Boys, boys, boys!

Two of my very best friends have kids- boys to be precise. Alysha's ADORABLE son Jesiah is 16 months already. Although we just met a week ago (she had him shortly after I arrived in Suriname), I am happy to report that we are fast friends. He took a liking to his Auntie Lindsay right away. :) We went on a little Disneyland adventure. He was so good! That kid is so easy going and SMART!

Click here to see all of our Disneyland pictures. We had a blast!

I am thrilled to report that I was able to see Valoria pregnant (maternity pics by Claire Wolf here) AND meet her beautiful son Cassius Nasir Jones on this trip. Cash was born on November 29th weighing in at 9lbs 9.5 ounces. Mama and baby are doing well! Congratulations Valoria and Brian!

P.s. I know it has been awhile since I've blogged. I have lots to catch up on- my first Saramaccan wedding and my whole trip to America plus lots more gorgeous babies! Stay tuned.

HIV/AIDS Education Project

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I just completed my first major HIV/AIDS Education Project in my village. I worked with two community partners- one of my policlinic nurses (Linda) and the head of the local women's organization (Helga). They were both phenomenal. Though they were my official partners, the 5 week (once a week) educational classes would not have been the success that they were without the group effort of several of my friends and neighbors. I am truly blessed to have such strong, intelligent women in my village.

Left: Helga Right: Linda

So, Linda, Helga and I gave the same class to two different groups of women every Sunday and Monday for four weeks. The majority of the women were from my village but on Mondays women from two neighboring villages (who currently do not have Peace Corps volunteers) traveled by boat to attend the trainings.

Many people have asked me if HIV/AIDS is a huge problem in Suriname. That question is difficult to answer as accurate, up-to-date data is not readily available. HIV/AIDS has not reached the epidemic status here as it has, for example, in many parts of Africa, however, there are many factors that threaten an epidemic in the near future. In other words, NOW is the time to fight this disease with awareness, education and understanding to hopefully prevent an exponential increase in transmission. Some of these factors include (and this is speaking from a Saramaccan viewpoint, not Suriname as a whole): co-wives being socially acceptable, transient lifestyle of the male population (looking for jobs), poor health education, prostitution in the gold bush, poor condom accessibility, poor HIV test accessibility and immense social stigma.

We gave every woman a teaching booklet so they can spread their knowledge of HIV/AIDS

During the first four weeks we covered how HIV is transmitted, addressed local myths and fears, talked about where villagers can get free condoms and free HIV tests, how to properly use condoms and what to do if someone is HIV positive (medication, lifestyle, first steps, etc). In addition, one of my Saramaccan friends (we'll call her Susan) was brave enough to travel to my village and share her personal story of contradicting HIV and how she lives with it. I have to admit that I was nervous for her to come. I was worried about the ugly face of stigma and I did not want anyone to offend Susan. I was relieved and heartened to discover that the women of my villager really stepped up and, although I could tell many were frightened, they embraced Susan and openly admired her strength and courage. I think this was the most powerful part of my classes and I am indebted to Susan who just cannot help but make everyone love her. After Susan told her story, we pushed deeper into fighting discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS and I could see the change of attitudes right before my eyes.

On the fifth Sunday, men, women and older children were invited to an HIV/AIDS Awareness Day put on by selected women from my class. It was a hectic day but I was pleasantly impressed by the women I had been meeting with one on one (outside of the normal trainings) to give the lesson. They remembered everything and did an amazing job! Besides the total of 54 women who attended the 4 classes, over 100 people came to the Awareness Day.

Helga practicing her part (how HIV IS transmitted)

Melo giving her part of the training (how HIV is NOT transmitted)

Impromptu dancing and singing afterwards

The women in the class each cross-stitched a square for our HIV Awareness Quilt that will be hung at the policlinic in my village. Cross-stitching is a big part of Saramaccan culture and served as a time of discussion among the women while they sewed during the week. Our hope is that it will be a conversation starter at the policlinic and help people feel more comfortable discussing HIV/AIDS. My fellow Peace Corps volunteers Shannon and Amber, who also live in Saramaccan villages, came up with the idea to incorporate cross-stitching into an HIV Awareness activity. Encouraged by the success in their villages, I decided to take the same concept and create an extended curriculum. Thanks Shannon and Amber!

All of the participating women on the Awareness Day with our final HIV Quilt

Helga and Diana with their finished cross-stitched squares

My square! It means "How will you stop HIV?"

I have led HIV/AIDS trainings at Camp Glows, helped other volunteers with their HIV/AIDS projects and had many informal discussions but this was my first official HIV/AIDS project in my village that I alone coordinated. I am really excited to have this under my belt and happy to report that I sincerely think (and pray) that the difference in these people's knowledge of HIV/AIDS will help fight the spread of the disease in Suriname. I gained a lot of hands on experience and look forward to applying it to my next projects.

A special thanks to my hubby for photographically documenting this project for me.

Busy, busy, busy

A lot is going on, as usual. The mother of one of our good friends in the village recently passed away so we’ve been busy with funeral ceremonies. This is the first time that I have felt comfortable bringing my camera to these events, so I hope you all find them interesting.

In the middle of all that, I traveled to the city to buy supplies for a five week HIV/AIDS education class with the women in my village and two neighboring villages. We had the first class already and it went well! Expect pictures from that project later. I appreciate prayers and good thoughts for success over the next month!

Straight back from the city, we’ve been at end-of-the-school year events as the Suriname summer vacation is starting (during their big dry season). This means no more English lessons at the school for the next 2 months. I am going to take this time to improve the English/Saramaccan workbook that a previous volunteer created before we start classes with the new 5^th and 6^th graders in October.

Two good friends and I are also starting to plan the next CAMP GLOW on our river. CAMP GLOW is a life skills/empowerment camp for girls ages 12-15. I have helped with two already but will be co-leading this one. Wish me luck!

So, here is my picture update. Enjoy!

I have a porch- finally!!!

Our porch is finished!! Our friend Mark came down (who has a degree in Construction Management) and he and Ryan put their heads together and figured out how to complete our porch. It is AWESOME! First of all, it increases the size of our house by 50% and now we have a place to sit that is out of the rain but out of our house which gets very hot from the sun and from cooking anything. They built a bench so we can seat more people and we can also tie two hammocks! I LOVE it. It makes our house so much more comfortable and easier to have people over.

Here is a picture of our house as we found it one year ago:

And here is a picture of our house now:

Crazy, huh?! Thanks my hubby and Mark! I told them this was practice for the porch they’ll build me in America. :) Click here for more pictures of their hard labor.

Corps Values

As service is a huge part of the Pepperdine University mission, the alumni office has been keeping tabs on Ryan and I in the Peace Corps. The Pepperdine Magazine decided to do an article on Peace Corps to commemorate its 50th anniversary. They contacted us to be interviewed and to send them pictures. Take a look here to see the online version. Through this article, we discovered that another P-dine couple is serving right now in Guyana (which is right next door to Suriname for those of you who are geographically challenged). Looks like they might be visiting us and vice versa!

Little Saramaccan Lindsay

This is my friend Zuslien:

She lives close to us but is planning on moving to Paramaribo in August. In this recent picture, she is pregnant with her sixth child. I think she's around 29 years old. A couple of months ago she informed us that if she has a boy, she will name him Ryan and if she has a girl, she will name her Lindsay. We were excited, although, I wasn't sure if she would follow through with it or if our name would be the kid's first name, or second middle name like little Rachel Josina Lindsay Smit from our homestay family (look here). 

Well, the day finally came and she had a little girl! I was in the city at the time but my friend who is the nurse called me to say that Zuslien gave birth to a little girl and she was taking my name as her first name! Here's the thing about names in Saramaaka. Everyone has a birth name that is used in school but usually no one uses that name outside of school. Everyone has one or two nicknames that they go by. In fact, I've talked to some new mothers who do not even remember their baby's real name because they don't plan on ever using it except for school. Anyways, when I came to visit little Lindsay, Zuslien and her five other children were all calling her Lindsay already, so I think they will actually use it outside of school! 

Here she is in an outfit I bought for her!

Me, Zuslien, baby Lindsay and her big sister Sepora

Zuslien, little Lindsay, Sepora and John, Zuslien husband

A New Road, Emancipation Day, etc.

Seriously? No one commented on my last post about Ryan climbing inside of our Durotank?

Here is an update in pictures from June through July 1st, which is Emancipation Day in Suriname. You'll find jungle animals, rainbows, Saramaccan party attire, adorable children and a bulldozer making its way through our village. Never a dull moment in Saramaaka.