While Angela and Travis were here a Moonlight Vigil was held in Accompong for the first time in many years. A Moonlight Vigil is a traditional Maroon ceremony that used to be kept every full moon in Accompong. It involves a full moon, a bonfire, traditional drumming and singing, the blowing of the abeng, traditional dancing, traditional food, and storytelling.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Angela, Travis, and Moonlight Vigil
We had some more visitors this month, which is always a blessing, especially when they’re good friends like Angela and Travis. Unfortunately we don’t have very may pictures to show from their trip. This might be due to the fact that they’re our third set of visitors, and maybe this carries with it the same effect of my mother having increasingly less baby pictures with each additional child. I’d like to think it has more to do with the fact that we were spending most of our time laughing and enjoying ourselves that we found little time to take pictures.

While Angela and Travis were here a Moonlight Vigil was held in Accompong for the first time in many years. A Moonlight Vigil is a traditional Maroon ceremony that used to be kept every full moon in Accompong. It involves a full moon, a bonfire, traditional drumming and singing, the blowing of the abeng, traditional dancing, traditional food, and storytelling.
While Angela and Travis were here a Moonlight Vigil was held in Accompong for the first time in many years. A Moonlight Vigil is a traditional Maroon ceremony that used to be kept every full moon in Accompong. It involves a full moon, a bonfire, traditional drumming and singing, the blowing of the abeng, traditional dancing, traditional food, and storytelling.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Kid's Treat
Friday, February 11, 2011
‘Isn’t it amazing?!’
One of our good PCV friends recently went home, and in asking her what it was like to see her family and friends she said, “Great! Mostly great… I mean, sometimes, it’s weird. Some people ask, ‘Isn’t it amazing?!’ and you think ‘What am I supposed to say to that? You really have no idea what it’s like to be a PCV? Because that’s what I feel like saying.’
Let’s be clear here. Sometimes PC service is amazing… But let’s also be honest. Many times it’s not. Many times it’s hard. It’s frustrating. It’s stressful. You feel lonely. You feel underappreciated. You feel weird. You feel out of place. You feel like you want to go home where things were easier -not easy, but easier. You question why you’re here. You doubt the very beliefs that brought you here in the first place. You become cynical. You get depressed. You want to give in. You want to give up.
PC is not this fanciful story in which you arrive to your community, everyone waiting for their hero to arrive –no Disney-true-story-movie here. We don’t regularly see the fruits of our labor, and often wonder if we’re going one step forward, two steps back -instead of the other way around. We’re not always liked, loved, or appreciated. Many times we work tirelessly on a project, and upon its completion, all anybody can do is complain. You hold meetings or workdays, and nobody shows up, even the very people who suggested the meeting or workday in the first place.
In Jamaica, we need to be constantly aware of violence –hearing of fellow PCVs being robbed, mugged, or harassed. We’re constantly dealing with trust issues, as stealing and lying don’t carry with them the level of immorality we’re used to. Locals are boisterous, and don’t hold back sharing any of their thoughts –even if those thoughts are misinformed or hurtful.
It isn’t always bad. Jamaica and PC World can be a wonderful place. But it isn’t always amazing either. This is part of the PCV story, and volunteers struggle regularly in their service worldwide, as I’m reminded by a fellow PCV serving halfway across the world in Azerbaijan:

‘I guess the point is that there never really is a day or a month or a year where you do not question your choice of living overseas in such a situation as Peace Corps requires. Peace does not settle in your heart and every puzzle piece falls into place. I mean, if that were the case, what would be the point? This experience is not meant for the complacent, it is meant for the hearty. The ready. The willing.’
JC member reading @ Book Club |
PC is not this fanciful story in which you arrive to your community, everyone waiting for their hero to arrive –no Disney-true-story-movie here. We don’t regularly see the fruits of our labor, and often wonder if we’re going one step forward, two steps back -instead of the other way around. We’re not always liked, loved, or appreciated. Many times we work tirelessly on a project, and upon its completion, all anybody can do is complain. You hold meetings or workdays, and nobody shows up, even the very people who suggested the meeting or workday in the first place.
Julie with her fan club |
It isn’t always bad. Jamaica and PC World can be a wonderful place. But it isn’t always amazing either. This is part of the PCV story, and volunteers struggle regularly in their service worldwide, as I’m reminded by a fellow PCV serving halfway across the world in Azerbaijan:
‘I guess the point is that there never really is a day or a month or a year where you do not question your choice of living overseas in such a situation as Peace Corps requires. Peace does not settle in your heart and every puzzle piece falls into place. I mean, if that were the case, what would be the point? This experience is not meant for the complacent, it is meant for the hearty. The ready. The willing.’
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The Books Have Arrived!
Well, they arrived about 2 months ago, and we’ve been meaning to write this post ever since.
This won’t be news to our avid readers, but Accompong was in dire need of children’s books when we first arrived. So we did what any good PCV would do, and we called on our family and friends to make a book contribution….and contribute you did. We have received 7 boxes of books, including random books given here and there through visiting friends and family.
As many of you know, we keep a Children’s Book Club here in Accompong that has been relatively successful. On any given Tuesday we have between 30-50 kids come to the library to attend, and get a new book for the week. Overall we’ve had upwards of 70 kids from the community come and attend our weekly meetings.
Accompong has a low level of literacy, and we’re trying our best to encourage kids to get excited about reading. And boy did they get excited when the new books arrived! They race to line up at the library door to be the first to pick their book, and we’ve had to break up our fair share of fights over kids pushing to get ahead in line. (They especially like the princess books, girls AND BOYS alike!)
Grade 1 boys reading new books! |
As many of you know, we keep a Children’s Book Club here in Accompong that has been relatively successful. On any given Tuesday we have between 30-50 kids come to the library to attend, and get a new book for the week. Overall we’ve had upwards of 70 kids from the community come and attend our weekly meetings.
Girls vs. |
Boys! |
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