Welcome to Ghetto Jamaica

My work moves along sometimes, and other times not so much. It can seem interminably slow, and then rushed to an extreme. Why such a dichotomy when it should just be an even progression of forward moving actions? There's always more than meets the eye when you work at the grassroots level in struggling communities, and sometimes its not always pretty. Let's explore some of the reasons why with this months photos and anecdotes.

Mango season is back, and I'd be a lot more excited about it if I wasn't allergic. There are literally so many mangoes that the people can't eat them as fast as they ripen.

Here is a mango tree with the ground underneath littered with mangoes that fell and will rot where they lie because who can eat that many mangoes? There is no system in place to ship these anywhere, and there's so many that you can't sell them where they grow. An unfortunate waste.

But at least I can do something with the mango trees. This is a cutting board that I helped another volunteer make from the stump of a mango tree that someone else had already cut down. He opted to leave the bark on for its decorative appeal.

The door to my bathroom was starting to sag over time. It got to the point where it was dragging on the ground, and I got tired of it, so I added some braces. I glued and nailed them in place so that the door can no longer sag out of place, and it also doesn't drag on the ground anymore.

Of course, now that the door is back in alignment it also closes fully again, and I'd forgotten how hard it was to open before, so I also added a new door handle. A simple construction, but effective none the less, and now I can get into my bathroom in style and ease.

Not all projects are about my comfort, here is a swing that I put together for some of the neighboring kids. They often run around and play with sticks and whatever else they can find on the ground, so I thought, why not give them an actual toy designed for their entertainment.

I bought some rope and used scrap wood I had laying around to make a nice sturdy swing under a nearby mango tree. After a little experimenting, I was able to find some really secure knots that are capable of holding even myself on the swing at full speed!

Not a day has gone by since I installed the swing without some or all of the nearby kids having a go. I am now constantly asked for a push whenever they see me in the vicinity. Here's one of the kids putting the swing to use while getting a push from his friends.

While I do admit to being a little handy, I definitely don't claim the level of ingenuity that some Malagasy people have. I have seen many impressive and sometimes frightening repairs in this country, but this one is probably one of my favorites. The rear wheel sprocket became unattached on my neighbor's motorcycle, so he repaired it as seen above, with a length of parachute cord. He now drives around on the bumpy dusty backroads with this, proving that he is far more brave than I. Even if I was allowed to ride a motorcycle (Peace Corps regulations prevent volunteers riding motorcycles) I'm pretty sure this one would be a pass for me!

That's not to say that I haven't already taken some rides in some pretty questionable vehicles, but I always make it a point to leave when I fear for my safety. Which brings me to my next story. I'll admit its a long one, but stick with it. I think its a great example of working in this country.

It finally was time to go and get the wood that I ordered to do the woodworking project that was so graciously funded by you. I had my partner help me secure the use of a vehicle to bring the wood back to my town and he came up with a tractor and flatbed capable of transporting all the wood. I was excited for many reasons, finally moving forward with the project, a tractor ride into the country, the chance to do something more than my normal teaching and sitting around!

The expedition was delayed slightly by the funeral of my partner's father, but it also helped us along as well because he was buried in the town we bought the wood, and the culture here requires that you revisit the grave one week after burial to perform a ceremony. It was for this ceremony that we traveled out in the tractor and planned to return the next day with the wood. On a Thursday evening we loaded a large group of family members into the trailer around 5:30pm and set out into the wilds for a 15 kilometer ride.

I had no delusions of this being an amazingly quick process, or even a comfortable one, but I'll admit that I did at least have my breath held for some fun, if not to prevent the massive amounts of dust and dirt from entering my lungs. But as the sun sank the horizon around 6pm I became nervous. They strapped a headlamp to the grill of the tractor because the headlights no longer function and kept on going. It was around this time that we first lost the path of the road, but a short deliberation put us back on track. Not 10 minutes later we wound up again at a dead end, this time in a farmer's field. Thankfully the farmer himself noticed us, came over, and directed us back to the correct path. From this point on I decided to pay a little more attention to the driver and how he was making decisions on where to steer.

It was also at this time that I noticed him polishing off at least his second plastic flask of whiskey. About ten minutes later, when he again had us off-roading through a field I became suspicious of his continued ability to perform in his allotted task of chauffeur. All the Malagasy people were calm and smiling though so I put it out of my mind as me being overly concerned because I'm a crazy foreigner. Thankfully we found the main road in about another ten or fifteen minutes, and while it had turned into a three-hour tour to arrive at our destination, we made it in one slightly bumped and bruised piece.

The tractor itself immediately turned around and went to pick up some more mourners from a farm a few kilometers away. While they went to retrieve the others, we settled to the task of preparing dinner as most of us were quite famished. We got the fires going, cut the meat up, prepped the veggies, and started the rice. In about an hour we had a suitable feast for the assembled, and the tractor pulled back in with the latest arrivals. After eating, I consulted my partner for the schedule the following day and was reassured that we would witness the ceremony in the morning and then pick up the wood and be pulling out by 9am. I was happy for a successful end to the day, and retired to my hammock for the night.

This is the sight that greeted me in the morning when I came out of my slumber. Apparently the tractor had a flat from the night before, and they were patching it. As the picture demonstrates this is at least a three person operation where it takes two to find the leak and plug it, while one sits in the tire and makes sure it doesn't fly off. Also, take a moment to note our chariot. A mid-70's Massey Ferguson 158. I'm sure its seen better days, but apart from the tire, and a small engine part that they tied back on with some string, it got us there and back in one piece.

While they repaired the tire, I went off and found some breakfast and my partner to ask what the status of everything was. When I found him and got the update for the day I was informed that they were beginning the preparation for the ceremony and afterwards we would get the wood and pull out. I was then directed to look at the preparations where I saw a pile of uncut firewood and a few empty pots. I asked exactly what the ceremony involved and was told that we would eat food and then have a meeting by the grave. I began to be suspicious of the 9am departure estimate. Ultimately I was proved correct when I heard it said that it would be a post lunch meeting.

Despair not, I decided. We can go get the wood while they make their preparations. Yes, a solid plan, and after the ceremony we have only to get in the tractor and head off in the direction of home. I asked my partner if this was a possibility, and received my next bit of fun news; the wood wasn't finished being cut yet. Also, we couldn't take all of it. When I questioned further exactly what he meant by we can't take all of it, I was informed that the tractor tire that popped and was recently repaired couldn't handle the wait until it had been properly repaired back in town.

To take my frustrations off my mind I went for a walk to one of the areas where the lumberjacks work. Here you can see a tree that they fell and off to the right the pit where they re-saw the tree into planks. I was hoping to find them working at this site so I could watch them using the big three-person handsaw, but unfortunately they were off at a different site.

I then walked back to the town and decided to explore there while I waited for lunchtime to roll around. I found this interesting work of graffiti on the front of someones house. It is a little difficult to make out, but says "WELCOME To GHETTO JAMAICA" and then to the side is tagged by "JOYA BADMAN". With the exception of the name and Jamaica, I doubted most of the locals understanding of the text, and was confirmed of this when I asked people if they knew what it meant.

After finishing my walking tour of Ghetto Jamaica I returned for lunch. From this point on things were pretty smooth moving. We had lunch, went to the ceremony, afterward retrieved about 80 of the 200 boards that were ordered (all the tractor could handle) and made plans to return and pick up the rest. At about 2pm we had all the wood and people reloaded in the trailer, and we started off again for home. I was a little miffed to not have all the wood, and to be so far behind schedule, but we were moving in the right direction both figuratively and literally so I put on a smile and let it go.

As we made our way out of the wilds and back to the comforts of home, we had a new and very capable driver at the helm. He lead us about a third of the way down the road and suddenly pulled over and turned to the original driver who was sitting in the trailer and working on either his third or fourth bottle of whiskey for the day. Then he did something I hope I never understand. He asked this massively inebriated, and proven incompetent, driver to step behind the wheel and take us the rest of the way home. I was worried, but a little calmed by the fact that he pulled it off once before in the dark, how much harder could it be in the daytime?

A lot harder, apparently. He gunned the tractor for about a quarter kilometer, and then pulled a 90 degree turn off the road into someones rice paddy. All the while the women in the trailer began screaming at him to slow down, stop, leave, or worse. As soon as someone finally got through to him that he needed to pause for a moment everyone of the women in the trailer and I leapt from the trailer and announced our intention to walk. The remainder of the men caught the hint and promptly removed the drunkard from the pilot's seat and restored the original driver. After a tense standoff the drunk man was given some bus money and pointed to the nearest place to catch one while everybody else resumed positions in the trailer.

We kept on keeping on for another third or so of the trip when we encountered our next hiccup in the form of a loud hiss. The tractor tire that was repaired the day before was leaking again.

We pulled up a little way further down the road near some huts where the ladies immediately took shelter from the sun. The menfolk convened around the tire and began to discuss the finer points of life while two of them at a time worked to affect a new repair to the overworked tire. After a quite long period of work the tire was patched and ready to be re-inflated and reinstalled for departure. It was at this time I saw the pump. A foot high bike tire hand pump that looked to have seen better days. We were going to be a while. Everyone in the circle took a turn at the pump to keep it moving along, and after about 45 minutes we had the tire ready to go. We pulled back into town around 7pm and unloaded the wood. I said prayer to whatever deity would listen and retired to my house for the night, ready to forget as much as I could and look on the bright side of life!

We unfortunately couldn't start work right away as the wood was still very wet with sap, so I laid all the planks we had out on some drying racks. It was at this point that rainy season decided to kick in and drench us, and our wood, each day. This is the current status of the project, and I hope in the next month to either get a better drying system built, or benefit from some sunshine. Either way, expect more progress next time.

After that mess I needed a little getaway. It came in the form of VAC, the tri-annual meeting of volunteers in each region. This time we decided to meet on the every lovely Nosy Be. We conducted our business at the poolside of the wonderful Palm Beach Resort where we also dined for the afternoon. Altogether a relaxing day.

A nice walk on the beach was also in order. While it is beautiful, a walk on the beach here will also invariably entail being propositioned by knick-knack vendors, masseurs, and those offering other services. It can seem quaint and fun at first, but when you see the other side effects it can sometimes be a little seedy.

This is a common site in places like Nosy Be and other large tourist destinations. The decal says "Don't sexually exploit children". It is an unfortunate state of affairs that the sign needs to exist at all, but I'd rather have the reminders around for whatever good they might do than have to see other evidence of the practice. I'm not going to delve deep into this problem here, but it is always disconcerting to be reminded of its existence and prevalence in this country I'm calling home for two years.

What say we have a dose of cute to rinse out the stale taste of other previously discussed issues! Here are the puppies! They've started wandering around and sleeping at my house. They like it at my place because no one comes in my fence to bother them.

They also enjoy getting pettings from me. Unfortunately, they also enjoy sharing their fleas too. This cute girl is one of my favorites because of her beautiful color scheme and precocious character.

I laid down to get some shots on their level and was almost immediately attacked by this little boy. Here he moves in for the face lick.

And lastly the group of them assembled for a nap next to my door. These guys are super fun to play with, but unfortunately I need to kick them out in the next few days so I can try to get the flea situation back under control. It would be a much easier eviction if they weren't so much fun to have around.

Look forward to eviction pictures, more woodworking, and even a holiday in the coming month. Hopefully it'll be just as eventful and interesting as all the previous months thus far!