The Truth on Poverty

My counterpart, Ms. Lorice Pascal, is one of the most down to Earth hardworking women I have met on the island of Grenada. Her constant drive and passion for the work we do makes me want to work even harder for the organization. I didn't actually choose to work here, but since my last placement fell through, this place seemed like the perfect fit. She welcomed me with open arms and was so excited to have another volunteer working at the Grenada National Organisation of Women. GNOW has a long standing history with the Peace Corps and with each new volunteer they become more and more excited about the future. Lorice never seizes to amaze me with just how many people she knows on the island and can just pick up the phone and call at any moment. Since I'm new here, my contact list is really short, but I'm just one question away from the walking yellow pages.

Another great aspect of the counterpart-volunteer working relationship is the opportunity to ask questions and have intellectual conversations that you wouldn't otherwise be able to have with people here. I feel completely comfortable asking Lorice questions about cultural norms, working protocols and even how to cook breadfruit (I haven't mastered it yet). Today we got in a great conversation about the misperception of the Caribbean from other countries. I was explaining that many Americans vacation to the Caribbean so we have this perception that its this gorgeous island life with cocktails and little umbrellas on the beach. I'm guilty myself, having vacationed to Jamaica and the Grand Cayman islands, of not really seeing the truth of the island (ie: poverty, hunger, development issues, etc). While in Jamaica with my immediate and extended family I can remember climbing the most beautiful Dunns River Falls (which i recommend) and staying confined to this nice little touristy area. Little did I know people were starving and dying just miles away as I vacationed. Its something I am determined to not ever do again on a vacation. I want to see the truth of the places I visit as I think there is a beauty in itself of being exposed to such things.

Anyways...As Lorice and I were talking she said one of the most profoundly honest things I have heard here, she said "The interesting fact about the Caribbean is that our poverty is so picturesque". I wasn't sure how to respond to that or in fact what she exactly meant, but I could feel this deep amount of honesty about her statement. She went on to say that its hard for people not from the Caribbean to understand the fact that we have this beautiful scenery surrounding us but in truth, beauty doesn't feed our children, it doesn't clothe our people and it defiantly doesn't make us First World.

Just something to think about...

Funding!!!

I've been fretting the last couple days over the upcoming project another volunteer and I started at my work site. Funding is the number one problem many Peace Corps Volunteers face during their work related service. We are challenged by the Peace Corps staff to come up with creative ways to build projects using local resources only, but often times the only resources available are man power. I have reached this obstacle in varying ways since arriving in Grenada and subsequently this project joined the group.

Carnival is the 9th and 10th of August and incorporates the culture and history of Grenada and the Caribbean as a whole. Through music competitions, parades, pageants and dance parties people come to life in celebration of the Caribbean culture. With excessive drinking, little sleep and mass quantities of people in one area, sexual activity increases. There is a significant stigma attached to HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean and often times the term is tagged taboo. With the second largest percentage of HIV/AIDS cases in the world (only to Africa), this has become the focus of many of the campaigns recently. But sometimes the work being done is met with a total contradiction culturally, as HIV/AIDS is very stigmatized and taboo. This society is very "what happens at home stays at home", causing lots of reluctance to accept advice, information and help.

The goal of our "Staying Safe During Carnival Season" campaign is to raise the awareness of the significant prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Grenada and just how drastic the increases have been in recent years. We as an organization will be attending close to 6 events throughout the month handing out prevention kits. Inside these prevention kits will be condoms (male and female), brochures and resource information. We hope to be able to reach each parish on the island so that our voice is known and we can heighten the sense of awareness as Carnival arrives.

My major obstacle throughout the project planning and implementation has been finding funding for these prevention kits. The Ministry of Health kindly donated the condoms for distribution but I needed to find funding for the bags, ribbon and materials to print brochures. This might not sound like alot but with the budget for my organization running in the negatives consistently, this is a big chunk of money. I diligently wrote sponsorship letters to about 15 business' in hopes that maybe just a couple would help out and we were finally awarded for our hard work today. Our secretary walked in with an envelope and said it was from a sponsor. We opened it guessing it would maybe be 100 dollars (our budget was set for around 300), and it was 500 DOLLARS!!!!!!! There is a God!!!!!! This kind donation almost doubles the amount of prevention kits we can hand out to party-goers!

Just another small accomplishment that means so much to the people of Grenada and to me of course.

Scary Dude

I'm comfortably sound asleep in my bed when I'm awoken by a tap on my window. I violently roll over and see its 5:15 am, WHY is some scary man tapping on my window? I go into fight or flight and decide to remain completely still and observe the situation. He walks back and forth past my window, pausing a few times and moving on again. I hear noise in my living room that sounds like a door knob jiggling. I knew he couldn't get in my house as I have burglar bars and bolt locks, but what am I to do? I get up out of bed half asleep and turn my light on to see if he will startle and run, but nothing happens. Grabbing my phone I was determined to call my landlord upstairs:

"Mrs. Gabriel?"
"Yes Mackenzie, whats wrong?!?!"
"Sorry to bother so early, but there is a man outside my window"
"No way, let me get some clothes on and look downstairs"
"He is right outside my bedroom window"
"Oh honey...that's just Andrew, he is sweeping the grass off the walkway"

You might ask who is Andrew? He is my landlords son. He was sweeping the grass off the walkway at 5:15 am this morning. The tap on my window was him brushing off the grass he blew on it while mowing. I thought he was a robber here to destroy my life. I was prepared to die.

I was way wrong...

Funerals

Today my office was closed for a funeral of a young man whose life ended way to soon. It sounds strange to say my office was closed for an entire day, as in the U.S. no business would close the whole day unless it was one of their own who died, but not here in Grenadian society. Death is viewed alot differently and much more emphasis is put on celebrating the life of the person deceased. For days in advance the funeral home doors are open to anyone willing to see the body. As you walk in, there are rows of caskets open with people who recently moved on to another place. There is no private viewing room and no family waiting to greet you, just rows of caskets and dim lights. My counterpart said it's done this way so people can come say their respects on their own time, rather than the pressure of seeing the family, other people, etc. The funeral is followed the next few days and lasts the entire day. Lots of scripture, singing and crying are involved, but i can imagine this funeral had a heightened sense of sorrow.

Last week a boy from Gouyave who just graduated from Presentation Boys College passed away. From what you might ask? Asthma. Now when I first heard this I was taken aback by the possibility that people still die from simple asthma. I've been an asthmatic my entire life as are both of my parents so I know all about the chronic condition. Once I heard he died of complications due to asthma I began to reflect on all of the medical care I have received over the years for my asthma. The 3am ER trips for steroids and breathing treatments; the inhalers and long term medications; the antibiotics and follow up care to combat the issue. All of those things I took for granted over the years this young boy didn't have access to in Grenada. Yes there are breathing treatments at the General Hospital here, but it was a 40 minute trip to the hospital from his village. By the time he could reach the hospital he was already slipping in and out of consciousness and the chances to reverse what was happening were very slim. He passed away....at the young age of 16 years.

This has hit his village and the state of Grenada particularly hard. I have talked to many people about this young boy and not a single person has had anything shy of great things to say about him. He was a driven student who wanted to get an American degree and had such hope for the future of Grenada. He graduated in the top of his class and was involved in plenty of extracurricular activities. He was making his mark on Grenada and was ready to explore the world. But because of the lack of access to necessary medical care that I myself have taken for granted, his life was cut short. My heart cant help by ache for this young man and his family.

Rest in Peace Davidson...

SAVE A LIFE!!!!

Hello Friends! Im doing a little non-Peace Corps blogging today. As many of you might know, I have lost a dear friend to suicide in the past so its a cause i greatly support. I think that if there were more resources for struggling people we could prevent many of the deaths caused by suicide. Im not here to have a religious or moral debate about suicide, Im just simply asking my followers to go to this website below and vote for this cause. Chase Bank is giving out 200 grants to charities that receive enough votes. Im not sure if you are familiar with PostSecret or To Write Love on Her Arms, but both of these are behind this charity. Below I have attached a link and short mission statement of the organization for you to read. PLEASE VOTE!!!!

Peace and Love,
Mack





The Kristin Brooks Hope Center - founder of 1-800-SUICIDE - has partnered with To Write Love on Her Arms and PostSecret.com to develop the IMAlive online crisis support network this year. If the Kristin Brooks Hope Center wins the $250,000.00 prize, 100% of the proceeds will go directly toward IMAlive. Your vote today can help us take the next step in suicide prevention. The Kristin Brooks Hope Center is a non-profit organization founded in 1998 after the tragic death of the founder’s wife, Kristin, by suicide. From the beginning Reese Butler and the Hope Center have been dedicated to suicide prevention by providing easy access to a large network of crisis line workers while helping to break down the stigma and other barriers to accessing help and hope.www.hopeline.com Help us reach the future of suicide prevention today by voting now and urging your friends and family to vote as well.


1-877-VET2VET (838-2838) is a toll-free line for active duty service members or veterans. It is operated by the Kristin Brooks Hope Center

I wish she would've known about this....

St.Paul Government Primary Graduation

Tuesday was the mark of new beginnings for 29 students from my primary school. The Grenada school system is a descendant of the British educational system in that there is primary and secondary school. Primary school here is from kindergarten to 6th grade and secondary school is 7th to 11th. Students here graduate at the age of 16, just shy of their junior year in the United States. The British system is tough to explain but the simplest way I can put it is in two words: Reciting and Tests. Teachers are often seen standing in front of a classroom all day making students recite things (math problems, English, spelling etc) and then testing them on it extensively at the end of the term.

This form of learning has its pros and cons but Grenadians are now finding that their children exit school with few critical thinking skills and have a hard time sharing, verbalizing thoughts and problem solving. The students aren't given a chance to critically think with hands-on activities and projects but are instead required to recite what a teacher is saying followed by a test. For example, my grade 1 students recite things all day, write little in their compositions and then are expected to remember everything they learned that day. Exams were this week and my grade 1 students had an 8 page written test of things they learned in the first week of school.

Anyways...I got off topic. At the end of grade 6 students are required to take the Common Entrance Exam which places them in their secondary school. The entire 6th grade is dedicated to studying for this test because if you do not pass (as 14 students did not), you must repeat the 6th grade and try again next year. If you pass the test you are then placed in the secondary school of your preference and continue your education until the next exam, the CXC, to complete secondary school. If you continue to fail the Common Entrance there is a similar test that can be taken but often times there are students who are 14-15 in the 6th grade because they have failed the Common Entrance so many times. It's sad.

The positive outlook though is that Grenada is looking to restructure their school system to make for less exams, more hands-on learning and more integrated classrooms/schools. Grenada is taking the right steps to ensure every student has the opportunity for a free education, it's just going to take a while.

Attached are some pictures of the graduation ceremony, all THREE and a HALF hours of it!


The choir made up of all grades of students. They sang John Lennon "Imagine"

My school

The graduates getting ready for the procession

The principal, Mrs. Peterkin

The graduates sang a John Mayer song

Great Things to Come

I feel as if I have been slacking a little bit on my blogging so I figured I should give a quick update on the happenings of Grenada.

Since last speaking with the blogging world I have been reassigned to a new primary worksite. My original worksite wasn't a great fit for me and there were significant amounts of internal conflicts concerning employees. After holding out and waiting for improvements things just weren't getting better. Thankfully the great Peace Corps staff both on island and in St.Lucia (our headquarters) were completely supportive and wanted what was best for me, that being a site change.

Last Thursday was my first official day at the Grenada National Organisation of Women. Since arriving on island I had been doing some secondary projects with GNOW on Fridays, so thankfully I was already accustomed to the workplace. The ladies at GNOW have had many Peace Corps Volunteers and are eager to have another working with them which makes it such an optimistic atmosphere to promote positive change throughout the community.

GNOW's motto is 'Empowering for Gender Equality' but doesn't incorporate all aspects of the work that's done through GNOW. For a very macho male oriented culture, this organization is pretty radical in their thinking's which really gets me fired up to help. From the time I first joined Students Against Violence Through Education at Pittsburg State University I knew I wanted to be involved in this kind of work the rest of my life but never thought I would find it on a small conservative island in the Eastern Caribbean.

The work of GNOW spans from domestic violence prevention/support, sexual assault, rape, HIV/AIDS, working in schools to promote healthy relationships, promoting legislation and sensitization of the community. My cup of tea right? This organization is powerful on the island and when things happen the news is always asking for a comment from GNOW. Never in my life have I been able to see such a grassroots movement with such potential and motivation to change. I'm getting to see work done in pushing for new legislation against sexual harassment, a protocol being made for sexual assault cases and even participating in HIV/AIDS testing booths. Just last week our organization met with a consultant from USAID that was on island surveying the HIV/AIDS epidemic (which is the second in the world) and was very interested in the work of GNOW.

I'm very blessed to be given this opportunity to move worksites to a more fitting and accepting atmosphere and cant wait to see what the future holds. For quite some time I wasn't sure I would make it the 2 years here, but I've found a new sense of motivation and drive to change and I cant wait to share the experience...

Postscript:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!!!!!!! This is one of my favorite holidays in the States and I am sad I cant participate this year but my family has done a great job keeping me informed on the events. I even got to hear the fireworks in the background while talking to a friend, felt like I was ALMOST there.

Love and miss you guys,
Mack