Monday, November 23, 2009


"Keep your coins. I want change."


Something I wanted to share from another Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Ghana, Africa.

"I entered the Peace Corps assuming that I would spend the next two
years in a distinctly different world, full of people unlike me in
every way. Over the course of my service in Ghana, however, I learned
to see this world as one where those differences are primarily
superficial. When we define people based solely on factors such as
language, nationality, social status, or culture, we cheat ourselves
from seeing that the essence of what makes us human transcends all
borders. I am defined by many categories: I am a woman, a Native
American, and an American citizen. But, my time overseas has shown me
that first and foremost, I am a human with six billion relatives." -
Praya Baruch (RPCV, Ghana), Choctaw Nation

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The good and the bad

This past weekend I found out that the burglar who broke into my friend's place (while I was there) was caught. He was caught breaking into another house and they were able to identify him. So, the police found him and made him turn in all the things that he had stolen. So my friends were able to get their computer and camera back. As you could imagine, we are all very happy about this news. Karma can really come around to bite you in the ass!

On another note though, I officially found out yesterday that one of the students that I have been working closely on reading with is pregnant again for the third time. And she is only 16. And to make matters even worse, the reason she became pregnant is because she was sexually assaulted. I wish that I could do something for her, she has had such a traumatic life already. PAM has this policy that requires girls who have second pregnancies, while in the program, to drop out. I hope that they make an exception for this girl. She was just starting to really open up socially and also starting to get the hang of reading finally. I know that if she isn't able to continue here at PAM that she will struggle with her lack of education. I hope that she will still be able to persevere and turn her life around after all this.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Giving up my rights

After hearing about the Peace Corps' mandatory vaccination for H1N1 and the flu this past week, I have become more than a little unsettled with the fact that I have apparently given up the rights to my own body by joining the Peace Corps. I contacted our Medical Officer to see if I had a choice in the matter whether I would like to receive the vaccine or not, and I was told (in summary) that yes I had a choice, but if I opted to not recieve the vaccine that I should start packing my things to go home...

I realize that my health is a matter of concern for the Peace Corps, and that if anything were to happen to me, that it would be on Peace Corps' medical tab...HOWEVER, I am pretty unpleased with the fact that I am unable to decide what injections are going into my body. This new H1N1 vaccine is brand new and scientists aren't able to know if there are going to be any lasting side effects....correct?! And yet....it is inside my body now. Thanks.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Nice Surprises

I woke up this morning, got ready to go to PAM, walked all the way there (which takes about 30 minutes) just to realize that school was closed today. I knew that tomorrow there was no school because it is midterm and Sunday is Thanksgiving so I suppose it is just a long weekend here, but I guess I missed the memo about today. While I wish I had known so that I could have slept in, I am always welcome to nice surprises! Especially after this past week.

So...I am off to the beach to have a day to myself to just relax and read out in the sun! :)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

If bad things happen in threes, I don't even want to know what could happen next.

I found out yesterday that one of my Grenadian friends was attacked by a man with a cutlass (a machete). He was cut pretty badly on the back of his head, face, arms and hands. He was taken to the hospital and is stable but is in pretty bad shape.

The moment I heard what happened, I headed to the hospital to visit him. I just can't believe that this happened, and all because of this crazy man's jealousy. My friend is a farmer and apparently this man was jealous of his land and wanted to farm there himself, so he decided that he would try to kill him to get him out of the way. And supposedly this man has killed before but was released from prison.

So, on Sunday this man went up to his farm, hid in the bush, and then attacked my friend from behind! He cut him several times on the back of his head before my friend turned around to defend himself. He received several more hits to his arms and hands before he was able to pull out his cutlass and fight back. Now they are both in the hospital.

I am just so glad that he is okay. I am sad that he is injured, but more sad about the fact that this is how people deal with conflict here. I wish that people didn't resort to excessive violence to handle either issues. Or that people could have better opportunities so that they wouldn't have to resort to stealing or killing to get the things they want in life.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

I take back every bad thing I have ever said about mosquitos

I know this older couple, The Sullenger's, who live here in Grenada who are on a mission with their church. They are from the same town as me and they know my parents. And the lady, Marie, used to be a school teacher, so she has been giving me some advice on things for my school attachment and what not. Well anyways, every once in a while I will meet up with them and have dinner at their place. And just to be nice they offer for me to stay the night at their nice 3 bedroom apartment near the golf course.

Last night I met up with them and we went to go see a movie (my first time at to the theatre since we got here :) and afterwards we went back to their place and had dinner. They are very sweet people and it's comforting to know that they look after me sometimes.

Anyways, after dinner I was pretty tired and went into one of the spare bedrooms, closed the door, and went to bed. In the middle of the night I kinda woke up a little because my hands were itching (I realized it was mosquito bites) and in my sleepy haze I was like "how did these sneaky things get in here"...and I looked up and noticed that the door was open. So, I was thinking, "well that's strange" because I remembered closing it "but maybe the wind pushed it open or something." So, I rolled back over and went back to sleep. A few minutes later I was still itching, so I thought to myself, I guess I'll get up and close the door again. And at that very moment that I started to sit up.....A MAN FROM IN THE SHADOWS OF THE ROOM WENT RUNNING OUT THE DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!




Out of sheer shock and terror, I jumped out of bed and ran down the hall to the Sullenger's bedroom screaming and screaming and screaming!!!!! I screamed louder than I ever knew was possible!! I'm sure I must have almost given them a heart attack. I told them that I had seen a man in my room...and I'm sure they thought that I must have been imagining things or just had a bad nightmare. But sure enough as we went out into the living room....we all realized that someone must have been in the apartment because we noticed things were missing. At first we thought that the burglar had just taken the laptop. After the shock had worn off we called the police.

We then started to look around the apartment to make sure that he was not still hiding somewhere. And we also were looking around to see how this person could have gotten in. A police officer showed up about 30 minutes later. It was then that we realized that Marie's camera and money was also taken from her purse.

We also called the landlord to tell them what happened, he and his whole family came over. And after hearing my scream, the downstairs neighbor also came up to see what was happening. After all 8 of us talked about what happened and how he must have gotten in and escaped and it all....the sun was already coming up. Needless to say, I didn't sleep after that.

In the morning we were looking around the perimeter of the house and saw one of Marie's necklaces on the ground below the 2nd story balcony (which led us to believe that he must have jumped from there). The necklace that we found had been in their master bathroom which is only accessible through their bedroom (meaning that he had also snuck into their room as well).

After all was said and done, we figured out how he got in and escaped. But it was pitch black in my room and I was completely unable to see what he looked like. And while the police did take some finger prints, I'm almost certain that this person is completely going to get away with this.

I am entirely grateful that this situation didn't escalate to anything else (i.e. injury, rape, murder), but I can't stop thinking... WHAT THE HELL WAS HE DOING JUST STANDING IN THE DARK IN THE ROOM WHERE I WAS SLEEPING??!!?! My wallet was right on the dresser...and yet no money was taken from it. That is the creepiest and scariest feeling I have ever had in my entire life.

I'm hoping that I never experience anything like this ever again.

Monday, October 12, 2009

A breath of fresh air

I attended a staff meeting at PAM today. After it's completion, I am filled with nothing but excitement and contentment (not sure if that is a word, but that's how I felt :) Our temporary manager has started to bring nothing but great ideas and progress to this program! I am thoroughly looking forward to seeing the changes that are going to happen during her time here. I think she is effectively addressing the important issues while making sure not to walk on anybody's feet in the process. She has the right qualities needed to be a successful manager and I am glad and feel blessed that she is here with us.

On another note, my work at TAMCC is slowly starting to develop. I am beginning to get a feel for what my work there is going to consist of. The counseling section of the Student Affairs Department is trying to build up a new Peer Pals program. The Peer Pals' mission is to give students the skills needed to be able to go out and implement counseling amongst their peers. To this that this mission can be accomplished, I will be helping with various seminars and small group meeting to discuss the topics that are most effecting this population of students. I am looking forward to getting more involved in this project because I can see that there is a potential for great success in this area.

But other than work, I feel like life here is going pretty well. I can finally say that I have some Grenadian friends! After the start of this new school term, I feel like more people in my community are acknowledging my presence and realizing my purpose here. I feel much more integrated and comfortable not only in my community but in Grenada as a whole. It seems like time is beginning to fly by. And while I still feel all the ups and downs along the way, the journey is becoming progressively more enjoyable as time goes on.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Everything for a reason

I am a firm believer in karma because of days like today.

There were several things that happened today that just made a world of a difference to me. The most insignificant, but still amazing, was that my neighbor not only offered me a ride to work and allowed me to avoid being miserably sweaty when I got to work for a change, but to top it off....his windows were up and the a/c was blasting!!! (this rarely happens in grenada, which is why this is so amazing!)

Then, as I got to work I was able to have a meeting with the temporary replacement for our manager at PAM who is taking a 3 month sabbatical. Much to my surprise this temporary manager, Ms. Johnson, was very familiar with the goals and aims of Peace Corps. Come to find out, she is the daughter of our previous APCD. It was very comforting to be able to talk with someone who really understands my purpose here. She encouraged me to think about and write down my long term goals. She said we could look over them together and talk about ways to adapt my work here to benefit me so that I can achieve those goals.

And last but not least, today was my first day working at TAMCC (Community College). I met with my counterpart there, Mrs. Gordon, and she wanted to take the time today to show me around the campus and introduce me to some of the faculty, administrators and staff. She did a great job at making me feel very welcome there. I also feel like the office that I will be working in is going to be a very warm and positive atmosphere. I can't wait to get started on my projects there.

It was a good karma day!

Friday, September 25, 2009

TAMCC

In an earlier post I had mentioned that I may be starting an additional project at TAMCC (T.A. Marryshow Community College) helping with counseling. I finally met with Dr. LaTouche (our APCD aka my boss) and the director of Student Affairs at TAMCC to discuss what this project with entail.



When I had briefing discussed the idea of adding this project to my workload with Dr. LaTouche, he had me under the impression that this assignment would consist of helping the current counselor at TAMCC lighten her load of one-on-one counseling with the students; seen as how she is the only counselor for almost 3,000 students. Even though the assignment sounded like I would mostly just be sitting at a desk and waiting for students to walk in for an appointment, I was still eager to take on this project because I have a special interest in working with young adults in the area of social work and counseling.



After meeting with one of the directors of Student Affairs (who also happens to be the lone counselor), I realized the reason that they were so eager to have me volunteering is because there is a lot of work that needs to be done! Along with assisting in the one-on-one counseling, I was also start to assist with creating seminars that will address the topics of anger management, coping with stress, and improving self esteem. Additionally, I will also be assisting with improving the current peer pals program to hopefully increase student involvement and strengthen the existence of the program itself.



So, while this supplemental project was not entirely what I expected, I am even more excited about the idea of adding this onto my workload. I think that the work that I will be assisting with here will be very fulfilling. I'm excited to start!

Communication

During this week in my personal development class at PAM, we discussed the topic of communication. We spent most of the time thinking about positive ways to effectively communicate the messages that we are trying to say to others instead of coming across negatively. In trying to apply this idea to real life situations, one of the girls, Aria, volunteered an example of a conversation she might have with her child's father. I realized through our discussion that she has been struggling with him to take an interest in her and their child's life. We discussed different strategies and scenarios to be able to talk to him in a way that will get through to him about the importance of her feelings and what she has to say. I felt like the classroom discussion went really well. Then, today as I was finishing up with my reading class, Aria came up to me with a big smile on her face. She told me that she called him (her child's father)! And she asked him if she could schedule a time to meet with him because she had some things she wanted to talk to him about. She seemed so proud of herself that she had taken the step to open the communication between the two of them. And then proceeded to ask me how she should go about trying to talk to him about the feelings she has been having.

I feel very fulfilled knowing that the conceptual idea I picked for class this week is really having positive effects on these girls. I am glad to know that they are thinking about our classroom topics and applying these ideas to their lives.

Yay for this week's small accomplishment!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Books

So, as I begin to assist students with reading here in Grenada, it has made me realize how precious knowledge really can be. Just think about the idea of going through life without reading at all. I'm sure that we all could manage, but think about all the things that you would be missing out on. It seems like such a tragedy to miss out on such a basic element of life; written language. I hope that in my time here that I can give students a better concept of reading so that they can decipher words and learn to read on their own to help them with the words they see in their daily life.

Working with students to learn how to read has also given me a better appreciation for reading books myself. I think back to all the books in school that I was suppose to read that I just skipped over, because I wasn't interested. Wasn't interested?! I have this wonderful brain that can not only read the words, but can figure out complex ideas and concepts and yet what am I doing with it? Not reading all the materials available seems almost like a crime. I plan to start making more time to read and learn on my own through all the many resources that are available. You don't always have to go to the best college or university to get the best education. Learning can be done all alone with some determination, research, and some good ol' reading!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Breadfruit Salad

The past 2 days have been pretty successful for me!

On Wednesday I started my remedial reading groups at my primary school. I was a little nervous with the activities that I prepared, but all 5 groups responded really well and were paying attention and participating! So that was really encouraging to know that I can handle these groups with little to no experience.

And then today, I had 3 classes at the Programme for Adolescent Mothers (PAM) that all went very well also. In the class where I teach personal development, one of the girls came up to me at the end of class and said, "I really enjoyed class today!" That made me feel really great to hear that. And I really felt like I was getting through to the girls today. They were actively participating in the lesson, giving feed back, and sharing some of their own personal stories!


On another note....since I have moved down here, my cooking skills have been beginning to develop! I'm not much of one to follow recipes, so almost all of my creations are experiments. I haven't had any complete failures yet, but some things do turn out better than others. Today, I decided that I wanted to try to make potato salad, but instead of using potatoes I wanted to replace them with breadfruit. I just threw a few things in with the cooked breadfruit and it turned out pretty awesome. And tonight, I am going to try to make meatloaf for the very first time. Wish me luck.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A Fresh Start

This week has made a complete 180 degree turn for the better! Talk about being on a roller coaster!

So, the teachers and staff at PAM have finally got their gears up an running on full speed now this week. I am feeling like the classes are starting to take off and the days there feel much more productive. I have meet with my personal development class 2 times already, and I can already tell that this is going to be a good group of girls to work with. And I have picked back up helping one of the girls in a remedial reading class that meets every day. So, good things are starting to happen.

On another subject though, I was in the peace corps office yesterday and the APCD (aka my boss) asked to speak with me for a moment. He was telling me how there was a severe need for a guidance counselor at the community college in St. George's. Currently, there is only one counselor for over 2200 students. He was asking if I had any background in counseling and if I would be interested in helping. While I only have a minor in social work, I feel like I could be of some assistance at the school because I have a great interest in that area of work and really enjoy working with the young adult population. So, Dr. LaTouche is going to speak with his point person, and hopefully by next week I will also be volunteering at T.A. Marryshow Community College!

Friday, September 11, 2009

At the end of the day

whew...it sure seems like this week has been long. With the start of school this week, I have been finally putting all my planning from the summer into place, but I hadn't prepared for how much work it really would be. What I did this week: at PAM, I started teaching my 2 new classes for this term; personal development and remedial reading; at my school attachment I met with the principal and we chose the students that I will be working with in the remedial reading program. We also put the students into groups, picked times for the groups to meet each week, discussed it with all of the teachers, and sent letters home to the parents; with Dwayne (who is the boy I am also helping with reading), I met with him this week at the public library and we picked out a novel to start working on; and then tomorrow I will have my first day back helping with the learn-to-swim lessons at the swimming pool. So, like it said...whew....it has been a busy week. But I am also getting pretty excited that I am starting all theses new classes and programs. It is definitely time for the weekend though :)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

First Day Back at School

So today I successfully completed my first day back at school this term. There was a teachers meeting yesterday with all of the staff at PAM where we discussed the schedule of classes and who was going to be teaching what. I am going to continue on with a personal development class that another peace corps volunteer had started, and then I am also creating a new remedial reading class for a few of the students who need some extra assistance. All of the girls showed up this morning for the first day, and I must say that I was getting more and more frustrated as the day went on due to the lack of structure and organization from the staff and teachers. There were multiple times throughout the day when there were no teachers in any of the classrooms and the girls were just walking around the building. This may be a typical first day at PAM, but from what I know of going to school....the first day of class normally means that there are actual classes, right? None of the teachers were familiar with the schedule yet and I found them turning to me and asking where they were suppose to be at...

I hope that after this week is over, that everyone knows the schedule and there is a more structured school day with actual learning going on.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Into the swing of things

So, it has almost been exactly 6 months since the last time I have written on here, but I thought now that I have settled in and have the time, that I would finally get back to writing on this more regularly. Better late than never, right?!

In the last 6 months, I have experienced a lot here in Grenada. In March and April, I was completing my Pre-Service Training that lasted for 7 weeks while I was living with my homestay family. On April 20th, the EC79 Peace Corps Grenada group completed our training with a Swearing-In Ceremony. That same day, I also got to move into my independent housing (which I absolutely love).

Since then, I have began my work in youth development by volunteering my time with 3 different organizations. The first, which is my primary worksite, is called the Programme for Adolescent Mothers (PAM). The second, working at a primary school called J.W. Fletcher R.C. And the last, helping teach swim lessons for a learn-to-swim program.

The school year ended on July 3 and will be starting back up again this coming Monday (Sept. 7). During the last 2 months, I was trying to keep myself busy by volunteering at a summer camp called Camp Tufton and a retreat for the girls at PAM.

In August, my fiance Ernest, came down to visit!! We went all over Grenada to see the many beautiful beaches and waterfalls. He was also here to celebrate Carnival with me. Grenada's Carnival consists of several concerts with soca, calypso, and steel pan drum music, and many street festivities.




Here are some pictures to see what all I have been up to in the last 6 months:



Swearing-In Ceremony




Service-Learning Activity at J.W. Fletcher R.C. Primary School



Women's Retreat at the Heritage House

PAM Graduation






PAM Retreat








Camp Tufton








CARNIVAL
Panorama - Steel Pan Drum Concert

CARNIVAL
Monday Night Mas

Friday, March 6, 2009

Finally had time to blog!

I made it to Grenada this past Monday...and everything is going pretty good so far.

I don't even know where to start. After staging, our training group spent a week in St. Lucia at a retreat center near the capital. It was a very pleasant experience. We had some time for us trainees to get to know each other and for us to have a little taste of what it was like to be living in the Eastern Caribbean. We had a very nice view and got to start experiencing the heat and the mosquitoes!! But we were pretty tucked away and pretty sheltered there. One day during the week we got to check out the Eastern Caribbean Peace Corps headquarters that is based in St. Lucia in the capital, Castries. We had a few more training sessions there and then were send out on our own (but in groups) to go on a scavenger hunt throughout the city. It was pretty fun getting to know a little about the city and to finally get the chance to interact with the locals. My overall experience in St. Lucia was pretty amazing, but very short lived.

Within the week we left to head to our island of assignment. Some of the trainees stayed on St. Lucia but the rest of us devided amongst Grenada, Dominica, and one to St. Vincent. We had a brief layover in Barbados and then we were off to Grenada. Once arriving in Grenada, we were greeted by a warm hello from the current PCVs living on the island. They had made us these pretty spice necklaces and had a banner and everything. They were all really welcoming and seemed geniually excited to finally meet all of us (that was quite conforting). We proceeded to take a bus ride into the capital, St. George's, where the Peace Corps office is at. We had some time to meet and chat with all the volunteers and staff and had lunch together. Shortly after that...the homestay families started showing up. I was pretty anxious at that point, but then my homestay mom arrived and we took off from there. I was one of the lucky ones that had all of my luggage arrive with us on the plane...so I had all my stuff with me to unpack that night.

My homestay is better than I would have ever expected. They have a beautiful home and they are all so very nice and welcoming to me. My room is quite nice too. They put a tv in there that even has cable. They had already put up my mosquito net above my bed. There is a full size bed, a huge closet and even some American plugs! And their computer even has internet (hense the reason how I am posting this now!)

This week has been quite and experience. In amongst the training, I have also been trying to adapt to living in a new home, learning the bus system, learning my way around town and my community that I live in, learning how to interact with the people, learning how to deal and cope with unwanted attention, adjusting to the different foods, testing out the drinking water here, adjusting to my body constantly sweating (even when I sleep), blisters on my feet from all the walking I have been doing, and the 3 0r 4 DOZEN (and counting) mosquito bites I have accumulated so far (those are to just name a few).

Every moment I have been trying to soak in as much as possible. With every step I take, there is something new to observe or learn about.

I am starting to get more and more comfortable with my new life here with everyday that does by.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Staging in Miami

Until today, I had never been to Florida ever in my life. And much to my suprise, I really like Miami (or at least the small portion that I saw). The traffic was a little crazy around the airport, but I think that is to be expected in any city.

Once I arrived, I took a cab to the hotel where the Peace Corps made reservations for our staging group and again was pleasantly surprised to see that they were putting us up in this really nice hotel.

It was really great to get to know all of my fellow trainees at this event. I didn't really know what to expect (about what the other volunteers were going to be like), but everyone is our group seems to have their hearts in the right place, and I am looking forward to being able to work with them. It was very welcoming to be able to meet people who all shared my same passion for service and had been going through the same things that I have been experiencing lately. As I left the airport to head to staging this morning, I realized that I had never felt so alone in my entire life, but it was a great feeling to get here and meet my new "family" that I will be spending the next 2 years of my life with.

We are leaving in the morning for our first stop in the Caribbean, St. Lucia, where we will have the begining of our training all together. After a week there, our group will seperate to our individual islands for training and begin our official 7 week training.

After going through staging today, I feel more prepared and even more excited about leaving tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Friday, February 6, 2009

The Next Chapter

This is the first and last blog entry I will be writing before I leave for the Peace Corps. I am headed to Grenada in the Eastern Caribbean and will be there until April 2011.

In the final weeks before I attend my staging event in Miami, I have been getting more and more excited/anxious about the experience I am about to embark upon. I have started having dreams about what I think things will be like. I still can't believe that I was picked to become a Peace Corps Volunteer and am very thankful for the opportunity.

I have been trying to wrap up all loose ends before I depart, but the most important has been trying spend as much time as possible with family and friends. There are some people, I sure you know who you are, that I just can't imagine what it will be like to be away from for 2 years. It will be a very challenging experience, but I hope that my relationships grow stonger because of it.

I keep counting days the days until I leave....I just can't wait!