As might be expected, access to resources is a major problem in many developing countries, and Jamaica is not any different. There are countless aid workers, community development organizations, community members, Peace Corps workers, etc. who have great and viable project ideas, but have been deadlocked because they have no funding and little resources to speak of.
We see this happen all the time in Jamaica, among non-profits, for-profits, and governmental organizations alike. The school system provides a perfect example of the a perpetual lack of resources. On a parental level, transportation is not provided for students, meaning they need to find and pay for their own way to school, even when their respective school is miles away. Of course, you must keep in mind that most Jamaicans do not own a vehicle. This often means that children have to take a taxi to school. We'll get more into transportation issues later, but for right now, let's focus on the fact that this can be very expensive for many families, and as a result, many children stay home from school regularly, simply because they are unable to pay for a ride to school. For teachers, they also struggle with lack of resources regularly. Schools are short on money, so how do you do find the money to buy poster-board or crayons or construction paper for the smallest class project or fun lesson idea? When you're constantly trying to find chalk for your classroom, how could you ever attempt to do an educational class field trip? Again, most parents struggle to pay transportation costs, much less cover school supplies. As a result, many Jamaican teachers and faculty are always trying to fund-raise. Primary school students get two breaks, including lunch every school day. You would think that this would also be a time for the teacher to plan, or rest, or regroup. Not so. Many Jamaican teachers end up spending breaks selling ice cream, cheese puffs, bag juice, and all sorts of things that the children will buy in order to raise some funds for the school.
For us, lack of resources affects us every day, and to be completely honest, what resources we do have available often dictates what projects we involve ourselves with. We're constantly trying to be creative with what we do have, and are searching for ways to provide the smallest amount of money to cover a project we're trying to launch (for example: $5US/week to cover the costs incurred to make the reading program successful.)
Okay, enough of our whining...and let's shift to some “beggin'” as they say here in Jamaica. Matt and I in the process of trying to get some books here in Accompong. Illiteracy is one of the social issues we're working on, and we have a few projects underway, but have hardly any books in our 'library' -a slight problem for our reading programs. There are almost no books for children 8 years old and younger, we literally have found 10 books for these emerging readers (and all of those adults, children, and teens who read at these levels). What we need are books that are appropriate for these young readers, picture books, primers, pre-primers, even old “Dick and Jane” type books would be fine... kindergarten through 3rd grade only.
So if you have any books, or know somebody who knows somebody, or whatever, please contact us, and we'll try to piece it together from there. Obviously shipping is the next step, and we have a few leads there, but first we need some books.
If you don't have any obvious connections or don't feel moved, please don't feel obligated to help us.... even if you're our closest friend or one of our mothers … This may be the first time we reach out, but it surely won't be our last. So maybe we'll catch you on our next 'beggin' call. Either way, thank you for any effort you may or may not make. :)
Here's some pictures of the school library and the community library. We were lucky enough to have Ashmael and Rianna model for us:
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
FAQs, Round 2
Q: Where are your dogs?
A: All of the dogs currently reside in or near Eagle, AK (the community that we were living close to before leaving). We had 10 dogs as of May 2009. Tonga was adopted by the Helmer's. Samoa, Moxie, and Typhoon are with Mike and Sonja's family. The rest: Hurricane, Cyclone, Djembe, Moby, Triton, and Gecko were all adopted by Wayne and Scarlett, and have continued to be used for the same guide work that Matt was doing before we left.
For those of you who don't know, we're planning on moving to Maine when we get back, and thus won't be able to take all the dogs with us. As a result, we will only be getting Moxie and Typhoon back when we come back to the States. We won't get into how heart-wrenching this whole process has been, as we're sure you'll be able to guess.
Q: Where's all your stuff?
A: First of all, we don't really have a lot of stuff -unless you ask Matt's mom because most of our things are at his parent's place. We don't really have any furniture or big items, as most of the furniture was incorporated into the structure of the cabin. Plus, we didn't have electricity or running water, so appliances were pretty much non-existent. In fact, most of our things can be put into three categories: books, Matt's tools, and clothes. Most of those things are currently at Matt's parents', unless Judy had a big garage sale and we just don't know it yet :). To further highlight their generosity, they offered to pay to store our truck while we're gone -probably out of fear of it also being stored in their garage. Either way, thanks again Ed and Judy!! Don't worry, one of these days we're going to live somewhere consistently for more than a couple of years. (Maybe you're asking how those things got from Alaska to Buffalo, NY. Short answer: Matt drove everything down in the truck and trailer...in late December...at -30...5 hours of daylight....16-20 hours of driving a day... sleeping in the truck along the way....you get the picture)
Q: How have you been adjusting to the heat?
A: You would think we would be melting- and sometimes we almost do- but we haven't been doing too bad. We're approaching the hottest part of the year, and as long as we avoid being outside 3 hours straight at the hottest part of the day, we're okay. This may sound wimpy, but that's what Jamaicans do. And I guess that's how I judge how well we're adjusting, by comparing to the locals. If it's noon, and I'm walking down the street to my house, and I think I'm going to die any moment from being roasted alive...and then I look over and see a fellow Jamaican experiencing the same torture, I figure I'm not doing too bad. If Matt goes out for a hike at 11am, and none of the locals want to join him because it's just too dang hot...well, I guess we're alright.
Also, attempting not to discourage any potential visitors, we probably live in one of the coolest places on island. It's usually only from 10-3 that it's so bad. Last night, I was able to sleep comfortably with a blanket, no fan. Some other PCVs sweat sleeping naked, no blankets, with a fan on full blast.
Yet another reason we are loving Accompong.
A: All of the dogs currently reside in or near Eagle, AK (the community that we were living close to before leaving). We had 10 dogs as of May 2009. Tonga was adopted by the Helmer's. Samoa, Moxie, and Typhoon are with Mike and Sonja's family. The rest: Hurricane, Cyclone, Djembe, Moby, Triton, and Gecko were all adopted by Wayne and Scarlett, and have continued to be used for the same guide work that Matt was doing before we left.
For those of you who don't know, we're planning on moving to Maine when we get back, and thus won't be able to take all the dogs with us. As a result, we will only be getting Moxie and Typhoon back when we come back to the States. We won't get into how heart-wrenching this whole process has been, as we're sure you'll be able to guess.
Q: Where's all your stuff?
A: First of all, we don't really have a lot of stuff -unless you ask Matt's mom because most of our things are at his parent's place. We don't really have any furniture or big items, as most of the furniture was incorporated into the structure of the cabin. Plus, we didn't have electricity or running water, so appliances were pretty much non-existent. In fact, most of our things can be put into three categories: books, Matt's tools, and clothes. Most of those things are currently at Matt's parents', unless Judy had a big garage sale and we just don't know it yet :). To further highlight their generosity, they offered to pay to store our truck while we're gone -probably out of fear of it also being stored in their garage. Either way, thanks again Ed and Judy!! Don't worry, one of these days we're going to live somewhere consistently for more than a couple of years. (Maybe you're asking how those things got from Alaska to Buffalo, NY. Short answer: Matt drove everything down in the truck and trailer...in late December...at -30...5 hours of daylight....16-20 hours of driving a day... sleeping in the truck along the way....you get the picture)
Q: How have you been adjusting to the heat?
A: You would think we would be melting- and sometimes we almost do- but we haven't been doing too bad. We're approaching the hottest part of the year, and as long as we avoid being outside 3 hours straight at the hottest part of the day, we're okay. This may sound wimpy, but that's what Jamaicans do. And I guess that's how I judge how well we're adjusting, by comparing to the locals. If it's noon, and I'm walking down the street to my house, and I think I'm going to die any moment from being roasted alive...and then I look over and see a fellow Jamaican experiencing the same torture, I figure I'm not doing too bad. If Matt goes out for a hike at 11am, and none of the locals want to join him because it's just too dang hot...well, I guess we're alright.
Also, attempting not to discourage any potential visitors, we probably live in one of the coolest places on island. It's usually only from 10-3 that it's so bad. Last night, I was able to sleep comfortably with a blanket, no fan. Some other PCVs sweat sleeping naked, no blankets, with a fan on full blast.
Yet another reason we are loving Accompong.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Lucy
FYI: We did 2 blog posts again. Have fun.
Meet our goat Lucy, the newest addition to our clan. Someone please let Moxie and Typhoon know that she won't be coming back to America with us... so as not to worry about being replaced. We bought Lucy for $3500 Jamaican, about $40 US, seemed like a pretty good price although a couple of our local Jamaican friends here have commented that maybe the price was a little high. We may have payed a bit of a “white man's tax”. So be it.
We can't tell you much about Lucy. We don't know what kind of goat she is (probably some kind of mixed breed Caribbean goat), or what her bloodlines are. She's just a goat to us, but we love her just the same. Everybody already thinks we're a little crazy... “A whitey wid a goat, Lard, wat dis worl a comin to?!”, and then we gave her a name which of course nobody does here.
(Small side note: People here don't really name any animals, including pet dogs, cats, bird, whatever. We go for nightly walks through town, and invariably some pet/guard dog will bark at the new 'whities' in town. The owners will immediately come out to reign in their animal, while yelling “Dog! Dog! Come ya!” Or “Pup! Puppy! Stop dat! Shhh!” By the way, we can almost hear the dogs telling their masters in response, “No, trust me. Something's a little different about these guys. Haven't figured it out yet, but I know it's something.”
Part of it has to do with Jamaican culture's take on pets in general. The don't really talk to their dogs for any other reason than to call off their attacks on PCVs. So why name them?
So you can imagine what people think, when not only have we named our goat, but we pet her and talk to her when we walk by or get up in the morning.)
What we do know about Lucy is this... she is right about 12 months old and supposed to be pregnant, bred a couple of weeks ago to a nice big ram goat. This is part of the reason we didn't mind paying a little extra for her. You see, we have plans for Lucy and are glad that she is in the “family way”. Goats in Jamaica are almost exclusively bred for meat. Almost nobody, except the wealthy, eats any other kind of meat (other than fish and chicken). So when we heard that Lucy had already been bred we were actually excited because it'll speed up the process all the more. Gestation is about 5 months, although like every other bit of information here, we've had a hard time getting a precise answer, maybe it does really vary. If Lucy really is pregnant she should give birth sometime in late October. It's common for females to birth twins, and sometimes more. At about 6 months old, most ram goats are either sold for cash or slaughtered for meat, the does are usually kept for more breeding possibilities. Most likely we'll follow a similar plan. And if all goes right, maybe by the time we leave here in two years we will have a small flock of goats to sell or give away. We will also attempt to get some milk from Lucy when the time comes, although we've been told that the goats here are too small for that, not enough milk. However it works out, it'll sure to be a learning process.
In the meantime Lucy has become our alarm clock. Without fail at 5:30 every morning Lucy will begin to loudly proclaim (what is it that goats do... bray? neigh? Cry?....oh yeah, bleat!) her hunger and desire to be put out to new pasture. Pasture is the only thing that goats need here. No water, no supplemental feed, no housing. Incredible. So every morning we take her on a very short walk to a fresh area of grass and brush, tie her to a tree or post and let her graze for the day. In the evening we bring her back to the house and inside our gated area to deter anybody from stealing her. Several local people have made us aware of this possibility. Let's hope not as we're quickly becoming attached to her. Oh, she will need to be wormed 3 or 4 times a years, but not while she is pregnant. She is learning to like to be scratched behind the ears and gently stroked on her back.
So keep your fingers crossed for us and, maybe just maybe, soon we will be competent goat herders. Aren't you proud moms?
Meet our goat Lucy, the newest addition to our clan. Someone please let Moxie and Typhoon know that she won't be coming back to America with us... so as not to worry about being replaced. We bought Lucy for $3500 Jamaican, about $40 US, seemed like a pretty good price although a couple of our local Jamaican friends here have commented that maybe the price was a little high. We may have payed a bit of a “white man's tax”. So be it.
We can't tell you much about Lucy. We don't know what kind of goat she is (probably some kind of mixed breed Caribbean goat), or what her bloodlines are. She's just a goat to us, but we love her just the same. Everybody already thinks we're a little crazy... “A whitey wid a goat, Lard, wat dis worl a comin to?!”, and then we gave her a name which of course nobody does here.
(Small side note: People here don't really name any animals, including pet dogs, cats, bird, whatever. We go for nightly walks through town, and invariably some pet/guard dog will bark at the new 'whities' in town. The owners will immediately come out to reign in their animal, while yelling “Dog! Dog! Come ya!” Or “Pup! Puppy! Stop dat! Shhh!” By the way, we can almost hear the dogs telling their masters in response, “No, trust me. Something's a little different about these guys. Haven't figured it out yet, but I know it's something.”
Part of it has to do with Jamaican culture's take on pets in general. The don't really talk to their dogs for any other reason than to call off their attacks on PCVs. So why name them?
So you can imagine what people think, when not only have we named our goat, but we pet her and talk to her when we walk by or get up in the morning.)
What we do know about Lucy is this... she is right about 12 months old and supposed to be pregnant, bred a couple of weeks ago to a nice big ram goat. This is part of the reason we didn't mind paying a little extra for her. You see, we have plans for Lucy and are glad that she is in the “family way”. Goats in Jamaica are almost exclusively bred for meat. Almost nobody, except the wealthy, eats any other kind of meat (other than fish and chicken). So when we heard that Lucy had already been bred we were actually excited because it'll speed up the process all the more. Gestation is about 5 months, although like every other bit of information here, we've had a hard time getting a precise answer, maybe it does really vary. If Lucy really is pregnant she should give birth sometime in late October. It's common for females to birth twins, and sometimes more. At about 6 months old, most ram goats are either sold for cash or slaughtered for meat, the does are usually kept for more breeding possibilities. Most likely we'll follow a similar plan. And if all goes right, maybe by the time we leave here in two years we will have a small flock of goats to sell or give away. We will also attempt to get some milk from Lucy when the time comes, although we've been told that the goats here are too small for that, not enough milk. However it works out, it'll sure to be a learning process.
In the meantime Lucy has become our alarm clock. Without fail at 5:30 every morning Lucy will begin to loudly proclaim (what is it that goats do... bray? neigh? Cry?....oh yeah, bleat!) her hunger and desire to be put out to new pasture. Pasture is the only thing that goats need here. No water, no supplemental feed, no housing. Incredible. So every morning we take her on a very short walk to a fresh area of grass and brush, tie her to a tree or post and let her graze for the day. In the evening we bring her back to the house and inside our gated area to deter anybody from stealing her. Several local people have made us aware of this possibility. Let's hope not as we're quickly becoming attached to her. Oh, she will need to be wormed 3 or 4 times a years, but not while she is pregnant. She is learning to like to be scratched behind the ears and gently stroked on her back.
So keep your fingers crossed for us and, maybe just maybe, soon we will be competent goat herders. Aren't you proud moms?
hodgepodge
We couldn't decide what to write because there's so many new things going on every day that it's hard to capture it all. At some point things will stop being new, different, and exciting and will turn to old, ordinary, and boring, and then we'll really struggle to know what to write about....
Anyway, back to my original point, we figured we'd just give you a slideshow of images that touches on a few insights into our life in Accompong:
pic 1-6: Dowdy. To use his own words, he's “a likkle rastaman”. Dowdy's our closest Jamaicann friend, our homie, our bredren. Dowdy's like family to us already. Dowdy's great...until we get annoyed enough with each other that we need a break, you know, just like all good friends do.
Pic 7-9: 40-legger. Big bug. You DO NOT want to get stung by this bug. We've yet to get the exact straight facts, but we've heard everything from this bug can kill you, you'll lose a limb, it feels similar to a gunshot wound, it'll paralyze you, all the way to the only way to deal with the pain is to get drunk off of rum for 3 days (and apparently doctors will confirm this). Well, as you can tell by the pictures, one crawled right into our house, into our bedroom, right before we were getting ready to go to bed. Matt had to hit it about 20 times with his shoe to kill it. We now shove a doormat underneath the door every night.
Pic 10-16: Cocoa. This is one of Matt's new little pet projects. He's trying to make chocolate from scratch, scratch meaning harvesting the cocoa pods from the trees, pulling out the cocoa seeds, fermenting them, etc. You know, how Matt likes to do most things: why build a house of other materials when you can bring in the lumber for your house on your own back? Why buy beer from the store when you can brew it yourself? And buy a boat when you can build it with your own two hands?
It is not uncommon for Jamaicans to make their our chocolate, many people in Accompong do this. However, Matt is attempting to introduce the fermentation process; apparently this is what makes good chocolate great. Or at least that's what his research says.
Pic 17-18: Roba. Roba's another one of our good friends here in Accompong, except that Roba's 64. So he's more of a mentor than a buddy we invite over for movies, although he'd probably be game for that too. Roba and Matt have spent a lot of time hiking around. Roba's humoring Matt's interest in the cocoa project. The two of them have been working on it together. Roba's in great shape too; the other day he was climbing around in one of the cocoa trees like an 8 year old boy. He also helped to put up our hammock. Roba also farms coffee trees, and he and Matt have worked out an agreement on future coffee beans. Some of you can expect fresh roasted coffee beans for Christmas.
Pic: 19-28: Baboo's Garden. This is Tony's place. Tony is an American that now lives in Accompong. He's also part of our new family. I'm sure we'll share more about him later. Baboo's Garden is a primitive Eco-lodge. We hang out here a lot, partly because this is where Tony and Dowdy live, and partly because it's a great place to hang out.
Pic 29-32: Lucy. Lucy's our new goat. Matt will share more about her in another post.
Pic 33: Friends. From left to right: Sammi, Ikamellia, me, Chris. Sammi and Chris are volunteers who are also stationed in our parish. Some more new additions to the Emslie family. They're the closest to where we're located, and by default we'll be spending lots of time with them. Lucky for us, they're pretty cool people. Ikamellia (also known as Kam) is our closest Jamaican female friend. Dowdy and Kam are like brother and sister to us. I'm sure you'll hear more about her later as well.
Pic 34-37: Grasscut. This is Bill cutting our grass with a machete. Enough said.
Anyway, back to my original point, we figured we'd just give you a slideshow of images that touches on a few insights into our life in Accompong:
pic 1-6: Dowdy. To use his own words, he's “a likkle rastaman”. Dowdy's our closest Jamaicann friend, our homie, our bredren. Dowdy's like family to us already. Dowdy's great...until we get annoyed enough with each other that we need a break, you know, just like all good friends do.
Pic 7-9: 40-legger. Big bug. You DO NOT want to get stung by this bug. We've yet to get the exact straight facts, but we've heard everything from this bug can kill you, you'll lose a limb, it feels similar to a gunshot wound, it'll paralyze you, all the way to the only way to deal with the pain is to get drunk off of rum for 3 days (and apparently doctors will confirm this). Well, as you can tell by the pictures, one crawled right into our house, into our bedroom, right before we were getting ready to go to bed. Matt had to hit it about 20 times with his shoe to kill it. We now shove a doormat underneath the door every night.
Pic 10-16: Cocoa. This is one of Matt's new little pet projects. He's trying to make chocolate from scratch, scratch meaning harvesting the cocoa pods from the trees, pulling out the cocoa seeds, fermenting them, etc. You know, how Matt likes to do most things: why build a house of other materials when you can bring in the lumber for your house on your own back? Why buy beer from the store when you can brew it yourself? And buy a boat when you can build it with your own two hands?
It is not uncommon for Jamaicans to make their our chocolate, many people in Accompong do this. However, Matt is attempting to introduce the fermentation process; apparently this is what makes good chocolate great. Or at least that's what his research says.
Pic 17-18: Roba. Roba's another one of our good friends here in Accompong, except that Roba's 64. So he's more of a mentor than a buddy we invite over for movies, although he'd probably be game for that too. Roba and Matt have spent a lot of time hiking around. Roba's humoring Matt's interest in the cocoa project. The two of them have been working on it together. Roba's in great shape too; the other day he was climbing around in one of the cocoa trees like an 8 year old boy. He also helped to put up our hammock. Roba also farms coffee trees, and he and Matt have worked out an agreement on future coffee beans. Some of you can expect fresh roasted coffee beans for Christmas.
Pic: 19-28: Baboo's Garden. This is Tony's place. Tony is an American that now lives in Accompong. He's also part of our new family. I'm sure we'll share more about him later. Baboo's Garden is a primitive Eco-lodge. We hang out here a lot, partly because this is where Tony and Dowdy live, and partly because it's a great place to hang out.
Pic 29-32: Lucy. Lucy's our new goat. Matt will share more about her in another post.
Pic 33: Friends. From left to right: Sammi, Ikamellia, me, Chris. Sammi and Chris are volunteers who are also stationed in our parish. Some more new additions to the Emslie family. They're the closest to where we're located, and by default we'll be spending lots of time with them. Lucky for us, they're pretty cool people. Ikamellia (also known as Kam) is our closest Jamaican female friend. Dowdy and Kam are like brother and sister to us. I'm sure you'll hear more about her later as well.
Pic 34-37: Grasscut. This is Bill cutting our grass with a machete. Enough said.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
home sweet home
(FYI: We've decided to do 2 blog posts since we were able to get to internet as of late; so make sure to check out the post below as well.)
We're sure that many of you are anxious to see our new lovely abode. So we thought we might post some pictures of our new place. We live in a lower level apartment on the backside of a house. The owners' of the house currently live farin' (in England). It's pretty quaint, and nicer than anything we thought we might live in when we originally decided to apply to the Peace Corps. We even have a TV (don't worry, it only has 2 fuzzy local stations). Our veranda supposedly isn't done yet. They're supposed to put an awning over it, and raise the sides. We're pretty excited about this, as we would love to spend more time outside, but due to the sun, and the rain, the outdoor veranda isn't as inviting.
We also wanted to include come pictures of Accompong. Matt usually goes for a little hike every morning on some of the trails that skirt the town. Unfortunately, these pictures don't do the area justice, but at least it's something. We guess that all of you will just have to come visit to see it for yourself.
We're sure that many of you are anxious to see our new lovely abode. So we thought we might post some pictures of our new place. We live in a lower level apartment on the backside of a house. The owners' of the house currently live farin' (in England). It's pretty quaint, and nicer than anything we thought we might live in when we originally decided to apply to the Peace Corps. We even have a TV (don't worry, it only has 2 fuzzy local stations). Our veranda supposedly isn't done yet. They're supposed to put an awning over it, and raise the sides. We're pretty excited about this, as we would love to spend more time outside, but due to the sun, and the rain, the outdoor veranda isn't as inviting.
We also wanted to include come pictures of Accompong. Matt usually goes for a little hike every morning on some of the trails that skirt the town. Unfortunately, these pictures don't do the area justice, but at least it's something. We guess that all of you will just have to come visit to see it for yourself.
political unrest
As you may or may not know there has been some political unrest in Jamaica over the last week or so. Our travel has been strongly restricted, we're not allowed to leave our homes after 6:30, and a few volunteers have even had to be relocated to another site, at least for the time being.
The political scene in Jamaica is highly controversial, something that many Jamaicans will argue and debate about all day. As we've said before, Jamaicans are very passionate people, and this passion definitely carries over into politics. Many people get extremely heated about politics, and the Peace Corps has strongly encouraged us to stay neutral (or at least not let on to anyone where we might side). Because of much of this, it can be very difficult to decipher the Jamaican political landscape. It seems to be filled with rumors, emotions, distrust, personal perceptions, convoluted information, and an individual's agenda. I know what you're probably saying, “Yeah, but isn't that politics everywhere?” Well, yes, but it's even more so here in Jamaica. In light of all this, we'll try to do our best to give an unbiased recap of the recent events....
Last year, the US requested the extradition of a man, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, and he has yet to be apprehended. Since the time of this original request, there has been much controversy over this issue. Now, extraditions to the US are not an uncommon practice; over the last 50 years, the US has asked for many individuals to be brought to their custody. Actually, the US called for many others prior to Dudus, and they have all been processed and sent Stateside. Why is the situation with Dudus unique? Well, Dudus is a very powerful don that oversees an area in West Kingston called Tivoli Gardens. The current Prime Minister Bruce Golding's constituency covers the area of West Kingston. Golding is with the JLP party, of which Tivoli Gardens has had long ties with. Like the US, Jamaica has a two party system, the Jamaica Labor Party(JLP) and the People's National Party(PNP), but under a parliamentary system.
Strong rumor has it that the politicians and political parties are heavily linked with the gangs and gun violence, and have strong relationships with many of the dons. This practice appears to go back almost 40 years now. We can neither confirm or deny this; this is just the word on the street... generally accepted as truth by almost everybody in Jamaica. This latest incident revolving around Dudus seems to confirm some of this belief. The current administration has appeared to avoid the issue of Dudus, not heeding to the US's request. Many people believe that this is due to Bruce Golding's personal tie to Dudus. Plus, there's the thought that if Dudus is extradited, all hell is going to break loose with gangs around the island for a couple of reasons... 1) it upsets the balance of power in the “underworld” and 2) Jamaica is a small island and many of the gangs are strongly linked.
About 2 weeks ago, Golding gave a speech on national television, saying that the extradition papers would be signed. A few days later, 4 police stations in Kingston were attacked, one of which was burned to the ground. The Kingston Public Hospital came under gunfire, and the infamous Cornation market was also razed. Golding declared a State of Emergency for Kingston and the parish of St. Andrew.
Since then, it's been a whirlwind of events with everyone glued to their TVs to catch the 7 and 8pm news. The military and police have been called in from all over the island to Kingston, which resembles somewhat of a battle zone right now. After about a week of the chaos, many people have been killed, civil rights controversy abounds, and still no Dudus.
Who knows how all of it will end, but one nice thing is that we're probably located in one of the safest places on the island right now. Crime in Accompong is almost non-existent, and we're far-removed from the situation in Kingston, at least geographically. Plus, after only a week, the community seems to have taken us under their wing, making sure we feel safe and comfortable. While watching the news in some of the local shops, some of them have even offered their unsolicited reassurance, “Don' worry yuhself, wi won' let anyting 'appen a yuh”, as if they could read our worried mothers' minds back home.
The political scene in Jamaica is highly controversial, something that many Jamaicans will argue and debate about all day. As we've said before, Jamaicans are very passionate people, and this passion definitely carries over into politics. Many people get extremely heated about politics, and the Peace Corps has strongly encouraged us to stay neutral (or at least not let on to anyone where we might side). Because of much of this, it can be very difficult to decipher the Jamaican political landscape. It seems to be filled with rumors, emotions, distrust, personal perceptions, convoluted information, and an individual's agenda. I know what you're probably saying, “Yeah, but isn't that politics everywhere?” Well, yes, but it's even more so here in Jamaica. In light of all this, we'll try to do our best to give an unbiased recap of the recent events....
Last year, the US requested the extradition of a man, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, and he has yet to be apprehended. Since the time of this original request, there has been much controversy over this issue. Now, extraditions to the US are not an uncommon practice; over the last 50 years, the US has asked for many individuals to be brought to their custody. Actually, the US called for many others prior to Dudus, and they have all been processed and sent Stateside. Why is the situation with Dudus unique? Well, Dudus is a very powerful don that oversees an area in West Kingston called Tivoli Gardens. The current Prime Minister Bruce Golding's constituency covers the area of West Kingston. Golding is with the JLP party, of which Tivoli Gardens has had long ties with. Like the US, Jamaica has a two party system, the Jamaica Labor Party(JLP) and the People's National Party(PNP), but under a parliamentary system.
Strong rumor has it that the politicians and political parties are heavily linked with the gangs and gun violence, and have strong relationships with many of the dons. This practice appears to go back almost 40 years now. We can neither confirm or deny this; this is just the word on the street... generally accepted as truth by almost everybody in Jamaica. This latest incident revolving around Dudus seems to confirm some of this belief. The current administration has appeared to avoid the issue of Dudus, not heeding to the US's request. Many people believe that this is due to Bruce Golding's personal tie to Dudus. Plus, there's the thought that if Dudus is extradited, all hell is going to break loose with gangs around the island for a couple of reasons... 1) it upsets the balance of power in the “underworld” and 2) Jamaica is a small island and many of the gangs are strongly linked.
About 2 weeks ago, Golding gave a speech on national television, saying that the extradition papers would be signed. A few days later, 4 police stations in Kingston were attacked, one of which was burned to the ground. The Kingston Public Hospital came under gunfire, and the infamous Cornation market was also razed. Golding declared a State of Emergency for Kingston and the parish of St. Andrew.
Since then, it's been a whirlwind of events with everyone glued to their TVs to catch the 7 and 8pm news. The military and police have been called in from all over the island to Kingston, which resembles somewhat of a battle zone right now. After about a week of the chaos, many people have been killed, civil rights controversy abounds, and still no Dudus.
Who knows how all of it will end, but one nice thing is that we're probably located in one of the safest places on the island right now. Crime in Accompong is almost non-existent, and we're far-removed from the situation in Kingston, at least geographically. Plus, after only a week, the community seems to have taken us under their wing, making sure we feel safe and comfortable. While watching the news in some of the local shops, some of them have even offered their unsolicited reassurance, “Don' worry yuhself, wi won' let anyting 'appen a yuh”, as if they could read our worried mothers' minds back home.
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