Last week, I had the awesome opportunity to accompany the national coordinators of the Youth Friendly Health Services (YFS) program on an outreach trip. Our mission was to explore the possibilities of establishing health services for young people in dormitory schools in the hinterland regions of Guyana. The ladies from YFS asked me to come along to provide them support and also so I could pick up some new ideas for ways to improve the youth friendly clinic, my primary project, at my site in Linden.
The Ministry of Health had planned a 5-day trip for us to visit Mahdia and Paramakatoi. We flew out of Georgetown on Wednesday in a 12-seat prop plane and I got to sit in the copilot seat!
The scenery that spread below us was nothing but lush jungle with dark rivers cutting snaking shapes through the greenery. We landed in the remote, mining outpost town called Mahdia. It seriously reminded me of the Wild West; red dirt roads, wild untouched mountains surrounding us, and curious, silent stares from all the locals as we strangers walked down the streets to find our hotel. I almost expected to see tumbleweed and to get stopped by the sheriff with his six shooters. In Mahdia we met with regional leaders, hospital staff and the dormitory school children. I had a few charming interactions with students when we used our visit as an opportunity to lead discussion with the school children on topics relevant in their community, like the dangers of tobacco and cigarettes and teen health (puberty, menstruation etc.). 
Our next stop was an even more remote Amerindian village in the Pakaraima mountain range. Again, we hoisted our backpacks into a tiny plane and soared over the jungle on our way to Paramakatoi (PK). However, on our way, the pilot needed to make a short stop to drop off another passenger. I wasn’t sure where we were stopping until I looked out the window of the plane and saw the wide, winding river suddenly drop off into a cloud of mist. It couldn’t be, I thought. But it was! We had stopped at the most famous tourist attraction in Guyana; Kaiteur Falls. Kaiteur is the largest single drop waterfall in the world and, as our plane dipped towards the landing strip I got a breathtaking view of this natural beauty. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to get off the place and get a closer look but I managed to snap off some photos before we took to the sky. Now I am even more motivated than I was before to take the 4-day hike to get an up close, and more lasting, peek of the mighty Kaiteur before I leave Guyana. 
Arriving in PK was a breath of fresh air, literally. Since the village is high up in the mountains it gets a nice cool breeze that was so refreshing, especially for this California girl who is used to more temperate climates. It was so peaceful and scenic. I felt so serene and relaxed during my whole stay in PK. We had someone cook us meals and bring them to the guesthouse where we stayed. And, even though I didn’t have amenities like a shower or current, I felt more comfortable in rural PK than I did in the busy, noisy hotel in Mahdia. The Ministry gals and I even had a chance to take a few hikes around to check out some of the scenery and explore a bit. We did get some work done though when we met with the dormitory school to put steps in place to provide health services for the 300+ youth who live in the dorms. We also had a question and answer session where we gave the students the opportunity to write down any questions they had on any health topic (sex, drugs, alcohol, self esteem, etc). Boy, did we get some funny questions! I think my favorite was, “What are the consequences of taking too much sweetness?” Now, you might think this student was asking about eating too many sweets, but he/she was actually referring to too much sex. Ha! Don’t kids just ask the darndest things?
On Sunday, after four days out in the field, I headed home to Linden. Amazingly, coming back actually felt like coming home! I was so excited to sleep in my own bed, cook my own food and share my stories with Tim that when my bus zoomed over the crest of the hill that leads into Linden and I caught my first glimpse of the bauxite factory smoke stacks puffing away I sighed and thought, “Yay, I am home.” It’s an odd feeling, starting to feel at home here. Overall, the trip was a great break and a cool opportunity to see something new. But I also gained some new insight about my own sense of place in Guyana that is helping me stay strong and positive.
For a while now I had been feeling like I was always getting stared at and sipped at because I look so different than everyone else. I just imagined everyone thinking, ‘Hey look, there goes a white girl!” However, when I was traveling in the hinterland regions the odd stares didn’t bother me as much. I guess I was thinking that I was being stared at because I was a stranger, not because of my race. But the more I thought about it, why should I be bothered by the stares and catcalls at ‘home’ in Linden? Aren’t I just as much of a stranger here? Even though I feel more at home, I am still the new girl on the block in the eyes of my community. It feels a lot better to have this perspective than one based on racial difference. Even in this short week excursion I learned a lot by venturing out and then retuning home so I can only imagine what lessons await me when I return home to the States after the rest of my Peace Corps service…
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