Riding the bus is only a small part of my life on Saint Lucia

I love the comments that are left on my blog and I look forward to reading the emails you send. Lately, I have received a couple of comments that go something like this, “Do you do anything besides ride the bus?” Well, the answer is yes, I do lots of other things. After reading through my posts, I can see why you might be a little confused about what I’m doing.

There is extensive training associated with becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer. It started with staging in Miami in late August. Our group, known as EC78 (Eastern Caribbean 78), had a twelve hour orientation before we departed for Saint Lucia. There are 38 of us in the group. We filled out mounds of paperwork, decided if we wanted to buy life insurance, got to know one another and talked about Peace Corps in general. After a day and a half we took a bus to the airport and boarded a plane headed for Saint Lucia.

Our plane landed and the Country Director was there to meet us along with other staff and current Peace Corps Volunteers. We collected mounds of suitcases, were loaded into large busses and were transported to the Pastoral Center in the northern part of the island. Once there, we settled in for three more days of orientation, this time more specific to the Eastern Caribbean. We had our pictures taken for our identification cards, were given inoculations and just as we were comfortable, it was once again time to move on.
This was the last time we saw most of our group – and will be the last time we see each other as a whole until close of service in 2010. I stayed in Saint Lucia with thirteen others. The rest were transported to their islands of assignment. Our group was taken to the Peace Corps Office in Saint Lucia. We brought our suitcases into the office which filled an entire room. By now we were sick of all that luggage! It was very tempting to start throwing it over the cliffs but we resisted. We were taken to the training room in the back of the office and each of us waited to meet our host family. One by one, host families came for their volunteers, the luggage dissipating and fear and anticipation growing. Finally, mine came. They piled my stuff into their family pickup truck and brought me to the village where I would be living for two years, and to their house where I would be staying for seven weeks.
Peace Corps arranges for us to stay with a host family for a couple of reasons. First, they help us integrate into the community. Second, during training there is a lot to learn, there is homework and presentations that need to be prepared. While we study, learn about our communities, figure out how to get around, and become acclimated to the new environment, our host family takes care of us. They not only give us a place to stay, but help us with language, prepare our meals and pack meals to go with us and answer our endless questions. They feel a sense of responsibility for us.

Many of us, including me, are grilled each day about what we eat. They serve me so much food and look at me quizzically when I suggest it is way too much. Tonight I was given chicken, beans, macaroni and cheese and vegetables for dinner. I ate none of it and instead suggested that we pack it up and I will take it with me for lunch tomorrow. I always have a back-up of food in the refrigerator to eat. The notion of eating several small meals is a foreign concept in Saint Lucia. Bea looked at me tonight and repeated the same concern she has every night, “I’m worried about you not eating.” I gave her my usual response, “I’m getting plenty of calories. Please don’t worry. If I’m hungry, I’ll tell you.” I’ve heard that there have been volunteers who have said they didn’t get enough food and Peace Corps was not happy about that. I try to reassure Bea this is not the case with me.

The Village Council Building I’ve become familiar with my village. It’s a large community – I believe of 5,000 – although you can’t hold me to that number as I could be wrong. The village has a “center”. It has a Multi-Purpose Center – a place where the community comes together for meetings and events. The Library is on the second floor of the Multi-Purpose Center. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Library researching my village as well as the island. I’ve also spent a lot of time in the Multi-Purpose Building which houses large amounts of mosquitoes. Next to the center is the Village Council Building and next to that is the Credit Union and Post Office. The secondary and primary school are also in this area.

So, what do my weeks look like? Well, three days a week I get up at 6:00 a.m., shower, dress, and at 7:00 I catch the bus to Castries to travel to Peace Corps. I get to the training center at 8:30, hoping I’m early enough to get a few minutes on the only computer available to all fourteen of us. Training starts at 9 a.m. and goes until 4:30 p.m. We are trained in several areas: Technical, Health, Safety, and Language. We have to demonstrate competence in each of these areas. Technical was most interesting. It is centered on change and how to move organizations to change – a subject I know well. Safety can be anything from advice when walking on the street to water safety and what to do in an emergency. Health is anything from how to treat first aid situations to what’s in that medical kit they gave us to how to brush your teeth (yes, I’m not kidding – and not sure why this needed to be demonstrated, but we all smiled and were polite). Language – well, it’s Kweyol. I struggle, but I won’t give up. At the very least I will learn a few phrases. I think it’s harder to learn because everyone speaks English and I don’t get enough practice. Kweyol will help with integration, but it’s not critical.

We are tested in many ways to ensure our competence. Today the technical track was complete and we each had to give a twenty minute presentation on our analysis of the organizations we are going to be working with as well as the strategies we will employ to begin our work. A few weeks ago we had to find our way to our “safe house”. This is the place where we consolidate in case of an emergency. This was a real test for me. There are no street signs, no house addresses…nothing. The directions go something like this: Get on the bus and go north. You will be going to a house two villages from yours. You will get off when you see a church. There will be a dirt road and you follow it until you see a blue house. REALLY? Yes, really. And, ta da! I found it. I only had to ask four people for directions. I was so relieved.

Each of us is assigned to a school in our village and one day a week we go there. There is little structure associated with the visits and it’s up to us to figure out how to be “helpful”. This has been the most difficult assignment. I try to do something meaningful but I’m not always sure I’m accomplishing anything. I attend committee meetings that are planning a talent show on the Sunday before Jounen Kreywol (translation Creole Days and I’ll talk more about this in another post). I’ve taught a couple of classes and observed a few.
Each Thursday we are assigned to shadow a someone in the community. This is by far one of the best parts of training. I’ve met so many incredible people and they have taught me much about life in Saint Lucia. Tomorrow, I will be meeting with the Community Development Officer for my village. She has an office at the one-story blue Village Council Building. This is the second time I’ve been assigned to her. I believe she and I will have a great working relationship during my two year stay.
When I get home at night, many times I hear of meetings that are planned. Most are held at the Multi-Purpose Center and they are on various subjects; Village Development Foundation meetings, planning committee for Jounen Kreywol or a public hearing informing the village members about a proposal to create a public/private partnership with a European company to improve the Saint Lucia water supply. The water lines are in terrible shape. Only 40% of the water that runs through the pipes reaches the faucet. The rest is lost to the cracks and leaks prevalent throughout the water pipe system. There are so many vulnerable pipes that when it rains it’s likely a pipe will break and the village will be without water for a day or sometimes two. I will leave the color of the water that reaches inside the house to your imagination. I don’t drink it. Although most of it has been removed, there is still some asbestos in the pipes. There is a lot of education to be done to try to convince people to fix this system. The discussion is price vs. quality. I try to attend as many functions as I can to meet as many people as I can. One thing is a sure thing – I’m not lacking for something to do!
This is how I will continue to spend my days until October 19, when everything changes once again. That’s the day we move from our host family and into our own place. On October 21, we will be sworn-in and then our real work begins. This will be our next big transition as we will have much less contact with one another and will fully integrate into our individual village communities. There is only one other volunteer in my village and he will be leaving later this year. Most importantly is that this will be the last time we have to move those damn suitcases until we leave the island in two years!