Liew's Views

No, they don’t have anything to do with one another…unless somebody’s done petroglyphs (rock engravings) of puppies.
I just thought that I’d share a little of both in this post.

Petroglyphs

If you come to Aishalton, you can’t miss the petroglyph site just outside of the village. The interesting part is getting there in rainy season. It takes a skilled driver to get us out there because of the muddy roads, but once you’ve hit swamp, well…you’re on your own. Be prepared to do some swamp walkin’. Take off your shoes. Don’t think about the dirt, bugs, and parasites in the water. Don’t think about what’s in the mud squishing between your toes. Don’t worry about the sand flies, kabora flies, and mosquitoes. Just walk….because you do it to see some amazing things. By amazing things, I mean rock engravings.

The engravings are fading as the rains cause erosion and the sun weakens the rock surfaces (some have cracked and chipped off!), but locals will come out to trace chalk or paint the engravings so that they’re still visible. Unfortunately, nobody I was with knew what the pictograms meant…but it was still fun guessing what the creators were trying to portray.

Some carvings are in a cave on a mountain…so up we went. We didn’t walk with a cutlass (machete), so we had to dodge bush rope (hanging vines) and thorny branches, and break through bushes. Also, I love my Birkenstock sandals, but they’re no good for climbing up mountains with wet soil and leaves as turf. And walking across a tree trunk bridge with them is also a bit terrifying when the moss is slippery. But we made it to the top (although very slowly) and were rewarded with a beautiful view (of course!).

If mountain climbers weren’t rewarded with a beautiful view at the top, I’d question why they want to climb mountains in the first place…Anyway, I digress.

So…

Where are the puppies?!

Right here :)
These rascals live at Burning Hills in Aishalton. I want to keep them all! But they have a nice home here…so why interfere with a good thing?
The brown one is my fave!

My updates are few and far between. I know this – please accept my apologies!
The problem is that I rarely have internet…I have to go to a small town called Lethem to get access and even then it’s not always reliable nor is it always fast. Lethem is about an hour away from Shulinab when the roads are good (rainy season = bad roads).

So I’m just gonna do a run-through of what’s been going on.

Rupununi Rodeo, Easter Weekend

• I watched many vaqueros (cowboys) get thrown off their broncos and bulls.
• I also watched a GBTI (bank) sponsor representative partake in bareback bronco riding…for someone with no experience I was impressed that he didn’t fall off immediately after the gate opened.
• Beef was definitely a big part of my diet since meat on a stick is THE thing to eat at Rodeo.
• I wore a cowboy hat and pretended I had the right to wear it – like everybody else.

Falls, Work, and more Falls

• I tried out my Vibram toe-shoes (thanks to my parents for sending them to me!) at Kumu Falls. They were well used in the creek, on rock beds, on boulders and fallen trees, and along trails as well.
• I went to Moco Moco to demonstrate some book keeping processes to the managers of the Moco Moco Falls Tourism sector. It was my first one-on-one financial management session :D
• Rewards for travelling to Moco Moco: spending time with a fellow VSO before she leaves to go back to Indonesia and meeting awesome people, one of whom took me to Moco Moco Falls to do more river-walking and boulder-climbing
• I began to admire Amerindian grannies.
  
  When an urban grandmother says they’re going for a walk, they mean for a short trip around the block.
  When an Amerindian granny says they’re going for a walk, they mean a half-hour walk, a climb up some steep stairs and down, climbing rocky banks and boulders, a dip in a river, and back over the rocks for the half-hour walk back. Amerindian grannies would own urban grannies.
  Nuff said.

Isn’t/aren’t:

• the many cockroaches that invaded my bathroom (past-tense since I got my place sprayed!)
• the lizards scurrying around my bathroom. In fact, they eat the cockroaches so I like ‘em
• the spider that stung me as I finished taking a shower
• the scorpions that have decided they like to hang out in my place
• drinking creek water – I did it and am living to write about it
• the fear of one big unexpected/unseen bump in the road that would throw me off the back of a motorcycle

The scariest thing I’ve experienced so far is…riding down a rocky mountain on a small horse.

The horses here are significantly smaller than the ones back home; this doesn’t inspire much confidence. Although I have a lot of experience with horses, nothing prepared me for a bush-trekking-mountain-climbing adventure on horseback.

Going up the mountain was no problem so I was ill prepared for the journey down…which was terrifying. Especially when your horse stumbles and you imagine yourself and the animal tumbling down the mountain side against all those jagged rocks.

But don’t worry. That didn’t happen. I survived (phew!) and will probably be climbing down the mountain on foot next time.

Don’t let my words convince you that the horses aren’t fit for the job though…they are actually quite good at navigating rocky mountain terrain and jumping over dried creek beds. I just felt like a terrible person who only added dead weight onto the horse’s back.

So why the adventure into “the Bush”? So I could put my big red boots to good use of course…oh and to see all this:

Worth the terrifying climb down the mountain, right?

Shulinab (Shoo-lin-ab)– this is my home for the next year (and maybe more). I live in what used to be the women’s centre. It’s pretty big for one person, so feel free to visit me :). To answer some of your questions, no I don’t have running electricity or consistently running water. I have a battery charged by solar power which lights my home.

As you may have determined, I have no access to the internet or cellular service so you won’t be able to reach me very often unless I go to Lethem to catch up on emails/calls. There is a village landline from where I can make calls, but it’s not all that reliable. Option 2 is to go to a satellite community called Quiko (Kwy-ko). There is a little mound I can stand on top of to get cellular reception – all I have to do is point my cell phone towards Lethem. It sounds ghetto, but it works! I get enough signal to receive some text and bbm messages and maybe a couple of emails. It’s not sufficient, but it’ll have to do won’t it?

The water only runs intermittently – so far, I find that it runs in the daytime when everyone is at work/school/farm, and later at night (post-dinner). In the mornings, I go to the water tank which they kindly built next to me, to fetch buckets of water that I’ll need for the day.

My bathroom is an outhouse, also known as a long-drop toilet. Cockroaches live in my toilet. They are the size of my thumb! I’ve gotten used to them and I usually make a lot of noise and bang my way into the bathroom with a stick to give them a chance to scurry away. FYI, they’re pretty damn hard to kill. Those suckers are resilient.

My shower is outdoors as well. There is a pipe that resembles a showerhead but as noted above, water only runs some of the time. Don’t worry, I have a big bucket that I fill with water required for bathing and laundry. Bucket showers actually aren’t bad at all. Bathing outside is kind of nice too – I get to watch the sun rise and/or see the stars at night.

I have a gas stove/oven so I’m eating okay. I could be eating well if I wasn’t lazy haha. Fresh fruit and vegetables aren’t all that easy to find if they’re not in season, so I’ve bought a lot of tinned or powdered things (tuna, veggies, soup mix, etc.). My line manager Faye has also given me bananas and tomatoes, which I consumed fairly quickly! She also feeds me sometimes (phew!). Okay, I gotta give some credit to Tessa, who cleaned and set up my home – she has been so awesome. She taught me how to make bread and how to prepare farine so that I could save money and have quick meals when I want. By the way, my bread’s pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Okay, enough about my place – more about the village. Shulinab is full of friendly intelligent people. Everyone says good morning, good afternoon, good night – this is what community is. Everyone’s willing to help each other out and they’re always asking how I am and if I’m alright. They’re genuinely concerned about my transition into the village which I adore them for.

I spend a lot of time with SCPDA (South Central People’s Development Association) staff. They’re bright, enthusiastic, hilarious, and fun to be around. SCPDA is involved with a lot of projects and organizations, so it means I will get to meet tons of people in the region. I am certain I will have to travel to different communities to get to know everyone and establish where I can be of assistance so that’s another thing to look forward to.

So far, I love this experience. I don’t know when/if culture shock and homesickness are going to hit me, but I don’ think it’ll be anytime soon. That being said, I still miss you all and wish you were here. Xo.

P.S. My Scorpion sighting count is 6….that’s probably not a good thing. And I already got stung by a spider and bitten/stung by a zillion ants. ouch.

Okay, so I didn’t post as much as I thought I would upon my arrival into Guyana. Whoops.
I’m going to summarize some points to get you all caught up on my life. Fair warning, this is going to be a long post with no pictures because my internet is slow slow slow.

Georgetown

1. I got distracted by orientation, prepping for the move, and meeting loads of people hence why there was no post before I moved to my village of Shulinab.
2. Mash happened. Mashramani (a national celebration not unlike Caribana for us Torontonians) was on Feb 23, 2012 and a bunch of us partied as is, naturally, required. This means I was in no condition to blog during the days leading up to Mash and the ones following it.

Georgetown to Wowetta

1. Three of us got shipped off…by shipped off I mean we got packed into a pickup truck for a very bumpy ride (the roads are terribly pot-holed) into the Interior of Guyana. All our belongings and two scooters were jammed tight on the truck bed. We left Georgetown at night and made it into Wowetta in the morning where we spent a day and a night.
2. I got to visit the Aranaputta Peanut Factory which is an enterprise led by some brilliant women. They provide peanut butter and cassava bread as part of a school snack program to the surrounding villages. The peanut butter is delicious and au naturel. The purpose of my visit was to gain a bit of knowledge on how the business was run and what successes and challenges occurred. I got a chance to take a look at their books (sales, expenses, etc) to better understand how accounting for businesses operates in the Interior.
3. Kids have never made me laugh harder. Miss Zita from the Wowetta Nursery School asked if Samson (another volunteer placed in Aishalton) and I would like to interact with the kids for the day while we waited to go to Lethem. We obliged and were rewarded with songs (the kids love to sing!) and very entertaining games of football, cat & rat (cat & mouse to us), and a walking race. Yes, a walking race – watching kids hold themselves back from running is pretty hilarious. We also had them spell words for us.

   Me: Do you know how to spell ‘tree’?
   Kids: YES! T-H-R-E-E. “TREE!”
   Miss Zita laughs. I am a bit stunned.
   Miss Zita then tells me that I have to point to a tree if I want them to actually spell the kind of tree that grows from the ground.
   So you see, the kids weren’t wrong; I just wasn’t specific enough. One, two, tree.

Wowetta to Lethem

1. Lethem – It’s a small town. Nothing really special about it, except that it’s the only place where I can probably do internet research, answer emails, and blog to you all. It’s also where you’d go through to go to Brazil – you can cross without a visa/passport to Bonfim which is a short walk’s distance from Lethem.
2. The drive into the Rupununi is amazingly gorgeous. That description doesn’t even do it justice. Imagine rolling savannahs with a perfect view of mountains all around. A lot of people told me how the Rupununi is a beautiful place, but I never imagined it like this. And I get to see this stuff every day!

Here is where I cut this post short – I don’t want to kill you with too much info. The next post will be about my new home.

VSO Guyana took us on a mini trip to get away from the office for one day. We headed to Madewini Gardens for a swim in a pool and the blackwater creek (a very literal name). It wasn’t all play – we had to do some learning first on the status of disability in Guyana. VSO programs dedicated to improving the status, and about common vegetables. I know, that last topic doesn’t seem like it belongs but it was a necessary lesson!

Because they don’t call an eggplant an eggplant…they don’t even call it an aubergine. They actually call it a “Boulanger” or a “Baigan”. huh.

A Guyanese saying is that if you eat labba and drink black water while visiting Guyana, you are bound to return.

• Labba is a small agouti or South American rodent that can be eaten in a dark stew called “pepper pot”
• “Black water” is the water of muddy streams…it’s self-explanatory, really.

No, I did not drink black water, but I guess I don’t need to since I’ll be living in Guyana for at least a year. I’ll let you know if/when I try labba.

On Friday I experienced information overload during in-country orientation, but I did learn a lot about my placement in the Interior (I’ll save the details for another blog post). I also got the chance to meet those I’d be in contact with while in Region 9. Lucky for me the organization I am working for (South Central People Development Organization aka SCPDA) was in GT during the week and I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Faye Fredericks, who I will be working directly with. She is a sweetheart who has graciously offered to teach me to cook (a great feat!) and is super excited to have me in Shulinab. I’m not sure how she’ll feel once she realizes I suck at cooking…let’s worry about that in March when I actually go into the region.

Other things I (and the other volunteers) learned:

Cabs

• Use them at night instead of walking. There are some parts you shouldn’t walk through at night; there are also parts you shouldn’t walk through at all (e.g. South of Hadfield).
• You feel incredibly stupid cabbing the distance of a 5 minute walk – but better safe than sorry I guess (right, ma?)
• Everywhere you go you’ll be offered a taxi ride. Just say no.
• Call a cab vs flagging one down for security reasons. We use Cyril’s.
• A cab ride is about $1.50 CDN (G$300) within the city – flat rate.

Minibuses

• They are abundant at Stabroek Market which is like a main terminal.
• They are cramped little things.
• You can ask to be dropped off anywhere en route. (what bus stops?)
• The cost is $0.30 CDN (G$60) within the city. Don’t pay more.

Tidbits

• St. George’s Anglican Cathedral is one of the tallest wooden churches in the world



• People are super helpful in the markets. In Stabroek, we wanted limes and didn’t know that there were so many different types of limes (duh). The vendor helped us out by indicating which ones were best for rum punch ;)
• People love to suck their teeth (flashback of a school principal telling a kid off: “Don’t suck your teeth – brush them!”)
• Georgetown is small, so it’s very walkable though you might not want to do it that blistering heat.

There are a lot more observations, but I don’t wanna bore you. Maybe you should come visit and observe/experience first-hand instead :)

It’s hot. Humid hot. You-wanna-take-a-cold-shower-5-times-a-day hot.
For the most part, I’m permanently sticky. I’ve already got 5 mosquito bites – this isn’t too bad considering I was expecting 20 on my first day. Let’s call that a win, shall we?

4 volunteers, including myself, arrived in Georgetown yesterday (Thursday). 1 volunteer arrived on Wednesday. 1 is to arrive tomorrow on Saturday. Everyone so far is great – they got to enjoy drinks at The Hibiscus yesterday (located across the street from Rima Guest House, where we’re staying) while I tried to troubleshoot my damn Goal Zero Sherpa 50 Adventure Kit <-- I'd normally link that to the product, but I'm not happy with Goal Zero right now so let's save the link and the whys for another day and blog post.

Anyway, most of us spent all day unpacking and resting since we got little to no sleep on our flight into GT, but we did manage to make it to the Seawall. The Seawall is where people go to lime (hang out), swim (in brown water…ew) and some even run along it, if not on it. I’m not a runner, so you know I opted to walk on it :)
The Seawall is where it’s cool in Georgetown…I don’t mean hip-cool, I mean breezy-cool, refreshing-cool; that walk was the best part of yesterday.
One thing you gotta watch for is people walking in the opposite direction you’re going…as in you gotta try to avoid bumping into them without losing your balance off the wall. It’s not a big drop to the ground, but it will probably be painful no matter which side of the Seawall you fall off (rocks vs pavement).

And now…off to our first day of In-Country training and back to hating my solar technology purchase (shut up, Chet!)

Okay, so I haven’t updated this blog in awhile; and it’s not because I haven’t had spectacular things happen to me. It’s because I’m a bit busy and lazy. So here’s a quick recap:

1. In the dead of winter (Feb 2011), I changed jobs. It was an exciting and much needed change and I met some great people and learned a lot because of it (I am no longer at this position).
2. In the summer, I travelled to London for an amazing Indian wedding with people I’d consider family. I went to Paris to explore and hang out with a girl-friend. I fell in love with Copenhagen and their bike lanes while visiting a family-friend studying there.
3. In the fall, I got to help plan and execute the TEDxToronto After Party. I met some inspiring artists and performers and had a lot of fun doing it.
4. Around the end of 2011, I got together with two brilliant girl-friends and launched helloberry bracelets. Through the stresses of brainstorming, set-up, long meetings, and many late nights, we always had fun. I never thought I could do anything entrepreneurial, but I can’t say that any more. We’ve been well-received and our fans are fan-tastic! (see what I did there?)

And now….

I am moving to Guyana.

I will be there starting on February 9, 2012 for a one year placement in Shulinab, Guyana (located about 1-2 hours south of Lethem in the Interior) as a Women’s Enterprise Development Advisor. I applied to Cuso International and was selected by them along with VSO Guyana to work with the South Central People Development Association (SCPDA) .

I will be dedicated to working with and among various communities in the Rupununi region to assist with finance, accounting, and a bit of marketing and product development. I will mostly be working with Amerindian women who have enterprises in agriculture and craft-making. Although it seems that I will be teaching them business skills, I know I will learn lots from them as well.

A big question is

Now to answer the “Where exactly…?” questions, here’s a map to help you visualize where I’ll be located (click to enlarge):

By clicking that map I bet some of you just learned that Guyana isn’t an island (although it’s associated with the West Indies which include island nations), and that it’s situated in South America, above Brazil and to the east of Venezuela.

Guyana was colonized by the Brits (so they speak English). To the east, there is Suriname (colonized by the Dutch) and French Guiana (colonized by the French). These three countries are the only ones in South America that don’t speak either Spanish or Portuguese as first languages.

Okay, that’s enough geography and history for now.

Here’s where I ask you to support me and Cuso International.
Cuso International sends volunteers abroad to work on collaborative development projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. They are one of North America’s largest international development non-profits that works through volunteers like me.

Here’s the great thing about donating – every dollar you donate is multiplied by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to help fund Cuso International’s efforts to support global development, environmental sustainability and social justice.

Convinced?

Donate now!

Thank you in advance for your donations; without your generosity, Cuso International wouldn’t be able to send volunteers overseas to pass on their knowledge and expertise.