DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!

Years ago when I was a new Peace Corps Volunteer the Country Director came for a visit to see my village and to check on my projects.  After a walking tour around the village she said, "Karen, are you safe here?"  I was taken off guard.  Of course I feel safe!  It's a poor community but poor doesn't make it unsafe.  I come from Los Angeles where poor might equate with unsafe but this isn't Los Angeles!  What I determined is I had failed to really show her the village or that she failed to have the ability to look at it through a cultural lens.  She saw people liming (a term for hanging out), she saw a begger, and we walked by a few people smoking something other than tobacco.  When she saw this, she failed to see what was underneath.  She failed to see the caring people with which I was surrounded.  She failed to see the real village.  An example of "judging that book by it's cover".

I woke early today to walk to LaTille Falls.  Really early!  For me, intensely early!  I left the house at 6:30 . . . that's a.m.  Applause please!  By Saint Lucia time it is late.  People tend to get up very early before the sun rises to cook or clean or work in the fields or fish.  Getting up early to beat the heat.   And so it was necessary as the Falls is a couple of miles away.  It's 80 degrees and there's a nice island breeze.

Nigel and I walked through the village and I questioned her  about used tires.  One thing that is disturbing is that there is a lot of trash left strewn around the village . . . tires, plastic bottles, food wrappings and containers.  I wish it wasn't like this, but it is.  Every so often they have a clean up but it never seems to last.  There is no shortage of tires.  They are everywhere, some discarded and others repurposed. They use them to create barriers that hold back mud in storms.  Others are repurposed for flower pots.

On an island where it is difficult to get resources, people look at what we think of as trash or weeds differently.  These "weeds" might be passed up to the average visitor, however, this is what is used to make mats and baskets.

So we pass listening to the birds, seeing the poor old goat with one horn as well as a myriad of chickens, roosters, and dogs most in search of a scrap of food.  We say goodbye to the village and cross the highway walking just a bit to the sign that reads "LaTille Falls".

Walking up the road, I have left behind the hustle of everyday life . . . although compared to Los Angeles I find little hustle in Saint Lucia, but this is nature and the further travelled on this road, the more quiet and serene it gets.  I've been this way before and was excited to come up here again. There are small patches of land where people come to farm.

Making Charcoal

Pealing Papaya

As we enter there is a stack of wood and as I look closer I can see the pit where it is buried for the slow cook that transforms it into charcoal.  As I move down the road I see plenty of banana farms.  These are what made past farmers rich, but sadly not anymore; hurricanes and trade deals have moved the banana industry aside.  These small farms are used to process a small export business as well as a resource for the country.  It is a haven for me as the banana's in our stores are no match for a Saint Lucia banana picked ripe.  Nigel, always prepared, picks a papaya from a roadside tree and shares it with me.  Oh my gosh the fruit is so good here!

Small Banana Farm

Chicken Farm

Down the road there is something new and not here nine years ago...a chicken farm on the right and bags of chicken poop free for taking on the left.  Stinky, though it is, it is also a good fertilizer.

Very Stinky Chicken Poop

And now as I reflect during this peaceful walk, we have reached our destination.  I've been here on several occasions.  Once with our group of Peace Corps Trainees, once with children in the nearby village of MoPo, once with family members and I'm sure there were more times.  But I have not been here in nine years.

A new sign

Here's a shining example of "you can't judge a book by it's cover".  I remember when I was a volunteer people in the village would say, "Sly had so much to offer and he has wasted it.  He's a Rasta living in the jungle."  I was somewhat surprised when I first met Sly after hearing that comment.  He had a vision then and was creating a reality from it.  But who could have known how his vision would grow!  Yes, he was living in the jungle, but he was creating a sustainable environment.  Yes he has a lot to offer, but sometimes people can't see the vision right away.  He is an educated man who, then, was living in a small hut with solar-generated electricity.  He was creating a sustainable lifestyle, thanks to his knowledge of irrigation techniques and the abundance of water from his waterfall.  He was creating a lifestyle that would not leave a footprint on the environment.  That was then....

Fish Pedicure

LaTille Falls is a Saint Lucia gem and it is protected.  The government recognizes its importance.  Sly became involved in the Castries Tourism Council and connected with the incoming ships.  Passengers are now able to take a bus...sometimes 60 people to Sly's property.  And it is so much more than it was then.  He has a reception center with handmade items that locals have left for sale.  He has a fish pedicure pond ... I did this in Vietnam for a price and it was so much fun.  He has hiking trails and of course a trail leading down to the waterfall and pond.  There are benches and hammocks and cleared trails.  It is stunning.  And he teaches how to live off the grid.

Steps leading to waterfall

Peaceful Pathways

The Reception Center

A not so good picture of the waterfall

But that wasn't all.  He's made profit from the tour ships and some of that profit has gone into building an "Off-the-Grid" AirBnB.  It is complete with a kitchen, living room, electricity and plug receptacles.  It has a bedroom and a bathroom with an outdoor shower.  It is really amazing.  He has sights set to build another one near the river so that people can walk out their door and into the river.  Staying here isn't just a stay...it's an education.

It was such a treat to see this property after all these years.  It is an amazing success story! Sly is living the dream - he is living large!  

And now I need a nap after five miles in the heat.