Less Rice, More Stew!

Alright I know it’s been a bit since my last post, another one is currently in the works. But I couldn’t help but quickly share about what happened this morning.

Last night I found out that there was going to be a walk this morning for diabetes awareness. Since I had no plans why not get up and go? So at 5:45am this morning I left my house to walk to the meeting spot for the walk. Mind you, I had little to no expectations for this event; I figured it'd just be interesting to see what happens. At 6am when I reached the meeting spot I was one of three or four other people there. But that’s pretty on time. The event was supposed to start at 6am so I figured wait another hour or so and it’ll eventually start (I may be one of the only Jews in Guyana, but the entire country runs on JST). When the dozen or so people finally showed up a little after 7am, we sauntered through the center of town to the secondary school where we finished at the pavilion.

What I thought was interesting were all the differences and similarities between diabetes walks in the states and the one here today. The people that came today were wearing the same type of clothes I’d expect at a North Shore diabetes walk: everyone in spandex leggings and T shirts with the Sketchers workout sneakers. The funny part to me was that the path of our “walk” was just a quick stroll through the center of town where we pass through a dozen times a day, why the need to “dress up” and put on special shoes I’ll never know but it was still funny. I guess it was just because it was a “walk.” And where stateside walks are more slow jogs or a brisk stroll we just slowly made our way through the streets of my village shouting slogans. The mood was more like a protest rather than a “walk.” My favorite thing shouted by far was, “less rice more stew!” Imagine anyone at JDRF doing that? And I guess the other big difference is most diabetes walks stateside focus more on type 1. The focus here was type 2; since almost every diabetic in Guyana has type 2 (probably because the national food is sugar). All in all it was a fun way to start my day. I’m still shocked that there was a walk to raise awareness about diabetes, but I guess it’s a good kind of shock as the community is becoming more and more aware of the need to address diet and exercise here in Guyana.