Well. As of today, I’m no longer working with NSDC. As of yesterday I’m working with the Massade Boys Training Centre, a juvenile detention facility.

Me switching jobs was largely at the urging of Peace Corps. It’s not a move I would have initiated, but I’m happy at the prospect of being busier and more useful. Mr. Azeez, who I met with this morning, was understanding.

Here’s some official information about the BTC.  Here is some unofficial: The school has 15-20 boys at any time. They are there for a variety of reasons, either for "Care and Protection" (essentially orphans), or by court order. Among the boys who have offended, their crimes range from delinquency to smoking marijuana to murder. Despite these types of facts, the boys are children, mostly from sad family situations, and very sweet.

The facility itself is a little scary, probably scarier than any of the boys. There is rarely running water, paint is chipped and peeling everywhere, and there are rats everywhere. The staff voiced their displeasure with this situation last year in a 3-week strike. The areas belonging to my teacher-counterparts are outbuildings. The garage is open on one side and structurally not so super. The wood shop is gated on all sides but still rather open. They recently acquired brand new machinery, and even more recently acquired electrical current. The agriculture program seems to be stalled at the moment because the grounds are not secure. There are two cattle on the premises, and several acres of land and fruit trees. But agricultural ventures haven’t been successful because vandals, thieves and animals enter and steal or mess up the crops.

So I’m going to be working directly with the woodworking, auto shop and agriculture facilitators. They’re hoping to get their areas self-sufficient at the least. For example, in the auto shop, the tools are outdated and materials are expensive. Efforts in sourcing funds from the ministry or donations from the private sector haven’t been overly successful. So the hope is to advertise the products and services that the boys can perform (auto repair, welding {barbecues, burglar bars, compost barrels}), thus generating revenue to buy further materials for these same ventures.

From now until my holiday (Feb 11-27), my task is to meet everyone and learn my way around. After that, I’ll be starting on these projects in earnest. I’m looking forward to doing something a bit more hands-on. Before my first day I was instructed to dress prepared to get dirty.

In other news, things are going well. This past weekend I went to a swimming social. It was our quarterly social and awards, and we also had a speaker who talked about nutrition for athletes. I found the talk interesting, but many of the kids, especially my little ones, looked tired and a bit bored. But today I was floored when one of my little girls chided one of the boys after class: "Weren’t you listening to the doctor the other day at Auntie Paula’s house? You’re not supposed to eat that!" Joanna and I regretted to inform her that there are very few nutritious options at the pool snack bar.

On Saturday I went to a waterfall in Dennery with Jaimie and Zorina, Lauren, Cari, and Cari’s posse of local kids. She’s involved in a mentoring program and has 12 or so charges. The waterfall was an outing and reward activity for all of the boys who had participated in a recent tutoring session. The waterfall was awesome. It was mostly a 75-foot tall rock with a trickle of water coming off it. There was a shallow swimming hole at the bottom and the boys played keep-away and volleyball all afternoon.

(I’ve just noticed the recurrent theme of boys’ groups and such here. Let me explain: for many years, across many countries and many social science disciplines, the emphasis has been on "women in development". Statistically, practically and nearly universally it is proven that there are greater development gains when resources are put into women’s development, things such as vocational training, entrepreneurship, and education. Part of the reason for this is that women are more likely to invest any earnings or knowledge back into the family, either by buying better food, clothes for the kids, or by providing a positive role model for kids with regard to education. So for a long time, very much international development aid has gone to programs targeting women. Then we come to the Caribbean. While some of the social models are still stuck in the 50’s, women are pulling the strings here, and patterns show that this trend will continue. Girls categorically score better on their school exit exams, and are more likely to seek further education. Meanwhile, the boys are dropping out of school and getting involved in all kinds of activities that will land them at places like the BTC. Peace Corps has modified the "women in development" model to be "gender in development", whereby projects like mine or Cari’s are fully supported. However, most of the focus of these re-named "gender in development" programs is still women.)

This weekend looks to be busy too.

Thursday I think I’ll join the Boys School in a field trip to the new, shiny Bordelais Prison! They’re participating in a "scare them straight" program, but I’d like to spend more time with the boys, and also see the prison. It opened since I’ve been here, and is often called "the room with the view" and "a resort cheaper than sandals". It’s located in a beautiful area overlooking the Atlantic. A stark contrast to the old city jail that was dank, overcrowded and disgusting.

Friday we have a Peace Corps meeting, and we’ll be welcoming the new trainees when they fly in in the afternoon. Later on in the evening I have planned a fancy dinner out with a friend.

Saturday afternoon I’m going to Soufriere to stay with Tom and Mary. Sunday I may bum around town or head to Anse Chastanet to snorkel. But the main goal of the trip is that Tom and Mary are hosting a Superbowl party Sunday night. (There’s no transport on Sundays). Several volunteers from other islands will be there because they’re the trainers for the new group. Deb may also come, and my friend Patrick.