12/11/02

Wow, I’ve been a complete slacker about writing. Let’s see if I can get a few things down before I get interrupted! I actually have some stuff I’ve been meaning to share, it’s just that at work I tend to get distracted.

Work is going pretty well. I’m feeling pretty well integrated now. I’ve gotten beyond the honeymoon period and feel like I know people a little better. We’re done with the niceties. Here’s a little bit about some of the people at work:

Selma was helping me out a lot at the beginning. She was coordinating the training cycle in Choiseul, so we spent many days together driving around the island. She has a husband and a son. Her true field of expertise is health sciences and health education. She studied at CUNY. Selma’s also well-known around the island as one of the top gospel singers. The woman doesn’t sit still for five minutes.

Saralee is the center receptionist. When nothing else is going on (which is often), I go and hang around by her. She also has a son. She’s very athletic and was on the St. Lucia national volleyball team. She also plays on a municipal-type team with the Canadian volunteers. Saralee also works with coaching and refereeing netball (kind of like a cross between basketball and rugby—a sport just for girls).

Milan is a computer teacher and sort of a manager for the computer things. He’s a Rastafarian, that’s why he wears the cap. Under the cap are dreadlocks. He and his girlfriend just had a baby, Laila. Milan is great about giving me rides now and then.

Kenvin and I argue like brother and sister. For the most part we get along, though. Kenvin is kind of in charge of the library and resource section. He plays a lot of football (soccer) and his team is in the finals of an entire-island competition. He tells me he’s going to UW to the business school and to play football.

Lisa is at the main office temporarily. She’s the supervisor of another center just outside town. The building is being renovated right now so she’s also supervising in the library and resource section.

So these are the people who I spend the most time with.

I’ve recently finished the first bit of my project. Here’s the big picture: At the most recent elections, about 3 years ago, power in the government changed hands rather drastically and there was some shuffling and re-organization of various departments. It was then that our organization, then the Youth Skills Development Program, was combined with several other organizations on the island. The other ones conducted some training also, but in more focused areas, such as carpentry, papermaking or basketry. All of these groups were combined so that one center could oversee this type of training island-wide. Also most of the satellite centers have retail operation attached to them. My assignment is to improve the business aspect of the satellite centers. That sounded totally vague to me at the beginning, but it’s become a little clearer.

So my first project was the Choiseul Arts and Crafts Center. It appears that since the government re-organization, the business side of things kind of slid there while there was more focus on new training programs. Last week I finished the first draft of my report on my recommendations for what to do at the CACC. It essentially talked about what they need to improve on the inside, and then the advertising campaign to carry on outside to attract new customers. I think it was pretty good, but I know there are areas that need more development and detail. The next step will be to begin researching the costs of the improvements and funding sources. After things are rolling there, I will turn my attention to the other satellite centers. But for now, everything is on hold for the holidays.

I’m still working with swimming, although that’s on hold for the holidays as well right now. The class has kind of sifted down to a few regulars, although even some of them bailed lately because the water was cold. My ones who have been there lately are two four year-olds, Alexi (whose father is one of the coaches) and Cameron; and two six year-olds, Marcus and Aiden (Cameron’s brother). I have some better techniques these days for getting them to do what they’re supposed to. Everyone always wants to jump in and out of the pool. So what we do now is jump in with the kickboard and then swim whatever distance they’re supposed to. Also races and contests have been effective. The little guys have bubble-blowing contests (although I don’t stop the bigger kids if they want to do it too). Everyone gets to do races of varying lengths and cannonball contests. Even so, lately everyone peters out after about half an hour because it’s cold. Luckily these days everyone is doing well enough that I don’t have to be in the pool dragging kids out.

My plan for the New Year is to get involved with some other type of social services organization on the island. At first I had been thinking to work with the Animal Protection Society. That would be interesting, but more of a pressing issue, and hopefully something that I can gain more leverage with for post-grad is working with young girls, working on self-esteem, fighting sexual abuse and teenage pregnancy, things like that. There are a number of groups on the island that attack those issues from all different angles. Peace Corps is already involved with a couple such organizations, the AIDS Action Foundation and St. Lucia Save the Children Fund. Each of these obviously has their own angle on the various issues. But rather than step on the toes of another volunteer, I’m thinking about working with an alternative girl’s school. I just need to figure out what the heck I would do there!

Things are good with my apartment. I have still not yet gotten any decorations up. I have some Mapplethorpe photos cut out of my planner that will go up when I get around to it.

I have been having kind of a time with my landlords over getting a bed in my second bedroom. I was clear about that from the outset. I got a two bedroom place so I could have two beds and have guests on occasion. They counter that with a number of things. First they’ll say that they bought me a brand new refrigerator and a washing machine. This is all well and good. The appliances are lovely. The problem is that I did not need them, nor did I ask for them. There was a perfectly fine fridge in the place already, and I would have been happy to use their washing machine. Secondly, they’ll say that they don’t want me to have a roommate; it makes the water bill too high. In this, they’ll invoke the saga of Deb, who got thrown out of her place because she had a guest. That’s total crap. I make it clear to them that I do not want a roommate. I just want a bed so that if a friend comes from elsewhere on the island, or if I have visitors from home, they’ll have a place to lie down other than the tubular-metal-with-hard-cushions couch. I don’t want to touch the water bill issue because for now it’s included in my rent. But I highly doubt if someone comes up for the weekend that the water bill will be out of control.

Anyways, for right now it’s probably ok that there’s no bed in the second bedroom. Cheeto has claimed the room and throws his litter all around. But Mary tells me she’ll get the bed this week.

Cheeto is doing well. He’s growing every day. He’ll still fit in one hand, but he’s getting tall. His coordination and jumping are better too. Now he can jump right onto the couch, when before he would catch with his claws and climb up. He still wants to drink milk all the time, but he has been eating his mushed up crackers with catfood and water. This morning he was also eating dog food from the dogs’ plate outside. I’m trying to get him outside more so that I won’t have to lock him up or buy more cat litter. I’ll try to get some pictures up, but I don’t know when next I’ll see someone with a digital camera.

Investments in social life, both time and money investments, are beginning to pay off. Deb and I waged a two-fronted battle and rounded up a few friends. It’s doubly good… we have some people to hang out with, and some people are also useful professional contacts for now or for the future.

When I started at swimming, I met some Canadian volunteers. Their program here is focused on development through sports. They’re sponsored by the Commonwealth Games. There are three girls, Shannon, Heather and Sam. They all live together and work with different sports groups on the island. Shannon works with the Olympic Committee, which is right near the Peace Corps office. She’s also met some cool people through her work. Heather is working with the St. Lucia Life Saving Association, and sort of the Red Cross. She’s conducting first aid and water safety courses for the water sports staff of the local resorts. She also teaches swimming at the pool and is starting to teach synchronized swimming. Sam works at the sports desk of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. She works for the same guy who I work under at swimming. The cool thing with their programs is that they get to go to more conferences on the other islands. They are here until May. I see a lot of the Canadians, especially on the weekends and at swimming events. We go to the beach a lot.

Deb rounded up some Irish volunteers. There are three of them also, but we mainly see two, Noel and Steven. They teach at the CARE schools around town, which are alternative secondary schools for kids with problems or who didn’t get into regular secondary schools. Their term for volunteering is one year, but they can extend for a second year.

We’ve also found some ex-pats here and there (ex-pats being foreigners working on the island for varying amounts of time). A big deal right now is with the cell phone companies. Cable and Wireless is the current and only company to provide phone, cell and cable service. It’s a monopoly. But DigiCel is moving in, and they’ve already established themselves on several other Caribbean islands. Briefly, we hung around with a British guy from Cable and Wireless. He’s not around now and will soon be moving to Martinique. We see more of the guys from the other cell companies. Most of them are European. There are some American guys that run a telemarketing company here. Apparently it’s more economical to call long distance for telemarketing than to pay American wages. In the south of the island, there is an Irish construction company working on the highway. We haven’t met many of them. There are also some foreign doctors at the hospital in the south. They’re from all over, and we see them if we’re down there or if they’re up here.

It’s nice to meet some people who share some common interests…mainly traveling and really seeing other parts of the world. I find more connection with them compared to the tourists who come to be waited on while they lay on the beach. However, some of the ex-pats have been at the transient lifestyle for so long that they develop some personal issues. I won’t name any names….