The fall of dropping water, wears away the stone

Hi there,

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or gotten lost in the blue mountains hunting wild boar or stopped caring about keeping you all informed. But I have been working on my Peace Corps mandated Community and Sector Inventory Report for the last month or so and I finally finished it. I'm not going to get into the report or its contents... to be honest, I'm sick of it. But the time I spend on my computer, devoted to writing, can once again be channeled back to this blog.

Let's see, what can I fill you in on? I guess Ill just pick up where I left off...

To date, 5 out of the 8 trees we planted are still intact and growing strong. Only one of them didn't survive the transplant, the other two fell victim to the fact that Mrs Francis, the principal, forgot to notify  the boys she hired to cut the grass in the school yard that there were young trees they needed to watch out for. It was sad to reach home from porty one afternoon to see two of them completely cut down. At least the school looks greats... it really does. I have high hopes for the rest.

With my help the Bellevue Benevolent Society completed the paper work required for its audit by the October 31st due date. It was a headache and a half but it got done.  We haven't heard anything back from the gov so lets hope that no news is good news. We are taking slow but positive steps, one of which came with the group's election that took place this last week. One of the many rules they have been in violation of is the requirement to host an annual general meeting (AGM) to go over the state of the organization and hold elections if necessary. They hadn't held one since the inaugural meeting in 2005.

Having had the brief opportunity to work with the current leadership I was excited about the possibility of seeing the change but wanted to approach the situation delicately. I'm still new here and don't have a full understanding of the interpersonal relationships in this tightly knit community. I started to notice the discomfort amongst the group every time I brought up the idea of an election: 

"But Mr. Johnson" I'd say, pointing to the "Official Government Business" envelope. 

"The letter says that if we don't hold an election the society will be dissolved"

I'd quickly remember that he cant read and realized that repeatedly shoving the letter in his face was useless. 

I was worried about putting myself in a situation that would cause division in the group. So, I put in a call to the office of Cooperative and Friendly Societies to see if they could send somebody out to facilitate the AGM, and sure enough they agreed.  I spoke with the lady that was to come out a couple weeks in advance and she advised me on a few things I needed to help the group with to prepare for the big meeting. One of which was the formation of a nominating committee.  The nominating committee was to be made up of 3 individuals in the group in good financial standing (a joke, seeing as the group hasn't collected a single dollar in dues since 2009 or so) to nominate people for the open leadership positions to be voted on at the AGM.  The night before the election, the nominating committee asked to meet with me.

"Why?" I questioned... "This is your AGM, not mine" I explained. They pleaded still, and reluctantly I agreed.

We walked up the road and gathered on Mrs. Laynes darkened veranda.  They wanted to share the list of nominations they had come up with for the new leadership of the Bellevue Benevolent Society; a group that had just received 8 million dollars to bring running water to the entire community. My blood began to boil as their list of nominees revealed the same exact leadership board that has brought the organization to the brink of implosion. In my mind I was thinking "are you ****ing serious?" but I had to maintain my composure. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't tell them who to nominate, I couldn't tell them who I preferred working with. Democracy, even though it appeared it was about to fail miserably, had to be maintained.

Trying to sound unfazed by the situation I cleared my throat and asked "so how did you come up with this list?"

The answer...

"We know that there are others who could do a good job, but we really don't want any contention in the group."

Hmmm...

I felt defeated. I ended the meeting as quickly as I could and went to bed.

After watching the morning NFL games on Yahoos stattracker I walked up to the school to meet the representative that was to help us with the meeting. She was an hour and a half late, of course, but by the time she showed up we had accumulated a pretty good showing. I started thinking that maybe we could get some nominations from the floor and that the nomination committee's list would be outvoted. 

The election portion of the meeting was about to commence when the gov representative interrupted and announced that most of the nominations held by the nomination committee were disqualified due to a clause in the constitution that stated a maximum term limit.  I had read over it a thousand times but I guess it never really sunk in. If I had known, I probably would have told the nomination committee during our little meeting the night before, but it was probably just as well the group was hearing it from the gov official and not from the Peace Corps volunteer.

I was relieved, to say the least. I believe the Benevolent Society actually has a fighting chance now... progress feels good... so does hope.

In other work related news we are well underway with the community's water project. I guess it officially started a few weeks ago when we invited the community out for a volunteer work day to bush the supply trail to the new dam.  The terms of the grant require the community to contribute to the project by either cash or in-kind donations or by providing x amount of man-hours. Nobody here has money or much in the way of in-kind donations so we have to provide the labor.  To my pleasant surprise, 29 people showed up with their machetes, ready to clear the muddy 3 mile trail to the new spring.  It was an inspiring thing.  I enjoyed every second of it.

My niche in the water project isn't bushing trails or carrying supplies, though. Most of my time is spent with the Project Management Committee (mostly new and old officers of the Benevolent Society) going over logistics, record keeping, project planning, BUDGETING, contracting etc...  Imagine doing this without Excel, Microsoft Word, or the Internet. Sure, I have these tools at my disposal, but I'm only here for two years.  Simultaneously adapting and teaching those skills in a "pre-tech" context has been challenging.

Beenie and I headed to work.

In fact, thats the word I would use to most accurately describe this project: Challenging. Surprise? no I guess not. I suppose people don't really join the Peace Corps for a cake walk.  But the truth is, its been challenging in all the ways I never considered. And the truth is, the experience has challenged the way I think about the role of "the grant" in the developing world. The sound of clean running water flowing in a third world community brings warmth to the soul. It has the romantic appeal that carries many potential Peace Corps volunteers to developing countries around the world. For lack of a better metaphor, thats the Yin. Water projects in the developing world, however, cost money that is often provided by the developed world. And when you dump 8 million developed dollars into a community it has the potential to bring out the worst in people. Thats the Yang.  Money can make people selfish, money can destroy friendships, and money can confuse the already delicate sense of community.

Laying Pipe.

Thats one of the many indicators that proves this is definitely not America.  I would like to think that built in to the American identity is a sense of community, a sense of cooperation and an understanding of the possibility of what can happen when people work on something not for the purpose of personal gain but the sake of the group or the "greater good"... or christ, just cuz it feels good to work towards something bigger than yourself!  How do you teach that? How do you teach that when nobody taught you? I've had the luxury of witnessing it. I've had the luxury seeing it succeed. Jamaica, has not.

If it sounds like I'm being critical, i'm not.... (well maybe a little, I'm not perfect).  I can say, though, that the more time I spend here and the more time I spend on this water project, I'm starting to understand where this struggle for community cooperation comes from.  I believe its rooted in the reality that since its formation, this community has spent every waking minute taking care of the basics: food, shelter, clothing, and a little cash. At the end of the day, there just isn't time for anything else.  So what do you think happens when 8 million dollars is introduced to this mentality? Do you think people are going to all of the sudden start thinking about the community as a whole? Should they? Or do you think people are going to think about how 8 million dollars could maybe get them a little extra food, a better roof, and some new clothes.  In other words, its not a selfishness based on greed. It's a selfishness based on necessity.... a selfishness I have NEVER had to understand before. 

For me the verdict is still out.  Right now, I believe that connecting 600 people to water is the greatest good. In my American brain, it outweighs the interpersonal conflicts that I witness everyday as a result of its installation. Running water is an indication of development right? Societies are better because of it... right? Sometimes I wonder if thats a delusion injected into the developing world by the developed world. After all, whats wrong with collecting your water from the spring every morning? People have been doing it for thousands of years just fine.

I think about this a lot. Probably too much.  I've gotten pretty good at ignoring the internal argument for the purpose of my own sanity and my ability to be productive. I save it for when I have the time... usually before bed. I know I'm not going to figure this out today, or tomorrow, or maybe ever. But in the meantime I can pick up a shovel and take joy in the task at hand.  The opportunities I've gotten to get my hands dirty with this project has resulted in some of the best fun I've had in my entire life.  A couple Sundays ago I woke up at 5:00am to meet up with the mason that was hired to build the dam.  The morning sun chased us into the bush as we carried the tools we needed to frame the dam with ply board and steel.  

The "Dam". Its actually an entombment, not a dam. We are going to run a pipe from the spring into the entombment, and from the entombment to the main water line. This design, we decided was better than a straight dam that would likely get clogged with debris during heavy rains. We feel really good about this one.

Many Jamaicans assume that I don't know how to do things and are hesitant to ask for assistance with certain tasks.  It would have been really easy for the mason to follow this trend (and it would have perfectly right of him to do so! I don't know the first thing about building a dam) But instead he handed me a bundle of binding wire and some wire cutters and told me to get to work. I spent the entire day tying steel for the dam frame.  We had one guy bending the steel, the mason setting it in the desired pattern and me coming behind both of them tying it all together. Dale, the 4th member of the crew, spent the time cooking our lunch over a fire and under tarp. This, I later argued, was the hardest job, as it was raining the entire day.  How he managed to make a fire out of wet bamboo, I will never understand. Furthermore it was one of the best saltfish and dumpling dishes I have had.

Enough about water and development philosophy. Before I sign off I will share some more pics.

Me, Rick, and Lebert cutting some sorrel for market. Sorrel is hibiscus flower  that Jamaicans like to make juice out of during the holidays.  Each flower has a seed pod in it that has to be cut out for it to be sold.  The work is nothing too special but the conversations we have on the veranda are priceless.

Sorrel and Sorrel Seeds

I've definitely cut my finger a few times

Dumping the final product into the bag

Of course, I tried to make wine out of the stuff. Didn't have yeast on hand so I went with a natural fermentation. It worked, but along with the alcohol production I got a lot of other byproducts in the mix. I need to clean up my operation. I wanted to big up Gallo with this pic. As you can clearly see, I am making wine in my Night Train tank. Thanks Grady, you are the man.

Wine

Love you all, wishing you grateful Christmas from the land of wood and water.

Mark