More jungle than expected: Chelsea's HVV
I flew into Mabaruma in Region 1, the northern most region of Guyana, on Monday. From the plane the only thing I could see was vast green jungle, interspersed with brown, snaking rivers. Mabaruma is a small village, although it is the political center of the region.
I stayed in a house with two Peace Corps Volunteers and throughout the week they showed me that living on your own in Guyana is not as intimidating as I thought. I stayed with a health volunteer who works with the Red Cross on water sanitation projects throughout Region 1 and another who is an education volunteer who splits her time between working with a sea turtle conservation project on Shell Beach and working creating an environmental club in a secondary school here in Mabaruma. I have gotten to shadow both PCVs during their days and learn about their projects and also daily life. 
Practical things I have learned: 1. Soaking marigolds in water overnight will make water that serves as a natural pesticide to ward centipedes off your garden. 2. Soaking pineapple skins in water for a few hours then squeezing them will make a yummy juice. 3. Spices are a commodity here and make cooking so much easier. 4. A Guyanese phrase I like is, "please for..." to ask for something. As in, "Please for some spices and seasonings in care packages."
During this week I visited the Regional Hospital, stopped in the Admin buildings to introduce myself, met the VSOs, World Teach Volunteers and Missionaries who are also working on projects in Mabaruma, watched the education volunteer teach a lesson to nursery school students on self esteem, visited the secondary school and watched an agriculture/farming class, cooked meals and baked a cake for my host's birthday, played pool, went on a trip up the river to visit some Amerindian villages for her water sanitation project and taught a drama class with the secondary school students to help with a skit the health volunteer had written for the Red Cross to promote hygiene and proper hand washing. The most fun I had was facilitating the drama class. I can really see myself using theater as a teaching tool to promote healthy habits here in Guyana. It was so fun to see the kids open up to the goofy games I played with them. School here is usually a lot of memorization and very little creative processes so the kids aren't used to having adults acting silly and they cracked up when I made funny faces and played tongue twister games with them.
The trip up the river was also an amazing experience. I had one of those, "Holy crap, I am really in Guyana." moments when I was motoring up the river, lined with jungle, in a small speed boat and suddenly the boat turned into what I thought was the river bank. It actually was a small creek covered entirely in jungle canopy. We slowed the boat down as we navigated the twisty creek and I stared into the wilderness at colorful birds, butterflies, dragonflies and other bugs whizzing by. Our destination was an Amerindian village where one of the PCTs in my groups will end up being placed. It was exciting to see one of the sites where my colleagues will actually work. While my host tested the water quality in the newly built village well I met the Toshau, or village chairman. I learned how excited the village is to get a Volunteer. Even though the village has never had a volunteer before there are other projects going on, started by VSOs and NGOs like the Red Cross that a volunteer could get involved in. It is reassuring to realize that we aren't going to be starting from scratch and have a lot of resources already in place.
The trip up the river was also an amazing experience. I had one of those, "Holy crap, I am really in Guyana." moments when I was motoring up the river, lined with jungle, in a small speed boat and suddenly the boat turned into what I thought was the river bank. It actually was a small creek covered entirely in jungle canopy. We slowed the boat down as we navigated the twisty creek and I stared into the wilderness at colorful birds, butterflies, dragonflies and other bugs whizzing by. Our destination was an Amerindian village where one of the PCTs in my groups will end up being placed. It was exciting to see one of the sites where my colleagues will actually work. While my host tested the water quality in the newly built village well I met the Toshau, or village chairman. I learned how excited the village is to get a Volunteer. Even though the village has never had a volunteer before there are other projects going on, started by VSOs and NGOs like the Red Cross that a volunteer could get involved in. It is reassuring to realize that we aren't going to be starting from scratch and have a lot of resources already in place.
The Bush (Part 1 and only): Tim's HVV
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve written. Within that time we both have experienced a crazy host visit to another part of the country. So grab a beverage and come along with me on my quest into the remote interior of Guyana.
My journey begins in G-town with a 14-hour bus ride. The first two hours weren’t too bad; we had a nice paved road to a town called Linden (psst our new site, but hold steady). However, once past that town the road turned to dirt and jungle scraped by on either side of us as we made our way south to Lethem.
The bus weaved, accelerated, decelerated as potholes and fallen trees tried to black our way. Trees rose like padded bowling gutters on each side, which made me feel so constrained. I slipped in and out of consciousness occasionally jolting awake on heavy turns or exceptionally hard bumps. Moreover, if there was a smooth patch we were unsystematically awakened as we stopped at numerous checkpoints where our passports were shown and our names checked off a master roster.
Jungle moved to canopy, to deep greens, to clear night skies to even a ferry that the bus needed to stop on to cross one of the numerous rivers that filled the interior. But as dawn broke, the trees thinned and the savanna rolled by: greens, browns, reds, all earthy, natural colors showed in shifts as the bus bumped along. Trees stood in the distance surrounded by stunted brush, as hazy mountains, topped by clouds, stood sentry over unknown lands.
I was awed and this was only the beginning. There was still a multi-houred ride to and then outside of Lethem to actually get to my site.
Intrigued, I entered a village of approximately 400 persons. The houses were primarily made with adobe brick and thatched roofs. There was a giant, circular meeting place called a benob (sp?) where the village holds special events like public meetings (which I had the opportunity to attend) or village dances. The village itself was not too spread out and there were only two places that had electricity, by means of solar panels, the health post and this local agency’s “office.”
Mountains rose in the distance some closer than others, but the concept of distance there was very strange. Since the village was mostly on flat grasslands, things appeared closer than they actually were. For example, something that looked like it could be an easy walk was actually 6 miles away. Similarly, the primary means of transportation was either a horse or a bicycle.
On the first day where I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the village political scene, which was like most other political scenes but on a smaller scale. There were powerplays, loud-talkers, and logical ones discoursing their wants. Hours passed, and I was incredibly grateful for the bed that night.
Throughout the course of the week I took many pictures which I will put up once we figure out the internet situation, which should happen within the next 3 to 4 weeks or so (we have our placement, in a large town in Guyana)
As the week progressed I was able to accomplish many things in a short time. I met with some local farmers and families; I watched a rooster be killed (then we ate him) with his own wing feather (I think the irony was lost in the situation.) I slept in a hammock most nights, which was an experience in itself and I lived without a close source of running water or electricity for a week.
On Wednesday, I, and few other PCTs, were able to help an Amer-Indian farmer clear his recently burned fields and we also bathed in some cool, clear waters of a local creek, which felt amazing after such back breaking labor. We also witnessed Cassava, which is the staple for most Amer-Indians in Guyana, being grown almost ready for harvesting. This root is amazing, they use it to make booze, bread, and so many other things. It was tremendous to witness such resourcefulness.
On another day, with my host volunteer, we took a 2.5-hour horse ride through grasslands, mountains, and numerous trees with a local, indigenous guide to an archeological site called Skull Mountain. And, for truth, there were actual human skulls and bones there. They resided in very old clay pots that were so round I was amazed they were made by human hands. We were able to snap some photos and also investigate some ancient Neolithic rock paintings. Then we retraced our steps and headed back to the village for a little rest and relaxation.
Now as I flew out on Saturday I watched the land pass beneath this rickety plane and reflected on the past week and two major things came to mind. First, it was a positive experience and if Chelsea and I were given a remote a site we’d be able to survive. Second, I didn’t want a remote site.
Which is why I was so grateful when we were given our placement.
SITE PLACEMENT!!!
We are going to be living and working in a town called Linden in Region 10. It is the largest town, outside of capital of Georgetown. Tim is going to be working with the Department of Education doing curriculum building throughout all of the Region. Chelsea is going to be working in a health center alongside the Regional health officer to promote health in Linden and hopefully beyond. We will be living with two other PCVs (both of whom are super cool) in a shared house that has three separate apartments in it. Our house will have electricity at all times of the day and night, running water and, potentially internet access. We don't want to get too descriptive about our new site until we get there because we don't want to get our (and your) hopes up if it turns out to be something other than we expect. Nevertheless, our site is urban, with the potential of doing outreach work in the rest of the rural parts of the region so we hope to get the best of both worlds.
We only have two more weeks of training and then we will no longer be PCTs (Trainees) but full-fledged VOLUNTEERS! More info to come...we are running out of time in the internet cafe. But, if you haven't heard, we now have Facebook on our phone so post a note on our wall (we can't read messages sent via facebook) if you want to connect with us quickly and easily.
Lots of love to all!!! We miss you and hope all is well at home. Stay in touch!
-C&T
