Welcome to the Big Screen

Our experiences from the world around us shape who we are on the inside.  We are shaped and matted like the tessellation-patterned wallpaper in the breakfast nook of our childhood homes.  Each family's pattern varying slightly from one to the next.  It commences as early as we are born, with our parents, and only concludes when we expire. 

Every day, we witness and participate in occurrences and are spoken to by people, which sets the stage for our moods and levels of productivity.  The degree by which one is influenced by these occurrences (good or bad) varies from one person to the next, as much as the cereals our parents bought back when.  Not only are we impacted by the words of the people, but the tone in which they talk.  (If you can in fact, understand them).

When we travel and experience new cultures and learn about their norms and customs, our peripheral vision seems to expand.  If we don't allow ourselves to become jaded, perhaps we will come away with a little more patience, a little more empathy, a handful of friends and in this case, very tanned arms.  Certainly, there's the potential for a little collection of very interesting stories, too.

Fortunately, entering my fourth week of work, I am pretty clear on my role as a response volunteer.  Unfortunately, upon realizing that my role involved supporting counselors located in schools in what Peace Corps has deemed "red zones", and that I'd be traveling to and from these schools on a daily basis, alone, we had to call meeting.  And it couldn't have come at a better time.  The day prior, there was a shooting that resulted in a 17 year old's death, right around the corner from one of the schools.  It was an isolated incident, but a police officer shot the kid like six times in suspect of a planned gang activity later in the day.  The whole thing sounds sketchy, and the residents are pretty upset.  Some of the parents from the kids at the school came and got them, others wanted them to hang tight there.  The counselor working at the school ended up spending the rest of the afternoon at our ChildLinK office.  It's unlikely that anything would happen at the primary school, but if residents feel that their town is being unlawfully attacked, everyone is going to be on high alert.

It is my agency's responsibility to provide transportation relating to work, but funds are only available to take the bus.  So the meeting was to come up with an alternative, and see where we can pull funds from for a taxi.  I submitted a proposal and budget to Peace Corps last week and they're meeting tomorrow.  I really hope we figure out something very soon, because my time here is short and I want to be of as much help as possible, which means spending more time with the counselors, and less time at the office.  In the mean time, I've been helping the organization with their idea to submit articles to the local papers, in hopes of raising awareness about child abuse as well as ChildLink's services. Eventually we'd like to come up with a sort of parenting advice column.  I wrote up a case study, based off of one and we took it to the papers last Friday.  We got a positive response from one, and it's planned to go to print during the week of Child Protection Week, in two weeks.  I'm also working on gathering information for a referral manual, as well as participating in presentations and training sessions.

Ridin' da bus to Kaiteur Times.

As a white, blonde chick, I already stand out like a sore thumb.  When I told my counterpart this, she said, "Really?  You're blonde?"  What she meant was, as she further explained, was that all the blondes in the movies she watched didn't come across as very smart or with it, and that truly, I must not be a blonde.  I took it as a compliment, while silently cursing Hollywood.  Just a couple of days prior, she was also shining from our being in the spotlight..."like a real moviestar" she had said.  Here's what happened:

AmerIndian Heritage Festival and Tournament at the National Park.

Like I mentioned before, the unwanted attention is on par with Gambia, but it appears the petty theft is higher.  I have heard of a handful of instances where volunteers have been mugged, usually walking at night.  I feel safe in my neighborhood, but definitely don't venture too far from home, after dark.  However, it's the first time I've ever lived in a capital, and I'm getting a dose of street smarts.  The other day, my counterpart, Kai, and I had just gotten off a bus and were going to stop by her bank, before walking back to the office, and a man dressed in a long sleeve black shirt and dark jeans (in this heat), began to follow us.  We both noticed it and Kai told me to move my umbrella to the right because he was staring at me as we were walking.  We crossed through traffic and there he was again, on the other side.  He never said anything to us, just kept a short distance, until we went into a store to see if he'd leave and he posted up right outside.  At that point, I called PC and they decided to send a car for us.  I got off the phone and pretended like I was shopping, which is when he came into the store and started pacing.  PC called back to say one was on their way and we all moved to the front of the store.  The whole time, I had no idea what this man, who never said a word, but was obviously very honed in on me, wanted.  Would he try to grab my bag or was he after more?  Kai gave him the stare down a couple of times, but for some reason, I was intimidated.  He seemed like he had a plan and somewhat stable minded.  I wasn't able to get up the courage to find out what it was he was after.  Probably, because I didn't want to know.  It was like if I didn't know, I didn't have to give it up. 

 The car came and we were taken back to ChildLinK.  The PC staff said he had seen him around there, harassing people before, so I guess we were just on his turf.  But that turf isn't a "red zone".  It's a place where I'll probably cross through dozens more during my service here.  For Kai and I, it was a very eventful day.  In her perspective, we were stars in a movie, with a rescue ending.  Sounds good to me.  I can write an acceptance speech and was planning to adopt five Guyanese children, anyway.  I'll probably need a little bit of a raise from $250 a month, though...