It's been a long and crazy few weeks, a bunch has happened. I left off about to go to the counterpart conference and right now I'm sitting in my new house. So what happened in between?
The conference was nice, where all the counterparts came to Georgetown and altogether the counterparts and PC trainees went over what our roles would be for each other and then each pair of PC trainees and counterparts split up to work on a work plan for the first three months of service in site. After the conference we all went our separate ways and traveled to everyone's new site where we spent a few days before returning back to our training community.
In order to get from Georgetown to my new site it takes anywhere from 8-11 hours, there's a lot of hurry up and wait involved. I start out by getting to the mini bus park in Georgetown to get myself and all my stuff packed in a minibus to travel to Linden, the actual drive time takes 1.5-2.5h, but there's a lot of waiting involved at the bus park for the bus to completely fill up, and then some. Once I get to Linden, I transfer all my stuff to another mini bus and then wait for another few hours for this bus to pack in as many people as possible before heading off. Where the road from Georgetown to Linden is paved, leaving Linden is a long bumpy, pothole filled, waterlogged, hinterland trail that can take anywhere from 3-5h depending on conditions. Along the trail we have to get out and cross the Berbice River via a pontoon in order to continue the trail on the other side of the river. So once I get to site I really won't be leaving much as it's kind of a big ordeal to get in and out.
My town is pretty quiet and laid back; I walk everywhere, dodging cow dung everywhere as there are more cows roaming around than I've seen in the streets of India. I'll be working in the health center mainly for now but most likely will also be working in the hospital, secondary school (when it starts up after break), and with the environmental health workers. The first three months at site will really involve a lot of networking, meeting people, and observing my community mostly to get a true sense of what people are like, and how the town works before I even begin to implement any project here. So in terms of "what I'll be doing" is still pretty up in the air. But the more I know, I'll be sure to let y'all know.
So it turns out, I guess my peers in training think I'm somewhat competent as they've voted for me for two somewhat "big deal" things. The first is to be on VAC, the Volunteer Advisory Committee; essentially the student government of the Peace Corps. There is VAC in every PC post around the world so the more I'm finding out about it, the more I'm realizing it's a big deal, and I'm excited to see what myself and the other members of VAC will do over the next two years. VAC is responsible for representing the currently serving PC Volunteers at staff meetings three to four times a year as well as coming up with ways to support PCV projects around the country.
In addition to being voted for VAC, I was also selected to give one of the speeches at our swearing in ceremony on the 3rd of July. I was even quoted in the news (can you find me in the pictures?!) and my family said that I was even on TV. So that was a nice honor to partake in.
And if all that wasn't enough, I applied for and was accepted on the GAD (Gender and Development) task force. This task force comprised of three members from my training class and three from the class before mine (Guy 24). We are in charge of spearheading projects and community action days all across the country as well as a resource for all PCV's in helping with their own projects relating to, you guessed it, gender and development. One of the main projects that GAD is in charge of is running Camp GLOW. This August will be the 3rd Camp GLOW with over 75 girls from all over the country attending. GLOW stands for Girls Leading Our World, a leadership and empowerment camp for girls 13-17 years old. But instead of rambling on and on about it, check out the website www.campglowguyana.org and make sure to see the cool video one of the other PCV's put together. As a member of the task force I'll be one of the directors of camp. So the next two months are going to be beyond crazy jumping into this task force and helping to pull off another hopefully successful camp.
Sorry it's been a bit, but let me know what else you want to know!
What is the name of your town?
ReplyDeleteHow many people live there?
Was that you in a bow tie for swearing in? When did you start wearing bow ties?
I am so proud of you and what you are doing. Grandma would be especially pleased that you'll be working at Camp GLOW. She was a strong proponent for girls developing leadership skills.
Let me know if there is any way that I can support the camp.
Love,
Mom
An Akuree is an animal, I believe in the rodent family, about the size of a small-medium size dog. I’m not sure exactly how it’s spelled since A) I can’t spell to begin with and B) there’s a million ways to spell things in creolese, so I apologize if you’re not able to Google it to check for a picture. It looks similar to a Laba (another animal often eaten in Guyana).
DeleteI’m not sure how many people live in my town, supposedly it’s about 5-8 thousand people? It’s a pretty cool isolated town, unlike the suburb like towns on the coast, where what separates one town from the next is a sign.
Yea, that’s me wearing a bowtie during the swear in ceremony, I borrowed it from another volunteer who had one. And FYI it’s a REAL bowtie, I tied it myself, NOT a clip on!
In terms of helping out with Camp GLOW, even though I go back and forth about monetary donations, here’s a link you can go through to donate to camp www.guyfrog.org/donate-2/camp-glow-donations/
I am in awe of what you are doing to make the world a better place. Keep it up, your are awesome.
ReplyDeleteFondly,
Diana
Awe!!! David, everyone at work has been asking me about you! How you are doing, what you are doing...im so excited to tell them about this! So awesome. :) so excited for you!
ReplyDeleteYour friend,
Cherish