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  Kingston, Jamaica
Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Now What?
 
Survived Peace Corps training, Hurricane Dean and the elections and I've only been here three months. I'm now an official Peace Corps volunteer whereas before me and the other "volunteers" were considered Peace Corps trainees. It was a good feeling to know that I am done with training, and that I can solely concentrate on helping my community. But with the end of training came the sense of "oh my god, now what?" I did not feel completely prepared to take on the challenge of providing my community with the help that it needs. But I quickly got over that once I returned to my community. Hurricane Dean left plenty of work to be done, and I didn't have time to second guess myself. The first couple of days back, I helped out at the local church to prepare meals and distribute them to people in need. I also did some need assessment surveys in my area. I had to find out who lost what and what they needed. During those couple of days I got to meet people in the community who I didn't even know lived in the area. I also got to see parts of the community that I thought nobody lived in. Seeing the devastation up close and hearing the stories that people told was hard. The people in the community are resilient and they are moving on with their lives. The kids especially, I think, are handling things well. A community organization took the kids to Ocho Rios to remove them from their current situation and have some fun. I volunteered to chaperone the kids. For a lot of the kids it was their first time visiting Ocho Rios and mine too. It was a lot of fun. A little over 100 kids went that day and over 300 kids went during the three days. We went to Dolphin's Cove the place where people can swim with the dolphins. The place is gorgeous. Then we went to a nice eating area where the kids had lunch and at the end of the day the kids all got little gifts. School started about two weeks after the hurricane hit and there are some kids whose school uniforms were either destroyed are lost in the flood. Fortunately, the kids in the community are being allowed to attend school without their uniforms. Organizations, churches and individuals are doing their part to help but things are moving slowly. Things are also moving slowly to help people rebuild from the hurricane. Some people hadn't even rebuilt from Hurricane Ivan which happened in 2004.  So much more I can write about this...Keep you all posted.
 
 
"Green is back on the scene"
 
So after 18 years in power, the people of Jamaica have elected a new government. Portia Simpson-Miller's People's National Party (PNP) was defeated 33-27. Bruce Goldings' Jamaica's Labour Party (JLP) is in power, and my host mother couldn't be happier. The JLPs color is green hence the new saying that my host mom likes "green is back on the scene."  I noticed that in this election young people were the main supporters of JLP while older people supported PNP. On the day of the election, Sept. 3, I stayed home. The Peace Corps advised us to stay in our communities/homes. My community is predominately JLP so I saw from the front yard people dressed in green and cars with green flags waving from the car antennas. Shops and businesses closed early so that people can vote and for persons own safety. At night, my host mom, host sister and I were glued to the television as the tallies started coming in. It was so close. For a couple of minutes PNP was in the lead, and then JLP would be in the lead. When the final numbers came in and it showed that JLP won, I heard people in the community banging pots and ringing bells and shouts of joy was coming from outside. I felt so privileged to be here at a time when Jamaica is going through a momentous transition. Bruce Golding came on television and gave a speech on how Jamaicans should work together to build a better Jamaica and told his supporters that they shouldn't be so boastful as not to upset the other side. Portia Simpson-Miller came on television and said that she will not concede since the votes were so close. A recount was started and during which her party actually lost more seats. So Bruce was sworn in and I guess all of Jamaica is waiting and watching to see if he will keep his promises.
 
 
"Do you know Sandy?"
 
I have started volunteering at the primary school in my community. I am doing several different programs there but my core role is serving as the sponsor of the environmental club. The principal said that an environmental club is needed at the school so now I and another teacher who is assisting me with the club is in charge of over 30 hyper children who are anxious to learn about the environment. The kids' first assignment was to take trash that they see lying around and turn it into some sort of transportation either a car, truck or bus. I gave them a week to complete the assignment and I told them that the winner would be awarded a prize (that really sparked their interest). A week later I was pleasantly surprised with the creativity of the kids. A lot of them chose to use their juice boxes to form the shape of the car. The first place winner especially impressed me with her truck. I could tell that she put a lot of time into it. So she received the prize of a painting kit. The "Green Club" as it's called now will put on a skit next week about the effects of burning trash. In Jamaica people either burn their trash, bury it or there is trash pickups in certain communities. In my community it is common for people to burn their trash. I thought to educate the kids on the hazards trash burning poses to the environment and to their health. I wrote the skit but I told the kids that they had to come up with a song and dance to go along with the skit. Last week, they performed for me their song and dance. It was so good. I am really impressed with the kids' talents. They literally came up with the song on the spot. I had been pressuring them to come up with the song and dance because they only had under two weeks before they presented it to the entire school and I wanted them to have plenty of time to practice. So out of nowhere one of the kids starts singing something, another kid joins in and by the end of their lunch break we had the song and dance. I'm hoping to be able to record it and upload it for your viewing.
 
When I first arrived at the primary school the kids would ask me "Are you from foreign?" It's a common question here that little kids ask anyone who has an accent. So I tell them "Yes, I'm from Texas." Usually the next question is "Do you know Sandy?" Sandy is a character from the cartoon show SpongeBob Squarepants. She is from Texas. Whenever they ask me that I will smile and say "Yeah, I know Sandy." Their eyes will get so big and they will say "Really, Miss." And then I say "Yeah, Really." They'll oooohhhh and aaaahhhh and ask me all kinds of questions about Sandy and the other characters from the show. The kids at the primary school are 1st-6th graders. I think it's cute how they believe that carton characters are real.
 
"Let me see you in camera"
 
I was at school and the guidance counselor says to me "Claudia, let me see you in camera." I thought she meant let me take your picture. So I said to her that I don't want my picture taken. The sectary laughs and tells me that isn't what she wants. Turns out "let me see you in camera" is an old saying that not all Jamaicans use but it means let me see you in private. The guidance counselor wanted me to stop by her office so we could chat privately. I completely missed that. I've now adopted that saying. Everyday is something new. This past weekend my friend and I went to Dunn's River which is a famous tourist spot in Ocho Rios where people come to climb the river. The river is like a huge waterfall. I was determined to climb all the way to the top. It took me and my friend about 45 minutes but we did it and I was so proud of myself. There were a couple of times that I wanted to turn back. The rocks are slippery and I kept on picturing myself slipping on a rock, hitting my head, falling all the way down and drowning at the bottom of the river. I could just see the headline Peace Corps volunteer killed at Dunn's River. But I didn't let that deter me from accomplishing my goal, and my friend was really good about motivating me to continue.
 
As soon as I can I will attach pictures of the swearing-in ceremony, (a ceremony that we had to welcome us as official Peace Corps volunteers) pics of me at Dunn's River and of all my grand adventures in between. Hope all is well with everyone. Likl muor.
 
 
Claudia
 
 
 

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