place is very sexually charged in the sense that every man has more than one wife (usually two and not usually in the same village)
#11 A view of the canopy of the rian forest
. When the man arrives home, the woman is pleased to see him and drops everything to accomodate his needs. He sometimes only stays one day and is gone again for days at a time. Every man we met mentions sex and wonders if we would like to take a black man. When I explain that I already have a man at home in Canada, they say that's okay if I want to have two! This is generally polite banter and almost seems like it would be rude if they didn't offer. However I did get the sense that they would be very happy if you said yes. Now what stikes me as a blow to my desirability is that Mary (63 years) gets twice as many offers as I do! The women laugh at the comments and take it all in stride. Most women have 4-5 children and bearing children is a huge part of the culture.After three sleeps, we say goodbye and head back across Brokopondo Lake to Afobaku. Here we negotiate a van once again to take us to Brownsweg, where we have arranged for the driver from the nature reserve at Brownsberg to pick us up. It is at this point that we know for sure we are in the rain forest, as we hike trails to two differnet falls and take in the wonder of it all. Mary is a seasoned hiker and I work hard to keep in line with her steady pace, but I am invigorated by the exercise. One more night in the hammock and an evening of delightful conversation with Mary and then we head back to Photo. I need to say that Mary is the silver lining in my stay in Suriname and we have become fast friends. She is from Kamloops and gives me more reasons to return there often in the future.
I apopgoize for the length of this blog - but I have seen so much and have so much to say. I will be home in just over a week and can not beleive all of the things that I have done to date. The last week will also be a busy one with an art show I wish to attend, a trip to Commiwijne, a day at the private beach, and a birthday party for Henna that will also serve as my farewell. Oh, and I have some work to finish up too.....
Tot later, Brenda
