Monday, April 27, 2009

The latest news

It’s Sunday and the end of the month so things are quiet. We’ve both been able to do a lot of catching up, among them is this blog; but tomorrow things will likely change on two fronts. First, last Wednesday the government passed a 20% increase in the gas tax [among other tax increases] and it goes into effect tomorrow [pretty quick turnaround for a country known for takin’ it ezee]. “Demonstrations” [some say riots] are expected. Ten years ago the same happened and after three days of rioting the tax was rescinded. Now the government says they won’t do the same again [there’s a ¼ trillion dollar budget deficit]. We’re safe in Chapelton, there’s enough food, water, and good people to take care of us; but island-wide PCV’s have been warned to stay near home and get their shelves stocked. Keep an eye on the news for updates on the situation.

Second, it’s the time of the month when our work picks up. We’ll be doing our Wellness Evaluations, planning for the upcoming Citizens Association, Senior Citizens’ Association, and Youth Group meetings [meet with Executive Committees, make flyers, put them up around town, & attend the meetings], teach exercise classes, make presentations, meet with individuals, do EKG’s, etc.

On Good Friday the Sacred Concert was a big success. Its theme was community unity and we think it struck a cord with many attendees. Because of that we anticipate a very large turnout for the next Citizens’ Association meeting [at least we hope so]. It was one of the first activities that Jamaican’s played a major role in. We had a fundraising committee that came up with the idea and plans and I just helped facilitate it. It went from 4-8:30 PM and the only complaint was that it wasn’t longer. So, next time, the second annual sacred concert will go until10 PM. At the event several churches brought “items” [song, poem, reading, skit, etc] and three speakers talked briefly about community unity. There was a band that kept things lively and a chairperson [emcee] who really livened up the performance [she was an item unto herself]. Over a hundred showed up and we raised $25,000 JA [sounds like a lot but it’s only about $270 US]. It will be enough to soundly secure the Community Center’s room where ten computers will be housed for training and community access.

One reason the Concert was so successful may have been that there is so little to do in Chapelton. An event is something people don’t want to miss. Taking that into consideration I suggested to a woman who directed a charming skit for the concert that we think about having an evening of dramatic skits. She jumped at the chance and said Jamaican’s love the idea of drama. We’re going to do it in June and see what happens. I’ll keep you posted.

Following on the theme of nothing to do for community members, we will help raise money for the Hospital’s Emancipation Day event. The staff at Chapelton Community Hospital is planning to hold a Jamaican Cultural Day Fundraiser on Saturday August 1. The twofold purpose is to raise money for: 1) all that is involved in computerizing their Records Room [all records are manually maintained…… all 69,000 of them]; and 2) re-piping the Hospital’s water system in order to regain greater control of the water supply [presently there is no water available other than in barrels about 50% of the time…pretty tough going for a hospital]. It seems the pipes are very old and leak so badly that when the water tank is filled to supply the Hospital for two weeks it only lasts a day or two. Since there’s no money from the government [they can’t even afford plastic bags to line the garbage cans let alone new piping] the staff decided to take things into their own hands.

The day will begin at 10 AM with a parade through Chapelton, complete with a traditional Jonkoono band [historic Jamaican band with instruments we haven’t seen] and mascots [guys on stilts, giant cow heads, etc]. The parade will end at the Market Place in Chapelton Center where authentic culture foods will be sold and historical items will be on display. The day will close with a concert from 6 to 10 PM. It sounds like a very big event where they hope to raise at least $200,000 JA [~$2,200 US]. That will be enough for two computers; security & voltage regulation for them and a chunk of the data processing to get many of the 69,000 records electronically entered. Any extra monies will go toward addressing the water debacle.

The computer side is so inexpensive because I organized an island-wide movement to get a Jamaican PC provider to sell refurbished computers to Peace Corps projects for $120 US. The service will offer the computer, monitor, all cables, voltage regulation [very important here, Gary’s first EKG was fried because of it], all necessary software for personal and internet use, 2 ½ year warranty, and technical support for that price. The two computers and security will cost $440 US and the data entry will be $2,000 US. Will keep you abreast of how this project unfolds. AND! Please pray no hurricanes hit on August 1!!!

It’s getting hotter and more humid, approaching what it was like when we arrived last July. We shower and clean up for work and in ¼ of mile we’re soaked. It appears that the comfortable weather runs from November to mid-April. Keep that in mind if you’re thinking about a visit.

Mangoes are everywhere, hanging like sexy little teases from every fourth tree. I can’t imagine what the feeding frenzy will be like once they’re ripe in May and June.

We leave May 7 for five days in Dallas. Not that we’re too excited or anything! We’re also coming home for two weeks at Thanksgiving and already have our itinerary set [not just the flight schedule, the day to day plans]. Some would call that sick….. we call it missing home, homeland, and the boys. Thank goodness we’re in Jamaica.

Love to all, Margaret

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Why We Didn't Need to Go to Africa!

Recall our original assignment had been to Sub-Saharan Africa. Initially we were both let down when the Dark Continent became Jamaica. I couldn’t imagine their needs could be greater than that of Africans. Similarly, I was disappointed when we got our Chapelton (dead center of the island) assignment instead of more exotic sites like Ocho Rios, Treasure Beach, or Negril posts. I’ve finally come to realize that I was meant to be here, if for no other reason than to work for those who are in such great need. There was no necessity to travel halfway around the world; we only had to fly 75 minutes south of Miami for the experience.

On Saturday the second Football/Netball Funday Fundraiser was held. We helped with the effort to raise $$$ for the teams to get uniforms so they can qualify to play in Parish contests. If I haven’t already mentioned it, there haven’t been teams in our district for fifteen years. With NOTHING to do for the youths one dedicated citizen took up the task of leading the fundraising effort.

Now, fundraising in rural Jamaica has no semblance of what we’re accustomed to in the US; a donation of $ 2.00 US is considered reasonable and $20 is very generous. After months of planning, 80 man-hours of work on Saturday with 10 volunteers we raised $2,300 JA or $26, about enough to buy three shirts for the team. It will take a lot more fundraising to get 15 shirts each for the football and netball teams. In the meantime, players share shirts during a game. As a player comes out he/she takes off the shirt and gives it to his teammate to wear.

Uniforms are nothing, though, to what I experienced at the food booth where we worked that day. The major way to raise the necessary money is to sell food and drinks during the games. We sold traditional Jamaican fare; chicken, goat head soup, slaw, and rice & peas (red beans to us) along with beer, juice and water. At the end of the day the players were hanging around the food booth to see if there might be any leftovers for them. They couldn’t afford the J$250 (~$ 3.00 US) to buy the food. Finally, I was able to dole out to the girls’ net ball team the one chicken back left with a large serving of rice & peas. Ten of them carefully split it up and shared equitably without complaints or groans. A little later I was able to serve up the soup but there were only six cups remaining with perhaps 50 servings left in the pot. These hungry kids (perhaps 25-30) stood in line, got a cup, ate it and handed the cup off to a friend. They tried to use plastic soda bottles found on the field that had the top ripped off, but when I realized the bottles had been lying on the ground, ants crawling all over them, and who knows drinking from it I said no to that (not that the shared cups were any more sanitary). Only until the pot got low did a few kids get pushy about getting some soup.

But then I began to serve out the remaining rice and peas and that was the most telling incident of all. It was in half of a five gallon pot that had cooked all day and was dry and burnt. No matter, they were hungry and needed it. We had many more plates than cups and no utensils so only a few had to share plates but all had to eat with their hands. Fortunately, the rice was dried out so that I could spoon it out in large chunks, so eating it was easier than if it had been moist and separated. Needless to say there wasn’t a grain of rice, a drop of soup or even a chicken bone left to clean up. No food was thrown away. As I was serving the soup and rice & peas I couldn’t stop thinking of how fortunate our American children are. Even under bad financial times like these I can’t imagine many, if any, asking to eat what we would consider inedible food under quasi-sanitary conditions.

On the upside, we had a joyous First Annual Sacred Concert and Community Unity Fundraiser on Good Friday night. Our purpose was to raise money to buy computers and secure them in our local Community Center. Christianity and their churches are very important to large numbers of Jamaicans so a sacred concert was appealing particularly when there’s nothing much else to do. Many of the area churches sent “items” (an act) for the performance: choral groups, soloists, musicians, children singing, skits, and readings. We invited a director from the Social Development Commission and two ministers to speak about community unity. The new president of the Citizen’s Association was the chairperson (emcee) and she was a pistol, a veritable one woman show. Eighty people paid JA$200 admission and another 40 stood outside the gate to watch and listen. We didn’t know what to expect; but it was intended to run from 4-6 PM and went on until 8:30 with moaning that it should have gone on longer (It was outdoors and we only had one fluorescent light once the sun went down). We haven’t totaled the earnings because some money is still coming in from churches but I expect we made $16,000 or about $170 US. That’s enough to get a good start toward the computer room security and voltage regulation installed plus do some other small things for the Center.

Mango season is coming and the anticipation is much like that for Christmas. Citizens have been talking about it for months. Apparently you eat nothing but mango in all its permutations for two months.

More good news, we think we’ll be getting a high speed internet hook-up at our house next week (Jamaican next week could mean within the month). If that’s the case we may be able to produce more blogs and certainly spend more time communicating with all of you who email us.

If you’re not already doing it, count all your blessings,... the Jamaican’s do it each day!!!!

Blessa, Margaret