So many likle observations that I can’t remember them all as of this writing but I’ll try recalling some. First, we are getting busier. The Wellness Program, modifications of the BU Fitness Center and Pitt’s old Cardiac Rehab Program, is taking off. In two weeks were doing a pilot run through. We expect to launch full bore on January 15 [only because we’ve been told normal life in JA ceases from the last week in November until 1/15 for Christmas]. If all goes as planned we will run the programs at Chapelton and May Pen Hospitals until they succeed or fail. If successful we will branch out to small and large businesses and provide the same services at the worksite. At that point we’ll begin training medical staff to conduct the Wellness Program.

The EKG training program will be off and running this week. It had an early glitch; the Parish CMO put a hold on it because she had understood Gary might be a CIA agent. Now get up off the floor; too much laughter might cause a stroke. Of all people confused for CIA, he’s the last on my list. As our host mother said, “….and why would the CIA even be interested in JA?”. Gary met with the CMO last Friday and all was straightened out.

We traveled this weekend to the poorest community on the island, Portland Cottage [such a charming name for the most beleaguered site I’ve seen], with 80% unemployment you may be able to imagine their plight. It’s the hot spot for drug and gun smuggling. It’s on the salt marshes of the Caribbean in the south of Clarendon Parish. As Gary said, it makes Chapelton look like Beverly Hills. We visited a fellow volunteer working for Food for the Poor. She took us to a beach in the region, not in the town, where I might take my Healthy Lifestyles Club members for a beach clean up and picnic.

Which leads me to the next effort. I’m teaching [advising] a group of twenty 12-15 year olds in the Healthy Lifestyle Club at Beulah All Age School [gr. 2-8, there are only upper school students in the club]. I have two co-teachers who are training to take over the class next year. Using games, skits, prizes, field trips and competitions they’ll learn about healthy lifestyles. Topics range from healthy snacks, food preparation and cooking to mental, environmental, and oral health, as well as HIV/AIDS, violence prevention, hygiene, and exercise.

After meeting with the elders of the community regarding the resurrection of the Citizens’ Association it was decided that 1.] a Senior Citizens Group should be formed right away [sort of a local AARP]; and 2.] Gary and I should meet with the leaders of the youth community and use the same techniques to fact find about their needs. Substantial numbers of youth [15-25] in Jamaica are under-educated and under-employed. The elders are concerned for the youths’ welfare and its affect on the community. Our Youth meeting will be tonight [Wed.] and the second elders’ group will be the next night. The Senior Citizens Group is ready to have its first meeting November 5.

We’re meeting with the director and staff of St. Augustine Boyz Home to discuss the kinds of workshops we might teach to staff and the boys. We just attended a Heroes Day Concert put on by them this morning [Heroes Day is like our Presidents’ Day but much more important to the populace]. These boys have been abandoned by their families. Some are disabled or disfigured internally and/or externally but most are adorable boys between 8 & 18. It broke my heart to think about their lives without any family at all. Some are starved for affection. One took hold of Gary and wouldn’t let go.

In the meantime Gary’s gotten motivated to see what he can do about the noise pollution problem. Loud reggae music pulsing 24/7 is the norm. The loud bases of giant sound systems is ubiquitous, whether in the country or city, and literally rattles windows and doors. Once all the above are rolling you may hear more about that effort. In the meantime we keep ear plugs with us at all times.

In all the preparation for these projects we’ve had to do considerable traveling to meet key people and fact-find. As you all know travel has been our bane in JA but it has been interesting to learn of and participate in a common Jamaican practice, ride sharing. In all sorts of situations and circumstances people share rides to save gas, get someplace, and/or transport something. It’s not uncommon for the Ministry of Health driver who is charged with getting us to a meeting in May Pen to have 2 or 3 others tagging along to be dropped off somewhere. In route we’ll stop at the roadside and pick up a package that needs to be dropped off on the way. All of this in a truck filled with equipment and supplies going or coming to somewhere else. No one ever just jumps in a car and drives alone to any place.

Finally, I’ll probably have more to say about this topic later as I watch and learn more about its effect; but only 30% of women with children are married. Sociologists and anthropologists don’t know if it’s the result of earlier African cultural practices or a remnant of slavery when marriage was impractical with families always being torn apart. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to know that so few individuals live with their parents; often they live with grandmothers or aunts. Women don’t seem to be bothered by this condition and large numbers of well-educated professional women choose to have a child out of wedlock. It appears they don’t want to have a thing to do with men [no, their not lesbians!!]. They prefer to have a child and a career without the father present. In the poor communities they may not have a career but they still want the children. This doesn’t suggest that men aren’t present in their children’s lives. In American I never saw so many young men carrying [no strollers, carriages, baby backpacks, etc] babies and/or walking along holding the hands of their young children. It seems to me that the males and females of this culture may not want to deal with the compromises necessary in marriage. What effect, if any, it has on children, I don’t know. What is clear is that there doesn’t appear to be any stigma attached to not having a father present in the home; it’s the norm.

Das al fi nou, Margaret