HOLIDAY GREETINGS!
Trip Start
Jul 08, 2004
1
4
Trip End
Aug 27, 2006
Polly Ground, Jamaica
Sunday, January 9, 2005
Jolly Holiday Greetings from the hills of Ewarton!
Happy & Blessed Christmas & Prosperous New Year!
Apologies to all for not writing sooner. We just got a landline (876-985-0658) and internet access before the holidays and thus, we have entered a new paradigm. This is actually a huge boost to our ability to communicate with agencies, ministries, foundations and, of course, with all of you. Thank you for the all the phone calls, emails, letters, packages and all manner of support and encouragement that has sustained us, logistically, emotionally and spiritually, during our first six months here in Jamaica.
We have been busy, working hard and playing some too. Living here, walking down the country lanes riding the buses and taxies gives one a rather unvarnished window into this island. Through the kindness and patience of our neighbors and friends, we continue to take baby steps toward integration. Living abroad way past your comfort zone is also a willing teacher. In late October, we started to feel at home in the dense jungle of symbolism and metaphor, while grappling with a myriad of issues along the way. Here on this island of paradise and paradox, we have the beautiful pristine white beaches, colorful culture, rich multi-racial heritage and roots that run all the way back through slavery to the horn of Africa, the bonded laborers plucked from the hills of India and coastal villages of China.
Weeks, even months before Christmas, huge tinsel & light displays materialized in tiny squares, on street corners and shops. Christmas Carols set to hip-hop, reggae and dance hall blares 24 hours a day. The closer you get, the higher the excitement, especially in Kingston, where disposal income is more than just a fantasy, flickering in the television set. Many Jamaicans do a lion's share of their shopping at Christmas, and head to Grand Markets on Christmas Eve to do the bulk of it there. Christmas cake, a rich spicy-sweet plum and fruit cake drenched in rum, is a staple along with mento music, midnight caroling and a years-worth of story-spinning, sooth-saying and truth-telling. Hence, Christmas Day itself is typically billed as a family day and is only outdone by Boxing Day, December 26, the day reserved for frivolity and parties. And everyone tries to catch up on sleep during the work week to be ready for New Year's...
We have just celebrated our first Christmas in Jamaica. Even in the coastal resort town of Negril, far from the hustle and bustle of the big cities, Christmas was in the air. We had a delightful time at the Negril Yoga Center, walking down the 7 ½ miles of white beaches, sampling the local cuisine and navigating all the funny circumstances that arise when you are seen as just another tourist and you try and explain otherwise. A rare bonus came when we attended mass at a tiny church with three Franciscans, the choir played many old favorites from back home. Over the five days, we visited with a few Peace Corps friends and made some good contacts there as well. We arrived back in Ewarton with sand in our shoes and wide smiles as testimony of a trip well-traveled.
New Year's Eve, Rogean walked about four miles up the other side of Ewarton to visit a family of six living in one room of a house that was abandoned several years, half-finished. Without floors and a roof, the family has fashioned a floor of ply board scraps and carpet remnants and a makeshift roof of scavenged zinc to house their simple belongings and three twin beds. Other rooms of "the house" are occupied by three other families, bringing the total to 19. The place has served as a temporary dwelling, while the family gathered the necessary funds to build. Now with the help of Habitat for Humanity, they will soon begin construction of their own starter house on land that they purchased nearby. The littlest one walked me out to the backyard. From the top of the hill you can see many little one-room dwelling dotting the fields and many more snug up against the road. For many Jamaicans, living as they can, just to get along in sub-standard conditions without indoor plumbing and some without "current" (electricity). When you stop at one house, neighbors come up to inquire. There are plenty of forms to fill out, planning, hoping and of course, hammering. We have already had 3 positive and well-attended local Habitat meetings since November and some strong momentum building. The first Habitat 2-bedroom house in this district is getting started next weekend, less than a mile of where we are living and a community-wide expo is being planned for April.
Heavy rains and flooding have made much of the roads impassable and many bridges in the area have been wiped out. Hence, we had a really good excuse to stay about the place until next week. Following the holidays and after the landslides have been cleared and things dry out some, life will begin to return to normal. Already, people are asking us, "We see no zinc, what of the supplies?" At first, back in October and November, when we were doing the damage assessment surveys, we had been quite confident of different NGO and governmental programs' ability to respond and from the support from abroad, etc. that there would be plenty of materials available. In recent weeks, it has become painfully obvious that the limited construction supplies that are currently available will barely cover 5-10 % of what we were originally looking for.
Many people have responded in grief and shock to the gigantic loss of life in the tsunami a week ago and remark on how blessed Jamaica has been. "Compared to Asia, what we got was just a tail wagging...we are so blessed. Other countries came to our assistance in Hurricane Ivan. We need to see how we can help others too", are referring to the recent arrivals from conflict-torn Haiti. Hence, it is against this backdrop of huge suffering in many other parts of the world and real strife in neighboring Haiti that we are continuing to appeal for small assistance to reconstruct the schools and houses heavily damaged, particularly basic schools and the homes of elderly people. If you are interested in learning more and perhaps contributing to local relief and reconstruction projects, please email us. Through collaboration with individuals, various agencies, including Habitat for Humanity Jamaica, Food for the Poor, Jamaica Red Cross as well as local fundraising efforts, we hope to respond in a meaningful way to the hurricane victims, many of whom are still without roofs, almost three months hence.
A big huge thanks to everyone for thinking of us
and including us in your thoughts and prayers this holiday season!
Health and Peace in the New Year!
