Our Last Month at Site: Part 2

This year the men in our village surprised the women by cooking for them and buying them each a koosu for Mother's Day. The women quickly decided that they wanted to celebrate Father's Day in a similar fashion. In the same day, my local nurse and another woman in the village each came over to my house to tell me an idea they had. They wanted to raise money to bring a traditional song and dance group to our village to perform for the men. The group was supposed to come to an HIV/AIDS Celebration Day that the women in my 5 week HIV/AIDS training put on, but they were unable to attend due to an unexpected death of a co-wife. I was thrilled that they came up with this idea on their own and thought it was smart planning. The male attendance at the previous Celebration Day was low.

A few leaders proceeded to collect money from other women in the village to buy food, undershirts and underwear :) for all of the men. Additionally, they wrote a donation request letter that was typed up by a colleague in the city and distributed to numerous organizations to solicit money to bring the performance group to our village. The women mobilized themselves. In fact, I did not help organize anything.To be honest, theirs was a lofty goal. The performance group lives 3 hours upriver and renting a boat and paying for gasoline is very expensive. I thought that the chances were slim but I was already pleased that they had the idea. Anyways, Father's Day was three days before Ryan and I were leaving the village so I was busy getting ready to move.

In a Father's Day meeting, the women divided themselves into groups by neighborhoods and assigned who would cook what. Even though I live on the opposite side of the village as one of my best friends Helga, she informed me that I would be helping her make munga, the traditional Saramaccan cake. It was so fun! I have seen women make munga before but there were so many women helping (they do not make it often because it is a very involved process) that I didn't really get to do anything except take pictures. This time I was able to help with each step...including chopping wood for the fire. When Helga told me to come chop I informed her that I had no idea how. She informed me that I would learn. Four days out from leaving my village and there I was, learning new stuff.

At first I was I was really not good at it. Here are people watching me not knowing what I was doing (story of my life in Saramaka):

After some practice, though, I got the hang of it!

So, the process is more involved, but to summarize, munga is made from peanut and rice flour and grated coconut, pre-cooked in a pot over a wood burning fire, stuffed into sturdy jungle leaves wrapped into cones and tied off by natural jungle twine, then finished baking in a pot of boiling water. Check it out:

Stirring the batter when we first dropped it into the pot

Helga stuffing the leaf cones with cake batter

The leaf cones baking in the boiling water

Plus, more pics here.


Cut to later that day and one of my friends came over to tell me that they had raised all of the money to bring the performance group to our village. Medical mission and the local government both donated gasoline and the women negotiated with the boatman to accept gasoline instead of cash, etc. I was so proud!

On Father's Day, after church and in addition to cooking, five of the women who attended my HIV/AIDS training, presented the basics of HIV/AIDS education to over 100 men, women and young adults.

They all did a fabulous job, remembering all of the information that they gleaned nine months ago. International development mission of sustainability accomplished! Woot! When they were done, the visiting HIV/AIDS performance group performed:

After they were done performing, the women passed out all sorts of traditional Saramaccan food--apiti (fish and cassava soup), bami, cake, soda, beer, etc. After everyone had eaten, they called Ryan and me up to the front and my friend Helga talked about the different projects that we had done in the village and how well we lived with them. Then our captain said a few words on our behalf. He called two elders, one male and one female to come up and present us with traditional dress that they had made for us- a koosu for me and a bigi pangi for Ryan. They had them sewn with our village names on them. They are absolutely beautiful! Everyone came up and hugged us or thanked us for our work and took pictures with us with their cell phones. It was very sweet. Oh, and everyone told us that we needed to have children- lots of children-and bring them back to Suriname to show them. Not a shy culture. See more pictures here.

As if our goodbye at the school and on Father's Day was not enough, one of the village basias called everyone to one of our meeting houses the night before we left so that everyone could spend some last time with us, dance and say goodbye. We wore our new koosus, of course! Picture here.


This little guy was gettin' his groove on!

Ryan dancing with Mma

We left there around 10pm and by 6:30am the next day, our Saramaccan family was back at our house to be with us until our ride came at 10:30am. When the van pulled up in front of our house, the waterworks started for everyone, including us. We hugged everyone for the 5th time and got in the van. In true Saramaccan fashion, our villagers sang to us through their tears. The car pulled away and circled around to pass the back of the house. I looked out for one last time and saw some of my women running around the house towards us, waving goodbye. Ryan and I were overwhelmed and grateful for the wonderful week-long farewell that everyone gave us.

It was tough but the heartache tells me that we did well. The wonderful people of our village truly accepted us and let us into their hearts and unique culture. If you were to tell me, ten years ago, that I would become a beloved part of an African village in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest, I would have laughed at the absurdity. It happened. I think by this time next week, it will seem like a dream...

Our Last Month at Site: Part 1

Well, everyone...WE DID IT! After many challenges and triumphs, Ryan and I will get on a plane in two days to fly away from Suriname, our home for the last two years. We moved out of our site in the jungle one week ago and have been in the city going through the Peace Corps process of closing out our service. We appreciate everyone's support and prayers as we transition out of this adventurous chapter of our lives and re-integrate back into the plentiful U.S. of A.

This last month at site has been a whirlwind. I'm going to try to catch you guys up quickly...

Our captain finished building his own house. He has been working on it since before we moved to our village. He is a man of many trades and did just a beautiful job. After church one Sunday, the pastor and all the villagers went to his place to bless the home and his family. The pastor prayed, said a few words and then we all sang quite a few hymns. 

As you can see, the family had matching outfits made for the occasion. Hanging on the walls are cross stitched pieces used for decoration. After the dedication, they passed out soda, cake, popcorn and even chicken and rice. We were happy to see one of our hardworking captain's dreams come true before we left. For more pics, click here.

Less than two weeks ago the display case was completed for the HIV/AIDS Awareness Quilt that women from my village and two nearby villages made during our 5 week training of trainers. A local carpentar created the protective case so that we could hang the quilt outside of the medical clinic in my village in the rainforest weather. It is important for it to be outside because that is where patients wait to see the nurses. If it were inside the small clinic, it would only be seen by the nurses themselves and not be valuable as a conversation starter and proponent to stop stigma against people living with HIV in Suriname. I'm thankful that I was able to see the finished product before I left. Click here for more pictures.


Me and Lenda, a local nurse and one of my counterparts for this HIV/AIDS project


On the Friday before we left site, one of the teachers asked that we come to the school. I was confused and thought that she wanted to change the day of our last English lesson with her class but I quickly realized that they were planning something with at least part of the school kids to say goodbye to us.

Well, they were planning something with ALL of the school kids: pre-schoolers-6th graders. They had a little table set up all decorated with a chair on either side of it:

They then arranged all the kids in a semi-circle surrounding the table and chairs and then called Ryan and I to the front. One of the teachers who happens to be the village pastor and one of the basias (village leaders) came to the front and talked about all of the projects that we did with the school and how well we lived with the teachers and all the kids. They explained that their thanks were not sufficient but that they would pray to God to bless us (our school is affiliated with the Monravian church). It was really kind. Then every single class each sang a song to us, like they do at the end of the school year program. It was adorable! After they (and the teachers!) sang, the teachers presented us with four beautiful calabashes and a handmade comforter-type sheet and matching pillow cases.

The best part was the handmade gift bag. Each heart on the sides was signed by every child in each class! We were totally blown away. After THAT, every single child in the school (by class) came up and either hugged us, shook our hands or both. Some of the kids were really sad. I know the 5th and 6th graders the best, due to our English lessons, and it was really hard to know we might never see them again. All of my 6th grade girls (whom I took to Camp GLOW) were crying.

It was very moving. My work with the school really meant a lot to me and it was wonderful to see that it meant a lot for the teachers and the kids as well. I will forever carry that day around in my heart and am very thankful to those teachers who were so thoughtful. It was good closure for us and the kids. More pictures here.

Lefurny’s 6th Birthday

Sometime last year I finally went to our local school to look up Lefurny’s birthdate in the school records since no one in her family knew exactly when it was. Ryan and I discovered that when we moved to our village, she had just turned four (we were told she was three) and so this year would turn six. Ryan and I decided a long time ago that we would celebrate her birthday this year, right before we left. We’re almost positive she has never celebrated her birthday before and who knows when she would again? I had asked one of the teachers at school what the little kids normally do to celebrate their birthdays around here. She said sometimes their moms send in little bags of popcorn for the whole class. Done.

It just so happened that Todd and Moka scheduled their visit during Lefurny’s birthday, so Ryan and I made sure that we would be in our village and enlisted Todd and Moka as part of the party preparation crew. So, on May 9^th, first thing in the morning, the four of us got to work popping popcorn (in a pot, not in a microwave, in case there is still any confusion) and filling bags with it plus some candy.  It was quite a productive assembly line. 

Right around 11am, we headed to the school. Lefurny’s teacher had made her a little birthday crown that said “6” on it. When we got there, they brought Lefurny to the front of the class and all the kids sang a few songs for her. 

Then she was instructed to pick three friends to be her helpers and the four of them walked around the class handing out bags of popcorn. Each child was told to shake Lefurny’s hand and tell her “felicitatie” (congratulations). 

It was pretty adorable. We brought enough for both Kindergarten (her class) and Pre-K and there were left overs for the the rest of the teachers. At first she seemed overwhelmed (kind of had the same expression on her face that she had when we took her to Paramaribo) but then she got into it. Her great grandma and grandpa (our neighbors) actually came to the school, too, which I thought was really nice. I think it was the first time they have ever been there.

 After school, I let her and a friend make her birthday cake (she loves to help bake) and go crazy with some bubbles while it baked. Once it was done baking in our Dutch oven, we called her great grandparents over and held a little party. She picked out which of her dresses she wanted to wear while Todd, Moka and Ryan decorated our little porch with some party decorations Grandma Barb sent. I had even planned ahead to buy candles for her cake. 

 We sang, ate cake and then she got to open presents. Grandma Barb sent way too many things (in two separate care packages) for her, plus Todd and Moka brought a few things, including a Tiana Barbie doll that she loves.

 It was a pretty darn exciting day in her life, if you ask me. I’m really glad that we were able to do that for her. At least for one birthday she felt special and hopefully it will be a happy memory for her for years to come.

Lefurny trying on a new birthday outfit from Grandma Barb

Thanks Mom for sending the party decorations and presents. Thanks Todd and Moka for thinking to bring something for Lefurny and for helping with her little celebration. And thanks to my amazing husband for wanting to do this as much as I did.

There are lots more adorable pictures here.