tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84614927215309805312024-03-14T10:15:24.084-05:00Kevin's Agricultural AdventuresKevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-46998754000269301292014-02-18T00:01:00.000-05:002014-02-18T00:03:11.985-05:00Shaking Hands with 30<div style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> To start talking about turning 30, I’m going to throw it back a few years. OK, not a few years, 13 years. Ouch, was it really that long ago? Anyway, in high school I was part of a youth organization called FFA; most people know it as the Future Farmers of America. During my senior year I served on the state-level officer team and got all kinds of neat training on professionalism, etiquette, and even how to properly shake a hand. My fellow officers and I were told that a proper handshake includes “webbage”, referring to good contact of the fleshy area between each person’s thumb and index finger. This is really important information to know because many great things start with a good handshake. Sometimes we need to approach events in our lives with a philosophical handshake.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Today, February 18th, 2014, I turn 30 years old and I’m here to tell you I am meeting my thirties with <i>webbage,</i> a firm grip, eye contact, and furrowed brow that says, “Nice to meet you. I think we’ll make a good team. Let’s get to work.” And why not? I mean, I’ve spent thirty years getting ready to be 30. Heck, in the last decade I’ve gone to college, gone to war, gone to war again, gotten married, gone to college again, worked in restive South Sudan, and spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. If I am not ready to be thirty by now, I never will be. And if I spend my thirties getting ready to be thirty, I’ll really be in a fix when I get to 40. So I will do no lamenting of the passing of my twenties. I haven’t got time for that kind of self-indulgent nonsense. Oh no, instead I will indulge myself in writing my thoughts on this matter for unknown persons to read about on the internet.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Sorry for the absence of a segue, but, I like country music. I like country music because I like the sound of acoustic and steel guitars and songs that reflect my affinity for agriculture, working outdoors, “real world issues”, and salt-of-the-earth people. Tim McGraw is a country music singer and he has a tune called <i>My Next Thirty Years</i>. It’s a song about celebrating who and what you are, focusing on what is to come, reflecting on what has passed, and asking the Lord’s blessing on the future. I hadn’t given the song too much thought before, but based on what you’ve read so far, I bet you can guess my choice for the national anthem of February 18, 2014?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> In <i>My Next Thirty Years</i>, Mr. McGraw vows to continue to have a little fun. Me too. I’ve been lucky to see enough of the world to know how much it has to offer and had a little fun along the way. Why would I stop now? My wife is a great traveling partner and we will presumably have a family before long; which I’ve heard adds a whole new dimension of fun to life’s experiences. Except for dirty diapers. I heard these are not fun. Anyway, yes, I intend to have fun after 30. It will just look and feel a little different compared to my former fun.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Tim also sings about conquering adolescent fears. I heard a version of this line echoed by one of the first friends I made in Texas a few years back. Let’s call him Mark. Mark is older than me and I remember him telling me I was approaching a golden age; an age when youthful insecurities start to fade and make way for real personal growth and happiness in your own skin. (I guess you start having those kinds of conversations in grad school.) I think Mark and Tim's song are right and I have already felt those old fears and insecurities slipping away. Fears and insecurities are like a cold, wet blanket thrown on the fire we need to fuel our success. So good riddance. Don’t come back. Stupid fears.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> There is also a little bit of angst in the McGraw song as he says, "Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear. Figure out just what I’m doing here, in my next thirty years.” Well, that thar is a tall order. And no wonder he was a little anxious. I know a lot of people older than I who can’t let go of hate and fear. I see people on the left calling the people on the right names like bigot, as if that helps make anyone become as open-minded as the oh so tolerant name caller. I see people on the right questioning the patriotism of people on the left as though anything short of their narrow prescription of national loyalty is the highest form of treason. But I digress. Or, rather, we all tend to digress, drift, and degenerate. My goal is to do these things less than I used to. Not because I want to, but because I feel like I should. I mean, I’m 30 years old for crying out loud! (See, I’ve already gotten used to calling myself 30. *pats self on back*)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> And what of Tim’s search to find out just what he’s doing here? I’m not going to over-think this one. It’s not very complicated or at least I think it needn’t be. I’m here to be a good husband and try to improve at it. I’m here to do meaningful work in a career that makes a difference in people’s lives. I’m here to raise a healthy family that aspires to make a positive difference in other people’s lives. I’m here to get better at understanding first and arguing </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: line-through;">never</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> more rarely. l’m here to find inner peace and assurance through the good Word. That’s it. Simple as this. No reason to overthink it. After all, I’m only 30. (Dang, that doesn’t seem as legitimate an argument for over-simplification as, “Hey, I’m only in my 20’s”.)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> In case you hadn’t noticed, I am entering my next 30 years with a bit of confidence and purpose. This is because, generally speaking, I have learned to understand why I do what I do and why I don’t do what I don’t do. You only get so many chances to make yourself and the world better. Here’s to making the most of all of them. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I close this essay with words from the final stanza from Mr. McGraw’s former #1 hit.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>My next thirty years will be the best years of my life</i></span></div>
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<i>Raise a little family and hang out with my wife</i></div>
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<i>Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear</i></div>
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<i>Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years</i></div>
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Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com1Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica18.2944378 -78.15644320000001217.8117853 -78.801890200000017 18.7770903 -77.510996200000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-71367260295725021852014-02-13T08:21:00.000-05:002014-02-13T08:59:42.693-05:0010 Months in 5 Paragraphs<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Day One at Demo Farm</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Hello? Is anybody still there? It has been nearly a year since I have blogged, so I surely understand if you have stopped checking in for updates. I don’t know exactly why I stopped chronicling this Peace Corps experience. I guess with blogging you don’t really get much feedback about what you are sharing and I don’t care to feel like I am talking to myself (except for when I am intentionally talking to myself). However, I do recall being taught that reflecting on experiences is an important part of internalizing the lessons learned from them. So…I’m back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Last I shared a blog, I was about to embark on helping the farmers’ group implement a climate change adaptation and alternative livelihoods grant project; one for which I helped them earn the funding. We wrapped up that project back in October and wow what a hectic seven months. You see, there was also a commercial-scale aquaponics project in the works for the group prior to my arrival and the donor finally got around to starting it at the exact time the funds were awarded for our grant. It is taxing enough to coax people with low incomes into volunteering time to a project when they could/should be using that time toward their regular livelihood activities. It is doubly difficult to do this when there are two projects that need lots of attention. But, we did it. After months of digging holes, slashing weeds, mixing and carrying concrete, procuring equipment, setting up an office, and hosting Farmer Field Schools, we have much to show for our sore muscles and strained household finances.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Because of the efforts over the last ten months, the group now has a one-acre organic demonstration farm equipped with water catchment and drip irrigation. With the improved equipment we purchased they are also able to more efficiently manufacture value-added products. Several members of the community attended our Farmer Field Schools and learned about the impact climate change is having on local rainfall and some practical on-farm mitigation strategies. Here are some photos that may help you visualize this project.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The farmers’ group was responsible for implementing the climate change adaptation and alternative livelihoods grant, but the aquaponics project is being managed by a sub-contractor of the donor. One of the conditions for receiving the system was that we provide an in-kind contribution of labor to construct the unit. I have never seen so many 40, 50, and 60+ year old men and women work like I saw these Jamaicans work on this project. We dug holes with pick axes and shovels and inside the holes we built forms and poured concrete for tilapia fish tanks. Since we could only afford occasional help from a backhoe operator, we also leveled land with farming hoes, shovels, and wheel barrows. When it was time to pour concrete, it was men and women sweating in the sun until clothes were soaked and biceps were burning. Finally, the laborious part is over and yesterday a few thousand tilapia fingerlings were delivered and soon hundreds of seedlings will be planted and then transplanted into the grow beds. The system takes up less than a quarter acre, but can produce as much lettuce as 2 acres under regular terrestrial cultivation. With ideal conditions, the group should be able to sell 2400 tilapia fish per year in addition to the vegetables.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The aquaponics system will become an important source of income generation for the group, but it will be some time before members receive benefits commensurate with the level of effort they put into this project. It has definitely caused me to adopt a more nuanced view on the mandatory in-kind contributions demanded of low-income persons in developing countries. I think donors need to be careful that they don't mistake local cash and in-kind contributions for real beneficiary buy-in or ownership. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After all, these are people whose livelihoods are fragile enough that one unexpected event can send them reeling. What if this project fails because of an error the donor made or a design flaw in this rather experimental aquaponics system? Will these men and women be reimbursed for all the valuable time donated to a failure they are not responsible for? Remember, they could have been using that time to work their farm or do day labor. This is definitely something I will consider as I proceed with my career in international agricultural development. Just one of many lessons learned from my time here in Jamaica. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">That's all for now. Sorry for the hiatus and that this blog is so long yet too short to adequately describe the last ten months. Tune in again </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">soon as I describe my philosophy on hitting the milestone of 30 years on this funny planet.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliDDZ4zzGK_nBMSvGh0G9izQTEI5quhIxMWhAMkwxwW1a-UK6OVa7sJfe6uMCu101GUt_Br-n7QtxoUqJX4ag9tJm_FpDZWEM2j2Y_CSY6F2pz9P0-4uLFdVeyr8Hg14QHZHIw9fIsvk/s1600/DSCN4521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgliDDZ4zzGK_nBMSvGh0G9izQTEI5quhIxMWhAMkwxwW1a-UK6OVa7sJfe6uMCu101GUt_Br-n7QtxoUqJX4ag9tJm_FpDZWEM2j2Y_CSY6F2pz9P0-4uLFdVeyr8Hg14QHZHIw9fIsvk/s1600/DSCN4521.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Brian (left) teaching at Farmer Field School</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9ombcqTwgMA39n3HTOhLcjQ9vS8JXLyDnFDp2Z0zib4kI2DhBRRvNOhXFWS3BeFMxHw_tckF8dRtjX6JjVuEOTVM5k6cE6kNh5XjOZfvZbxOM5uhdTby-MA7jUsfsL5cyAliBQboBgc/s1600/DSCN4550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9ombcqTwgMA39n3HTOhLcjQ9vS8JXLyDnFDp2Z0zib4kI2DhBRRvNOhXFWS3BeFMxHw_tckF8dRtjX6JjVuEOTVM5k6cE6kNh5XjOZfvZbxOM5uhdTby-MA7jUsfsL5cyAliBQboBgc/s1600/DSCN4550.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Going over the Basics of Composting</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGchXVTKY9flwvkGRTzhbnM64-gK2Xb9vrt6WzAFfUGvdy_oSni_jfSp4cpvORZcpLhYgAKppwmibCC8_uhBjsC724-mrMXByNQiaI853Kf8oJXAtyHNuAHpxRY0Mlnc6W9JaMaZ3DKgg/s1600/DSCN4335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGchXVTKY9flwvkGRTzhbnM64-gK2Xb9vrt6WzAFfUGvdy_oSni_jfSp4cpvORZcpLhYgAKppwmibCC8_uhBjsC724-mrMXByNQiaI853Kf8oJXAtyHNuAHpxRY0Mlnc6W9JaMaZ3DKgg/s1600/DSCN4335.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Another Farmer Field School</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-d0JyUD7BrIoByqb3hJGu0QbBEHAJvYwN_imxFkSKG3Fz6Adupmd51d2QnXVgCD3VxX08u0iVVigOg3LDdHILG2iZrGM4n_DJSXG7frnWOzXD9tVS6FJ0N3IrMWFlvPGA0IH4DBTbUR8/s1600/DSCN4580.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-d0JyUD7BrIoByqb3hJGu0QbBEHAJvYwN_imxFkSKG3Fz6Adupmd51d2QnXVgCD3VxX08u0iVVigOg3LDdHILG2iZrGM4n_DJSXG7frnWOzXD9tVS6FJ0N3IrMWFlvPGA0IH4DBTbUR8/s1600/DSCN4580.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Practicing a Crop Rotation Plan</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2Dadu8pe-fWjfnO_z4cdQJKmxwjyjaY-wpW998KDVS0MV9Cn-o2XqZhIr9U0tcurYJODSdTNEnkGsWQqVZFp76hR2YuScDuBsnEiQ4RKAWWgc1gulv7D_3V1H46_xeO3y97tj4AhfDs/s1600/DSCN4599.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2Dadu8pe-fWjfnO_z4cdQJKmxwjyjaY-wpW998KDVS0MV9Cn-o2XqZhIr9U0tcurYJODSdTNEnkGsWQqVZFp76hR2YuScDuBsnEiQ4RKAWWgc1gulv7D_3V1H46_xeO3y97tj4AhfDs/s1600/DSCN4599.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Happy Participants</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkQAkMTRsoMs0xGYbzNphUtonAmPiMiDxYNuHoOxil0T8mxfSh5pkSstRZhSVPwyDxcaSaW1YvXKyicV70Yr2-qH4Yhzx6D17qZyd25cFF1g7IwzV-6bJGjv7Ru9EdmY3DiMYURvEN7w/s1600/DSCN5102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkQAkMTRsoMs0xGYbzNphUtonAmPiMiDxYNuHoOxil0T8mxfSh5pkSstRZhSVPwyDxcaSaW1YvXKyicV70Yr2-qH4Yhzx6D17qZyd25cFF1g7IwzV-6bJGjv7Ru9EdmY3DiMYURvEN7w/s1600/DSCN5102.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Well of course we carried concrete ingredients up the hill</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbEsm1xXnTJaqnruwlNFRRZlragNwq8NhRb2a_sAfFlah0zwAxll6mCRaeUJ0TTQ1vu2nw28L85mjwt1K3znhcG-DXcYsKmmCVp7auUGNrQcv4XUEiu23owJ1OlG-t0GyZ4bZHEXiAeUo/s1600/DSCN5107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbEsm1xXnTJaqnruwlNFRRZlragNwq8NhRb2a_sAfFlah0zwAxll6mCRaeUJ0TTQ1vu2nw28L85mjwt1K3znhcG-DXcYsKmmCVp7auUGNrQcv4XUEiu23owJ1OlG-t0GyZ4bZHEXiAeUo/s1600/DSCN5107.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">One bag at a time...again and again and...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA430GxPL8ojQTLnfHFNGZ37AAmnolFC8gmg7tLbmS8G71Q0mVJFoG9HleM3DQu4oBrwychv_PAqdyFHWu-KzCvYLQXakR_mrqM_YJECIUGRmDX0kauSOtXcF381Wm9imnp72EEQfOf88/s1600/DSCN5110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA430GxPL8ojQTLnfHFNGZ37AAmnolFC8gmg7tLbmS8G71Q0mVJFoG9HleM3DQu4oBrwychv_PAqdyFHWu-KzCvYLQXakR_mrqM_YJECIUGRmDX0kauSOtXcF381Wm9imnp72EEQfOf88/s1600/DSCN5110.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Carry 94lb bags of cement up that hill earns instant credibility</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4eteJQaGPdeo1EYGzW0SnhvChPCPUK8Rh9gGwI12JChBh_xzxq9pmXqtNc_RMpWU__Qy8fO1-KygW6goQpQgGaBTCUHiJTFMNZBrEFcYbWk_dslrUaLs9xj_1rRlfhbZjY991zuAWE0/s1600/DSCN5113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4eteJQaGPdeo1EYGzW0SnhvChPCPUK8Rh9gGwI12JChBh_xzxq9pmXqtNc_RMpWU__Qy8fO1-KygW6goQpQgGaBTCUHiJTFMNZBrEFcYbWk_dslrUaLs9xj_1rRlfhbZjY991zuAWE0/s1600/DSCN5113.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Lining out the concrete pad</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBXNXbjxHmgJKfz9CjJAcal8OwrgkcMD9JMglnL5EtYT9sSQDVWNPPbn1SGuJBxtZUBsQnNNxg6TSP4FiN4Z7xp_RkmTIdH7oGvK9MpDFSpSAYd78aNgXcd-1_gJqADabki_jcs2Ecyg/s1600/DSCN5122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBXNXbjxHmgJKfz9CjJAcal8OwrgkcMD9JMglnL5EtYT9sSQDVWNPPbn1SGuJBxtZUBsQnNNxg6TSP4FiN4Z7xp_RkmTIdH7oGvK9MpDFSpSAYd78aNgXcd-1_gJqADabki_jcs2Ecyg/s1600/DSCN5122.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Mixing it up into a slurry</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJpQ3vuN7uOlhxN_VufltzK-p3UVna_enSN9hl36OVLVR0TUmz8exTg4ET6F-lI1FV0Fq8upIlnx4oOuvxroautVb7axT0U5B4WqhGAl-e2Azb2wMzqnHC0-XFrNV67N4OE4SJHU4bXM/s1600/DSCN5136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJpQ3vuN7uOlhxN_VufltzK-p3UVna_enSN9hl36OVLVR0TUmz8exTg4ET6F-lI1FV0Fq8upIlnx4oOuvxroautVb7axT0U5B4WqhGAl-e2Azb2wMzqnHC0-XFrNV67N4OE4SJHU4bXM/s1600/DSCN5136.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I sometimes wonder if we do anything good for our backs</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOQjnIlcfer5_OtXW14RDFZHi1cxntYbPNRuRdjerxPnIqJ2iKxFqUAuZFBeVmQBynIPZFdqjj-N9HgwnzDNjkkNrwidCqwCerozdYzRcvD30T-BoHscQfSvrSRNG1rzqkyuoWxyFiZ0/s1600/DSCN5193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOQjnIlcfer5_OtXW14RDFZHi1cxntYbPNRuRdjerxPnIqJ2iKxFqUAuZFBeVmQBynIPZFdqjj-N9HgwnzDNjkkNrwidCqwCerozdYzRcvD30T-BoHscQfSvrSRNG1rzqkyuoWxyFiZ0/s1600/DSCN5193.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Brining up a 1000 gal tank</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyY0PQ6yMxMESaZyNnpAMnqsrfgEtrXyVG2C4MC-MZ-QUD2169POECLa0gWzldeJ17JNUjsPX7hCOZxKU9rVF6p_suhhYl6dY1E6LOGXzAGWADA2WfHMeKs8VAuyP9Ovi0uDfJR1biIU/s1600/DSCN5197.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyY0PQ6yMxMESaZyNnpAMnqsrfgEtrXyVG2C4MC-MZ-QUD2169POECLa0gWzldeJ17JNUjsPX7hCOZxKU9rVF6p_suhhYl6dY1E6LOGXzAGWADA2WfHMeKs8VAuyP9Ovi0uDfJR1biIU/s1600/DSCN5197.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..."</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPuiK2yYa8uiFyK9ZlO6JmKVaV2N6EM8irxZCSnb-1uqeed-t4iZhCIpfeadbMiwLhfRiEjaZ-3VqLE1f-xSSlJZTA5-S8suHE4r4yIm5M0t-j3t2gKCTWvHzar9e6nw9i0e2T0Vu0P4/s1600/DSCN5143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPuiK2yYa8uiFyK9ZlO6JmKVaV2N6EM8irxZCSnb-1uqeed-t4iZhCIpfeadbMiwLhfRiEjaZ-3VqLE1f-xSSlJZTA5-S8suHE4r4yIm5M0t-j3t2gKCTWvHzar9e6nw9i0e2T0Vu0P4/s1600/DSCN5143.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">One of four</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVJ2wjJCiPQIGHmqj8c15rauNYga4OT_7l9478MsTd4ks4ZbrV3iWfPA0ZNt3JFtENvGzC6f11hC8Oi8ESbK_uukf9v6lapckFTKbuapUgJt9ngScYa2vlb7KelBWQvLqMnEimxLUsdY/s1600/DSCN5199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVJ2wjJCiPQIGHmqj8c15rauNYga4OT_7l9478MsTd4ks4ZbrV3iWfPA0ZNt3JFtENvGzC6f11hC8Oi8ESbK_uukf9v6lapckFTKbuapUgJt9ngScYa2vlb7KelBWQvLqMnEimxLUsdY/s1600/DSCN5199.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Setting up the drip irrigation</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdfARTMjmTvbVCvubszlwGJRlAFkL1hR4MXyHCqnnqAvKU_IDjwzRLOT2BpDjBJJ0UFs3gCh-z1imzN28d0pmYkhrT6y5XfHyFVJCiOvWkALuALCsSKHx6p6WZ9o4a3247hMwCX6s-rg/s1600/DSCN5203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdfARTMjmTvbVCvubszlwGJRlAFkL1hR4MXyHCqnnqAvKU_IDjwzRLOT2BpDjBJJ0UFs3gCh-z1imzN28d0pmYkhrT6y5XfHyFVJCiOvWkALuALCsSKHx6p6WZ9o4a3247hMwCX6s-rg/s1600/DSCN5203.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Connecting the tanks</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8YVnd29dzvqVcKut5XYJ1CrhiLdJdibmr3oL3NtTQ1D1z73h7k3bEBvavB3gkH611VUU35Mgj1eku0GEBBLnXlAx6wrEP_JxACx7UlXEYldncIUmG4WOGX-anWgKYuMitTIgK5iJbA0g/s1600/DSCN5213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8YVnd29dzvqVcKut5XYJ1CrhiLdJdibmr3oL3NtTQ1D1z73h7k3bEBvavB3gkH611VUU35Mgj1eku0GEBBLnXlAx6wrEP_JxACx7UlXEYldncIUmG4WOGX-anWgKYuMitTIgK5iJbA0g/s1600/DSCN5213.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Connecting the main lines</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLAJB-obVWvEVbbqL_RV38Sm3pxZTeNYqfztDxl1akR-YYPgiUodWbhZQbcE8NwviOB1Vpx1wVqtGqN4YKecJDSxNiiTmPAsRL7pX8U_zOy3NlrqCAj8atZUOwwNMcDXAshzXHMEC11co/s1600/DSCN5217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLAJB-obVWvEVbbqL_RV38Sm3pxZTeNYqfztDxl1akR-YYPgiUodWbhZQbcE8NwviOB1Vpx1wVqtGqN4YKecJDSxNiiTmPAsRL7pX8U_zOy3NlrqCAj8atZUOwwNMcDXAshzXHMEC11co/s1600/DSCN5217.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Mainlines and sub-mains running down the farm</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VAX4SqVs0FcbWzghzb9EfQ87H0qzE6ZAxA4vzooppySm54FulEeiWK0Vtgs6xP6Y4H1q3wFiaaNzVfN1hCkB9-sNM14zWFlSJpZkO_asv8Ygec764fgFERtQnTbH2fsiqcJbfFy2srA/s1600/DSCN5076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VAX4SqVs0FcbWzghzb9EfQ87H0qzE6ZAxA4vzooppySm54FulEeiWK0Vtgs6xP6Y4H1q3wFiaaNzVfN1hCkB9-sNM14zWFlSJpZkO_asv8Ygec764fgFERtQnTbH2fsiqcJbfFy2srA/s1600/DSCN5076.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Our First Crop of Sorrel</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEKqQ1RgfEy1GPZ8lTsS2z5F1DEbOFa86NDJU-9axNNwCjeU4hk9SsWwqRAM7ozpDhPUpoA9AT5KWrhZeUZvyVMqvWzosGcTuSexOwTteLX99Yx6OSorFWo0QnbuKvDwXXpQplQieEbL8/s1600/DSCN3384.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEKqQ1RgfEy1GPZ8lTsS2z5F1DEbOFa86NDJU-9axNNwCjeU4hk9SsWwqRAM7ozpDhPUpoA9AT5KWrhZeUZvyVMqvWzosGcTuSexOwTteLX99Yx6OSorFWo0QnbuKvDwXXpQplQieEbL8/s1600/DSCN3384.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lining out the aquaponics system</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBWMw8dYZ1ic6n6xz2O19N0RpLyLwj73gA4vCZJ2QySRnV63Jxt8PNWgtw8qeQgQG5s9DzI0f93pWQq9xvvovossD6NxBaa4T9qRI0WFD94iQIsFAwrwk0fXKOZQTHxr3vpqTI8V24Cqo/s1600/DSCN3968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBWMw8dYZ1ic6n6xz2O19N0RpLyLwj73gA4vCZJ2QySRnV63Jxt8PNWgtw8qeQgQG5s9DzI0f93pWQq9xvvovossD6NxBaa4T9qRI0WFD94iQIsFAwrwk0fXKOZQTHxr3vpqTI8V24Cqo/s1600/DSCN3968.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lots of digging</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioNNEjj7B2DHpg3VGz4sC4PUSEjvffSdWHWdXaE83pVBwiq-beC2Q3FcOl8kVZqi81Lhy-b1cav_PQf1QmYLy8-cjobSdHfESz6FG_o0MPfOCc6EcYvpxJsMCava025JSg-T50Uoj9xR8/s1600/DSCN3417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioNNEjj7B2DHpg3VGz4sC4PUSEjvffSdWHWdXaE83pVBwiq-beC2Q3FcOl8kVZqi81Lhy-b1cav_PQf1QmYLy8-cjobSdHfESz6FG_o0MPfOCc6EcYvpxJsMCava025JSg-T50Uoj9xR8/s1600/DSCN3417.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pick axes, flat shovels, and lots of rocks</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwEJH3gsK-l3IaWzO8YZRx5cIEonPt9wCK3ZxLctc1S_64PYdrXvy2qh5Fuw3PhyphenhyphenSIo-QuJmixU_Fda7ZEBF66JthvgK-l-cvbBr3uSJRfrvxnUz9oFunyZyzDMqnmWYeQdNHTNEYTuXU/s1600/DSCN3429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwEJH3gsK-l3IaWzO8YZRx5cIEonPt9wCK3ZxLctc1S_64PYdrXvy2qh5Fuw3PhyphenhyphenSIo-QuJmixU_Fda7ZEBF66JthvgK-l-cvbBr3uSJRfrvxnUz9oFunyZyzDMqnmWYeQdNHTNEYTuXU/s1600/DSCN3429.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">An air conditioned ride home from the work site</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjo5xvC-pAVQT_ZN4kgfl64JrPhsKZe-6GRgoW7oft4dJPGek3Iz6SloC3l2EQQnnw7uFgzowTQuKs1D7PTF9v_rLQbKDh4vy0wcM8s5IPKcylOtuUyhg0sDNgSl93F8k9heYJfqEG99U/s1600/DSCN3980.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjo5xvC-pAVQT_ZN4kgfl64JrPhsKZe-6GRgoW7oft4dJPGek3Iz6SloC3l2EQQnnw7uFgzowTQuKs1D7PTF9v_rLQbKDh4vy0wcM8s5IPKcylOtuUyhg0sDNgSl93F8k9heYJfqEG99U/s1600/DSCN3980.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I will forever be impressed by these women</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLHneERSFcoa-bjiSe1pLWQM0TBNhsfyHXtx_zK7u7P04LI2IPTL7iYkM_m5bQPeOO428E_LWV16-qv-ZCMwtAItWMHH6_oB7ysUt5Wcl6IE8oPojiTEiSSCM084StM7xXTJ0QxomZ51s/s1600/DSCN3961.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLHneERSFcoa-bjiSe1pLWQM0TBNhsfyHXtx_zK7u7P04LI2IPTL7iYkM_m5bQPeOO428E_LWV16-qv-ZCMwtAItWMHH6_oB7ysUt5Wcl6IE8oPojiTEiSSCM084StM7xXTJ0QxomZ51s/s1600/DSCN3961.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lots of tasty meals came from this kitchen</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJQIc2OaU9mAskPAmCtI5ZwC7Drwnl4UZ5oojN9b5X2NxMXrGxGBr0PJPE-A5xsu8zw9GIQlIq72pZ9ZHyG4HqyXyVV4eXzrFbfuy122AMszqLCB3gwRu0PAcKVzBR9Q7ND6bAgoDLrs/s1600/DSCN3978.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJQIc2OaU9mAskPAmCtI5ZwC7Drwnl4UZ5oojN9b5X2NxMXrGxGBr0PJPE-A5xsu8zw9GIQlIq72pZ9ZHyG4HqyXyVV4eXzrFbfuy122AMszqLCB3gwRu0PAcKVzBR9Q7ND6bAgoDLrs/s1600/DSCN3978.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brian and I digging tilapia tanks</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxyjx9FeT6IWDbFcOX-iqv3O0RjPTRSVdbABpGO1F6tyQIoTIK8eHuxHm2A-G3CnyTPcHjBX1HCJdG_zdKht1VzrHJaz7LMY-j_1TD_ZeFAynUpK_WBRuQvGkV2DVglemNLvQpIiwebI/s1600/DSCN3983.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxyjx9FeT6IWDbFcOX-iqv3O0RjPTRSVdbABpGO1F6tyQIoTIK8eHuxHm2A-G3CnyTPcHjBX1HCJdG_zdKht1VzrHJaz7LMY-j_1TD_ZeFAynUpK_WBRuQvGkV2DVglemNLvQpIiwebI/s1600/DSCN3983.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes They Can</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglY8vceNwOmQA4ubjLtU9wTCiBuT4jq2ytvxYJrdG8aEPYhflVgly0T3YoMCoxlORto7z1GgAan-KrlWT-Ba_llgZPQIGrC-rJytKuSkcdt-0fpdkpeLvuDU6mqNv7ZptecVV7CPJ6qrU/s1600/DSCN3990.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglY8vceNwOmQA4ubjLtU9wTCiBuT4jq2ytvxYJrdG8aEPYhflVgly0T3YoMCoxlORto7z1GgAan-KrlWT-Ba_llgZPQIGrC-rJytKuSkcdt-0fpdkpeLvuDU6mqNv7ZptecVV7CPJ6qrU/s1600/DSCN3990.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Concrete Line</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWxgNwX8jEm-KzNAEXpFSvSXpWBnxelnFLF_qrx4XnBdCwF4sH9kC4AivPiw8RNkXiSNwDoDa5fGQcjjqCyWETadzHl3XoW8aqNVJSXPzxrhPUiA_6OXwWf1nsS4sGGegrs1u-hPGHDU/s1600/DSCN4210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWxgNwX8jEm-KzNAEXpFSvSXpWBnxelnFLF_qrx4XnBdCwF4sH9kC4AivPiw8RNkXiSNwDoDa5fGQcjjqCyWETadzHl3XoW8aqNVJSXPzxrhPUiA_6OXwWf1nsS4sGGegrs1u-hPGHDU/s1600/DSCN4210.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Forms for the tilapia tanks</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqPD6eYjL5KzNeSKtmHDcblFx3O5MGrRKBz9aNkhd32rVxc2qCF4FB8HPjPitBGD84M4iSyhLBvkXaee8ECZDVQeUC3OE-6wtZdErBFlMiesIiEkNX48ESCLiQzRu6QzK7pP6Nq8b13g/s1600/DSCN4222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqPD6eYjL5KzNeSKtmHDcblFx3O5MGrRKBz9aNkhd32rVxc2qCF4FB8HPjPitBGD84M4iSyhLBvkXaee8ECZDVQeUC3OE-6wtZdErBFlMiesIiEkNX48ESCLiQzRu6QzK7pP6Nq8b13g/s1600/DSCN4222.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Teamwork</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVx26UU2nMbRIfjhcuxb_qh6gNAjD6foB3O3VmpyX3kfejCyKO10pf4se7-hDEM53l7UhhRvF2oGn0Zb_Lj2SjQUyCIEKrkdDz7bjHyeWyKd6eQp0UExfrpWAzZ_t2UcU9sdYCgXqwG6k/s1600/DSCN5844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVx26UU2nMbRIfjhcuxb_qh6gNAjD6foB3O3VmpyX3kfejCyKO10pf4se7-hDEM53l7UhhRvF2oGn0Zb_Lj2SjQUyCIEKrkdDz7bjHyeWyKd6eQp0UExfrpWAzZ_t2UcU9sdYCgXqwG6k/s1600/DSCN5844.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Things are looking pretty serious now</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLR0wajplku-6-vI3iyi8HNkWLZWm3Q0fbCPtbadCRFeX6xWh9C7VvMakVdgGtF7cmqC69aWKZL_FoS9gZ086EQYUB8AoC3hgf17L1aUtq-q6HjhRpu_Galud45F3OSoe8uYW6n8TA9nY/s1600/DSCN5850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLR0wajplku-6-vI3iyi8HNkWLZWm3Q0fbCPtbadCRFeX6xWh9C7VvMakVdgGtF7cmqC69aWKZL_FoS9gZ086EQYUB8AoC3hgf17L1aUtq-q6HjhRpu_Galud45F3OSoe8uYW6n8TA9nY/s1600/DSCN5850.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cooking and waiting for the baby fish</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTWQdY_MjnJX4Y1Es7Isq8GUAqPr3PPxX21mOziTD9t3tyifL7ToEwDEtwZYRC2P2gYKAhuFsdSFP05-17K5oNucsYwqQokcsA997foUHj1mJKtBLd7mgisuttNBVvwypG-vMi2-sl5I/s1600/DSCN5849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTWQdY_MjnJX4Y1Es7Isq8GUAqPr3PPxX21mOziTD9t3tyifL7ToEwDEtwZYRC2P2gYKAhuFsdSFP05-17K5oNucsYwqQokcsA997foUHj1mJKtBLd7mgisuttNBVvwypG-vMi2-sl5I/s1600/DSCN5849.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brian using his field expedient grater to prep some pumpkin</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgnAb758IyZjkV0QSu1MBY21jAbJn9dWg8lwRJKCsb3ctA9-u6MrTAPNcAGUcxZnfV7zHvG-2SBwTEijiwNLkHLSxAnBlrnNYOVbXtiaPbW9oBKYiLJ5l8PnwmjNDI0PEILnv2H9RD3M/s1600/DSCN5856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgnAb758IyZjkV0QSu1MBY21jAbJn9dWg8lwRJKCsb3ctA9-u6MrTAPNcAGUcxZnfV7zHvG-2SBwTEijiwNLkHLSxAnBlrnNYOVbXtiaPbW9oBKYiLJ5l8PnwmjNDI0PEILnv2H9RD3M/s1600/DSCN5856.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I think Brian was on there before the truck came to a halt</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyfqsoDl9h1Fphox4LTCKoBv5KlsVxxtubqeiaUcV7UcQtXSIrhr0O7ZrO7s5g7xVLptuBWn6kDVD_VOsAXNteBrbGd20e-jFxRmxe54nPF5PwZC08XU_XmRv1OREY1rv50EUhlEJY8Y/s1600/DSCN5859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyfqsoDl9h1Fphox4LTCKoBv5KlsVxxtubqeiaUcV7UcQtXSIrhr0O7ZrO7s5g7xVLptuBWn6kDVD_VOsAXNteBrbGd20e-jFxRmxe54nPF5PwZC08XU_XmRv1OREY1rv50EUhlEJY8Y/s1600/DSCN5859.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvlWsEYlNp3Ms3i78z6bJfFgGWvwLXZVzd5pTLFuQ4l6pPlO1mNJ-Q0_HRDYrFJW3vLkZe3Lm8dHV8pm2MyunijpuZ2shbm2Xu5HazZxinQerYhzE2jkomJU9S9TcEZLQMeRfmqdkwjc/s1600/DSCN5886.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvlWsEYlNp3Ms3i78z6bJfFgGWvwLXZVzd5pTLFuQ4l6pPlO1mNJ-Q0_HRDYrFJW3vLkZe3Lm8dHV8pm2MyunijpuZ2shbm2Xu5HazZxinQerYhzE2jkomJU9S9TcEZLQMeRfmqdkwjc/s1600/DSCN5886.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Opton and the Tilapia</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ypdLPkLn7ZUbwLi3CzEFnt5kHBbpToJqQ_YRZGFKGedJrgvgLEd0mIBthhVLu-DVZFODbKZ50teAkAsPq5PWJ7_vQov-JIL7YsFsmYuJnU19iQucgy76dABu1JONiM6fkOlTDsBsk3Y/s1600/DSCN5884.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ypdLPkLn7ZUbwLi3CzEFnt5kHBbpToJqQ_YRZGFKGedJrgvgLEd0mIBthhVLu-DVZFODbKZ50teAkAsPq5PWJ7_vQov-JIL7YsFsmYuJnU19iQucgy76dABu1JONiM6fkOlTDsBsk3Y/s1600/DSCN5884.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Grow babies, grow!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvmr1roAR7_e9xoGvzAWn1ruKcddPAl07KmYImKZ1lm1uPlvU69jZ392iDuNC3LxJw9EVCF86DX9U8UjpCV_gOs1ixqPXiSgIyrTSMwXVtt1M2ReRu3amBcRnCwgKb42H_jzpJ9LQ-iM/s1600/DSCN5873.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfvmr1roAR7_e9xoGvzAWn1ruKcddPAl07KmYImKZ1lm1uPlvU69jZ392iDuNC3LxJw9EVCF86DX9U8UjpCV_gOs1ixqPXiSgIyrTSMwXVtt1M2ReRu3amBcRnCwgKb42H_jzpJ9LQ-iM/s1600/DSCN5873.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Soon to be a protein and vegetable producing machine!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdE-irFxaSfoVf93hiQ8O_ru2VSvTuTjdMtg7j58w4XpWyymw04U-O4AcqN4ny3MVFa-QToEp2mGbcOTLOdWVGXek61OBgRfbl1AXDvUwJgyqiAHxY8VqnxnG-au0xD9j7EW1VUJ-r8c/s1600/DSCN5889.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdE-irFxaSfoVf93hiQ8O_ru2VSvTuTjdMtg7j58w4XpWyymw04U-O4AcqN4ny3MVFa-QToEp2mGbcOTLOdWVGXek61OBgRfbl1AXDvUwJgyqiAHxY8VqnxnG-au0xD9j7EW1VUJ-r8c/s1600/DSCN5889.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">It rained a bit, but couldn't dampen any spirits</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOR4A6jCktoA9waxX0ezqTfXGU9nZAQHGNoJxfa9wyq67RNmVpNa5NxGYDdBNRUkE9BotRgq-zupdcD5wJhjZmXmC9BJab5UuLTWFEfLoUFPqSDfjeR_70h7bGSWf0WfrMqyTexDvcu-8/s1600/DSCN5894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOR4A6jCktoA9waxX0ezqTfXGU9nZAQHGNoJxfa9wyq67RNmVpNa5NxGYDdBNRUkE9BotRgq-zupdcD5wJhjZmXmC9BJab5UuLTWFEfLoUFPqSDfjeR_70h7bGSWf0WfrMqyTexDvcu-8/s1600/DSCN5894.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Taking refuge in the new nursery house</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/904822_610893092254530_10856592_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/904822_610893092254530_10856592_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me (left), Farmers (the gentlemen), and NEPA representatives presenting the check. We clean up good!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I have alluded a few times in previous posts about a project
in the works or good news I hope to reveal in the near future. Well, that time
has finally come. It is a long process that started three months after I
arrived in Bluefields, Jamaica. Tuesday, April 23<sup>rd</sup>, 2013 marked the
beginning of the Bluefields Climate Adaptation Technology for Organic
Agro-business Development project. This is the first grant won by the Westmoreland
Organic Farmers Society (WOFS) and I have taken great pleasure in facilitating the
process from the conceptualization phase to now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Back in August I led a needs assessment and priority ranking
exercise with WOFS. It was an eye opening experience for me and the farmers.
Through the process we all learned that the collective needs and priorities
were not exactly what we assumed they may be. The greatest of these needs were
water, seeds, fencing, what they call farm houses (sturdy sheds), and
agro-processing capacity. This new knowledge allowed us to come to a consensus
about what we would like to accomplish over the next two years.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As if providentially ordained, two months later the National
Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) of Jamaica approached the Bluefields
community to participate in an alternative livelihoods grant program. During a
workshop NEPA explained that coastal communities like Bluefields will be the first
to suffer the effects of climate change and alternatives to marine livelihoods
will be necessary to adapt to these changes. Among the list of alternatives proffered
were organic farming and agro-processing…cha ching! The workshop also informed
community groups and organizations of the application process and some of the
characteristics of a good proposal. Here was an opportunity to capture what we
wanted to work toward in much less time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The NEPA workshop occurred while I was in the U.S. for my
sister’s wedding, so I got all this information second-hand. Then, I got dengue
fever from a mosquito and was pretty much useless for two weeks. However,
because of that handy-dandy needs assessment we did so recently, it was easy
for the group to coalesce around a concept for the proposal. It wasn’t long
before I had a first draft and a budget prepared. After a few rounds of
revisions, the key leadership of WOFS approved and then we presented the
proposal to the entire organization. With their consent, we then sent the
proposal in to NEPA and let the waiting game begin.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/905308_610893108921195_437420406_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/905308_610893108921195_437420406_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More members of the group on the day our project began</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In late February, we finally got a letter from NEPA
congratulating us on being selected as a successful applicant. Two months later
(last Tuesday), we got the first check. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I am skipping over a lot of little administrative hurdles we
had to cross in the meantime: budget reduction and revisions, amending
indicators, negotiating a letter of agreement, and more. In the end we are
getting about $12,000USD to install a demonstration farm with rainwater
harvesting and drip irrigation, purchase quality seeds, build a fence and a
shed, and purchase materials and equipment to boost the agro-processing
enterprise of the group. We will also be conducting a series of Farmer Field
Schools to reach out to other farmers and fisher folk in the community. Don’t worry;
I will devote another blog post to getting more descriptive about the
objectives and activities of the project.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ultimately, this is what I took a 90% pay cut to join Peace
Corps to do. I wanted to experience development work absent the six-figure experts.
Where goals and objectives and activities are generated from the ground up
rather than through the aims of a hulking bilateral or multilateral development
organization. The amount of funds I have helped WOFS win could easily be lost
as a rounding error in many development projects; I have worked on such
projects. However, every dime in this one is going where the beneficiaries want
it to go and you certainly can’t say that about a lot of projects around the
world. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I am really blessed to have been sent to live and work in
this little corner of Jamaica with the great people of WOFS. I can’t wait to
share more about this and other projects we are undertaking.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-78092307528209020472013-03-13T13:55:00.001-05:002013-03-13T13:55:33.726-05:00Master's International: Part ThreeThis is a reblog of the third and final post on student experiences with Peace Corps Master's International (PCMI) in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications at Texas A&M University.<br />
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The first two entries in the series described students experiences enrolling in the program and receiving their invitation to serve. For the third part in the series, I was asked to provide my "on the ground" Peace Corps and research experiences as a PCMI participant. I hope you will enjoy. Click the link below. <span style="font-size: large;">↓</span><br />
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<h2 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://alecabroad.com/?p=504" rel="bookmark" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #ff4b33; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Permalink to Master’s International Program: On the Ground">Master’s International Program: On the Ground</a></h2>
Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-29352968801497705542013-03-05T08:50:00.000-05:002013-03-05T08:50:22.860-05:00Masters International Series: Part TwoLast week I reblogged a post from the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications at Texas A&M. In that post, a Peace Corps Masters International (PCMI) enrollee shared her experiences in applying to graduate school and Peace Corps with the PCMI option.<br />
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The latest post in the series is about another PCMI participant at Texas A&M who has just received his invitation to serve. Click the link below to read his account of discovering where he will serve.<br />
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My contribution to this series should be posted in about a week. Please feel free to explore some of the other posts on the ALEC Abroad blog site as well!<br />
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<h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://alecabroad.com/?p=482">Master’s International Program: Invitation to Paraguay</a></h1>
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<br />Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-62041796181760691182013-02-28T11:54:00.001-05:002013-02-28T11:54:58.163-05:00Masters International Series, Part OneAs some of you may know by now, I am a participant in Peace Corps Masters International (PCMI). This means I am combining my graduate degree and Peace Corps service such that I completed coursework at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and am conducing thesis research while serving in Jamaica. The Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications back at TAMU operates a blog and is running a three part series of posts from PCMI participants currently enrolled and at various phases.<br />
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Part One was published today and features a PCMI participant who is taking classes and awaiting her invitation to a country of service.<br />
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<h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://alecabroad.com/?p=477">Master’s International Program: A View from the Inside</a></h1>
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<em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Over the next three weeks, ALEC students Tegan Walker, Orry Pratt and Kevin Fath will share their insights and experiences with Masters International, a program that allows masters students to combine their education with service in the Peace Corps.</em></div>
Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-21315780800574531332013-02-19T14:34:00.002-05:002013-02-19T14:34:56.469-05:00The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Over two months since the
last blog post…my apologies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PPsYLs7pTpQoHkJbM7JQX_8Nb6XUU9tO5yDRSLqfU8OEmRb8p4vw9y6UDLFHClVYCPEnGBDf1qiEJJIF56hyphenhyphenuaW2ztte1l3UJgadrHesVcV90Em30diIfcqSztCwpbHYupV9qrshU50/s1600/DSCN2724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PPsYLs7pTpQoHkJbM7JQX_8Nb6XUU9tO5yDRSLqfU8OEmRb8p4vw9y6UDLFHClVYCPEnGBDf1qiEJJIF56hyphenhyphenuaW2ztte1l3UJgadrHesVcV90Em30diIfcqSztCwpbHYupV9qrshU50/s1600/DSCN2724.JPG" height="238" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A happy farmer and her goods</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">First order of
business, a “big up” to the Westmoreland Organic Farmers Society (WOFS) for
putting on a successful 2<sup>nd</sup> annual Bluefields Organic Expo &
Sorrel Festival on December 20. The
event is still small by most standards, but there were more participants and
attendees than last year. Valuable lessons learned and good times had. The
purpose of the event is to raise awareness of environmentally friendly farming
practices and to celebrate sorrel, a staple of the holiday season. The most
common sorrel-based product is juice, but we experimented with fritters, <a href="http://aromahope.blogspot.com/2009/02/jamaican-festival-fried-bread.html">festival</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gizzada">gizzada</a>, cakes, and other delights. A fellow PCV was also
involved as a group from her community in nearby Beeston Spring participated.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6GVn5FHldCguKR4SyN1Cx7yQCkA8PIfRMC4cFHGsGtNBEJlw8A7NSeNISTZJCWwpONlxCXPYrmodAvd__crWUrkB73HS8bwLnbAYO2DXf1rgoBaGYCVMhbA3pTPIws8W3Bvk7NnCeIuA/s1600/BioChar+Demo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6GVn5FHldCguKR4SyN1Cx7yQCkA8PIfRMC4cFHGsGtNBEJlw8A7NSeNISTZJCWwpONlxCXPYrmodAvd__crWUrkB73HS8bwLnbAYO2DXf1rgoBaGYCVMhbA3pTPIws8W3Bvk7NnCeIuA/s1600/BioChar+Demo.JPG" height="235" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BioChar demonstration</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLjZD1dBoflfuwz2iNNdyaO9Q0po733Y57oVdUcOpQj81fZleEgIFNogfCgVELT_SM6TCcu0ToNDq0C8Qi3cz5qCKtKDIzdo39SB31jStVXU_0inn-6BvMc0_o2I3jOYVZOyI04MaKnw/s1600/Drummers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLjZD1dBoflfuwz2iNNdyaO9Q0po733Y57oVdUcOpQj81fZleEgIFNogfCgVELT_SM6TCcu0ToNDq0C8Qi3cz5qCKtKDIzdo39SB31jStVXU_0inn-6BvMc0_o2I3jOYVZOyI04MaKnw/s1600/Drummers.JPG" height="238" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drummers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1vRoL_3ITAKQ76vTb6J2DvQEDWYGYORR7qlQn8Nst8D0cnvsE0QdzkDrOO9nd161NuaXuIS1EECX03HZQAxdXE-oTmaHCaLR0jrhzxTBrYU54rgrGnyoRQmpF2WZtex-HduyxshPNF0/s1600/DSCN2799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1vRoL_3ITAKQ76vTb6J2DvQEDWYGYORR7qlQn8Nst8D0cnvsE0QdzkDrOO9nd161NuaXuIS1EECX03HZQAxdXE-oTmaHCaLR0jrhzxTBrYU54rgrGnyoRQmpF2WZtex-HduyxshPNF0/s1600/DSCN2799.JPG" height="235" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Organic Expo & Sorrel Festival</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, one of the reasons
for my lack of blogging is a sort of superstitious hesitance to talk about
projects in the making. I would hate to share about something in the works and
then follow up with a blog about how or why something failed. However,
yesterday was a great day and definitely something worth talking about.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Over two years ago the
PCV who preceded me began supporting the farmers’ effort to register their
group with Jamaica’s Department of Cooperatives and Friendly Societies. He
passed the baton to me back in May and on December 7<sup>th</sup> we finally
got the final documents signed, sealed, and delivered to our humble
organization here in Bluefields. Of course, with this official status comes new
responsibility, one of which was to organize and hold an Inaugural General
Meeting (IGM). This meant preparing a financial report, establishing a
Nominating Committee, creating an agenda, sending notices, and a few </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">other
minor details.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drummers & Dancers</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As luck would have it,
the IGM was scheduled for February 18 (my birthday). A representative from the
Department of Cooperatives and Friendly Societies attended and fortunately
arrived a little early. There were a few minor details we needed to correct
before the meeting started, but at the end of the day, we got a "passing grade".
A report was shared highlighting the achievements of the group and elections
were held. WOFS now has a nine member Committee of Management consisting of
five females and four males. My supervisor, Brian, maintained presidency and
our secretary and treasurer remained the same as well. We also established an
Audit Committee, Investigation Committee, Marketing Committee, and
Environmental Committee. At the end of the day, many members took up a new
position. Admittedly, it will take a little work from me to help outline the
roles and responsibilities and transfer a few skills to some. Yesterday’s event
is something that has been years in the making and the feeling of excitement
and togetherness was palpable yesterday. (See song sung to open the meeting below)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx4BUpFO05TsYD2kQEgOjFOiOSp304tvA0EYUveT3cXPBax6qJ-XC4WNQqBeuzzQBcZT9gXzMhcOJSdRa14fA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As I have gotten older
and hopefully a little wiser, I’ve come to take great joy in seeing others
achieve their goals and being able to say I had a little part in making it
happen. As I was about to leave the luncheon after the meeting, I mentioned to
Brian that I thought today was a great birthday present. I saw his eyes get big
as he realized he had forgotten. Before I knew it I had a room full of people
singing the Happy Birthday song with all the flair and gusto Jamaica is known
for. I know my flushed cheeks showed through my beard, but fortunately I was
able to win the battle against my tear ducts. I have come to love the men and
women of the farmers group and have no reservations about shedding blood,
sweat, or maybe tears as my service continues. I guess this is why they call it the “toughest
job you will ever love.” It took eleven months, but I am starting to understand
where that phrase comes from.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2873ApNFgxqijPadJaiNtO55Vuv-x4MHuw32ROBRK92aESQiRppbJvfAimPPVSlUFtTPXjXPW1IY6iSPDX4BWcO0OD8Hk5ypDGT39fZkO4YtO6uD3y1Y6YTkHBfvegmwkp8U0MfhyphenhyphenPvU/s1600/DSCN3184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2873ApNFgxqijPadJaiNtO55Vuv-x4MHuw32ROBRK92aESQiRppbJvfAimPPVSlUFtTPXjXPW1IY6iSPDX4BWcO0OD8Hk5ypDGT39fZkO4YtO6uD3y1Y6YTkHBfvegmwkp8U0MfhyphenhyphenPvU/s1600/DSCN3184.JPG" height="148" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IGM Meeting</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Committee of Management</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">PS. I really hope to share an other blog post soon to announce another big achievement based on our efforts here. But again, maybe I am too superstitious to spill the beans now.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canoe on the Bay</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_S7ldW2VdxPGSA3i7UovZxE0D1sQKrXLZuSxNmRKeOXJIgVDl_PdB_wC7w60IvXh-eydNBdhHhCwU_k-UsbPPdimUtIOf4ALfbwoKL3Ybz0rGn6wcGODUkYL-zzhRHE7CnlT93VJMzXQ/s1600/DSCN3037(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_S7ldW2VdxPGSA3i7UovZxE0D1sQKrXLZuSxNmRKeOXJIgVDl_PdB_wC7w60IvXh-eydNBdhHhCwU_k-UsbPPdimUtIOf4ALfbwoKL3Ybz0rGn6wcGODUkYL-zzhRHE7CnlT93VJMzXQ/s1600/DSCN3037(1).jpg" height="283" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linnae and I at Rick's Cafe in Negril</td></tr>
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Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-63172357796578231792012-12-07T12:06:00.002-05:002012-12-07T12:06:42.838-05:00My Dengue Fever and Wildly Unanticipated Life<b>I typed up this blog post and titled it almost a month ago during the final throws of Dengue fever. I decided to sit on it for a bit, knowing I might not be in the best state of mind to write this kind of thing. Looking at it now, I think it is safe to share. Interestingly, one of the final symptoms of Dengue is a few days of depression, so that might be the cause behind the genesis of this topic and the somber sounding ending. I assure you I am in a better state of mind today. Anyway, here you go:</b><br />
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November 2 will go down as the day I came down with Dengue
Fever, a mosquito-borne virus that manifested itself in the following symptoms
in no particular order of appearance: high fever, body ache, chronic low fever,
upset stomach, diarrhea, rash, headache, pain behind eyes, fatigue, cold sweat,
painful sensitivity on palms and soles of feet, dehydration, weight loss,
nausea, and probably more…memory loss perhaps (that last one is a joke). I was
in bed for about six days and am only now spending the whole day “up”. This
ordeal has given me a lot of time “in my head” and one of the latest thoughts
that got me thinking was, “How did I get here?” If I were to ask my 18 year old
self there is no way I could have concocted the string of events that have
unfolded over the last ten years of this unanticipated life that led to lying
in Jamaica with a nasty illness.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGTzi4TSoyNG7L2ADiNnHOnA6oRTpvSU8MGbCEC0HYbPd4U_9LzmVQmYu3RtJfgERUodraugoKf_VCSGavfu7fcFVQX58fkZCkAoBkgqjQfL8FMwDADUeH2CjvL8Izd-fGvPsjDJ63zY/s1600/429026_10101539035482475_487830769_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicGTzi4TSoyNG7L2ADiNnHOnA6oRTpvSU8MGbCEC0HYbPd4U_9LzmVQmYu3RtJfgERUodraugoKf_VCSGavfu7fcFVQX58fkZCkAoBkgqjQfL8FMwDADUeH2CjvL8Izd-fGvPsjDJ63zY/s1600/429026_10101539035482475_487830769_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ohio farm where I was raised</td></tr>
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I was going to raise pigs. That was my plan at one point. I
was a true, blue 4-H and FFA kid who lived for the county fair. For example, my
job shadowing experience in high school was at a large wean-to-finish hog barn
in Knox County, Ohio. OK, swine farming was probably never going to be my
primary occupation, but I definitely had a love for raising show quality pigs;
Durocs specifically. The career I settled on out of high school was to be an
agricultural science teacher at the high school level and I started as a
freshman at the Agricultural and Technical Institute (ATI) branch of The Ohio
State University. ATI was perfect: it was located in my hometown and was
basically like an extra year of high school with nothing but farmers as
classmates. ATI was affectionately referred to as the Alcohol and Tobacco
Institute by students, probably because of all the farmhouse parties and so
many Skoal rings in the back pocket of Wrangler jeans. My plan was to save
money by starting at this branch before transferring down to main campus. Yup,
I was living in hillbilly heaven and I was on my way.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix29519Otdqs_eN-wOjWaUwV_zIQuIOw6ms9P_fzMtMjuwf6DMdVpaKbKJZ3_d1lqXvL2YrDnkFYBm0isv_5KWNSf9ENS8O6ACNULWpMcrcY5F4aUCVSwkYw7BVV5O4UxzkGGAIQHbpUo/s1600/200321_565420670405_3516_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix29519Otdqs_eN-wOjWaUwV_zIQuIOw6ms9P_fzMtMjuwf6DMdVpaKbKJZ3_d1lqXvL2YrDnkFYBm0isv_5KWNSf9ENS8O6ACNULWpMcrcY5F4aUCVSwkYw7BVV5O4UxzkGGAIQHbpUo/s1600/200321_565420670405_3516_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baquba, Iraq (probably 2004)</td></tr>
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Or, so I thought. As the saying goes, “if you want to hear
God laugh, tell him your plans.” At the end of 2002 and early 2003, George W.
Bush was making a pretty darn good case for regime change in Iraq and just days
after “shock and awe” commenced, I was proudly enlisted in the Army Reserve.
So, after my first year of classes and bad grades, I completed the Army’s
initial entry training and within a year I was off to Iraq, 20 years old and
green. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There is an aptly named book called <i>Fiasco</i> about the first few years of the war. I would sum up the
experiences of my first deployment as a bunch of military men and women doing
what they could to make the best of a bad situation made worse by an
administration that had no clear strategic vision or plan. This made coming
home to the college setting…interesting. I wouldn’t call it PTSD, but I was
definitely 21 and bitter, though fortunately a little more serious about my
grades.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was blessed to be able to start back to school at main
campus by living with my best friend’s brother who was also a good friend. He
was a couple years older and grounded, so I think that helped. However, after
about a year, it became clear that I wasn’t cut out for high school teaching,
so I changed majors to Animal Science with the intent of going into Extension
education. That might have worked out, but in 2007 I met my future wife and also found out I had to go back to Iraq. <o:p></o:p></div>
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By January 2008 I was back in the Sunni triangle. The sequel
to the aforementioned <i>Fiasco</i> is
called <i>The Gamble</i>, which is about the
surge and change in tactics that paid off so well. Current scandal
notwithstanding, I feel I owe a great debt of gratitude to Gen. David Petraeus
and guys like Amb. Ryan Crocker and Sec. Robert Gates for the much more
purposeful experience I had the second go-round.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbczOeDT8HFkmMBhqhSZcpZcMzCgnzzS1oZCUqpccZaSIvN6uYEMMlLNPGido0FxFhYzrDkuhW8YVMX_Tr4OYfmj1xoWDjTQuDH9CE2XIiIwCLZ02eEtzuwssuexr1jGoy6sQORXzPbOU/s1600/1979_737648000455_1800_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbczOeDT8HFkmMBhqhSZcpZcMzCgnzzS1oZCUqpccZaSIvN6uYEMMlLNPGido0FxFhYzrDkuhW8YVMX_Tr4OYfmj1xoWDjTQuDH9CE2XIiIwCLZ02eEtzuwssuexr1jGoy6sQORXzPbOU/s1600/1979_737648000455_1800_n.jpg" height="320" width="184" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bayji, Iraq (2008)</td></tr>
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Iraq 2008 was where my career interests really started to
shift. In addition to trying to keep al Qaeda out of Bayji, I had the privilege
of working with civilian representatives from USDA and USAID (one of which sung
the praises of his Peace Corps experience and how it helped him get his career
going). I had heard about <i>development
work</i> from Linnae, but this was the first time I saw it in action and
appreciated the impact agricultural and economic development can have on peace
and pacifying combatants. This was also the first time I had heard about Team
Borlaug from Texas A&M University; a group of professors and specialists
touring the country to do agriculture assessments. Significant acts (SIGACTS) of violence in
our area of operations fell 80% while I was in country that year and I knew it
wasn’t just because we had bigger guns and mine-resistant armor protected
vehicles. Late that November I was back on American soil a newly minted Staff
Sergeant with a new perspective. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ll never forget the day on campus when I stepped into the
coffee shop, embittered by the stress of another deployment, while some girl
who had gone well beyond adding a “freshmen fifteen” pounds was bopping away in
her stretchpants to some music on her MP3 player. Just knowing what a different
world existed between those earphones was unforgettable. But I digress. Linnae
was working in Washington, DC and I was struggling through chemistry, biology,
and physics and applying to a competitive summer internship program in DC.
Fortunately, I made it into the program on my military laurels because my GPA
was only then breaking above the 2.5 mark. After six months of us commuting on
weekends, I was finally in DC with Linnae for an internship at the Foreign
Agricultural Service at the USDA. This is where I learned much more about the
possibilities for work in international agricultural development. I also
learned more about that faraway school I mentioned earlier, the one that had
been doing the work in Iraq while I was there. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-XadUrY5VoOabu1aTE7V5StCMbvW7br-rbVD59g8Pv1B6tcvmtdERD3Ww3iM36gO9k1rt8A37ctYxVElaOIKI5q74YsarShDaTUsYTuqSaqLUJfYybLvZSD_RP4Ji_KplikM5G-ebC8/s1600/9919_1111432392683_4188155_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-XadUrY5VoOabu1aTE7V5StCMbvW7br-rbVD59g8Pv1B6tcvmtdERD3Ww3iM36gO9k1rt8A37ctYxVElaOIKI5q74YsarShDaTUsYTuqSaqLUJfYybLvZSD_RP4Ji_KplikM5G-ebC8/s1600/9919_1111432392683_4188155_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wedding Day: Hippie marries Soldier ;)</td></tr>
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That fall of 2009, Linnae and I got married and she started
grad school in Development Economics at Ohio State while I completed my senior year. I spent my last two
years of school firmly planted on the Dean’s List, which paid off with
admission to a Master’s program at Texas A&M (TAMU) the autumn after
graduation. I took a few online Master’s classes that fall and we both
submitted applications to the Peace Corps. On December 30<sup>th</sup> we were
two Buckeyes and a dog U-Hauling it to College Station, Texas for my year of
coursework as an Aggie. There are probably few campuses in America where a
veteran feels as at ease as at TAMU. I really enjoyed my time there and
volunteered often with the Norman Borlaug Institute for International
Agriculture, even getting the opportunity to train some National Guard
agriculture specialists before they deployed to Afghanistan. I helped train
those Soldiers just a few months after my Army enlistment contract expired, so
it was extra meaningful at the time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuB1LMJ4QhDKRshuBqZFLa8z7p6qjxZ_rY1AeXr5al_XoQZ62tk8H7qjjFcz0qB18c4JC3PkRC3WLHsmgRKJos8U6nqSCGZqzsNwSegG-xCco3wH4Pp9b4SDHwykiKrreN7mLHGbIfuLU/s1600/DSC02173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuB1LMJ4QhDKRshuBqZFLa8z7p6qjxZ_rY1AeXr5al_XoQZ62tk8H7qjjFcz0qB18c4JC3PkRC3WLHsmgRKJos8U6nqSCGZqzsNwSegG-xCco3wH4Pp9b4SDHwykiKrreN7mLHGbIfuLU/s1600/DSC02173.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bor, South Sudan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidA6AsU1uQ1lg6hMEk-7IT8mNBzA6SkD3omOdLuqKHgoHUD8KoDOokWsWZEeB_Uxq7PyKNfMiSH_1hTSmttoK1RI9IK9-NVetlTFLu17729daV4esMnYxFr1sJtCia3oBORPEVRdKEJIc/s1600/561975_10101673198069575_1054885208_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidA6AsU1uQ1lg6hMEk-7IT8mNBzA6SkD3omOdLuqKHgoHUD8KoDOokWsWZEeB_Uxq7PyKNfMiSH_1hTSmttoK1RI9IK9-NVetlTFLu17729daV4esMnYxFr1sJtCia3oBORPEVRdKEJIc/s1600/561975_10101673198069575_1054885208_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Conversation with smallholders in South Sudan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Linnae and I were starting to get nervous as 2011 wore on
and we weren’t getting an official Peace Corps invitation to serve. I was going
to run out of courses and had no plans for doing my thesis research other than
in Peace Corps. That is when I got a call from the director of the Borlaug
Institute; the organization responsible for the Team Borlaug I had learned of
three years prior in Iraq. The Borlaug Institute had just won an unsolicited
bid for a USAID project in South Sudan and wanted me for a short-term gig as
the project got started. What’s that you say? Post-conflict agricultural
development and a bridge of employment before Peace Corps? Done! It was about a
week later Linnae and I were pleasantly surprised with an invitation to serve
in Jamaica. So, with a future more or less certain, for three months I worked
the project in South Sudan and learned a lot about how projects in such
environments evolve into order. I came home from Africa in mid-February, helped
pack up the truck to move our things back to Ohio and we were in Jamaica by
mid-March. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjctCjK-dXsbgF2CgPOHPDITWNOj3cKn3fHkwiicfnvj5A2U5F5ePMw5ZH-_siLNKJYBsDDqgbHUxu-5OkigCEmW8GLuT6QRAP1bcCpqwwhPgc_wJkHGGoXfG1dPV69nplFG7XrbW2hX4/s1600/225940_10102190384743335_820757601_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjctCjK-dXsbgF2CgPOHPDITWNOj3cKn3fHkwiicfnvj5A2U5F5ePMw5ZH-_siLNKJYBsDDqgbHUxu-5OkigCEmW8GLuT6QRAP1bcCpqwwhPgc_wJkHGGoXfG1dPV69nplFG7XrbW2hX4/s1600/225940_10102190384743335_820757601_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wash time in Westmoreland, Jamaica</td></tr>
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So, in a nutshell, I guess that is how I got “here” to the
middle of the Caribbean with a tropical illness and a world completely
different from anything I have ever known. The hardest things is not knowing if
my life will be able to follow a path back to the things I loved before this
string of events began to unfold. Will I again get to live a significant
portion of my life in the quietude of rural life? Will I be able to give my
children the opportunity to participate in 4-H and FFA or exhibit something at
the county fair? How will I connect to our children if I must raise them in a
place drastically different from what I was raised in? Some people look at
rural Americans as backward or xenophobic, but I know differently. There is
something special about life outside the rat race. Whatever that something
special is may not be objectively better than where you come from, but from my
subjective perspective it is and getting more of it back in my life has been on
my mind. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhviGP-pxTKsQetypGtn6BpZWf0vXC9_KR3SrRS2vO_asDxtqrRNX5nvNNzc07G1aGVFfQ__1eeaoZ4pJBnKIK9Rcw4dP7_H8OBgedaszMCxi5KM4F-AFWrFAWPSJDUTJX4c4kn52dPbwU/s1600/281093_10102183489152155_253524823_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhviGP-pxTKsQetypGtn6BpZWf0vXC9_KR3SrRS2vO_asDxtqrRNX5nvNNzc07G1aGVFfQ__1eeaoZ4pJBnKIK9Rcw4dP7_H8OBgedaszMCxi5KM4F-AFWrFAWPSJDUTJX4c4kn52dPbwU/s1600/281093_10102183489152155_253524823_o.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just listening to a man about his goats</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I don’t know if this is an early mid-life crisis or just
what happens when a boy has been too long away from the farm. Maybe they just
need to add <i>homesick</i> to the list of
Dengue Fever symptoms.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-83498046140182890432012-10-29T12:43:00.001-05:002012-10-29T12:45:58.062-05:00First Hurricane Experience<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxyqowch8tXPcN_F1Z8GpdMdHyiW0cjAqdZQOrco4HeJCXx44CNHNABk2iP5xi76-Vrl3iM_yaq0FBx8oNhWQTIn199mY4xOrmeomkqPy-TiYLvQMepoRdS8FrlnNsugXz8Exr0qcjok/s1600/DSCN2098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxyqowch8tXPcN_F1Z8GpdMdHyiW0cjAqdZQOrco4HeJCXx44CNHNABk2iP5xi76-Vrl3iM_yaq0FBx8oNhWQTIn199mY4xOrmeomkqPy-TiYLvQMepoRdS8FrlnNsugXz8Exr0qcjok/s1600/DSCN2098.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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During the weekend before last I was aware of a tropical
system brewing in the south Caribbean Sea, but before we knew it the pesky
little thing wound up strength and took a northerly course toward Jamaica.
Original projections put landfall dead center on the south coast as a Category
1 hurricane, so we started to prepare for the worst. Containers were filled
with water, the lantern dusted off and tested, phones charged, bags packed,
etc. Fortunately for us, the hurricane ended up landing farther east, but while
we were spared a direct hit many in the central and eastern parishes have taken
significant damage.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOyXaQbiLinhyphenhyphenlq5AjfbkKTpFfz12h8m4io1yNSCCKaaLmskkgwbLC_sNIrzoP_rH3DGT7DC_J0rHpARR9lOi1mGjnpiuMjklbiB5RHEa4D88Ig6Csqbyrbtn8laoTPqGY3yU-UAKdnEs/s1600/DSCN2081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOyXaQbiLinhyphenhyphenlq5AjfbkKTpFfz12h8m4io1yNSCCKaaLmskkgwbLC_sNIrzoP_rH3DGT7DC_J0rHpARR9lOi1mGjnpiuMjklbiB5RHEa4D88Ig6Csqbyrbtn8laoTPqGY3yU-UAKdnEs/s1600/DSCN2081.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Tuesday morning Linnae and I were down at the fishing beach
for a meeting with the ladies of the farmers group who do home economics
projects. While we were waiting for the ladies to show up, the fishermen were
busy preparing for the storm. With team work and logs to roll the boats on, we
were able to push the fishing vessels up on solid ground pretty easily.
Eventually, the boats were ashore and the women were ready for a meeting.
Sadly, the turnout was poor so we discussed ways to consistently get women to
attend. With some gentle suggestion, Linnae and I may have planted the seed for
a Rotating Savings & Credit scheme. This is a system where a set number of
women agree to put a set amount of money in the pot every week and that pot
goes to one person until every person has been able to get a lump sum. You
might wonder why the women don’t just save on their own, but this is very
difficult in low-income households. For more understanding of this phenomenon,
I suggest reading “Portfolios of the Poor” or “Poor Economics”. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj284OfsVR9xFCL3JHLl2RRMQDHC7wDHySnoIc_e1MAvqZXxDSssKeaPZf93R2JdRuQmRP14tXpW9AeglALz6ScDJVPe4d4EyU9mgbJZ_6PC-yPsOoRwPsl6500JHGZNnLsiLmaVmKdnCM/s1600/DSCN2110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj284OfsVR9xFCL3JHLl2RRMQDHC7wDHySnoIc_e1MAvqZXxDSssKeaPZf93R2JdRuQmRP14tXpW9AeglALz6ScDJVPe4d4EyU9mgbJZ_6PC-yPsOoRwPsl6500JHGZNnLsiLmaVmKdnCM/s1600/DSCN2110.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Tuesday afternoon, Linnae and I were making final
preparations in the house to make sure we were ready to ride out the storm or
evacuate should Peace Corps deem it necessary. Wednesday morning was relatively
calm, though the sea was rough and dark clouds were overhead. Around 10:00am
the winds were picking up. When we started to hear the tin on the roof creaking,
I made a couple hasty trips up there to put more cinder blocks on the corners
where the wind was catching it. By 11:00 we were catching enough wind to bring
down banana and plantain trees and the awning over our side door was ripped
off. By noon, the wind was blowing rain through our walls and door. So, while
Linnae was making a lovely macaroni and cheese lunch, I was putting towels and
buckets in the necessary places and getting the tarps positioned. Our dog,
Dora, slept through most of it. Most of the storm had blown over by the time it
got dark.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am sure our rain gauge wasn’t completely accurate given
the horizontal nature of the rain, but I was surprised to find only 0.7 inches
in it Thursday morning. We were lucky not to get as much moisture as most places,
otherwise we would have had a lot more trees down. We spent all morning
cleaning up in the yard. I put my machete to good use hacking up limbs from the
almond tree that fell and chopping down the broken banana and plantain trees
and hauling them out. Linnae did a little machete work herself, which drew
surprise from everyone in the yard and passers-by. By noon, the yard was
basically back to normal, just with a lot less foliage. The jury is still out
on our sweetsop tree that got blown over. We have it propped up and hope to be
able to reinforce the roots and keep it going.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The power came back on Friday afternoon so we are back to
enjoying the luxury of cool water and have already been to the grocery to
replenish our stocks of perishables.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The overarching theme of this blog post is that Linnae and I
weathered the hurricane and are doing just fine. However, many are not so
fortunate. Some Peace Corps Volunteers were pulled from their communities for
safety reasons and have yet to return to their homes. Still, this is just an
inconvenience for PCVs compared to the hardships faced by many Jamaicans who
don’t have the safety net of a U.S. government organization. I met with a few
farmers Thursday night and I could see the consternation in their faces with so
much work and investment ruined by Sandy. And THAT is the overarching theme of
Jamaica in the aftermath of the hurricane.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-61686207174610724632012-09-30T12:05:00.000-05:002012-10-01T11:26:43.855-05:00Getting the Priorities Straight<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSw4kFyJ-141xBHUGSGoc8WbqXJrRjzCZuSrnC-iUuVdbAS5JPECnP16boRePsutbVFPxKszNPMbOzhTAxbXZXNKU14kcBLZGmW8DNPIqY4ihDmLOpoYkixelbZDvIgkTOueHDIVxHyk0/s1600/DSCN1926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSw4kFyJ-141xBHUGSGoc8WbqXJrRjzCZuSrnC-iUuVdbAS5JPECnP16boRePsutbVFPxKszNPMbOzhTAxbXZXNKU14kcBLZGmW8DNPIqY4ihDmLOpoYkixelbZDvIgkTOueHDIVxHyk0/s320/DSCN1926.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset from our porch (very corner of porch standing on<br />
tippy-toes and holding camera above my head)</td></tr>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I have been an official Peace Corps
Volunteer since mid-May and have lived in my little corner of Jamaica for a
little over four months. My focus thus far has been integrating into my
community and identifying needs and assets. The last few weeks, however, have
been more specifically about getting the priorities straight.</span><br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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I work with a great group of
ambitious and optimistic producers and processors of organic food. Their
aspirations inspire me and I am committed to doing what I can to empower them
to realize their goals. The thing that I worry about most is the lack of
systematic, long-term planning. I certainly do not blame them for this; there
is a litany of socioeconomic causes for this that I cannot cover in a blog
post. Thanks to an exercise in Participatory Analysis for Community Action (a.k.a.
Participatory Rural Appraisal or Participatory Learning and Action) I
facilitated with the farmers and recently completing Program Design &
Management training with one of my counterparts, I think we are ready to move
forward with a clearer purpose. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6kA_f6tN4nPjjwARAvhLmk_hu5ragjHbJHbAIHAficFLvXGwt5XFDv7MdAu50LLvQpMe_lHUymippIfpU9y7bGVuyc0Cg7x-7VobXd8-DBKsXBZ9ZWAN2TKVhMQOr38QA7Q7sxFYEoMo/s1600/DSCN1788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6kA_f6tN4nPjjwARAvhLmk_hu5ragjHbJHbAIHAficFLvXGwt5XFDv7MdAu50LLvQpMe_lHUymippIfpU9y7bGVuyc0Cg7x-7VobXd8-DBKsXBZ9ZWAN2TKVhMQOr38QA7Q7sxFYEoMo/s320/DSCN1788.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Needs Assessment / Priority Ranking</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The activity I facilitated with the
Westmoreland Organic Farmers Society (WOFS) this month was a combination of
needs assessment and priority ranking. It started as a typical meeting: a
4:00pm start time and people trickling in during the first hour. At about 4:30
we felt we had enough participants to begin. The society consists of two main
cohorts, the producers and processors. So, I started by asking the group to
divide itself into these groups. The processors (who call what they do “home
economics”) were a group of about 10 women and the producers (farmers) were
nine men and one woman. Using flip chart paper and markers, the groups were
instructed to make a list of attainable needs that they would like the
organization to focus on. The next step was to sort these needs into a four
quadrant matrix based on urgency and profitability. None of the identified needs
were viewed as unprofitable. In the final phase of the exercise, a pair-wise
ranking matrix was drawn on a piece of flip chart for each group. The participants
compared each need to another and voted by show of hands for which was a higher
priority. When all items had been compared, a tally of the results was made and
an example can be viewed below. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfiaRMt7MvawQWav1jcOPLRT8qcNuvkUwFCrkPTzGOkCEfCPumQSCzJEO-kYA9jnRLNNObFDRdfsL56kKuFH60MsVE7vSWCe5INKgfWyXj7O1wWYKgxBpkP6_p8DaY42DjyOXoon3cHGQ/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfiaRMt7MvawQWav1jcOPLRT8qcNuvkUwFCrkPTzGOkCEfCPumQSCzJEO-kYA9jnRLNNObFDRdfsL56kKuFH60MsVE7vSWCe5INKgfWyXj7O1wWYKgxBpkP6_p8DaY42DjyOXoon3cHGQ/s320/Capture.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pair-wise Ranking Matrix for Farmer Needs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<i>Production
Farmers’ Needs</i>: In descending order, the most important needs for the
production farmers were water, seeds, and fencing/sheds. What the farmers
termed as water issues can also be described as a lack of irrigation. Given the
humid tropical climate in Bluefields, the farmers recognize the potential to
expand to two growing seasons per year. Currently, farmers are limited to a
single “rainy season”; though they report these rains have become less
dependable in recent years. Improved irrigation or water management could
potentially double productivity and reduce risk against irregular rainfall. Farmers,
especially organic farmers, struggle to acquire certified or improved seeds and
currently rely on seed saving. Improved access to high value certified organic
seeds would be a boon for the farmers in WOFS. The fencing/sheds issue is
related to problems with praedial larceny, livestock management, and protecting
equipment from theft. Farmers are aware of the long-term benefits of formalized
land-tenure. However, many of the farmers occupy government owned land and feel
no pressure to enter an agreement that would require paying rent when they can
continue farming rent-free. The farmers do recognize that informal tenure
reduces the availability of financing and disqualifies them from agricultural
development grants from donors.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDyboag58Tn9pSNYexrQ4gVFw7UIu2ldzzDuQTiv3NX0DhevdYfy99LAjZPpJgGqA6ckMr7mxkmCvq9TQ4CGwitpoFrccKBAzBxyEgsZkadUYVbZB80go_Rp44RMtyVv7wWUzCQKhRsg/s1600/DSCN1877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDyboag58Tn9pSNYexrQ4gVFw7UIu2ldzzDuQTiv3NX0DhevdYfy99LAjZPpJgGqA6ckMr7mxkmCvq9TQ4CGwitpoFrccKBAzBxyEgsZkadUYVbZB80go_Rp44RMtyVv7wWUzCQKhRsg/s320/DSCN1877.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morning from the porch</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Home
Economics Needs</i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">: For home economics, the top two priorities were potable
water and a kitchen space, with utensils, trainers, and a refrigerator all
tying with one vote. Currently, WOFS rents kitchen space locally to produce jams.
This rented space is adequate for the current production of a few hundred
bottles of jam per year, but offers no opportunity for expansion and is a
shared space. When processing the jams, the group borrows non-commercial grade
blenders from its own members to puree many pounds of fresh sorrel, apple, and
june plum. WOFS will need commercial-grade appliances to avoid the risk of
breaking personal equipment and to increase efficiency. The group also
recognizes the importance of training to improve the quality, consistency, and
appearance of the products. Refrigeration will also allow for flexibility and
longer storage times for inputs; the men and women who contribute to the processing
have busy schedules.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS659-30dUHvVbdjnWrleocMnJUAvama45RU5xP-fHoVK581mkF2eiP9ENh_MlJe7lfX9o6IVcTcDD8lWzcFEyqi7PVMlmeK9LQbyflljBMj9iqNC61cQNEMm3YOdzXJ7a4CmZc3kzhKw/s1600/DSCN1880.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS659-30dUHvVbdjnWrleocMnJUAvama45RU5xP-fHoVK581mkF2eiP9ENh_MlJe7lfX9o6IVcTcDD8lWzcFEyqi7PVMlmeK9LQbyflljBMj9iqNC61cQNEMm3YOdzXJ7a4CmZc3kzhKw/s320/DSCN1880.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Washing my clothes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The timing of this exercise worked
well, because it came just two weeks before one of the WOFS members and I
attended Project Design & Management (PDM) training through Peace Corps
Jamaica. The training covered project life-cycle and the process of visioning,
setting goals and objectives, establishing an action plan and tasks, budgeting,
and proposal writing. It was probably too much for my counterpart to absorb in
such a short time, but his exposure to the process will help him to help me
introduce the method with WOFS.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I feel like I am having a “typical”
Peace Corps experience. I devoted the first four months primarily to learning
my community and culture. I avoided getting wrapped up in initiating projects
or the temptation of jumping onto ongoing activities without fully
understanding. My counterpart and I came to the PDM training with a project
idea that is directly tied to the needs expressed by the group. The next 20
months will be devoted to the diffusion of innovation and behavior change for me
and my counterparts. I don’t mean behavior change in a manipulative sense, but
in the context of taking new approaches to problem solving and improving the
capacity of WOFS through adopting new techniques.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCvWIYe8IWrfjVQuISfjzz3Az6vBne3elAEffCgTChxfT1053GWQoKtpHVb-Pv727nJ_kb-NwltipJy-t_f3iWouDIU6aYk9PDdLp3xbbA1fhnKXJXGS8NBwC2sQn_G7kGEafUqvEonY/s1600/DSCN1980.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCvWIYe8IWrfjVQuISfjzz3Az6vBne3elAEffCgTChxfT1053GWQoKtpHVb-Pv727nJ_kb-NwltipJy-t_f3iWouDIU6aYk9PDdLp3xbbA1fhnKXJXGS8NBwC2sQn_G7kGEafUqvEonY/s320/DSCN1980.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ahhh, the humor of a farmer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It has been a rewarding first four
months at my site. Having studied and practiced international development, I was
wary of repeating here the mistakes of people and organizations in development around
the world. Peace Corps is not an NGO, donor agency, or faith-based
organization, which makes us unique in the context of international development
organizations. This unique status sets PCVs apart from other development
workers and provides the freedom to integrate with communities, incorporate and
build upon indigenous knowledge, and provide grassroots capacity building based
on locally identified needs. Living on similar wages and in similar conditions
has made me more empathetic and hopefully more effective, despite the limited
resources available. I look forward to whatever comes next and hope I will find
the time to get a Master’s thesis written in the mean time.</span><br />
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRH4ndRxNA3lOwoW_TFhpwiicQliASdny5Pu5Evc5vZZUo6WtDUUCl03xuo4R8EO1c6evTOwNpo5rNhVwEdnLVTuJhnw_K0H0m0G0-ae3jgkykWVwH7ambYS9q3d0aea8cuOjrSZinUnI/s1600/DSCN1905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRH4ndRxNA3lOwoW_TFhpwiicQliASdny5Pu5Evc5vZZUo6WtDUUCl03xuo4R8EO1c6evTOwNpo5rNhVwEdnLVTuJhnw_K0H0m0G0-ae3jgkykWVwH7ambYS9q3d0aea8cuOjrSZinUnI/s320/DSCN1905.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We may live in a wooden cabin...but the internet works <br />
great on football Saturday</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-lFtB33JYMWX1LmGXZwnPONNvOOaoICdcvapp6uPLrNQtRbl1wEMdomU49bO87l7YP8QluNb3J0SuA7YYRfP4RaaCVOvpqrmlGPEQjUFq5Zl_qvbpRakO65eBbrIvP9E5tpT7ZrtCyLY/s1600/DSCN1956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-lFtB33JYMWX1LmGXZwnPONNvOOaoICdcvapp6uPLrNQtRbl1wEMdomU49bO87l7YP8QluNb3J0SuA7YYRfP4RaaCVOvpqrmlGPEQjUFq5Zl_qvbpRakO65eBbrIvP9E5tpT7ZrtCyLY/s320/DSCN1956.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linnae checking out a bamboo stand</td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-85743287958309277822012-08-30T10:28:00.000-05:002012-08-30T10:28:22.289-05:00Jamaican Independence, Community Mapping, Farming, and 4-H<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iI5VW-oCVFT7HkFiVAhyphenhyphenMKQt6Js9YV3uH2w7vMccsODJ9UvrQOoan6AxXLKHHm_L4g-0YqiepG9fuVC6ZVkNjRX-Rz2qCSI4Xs8d-tTw-5Nxs3tw9VVtYfpkBoxhV7n5s2Dt5qRKHiY/s1600/DSCN1681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iI5VW-oCVFT7HkFiVAhyphenhyphenMKQt6Js9YV3uH2w7vMccsODJ9UvrQOoan6AxXLKHHm_L4g-0YqiepG9fuVC6ZVkNjRX-Rz2qCSI4Xs8d-tTw-5Nxs3tw9VVtYfpkBoxhV7n5s2Dt5qRKHiY/s400/DSCN1681.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from a farm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3cM7W5Uo8nhySNTpJ4fEXpq2HKhLlBmH7r529UJlYf4bA0pMu2wFyX-XvckXMS96qlk9sEKFMGVMANuXnxOEh__wLJcOTG5kyxYZJZZREZrbygMnWLw1LLyOdMPGBSTPiDgeE7zISS7A/s1600/DSCN1712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3cM7W5Uo8nhySNTpJ4fEXpq2HKhLlBmH7r529UJlYf4bA0pMu2wFyX-XvckXMS96qlk9sEKFMGVMANuXnxOEh__wLJcOTG5kyxYZJZZREZrbygMnWLw1LLyOdMPGBSTPiDgeE7zISS7A/s200/DSCN1712.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from another farm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Last month I wrote about preparing for a national
agriculture show. Unfortunately, the show and tropical storm Ernesto had both
booked that weekend. I was actually en route with the farmers to the show when
I got the call from Peace Corps that I should return to my parish and stand
fast as more information became available about the storm threat. So I guess I
will just have to look forward to the 2013 Denbigh Agricultural Show.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That weekend was still fun and entertaining at home in
Westmoreland parish as Jamaica celebrated the 50<sup>th</sup> year of
independence from Britain and the Jamaican sprinters were tearing up the track
at the London games. One memorable experience actually came at the grocery
store. In celebration of the weekend, all the employees were wearing green,
black, and gold. Suddenly, there was an uproar of shouting and I could see
people running in the same direction. At first, I thought something bad was
going on, but then we could see everyone smiling. It turns out we were shopping
while the women’s heats for the 100m dash were taking place and one of Jamaica’s
track stars, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce was sprinting to victory. Two more heats
were run while we were in the check-out and again, all employees stopped what
they were doing to watch the screen. I jokingly said to the cashier that it was
a good thing we weren’t shopping during the marathon, but she didn’t get my
joke. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiweI4Mo1-M_zXh2JFZZzSVcb3l15sTyBTiVbmCZdYwqTr5jMIc3zwjQ3Hi7mpqcPY9RzlFzcSFueIEALDqIADxcDu-6Ez4kEnjijYes5werhsLl6C1J718bDFAX1qhOx-HfY_zaITgc4w/s1600/DSCN1731.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiweI4Mo1-M_zXh2JFZZzSVcb3l15sTyBTiVbmCZdYwqTr5jMIc3zwjQ3Hi7mpqcPY9RzlFzcSFueIEALDqIADxcDu-6Ez4kEnjijYes5werhsLl6C1J718bDFAX1qhOx-HfY_zaITgc4w/s200/DSCN1731.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flowering plainain</td></tr>
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I have been spending some time working with the Community
Development Committee (CDC). The CDC is an entity with an aim to promote
synergy between the community-based organizations (CBO) in the area. These CBOs
are the farmers group, the fishermen’s group, churches, youth clubs, artisans,
etc. A couple weeks ago I facilitated a community mapping exercise that is one
of the hallmarks of Participatory Rural Appraisal/Participatory Learning &
Action. Ten members of the CDC participated in drawing a map of the community
and labeling all the districts, areas of interest, and roads. After all this was
complete I gave them stickers to rank the well-being of the communities and to
vote on areas where development has been successful, where development should
focus going forward, and areas where their own special interests lie. A day or
two later I analyzed the map and put the data in an Excel spreadsheet. Then,
voila, we had gone from coloring with markers and playing with stickers to
generating data (shown below in the charts). The technique needs to be refined a little in order to produce
truly valid and reliable information, but it is a start.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3AH8c1n8VIYP3bJQIIZ1eoLi_YDhnaaWHZSPxbE4v8TcU6lQ3o-hg8hyphenhyphentbi6KzUCvnErm9-gk3I2QFSXZda6qWtdf7s02SX5NHko1HGTTSBJ83DojwvKTqMF9cij2ZHPT7IDzRMwWVZc/s1600/DSCN1603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3AH8c1n8VIYP3bJQIIZ1eoLi_YDhnaaWHZSPxbE4v8TcU6lQ3o-hg8hyphenhyphentbi6KzUCvnErm9-gk3I2QFSXZda6qWtdf7s02SX5NHko1HGTTSBJ83DojwvKTqMF9cij2ZHPT7IDzRMwWVZc/s200/DSCN1603.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished product</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map in progress</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih01ya6uit4P5qek_ORzKCIU2Sv7Xrfg3g0UjIf21KIfbcpIO6T_537h2NzrWLfkocvV16j3WJ8NG99cxw9KHNz9K_rGChohqS0r1-A7H3QKxlQBpQiMUhXtMqFJw9JRJWMT_gHdrNATE/s1600/Bluefields+CDC+Well-being+Ranking.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih01ya6uit4P5qek_ORzKCIU2Sv7Xrfg3g0UjIf21KIfbcpIO6T_537h2NzrWLfkocvV16j3WJ8NG99cxw9KHNz9K_rGChohqS0r1-A7H3QKxlQBpQiMUhXtMqFJw9JRJWMT_gHdrNATE/s200/Bluefields+CDC+Well-being+Ranking.PNG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKH8a0pHc3-hvcDC1w0452u75mwM6flFtV5hTp2hMZquLRhktLq0b5ZqftWPPfKQzbB8CBLb7yOrJjmTKZa4xVnIYS5b0MqOA5c0ONiwXCnWLKEgjVkBH54GJxpk_i05HedyDkoxXXms/s1600/Bluefields+Social+Mapping+Data.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKH8a0pHc3-hvcDC1w0452u75mwM6flFtV5hTp2hMZquLRhktLq0b5ZqftWPPfKQzbB8CBLb7yOrJjmTKZa4xVnIYS5b0MqOA5c0ONiwXCnWLKEgjVkBH54GJxpk_i05HedyDkoxXXms/s200/Bluefields+Social+Mapping+Data.PNG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kid goat</td></tr>
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Now that I have a bicycle, I have been making more trips
into the hills to visit farms. Between the humidity and my being out of shape
(or at least out of my former “Army shape”), I usually have to sit under a tree
and drink water for a little while before doing much work when I get there. In
fact, a couple days ago I went to the farthest farm and packed a change of
clothes because I knew after pedaling just four miles but climbing 1000ft I
would be drenched; I was right. This effort is worth it when you take in the
view of the Caribbean Sea with farmland under your feet. In the time I have
spent with the farmers I have identified three major challenges they face, 1)
informal land tenure and no clear path for formalization, 2) changing rainfall
patterns and inadequate irrigation, and 3) the need for business acumen and capacity
building toward value-added processing of their crops. There is a demand for
the jellies the farmers group has been making out of sorrel, apple, and june
plum, but they just haven’t been able to make the leap into producing these
with regularity. Accomplishing this takes lot of time and money, two things the
farmers don’t have and two things that are required to get things done with the
government.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorrel flower</td></tr>
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Other activities I have been tackling are computer training
and assisting with business plans for the farmers. They have some great ideas,
but just aren’t familiar with putting those ideas on paper in a way that garners
donor attention. I say donor because many are loathe to take on the risk of a
loan nor have the collateral to back up much capital.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Intercropped corn, peanuts, sorrel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The farmers group is also gearing up the planning and
preparations for the second annual Organic Expo & Sorrel Festival in
December. This is an activity that seems to have breathed new life into the
organization. I just hope holding the event doesn’t take too much energy away
from capacity building activities. I know we need to build public awareness for
the group and recognition for the brand, but the farmers also need to improve
recordkeeping, achieve certified organic status, and establish a management
system for the business operations of the organization. I guess that means we
will be busy for a while.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old Anglican Church</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Lastly, school will be starting again soon which means my
work with the 4-H club will begin. I am eager to start working with some
budding agriculturalists and expect to work mainly with livestock projects and
public speaking. I feel very strongly in the benefits of learning oral
communication skills at a young age. I truly believe my public speaking
experience in 4-H and FFA gave me the skills and confidence to take on
challenges and to be a leader when necessary. I hope I can create that same
kind of experience for some youth that dearly need it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pickin' peanuts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That’s all for now. Feel free to leave a comment or
question.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-26973383563301366702012-08-01T10:55:00.000-05:002012-08-01T13:39:23.542-05:00A Unique Experience<div style="text-align: left;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj728XZBswGNc1iJ1ggF2NZQ_IM-uEpj7CzYaAvNBKC1RPW32tfWoG01oqCTC6R_o_Oc-vVINTOdvlawyhhTs_iTThxgBN4DVPwlTabdwqmx79Wji1fdNZaC_Y9HducMbHWNgjHGFDBDuo/s1600/DSCN1407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj728XZBswGNc1iJ1ggF2NZQ_IM-uEpj7CzYaAvNBKC1RPW32tfWoG01oqCTC6R_o_Oc-vVINTOdvlawyhhTs_iTThxgBN4DVPwlTabdwqmx79Wji1fdNZaC_Y9HducMbHWNgjHGFDBDuo/s320/DSCN1407.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px; text-align: center;">Trying to find buoy moorings</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">Living and working in a developing country is such a unique experience and Jamaica is no exception. After two years working in places like Iraq and South Sudan, I felt especially prepared for the Peace Corps experience. Now that I have been at my site for 2 ½ months, I would say my previous experience made me more resilient, but I am still challenged in myriad ways and still have much to learn.</span>
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One of the downsides to this uniqueness is over the last ten weeks I have spent more time sitting in
front of a fan and sipping ice-water than ever before; the month of July brought
heat indices in the upper 90s almost every day. The mosquitos are relentless
inside and outside of our cabin. Fortunately, my body has gotten accustomed to
the bites enough that they only itch for an hour or so. Most recently, we have
also been challenged by seeing a mystery illness kill six puppies in our yard
while not having the access or ability to pay for professional veterinary care.
We are also continuing to try and catch on to the local Patwa language and the
strong Westmoreland accent it is spoken in. All things considered, we are not
suffering from drought, the mosquitoes are malaria-free, we eat three square
meals a day, and Jamaica is not in conflict, so we are better off than a couple
billion people on the planet.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgi8Z7NbCEuFMbURclZFfnoNRGL6omjyAas_xkmCy3ody61X24XW_MO9_6r1HxnapkrWOnLTSdQkxNPO5tq2IwdOScqSnkmcswQjrqJWaO7YTFJPDKJ7G_hgmAkNQrqZAjPA8IR5pMgE/s1600/DSCN1484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgi8Z7NbCEuFMbURclZFfnoNRGL6omjyAas_xkmCy3ody61X24XW_MO9_6r1HxnapkrWOnLTSdQkxNPO5tq2IwdOScqSnkmcswQjrqJWaO7YTFJPDKJ7G_hgmAkNQrqZAjPA8IR5pMgE/s200/DSCN1484.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boiling some sorrel jam with the organic farmers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The focus of the last ten weeks has been to learn about the
people in my community and those in my organization. There are definitely
differences between levels of education, affluence, motivation, personality
among the folks in our part of Westmoreland. While learning about the people, I
have also been paying attention to the assets available, the geography, and
legal framework that affect farmers. Focusing on these things first helps me to
understand the best role for me to play going forward. Rather than making the
people and conditions fit into a project, I have the freedom to make a project
fit the environment; this is the beauty of the liberty Peace Corps affords to a
budding agricultural development professional.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Over the last month I have been working with the farmers to
prepare for the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DenbighJamaica">Denbigh Agricultural Show</a>. This is a national event that
showcases the industry in grand scale. I’m looking forward to being there all
three days. The only point of reference I have is the <a href="http://fsr.osu.edu/">Farm Science Review</a> back
in my home state of Ohio, so this should be a fun adventure. Especially so with
the event taking place during the Olympic track events and the 50<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of Jamaica’s independence. I will probably have to devote an entire
blog post to this event later.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JIMupxWd_PaxuhiGnjcY52kzPBTcXvJmwI-D_0QtDoLYQ5LAnppSAK9SlIegtDgJV_qzcsBhM5nCBMELlDZnhIe0Uh91_NnId7NvtU-RnsVcH-gzcInFNCH8nSGrjFQ5y7WK-nbUkrA/s1600/DSCN1468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JIMupxWd_PaxuhiGnjcY52kzPBTcXvJmwI-D_0QtDoLYQ5LAnppSAK9SlIegtDgJV_qzcsBhM5nCBMELlDZnhIe0Uh91_NnId7NvtU-RnsVcH-gzcInFNCH8nSGrjFQ5y7WK-nbUkrA/s200/DSCN1468.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the turtles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Last month, a Community Development Committee (CDC) was
revitalized for our area. The organization used to exist under a different
name, but has not been functioning well over the last few years. I am working
with the chairman of the CDC and plan to facilitate some <a href="http://www.iied.org/pla">Participatory Learning and Action</a> activities with locals and hope that will be effective at energizing
the group towards grassroots ownership of development activities. There are
definitely wealthy influencers in Jamaica that would like to mold our community
to their business interests rather than the people’s interests. This should be an nteresting challenge to overcome.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkIyYNotALyP1kS7N60iel3ymcl1xrNdGzX4TU33UjgfOJ_ADhS-JXhKve_yO7z6MSxsQTZE37PmtNKzTkqv9N3u7J-NAG-64EHgJ9dYAdnaiiWSb5vTs5ha6izN0C0xk1Tw5cf4-v2NE/s1600/DSCN1458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkIyYNotALyP1kS7N60iel3ymcl1xrNdGzX4TU33UjgfOJ_ADhS-JXhKve_yO7z6MSxsQTZE37PmtNKzTkqv9N3u7J-NAG-64EHgJ9dYAdnaiiWSb5vTs5ha6izN0C0xk1Tw5cf4-v2NE/s200/DSCN1458.JPG" width="200" /></a>Some other interesting happenings are that Linnae and I
accompanied a local turtle watch program to check on a nest that was due to
hatch. When we got to the site, there were only two little turtles and several
broken eggs. We aren’t sure what happened, but it seems to be a combination of
eggs hatching at different times, some eggs spoiling in the heat, and just bad
timing. Regardless, we got a kick out of watching this one make its way to the
sea. If it is a female and very lucky, she may be back to the same beach in 30
years to lay a nest of her own.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig6Tzjg4OHQ1DCt4oBzp0RPa_Ir5SWN7nlDtFMHYIhNfnbBKEkSABuAj-VhnK0XPhGQELJqq7pHVSLvhnTzg7D4bWHkmpjv5Eg65U_KfbBidmlg9rWcOU4-tRMA8KuIgyDFuMMsDGyskA/s1600/DSCN1492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig6Tzjg4OHQ1DCt4oBzp0RPa_Ir5SWN7nlDtFMHYIhNfnbBKEkSABuAj-VhnK0XPhGQELJqq7pHVSLvhnTzg7D4bWHkmpjv5Eg65U_KfbBidmlg9rWcOU4-tRMA8KuIgyDFuMMsDGyskA/s200/DSCN1492.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyfI9vWI-9R7sK3nbXIG2n7Jdb_9FluevgtpIfYXx-Wznag0ANLiCBGJN1jcwSwFcHl8uLowwecNHUEihgWmDO81DKYfp6QLucTfl_RQQPJAPMNDd3id2M9KNwVHBGMGIN6L8bzmOjJG8/s1600/DSCN1358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyfI9vWI-9R7sK3nbXIG2n7Jdb_9FluevgtpIfYXx-Wznag0ANLiCBGJN1jcwSwFcHl8uLowwecNHUEihgWmDO81DKYfp6QLucTfl_RQQPJAPMNDd3id2M9KNwVHBGMGIN6L8bzmOjJG8/s200/DSCN1358.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linnae and I at the chicken coop</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Our common fowl flock is growing. I might be the only one
around that throws feed out for chickens in the morning, so we are having some
migrate into the yard. This is good news. I understand the flock started with
three birds, so we will benefit from the genetic diversity. We are also taking
matters into our own hands with the baby chicks. The dogs and mongooses are
pretty effective predators. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Sorry I’ve been blogless for nearly a month. I will try to do better.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJCUFhqlfMHhzqTonxS5H8Ie1vLFoosmE_-_j70m5wSOo4Kb6vsJ1ptiNixk_uHkM54B-O3UMoxZsrXGomHiTbIceYgqXCsloreqjk9Yje5C8IwMqjZ5nhPiqmeYksUoK8Qz8u3jl030/s1600/DSCN1376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglJCUFhqlfMHhzqTonxS5H8Ie1vLFoosmE_-_j70m5wSOo4Kb6vsJ1ptiNixk_uHkM54B-O3UMoxZsrXGomHiTbIceYgqXCsloreqjk9Yje5C8IwMqjZ5nhPiqmeYksUoK8Qz8u3jl030/s320/DSCN1376.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-47116392975255472942012-07-02T07:04:00.000-05:002012-07-02T07:04:41.166-05:00Working, Studying, Living<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJ3xRxe5__DEapcKMqJHU0WpDJ_K98N0ubWIG6GiwomEIAXYQSwwr805U83RcpuI0yPNmlOLzRu3bxkj3q-yZWdY6CRG3lkpitTwRkgPsPTsh80Sxewq5mh3T5jSRX7oU5qt80eCQcQQ/s1600/DSCN1229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJ3xRxe5__DEapcKMqJHU0WpDJ_K98N0ubWIG6GiwomEIAXYQSwwr805U83RcpuI0yPNmlOLzRu3bxkj3q-yZWdY6CRG3lkpitTwRkgPsPTsh80Sxewq5mh3T5jSRX7oU5qt80eCQcQQ/s640/DSCN1229.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bluefields Bay as seen walking down from my supervisor's farm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Last week our Safety and Security Coordinator came to visit
and brought one of the best possible gifts; a care package from Linnae’s
sister. I say this, because inside was an 18-month weekly planner just for me
(the coffee is great too). Now I can finally keep track of all the meetings,
tasks, and fleeting ideas that come into my brain without shuffling through
disorderly notes in a flimsy college-ruled notebook. A wise Texas A&M
professor once told me, “Pale ink is better than brilliant memory.” I couldn’t
agree more.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Linnae and I have been in Jamaica for 110 days and at our
site here in Bluefields for 44. At this point, we more or less have established
a routine. I am up at about 5:30 to feed the chickens and fetch some water. By
six o’clock I am eating cereal, drinking coffee, listening to BBC, and reading
news (basically my morning routine back in the U.S.). If it is a weekday I am
on my way to a farm or working on a project at home by 7:30. Most of what I
have been doing at home is reading about organic farming, developing adult ICT
training, and literature review for my thesis. Linnae and I each wash dishes
once a day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmI9xmX8wgG3VLilxJKy0VjCSqP_KLFdVi1wqSBZ_viSUjxIWKTlxqByzQiH28CkGwXSbZto5GC9mOg2XjuURqDaSze2Xcu_yfqoG8Il8kkYfj6WWZy7kz3jGnlVZ982FjhdLLZAcSZM/s1600/DSCN1215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmI9xmX8wgG3VLilxJKy0VjCSqP_KLFdVi1wqSBZ_viSUjxIWKTlxqByzQiH28CkGwXSbZto5GC9mOg2XjuURqDaSze2Xcu_yfqoG8Il8kkYfj6WWZy7kz3jGnlVZ982FjhdLLZAcSZM/s400/DSCN1215.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It is puppy season in our yard</td></tr>
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Weekends usually start the same but also include hand
washing our laundry and tidying up the cabin. This Saturday evening we were
invited to a gospel singing at the Seventh Day Advent church just up the hill.
If the vocal talent in the churches of Jamaica were ever unleashed on the TV
competitions in America, we would have a really hard time competing! Sunday
nights we go to the local Police Youth Club (PYC), which is a youth development
program sponsored by the police force. Many communities around the island have
a PYC. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Every other Monday evening is a general meeting of the
organic farmers group and often the in-between Monday is a committee or
executive meeting. Bluefields just had an initial meeting to stand up a
Community Development Committee (CDC). So two Wednesday evenings will entail
going to the general meeting or the executive committee meeting of the CDC.
Starting in September, I will be going to Belmont Academy (high school) every
Tuesday afternoon to work with the 4-H club. On Monday evenings and Wednesday
afternoons, we go to a local resort and visit with the tourists. Part of the
Peace Corps mission is to help Americans gain a better understanding of the
country that we serve in. So, we go straight to the Americans who are staying
in all-inclusive luxury villa and talk to them about what really g’waan in
Bluefields. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXCAW8fTz-MJ2vQGTloO3P3ku_0g_cVEf93z5fSK3QlDHKB61JjulunsHK9wlwl7qbuXo8i4OgUPpFMD2RID_byN6khXK4tCnMCtLW3RjunWB4SWoqqSqVWw8NhSu5F1hdU_VOpvF_fQ/s1600/DSCN1217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXCAW8fTz-MJ2vQGTloO3P3ku_0g_cVEf93z5fSK3QlDHKB61JjulunsHK9wlwl7qbuXo8i4OgUPpFMD2RID_byN6khXK4tCnMCtLW3RjunWB4SWoqqSqVWw8NhSu5F1hdU_VOpvF_fQ/s320/DSCN1217.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My supervisor with a freshly picked pineapple. His field is recovering from a fire.</td></tr>
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You may have noticed I just talked mainly about what I do in
the mornings and evenings. This is mainly due to the fact that it is really hot
and really humid in the afternoon and I am a taxi ride away from the nearest
public establishment with air conditioning. So, between 2:00pm and about
5:00pm, I am sitting in front of a fan at the cabin reading or napping. I
talked to a professor from Missouri State last week who has been visiting
Jamaica for research over the last 40 years. His opinion is that Bluefields is
the hottest non-urban spot on the island and he doesn’t bring students in the
summer anymore. I guess this makes me feel a little better about my afternoon
laziness. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Peace Corps Masters International</u><o:p></o:p></div>
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Thus far, I am still hoping to do a study that looks at a
basket of agricultural innovations introduced in the area and the influence of
local attitudes, beliefs, and activities on the adoption or non-adoption of
those innovations. I am hoping to incorporate a mixed method design, because I
don’t think you can do development research without qualitative/naturalistic
inquiry to go along with numbers and statistical tests. As I type this, I can
already tell it is too ambitious and I can hear my professor telling me to pare
it down to something more realistic. But at this stage, I am thinking pretty
broadly and focusing on integrating with and learning from the community. I
want the community to have a voice in the development of hypotheses and
potentially take action with the study’s findings. I don’t want to be
extractive like so many development scholars who craft a survey in their ivory
tower, swoop in to an impoverished community, generate their numbers, and then
go home to write up a report and get themselves published (if you have read
Robert Chambers, this might sound familiar). I’ll do another update on PCMI
soon. I will know a lot more as I go through the Community and Sector Inventory
process that Peace Corps mandates. I’ll be sharing that document with my
professors and potentially all of my blog readers to get input on the potential
research to be done.<o:p></o:p></div>Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-40711267080286550322012-06-19T06:11:00.000-05:002012-06-19T12:48:48.254-05:00Going Organic<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2P-_t2ZyH4pf6hodDiaBwzlbihc5meOjFGjH5aV5kpmrUAbnDRMVINyxe4Tg4l0MN27GmIBgvFoq6FtthOvR81yLyap2MTGQ8kvLdQEGoRQjhTfaut8vbQkbYjtQAHQl1zbrDAOz5kZY/s1600/DSCN1113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2P-_t2ZyH4pf6hodDiaBwzlbihc5meOjFGjH5aV5kpmrUAbnDRMVINyxe4Tg4l0MN27GmIBgvFoq6FtthOvR81yLyap2MTGQ8kvLdQEGoRQjhTfaut8vbQkbYjtQAHQl1zbrDAOz5kZY/s320/DSCN1113.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of our common fowl hens, Theresa, and her peeps</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Since arriving in Bluefields, I have “gone organic” in a
major way. I am studying it, promoting it, writing business plans for it, and
eating it when it is available. For the next two years I will be working hard
to get more farmers to go organic too. Have I raised any eyebrows yet?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Don’t get me wrong, I am still an equal-opportunity lover of
agriculture in all of its forms. I think the mudslinging and misinformation in
the organic vs. conventional contest is embarrassing for agriculture and erodes
the ability to progress. Similar to other areas of the human existence, I
believe research and development in new technologies, be they biotechnological
or natural/organic, has the potential to greatly improve the human condition.
But like I said, I am an agricultural pragmatist, if you will. I am for
matching the food production system to local conditions in a way that achieves
environmental, social, and economic sustainability and contributes to
the most food security.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That being said, I feel very fortunate to have been placed
with the Westmoreland Organic Farmers Specially Authorized Society (WOFSAS);
the long name is a product of bureaucracy. Bluefields is a coastal community
located along a bay that is rich in history and currently serves as a fish
sanctuary. The terrain rises to 2000ft of elevation within a few miles of the
shoreline. Most of the farmers work small plots of rocky government-owned
ground with little hope of ever holding a deed for the land. Many farmers in
Jamaica suffer from illiteracy, which is especially problematic and results in
over-application or misuse when they apply chemical fertilizer, pesticides, and
herbicides. This is problematic enough in gently sloping areas; can you imagine
the impacts of over-application of agro-chemicals in a steep slope coastal region
that is supposed to be serving as protected habitat for marine life? That’s
just a small piece of the calculus that makes me confident that organic
agriculture is optimal in the paradigm of environmental, social, and economic
sustainability for Bluefields, Jamaica.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So there you have it, for the next two years I am all about
organic agriculture (but don’t expect me to “take sides”). I really want WOFSAS
and local farmers to achieve success in growing and marketing their organic
produce to eager customers in the tourism and food industry in our little part
of the island. I hope their children will grow to love growing things as much
as their families and as much as I do. At the end of the day, it’s all about
treating the land, the animals, and people with respect and keeping future
generations in mind. And you don’t have to be <i>certified</i> anything to do that.<o:p></o:p></div>Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-63751684153894082602012-06-01T11:50:00.000-05:002012-06-01T11:50:14.866-05:00Bluefields Beginnings<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hajYevxRPTciQ-7fbqtDOz2ikvV4p8cgdgWA2FTO13xJx1eIHE54JW0kNEyltRic4-Z2OAXX5hXPQIvDVSwrghDYtECYg-_tmU9r2-xgbCTOsc19LvP37c0MseZkhWNExCt11H5Z8Mk/s1600/DSCN1040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hajYevxRPTciQ-7fbqtDOz2ikvV4p8cgdgWA2FTO13xJx1eIHE54JW0kNEyltRic4-Z2OAXX5hXPQIvDVSwrghDYtECYg-_tmU9r2-xgbCTOsc19LvP37c0MseZkhWNExCt11H5Z8Mk/s320/DSCN1040.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Goat got stuck trying to get a mango seed out of the box</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Well, we have officially been Peace Corps Volunteers at our site in Bluefields for two weeks. Our focus thus far has really just been on making our cabin into a home, getting to know people, and learning about the organizations we work with. This “take it slow” approach is encouraged by Peace Corps to achieve two things, 1) to integrate into our community in such a way that increases personal safety, and 2) to fully understand the local knowledge, history, and assets that will inform and shape projects going forward. In fact, Peace Corps doesn’t even provide Program Design & Management training until the Early Service Conference (four months into service) because of the pitfalls of trying to get a big project going before really understanding the environment.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv7gSIvOvV8mvmlsDspUGpBsKVsWMnagHt9yS-KWTjUlEaDcl5jrCyAyfQtaqT_47jFTb8t-beS4FaIPMNF0jylBM1dONAiKB0C7LULE45gW8WnyJeQFIsiBWCFo37OLtbgFvLvqeO6ds/s1600/Bluefields.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv7gSIvOvV8mvmlsDspUGpBsKVsWMnagHt9yS-KWTjUlEaDcl5jrCyAyfQtaqT_47jFTb8t-beS4FaIPMNF0jylBM1dONAiKB0C7LULE45gW8WnyJeQFIsiBWCFo37OLtbgFvLvqeO6ds/s320/Bluefields.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Community</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As someone who served two tours in Iraq as a soldier and three months in South Sudan as a civilian, I feel truly blessed to have been placed here in Bluefields, Jamaica. Many of the farms I work on provide scenic views that blend verdant land and indigo Caribbean Sea. It is nowhere near as cool as some of the mountainous sites like where we trained in Woodford, but even though the sweat pours all day, I think we can make it down to the local beach just about every weekend. There are a few upscale villas and a Sandals resort nearby, so on first meeting a lot of locals assume we are short-term tourists. However, after speaking a little Patois and explaining where we live and what we do, they warm right up.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSR5rF669uiUwJWjOHJ2_SCijcDq6AcK4m0jA1_uIAu6dPR1hrhEDVFLx3yAVfBmBfqwMBJgnDkKc7S0BJzPDwz5y5qJqiLsoZgIPVvbbe6zUUJ8UlxXtGAxADFDN8kjxkd6jsEpcyQBc/s1600/DSC_0037.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSR5rF669uiUwJWjOHJ2_SCijcDq6AcK4m0jA1_uIAu6dPR1hrhEDVFLx3yAVfBmBfqwMBJgnDkKc7S0BJzPDwz5y5qJqiLsoZgIPVvbbe6zUUJ8UlxXtGAxADFDN8kjxkd6jsEpcyQBc/s320/DSC_0037.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bus on right is a typical "15 Passenger" taxi</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We are adjusting to things like waiting for small taxi buses that hold 15 people, but cramming in with 20 or more. Our cabin is not plumbed into any public water service, so we haul water to the house in jugs and buckets. We have a 300 gallon tank next to the house designed to catch rainwater off of the roof to shower and flush the toilet, but since we haven’t gotten any rain I have had to haul water up on the roof to pour into the tank and may have to do it again soon. I am once again taking “combat showers” like in Iraq, which means turning on the water to get wet, then turning it off to scrub and turning it on again to quickly rinse off. We also only flush the toilet after going number two. One quickly becomes conscious of water consumption when you carry it all by hand. </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPTWr24U_A2BbV9SACbKWJF1312MhA5_qM8yGJo0GwzPX3lPwdkpN2Le-48O0lJYLOJAnqUIDMJJtKNzPpFCDun8Z2yvudnFWsZE_Tq6Ir8kHagUX1uUNhvTvIQY3EGzUrgFPPyjJNng8/s1600/DSCN1057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPTWr24U_A2BbV9SACbKWJF1312MhA5_qM8yGJo0GwzPX3lPwdkpN2Le-48O0lJYLOJAnqUIDMJJtKNzPpFCDun8Z2yvudnFWsZE_Tq6Ir8kHagUX1uUNhvTvIQY3EGzUrgFPPyjJNng8/s200/DSCN1057.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fixing up future Heritage Center</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8CW4yrHqs46TUgvIXiKJCIcxE4fS3U86dnbQzfB41D58xTLfOrMyEzXXVvJx-RZOGzTvy679DLLNo4Im_-NxTdEhuaCYE00bVxitO7UXHBuOrJfWeQZiikBiZb9Pk_fVKYGoaPIFUwjQ/s1600/DSCN1043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8CW4yrHqs46TUgvIXiKJCIcxE4fS3U86dnbQzfB41D58xTLfOrMyEzXXVvJx-RZOGzTvy679DLLNo4Im_-NxTdEhuaCYE00bVxitO7UXHBuOrJfWeQZiikBiZb9Pk_fVKYGoaPIFUwjQ/s200/DSCN1043.JPG" width="200" /></a>Some highlights of my activities so far include helping fix up an old police building that will become a heritage center for Bluefields, digging holes and putting in fence posts with a goat farmer, planting corn with my supervisor, and planning sessions with key leaders of the Westmoreland Organic Farmers Specially Authorized Society (WOFSAS). A lot of our work over the course of the year will include getting the group officially registered with the government, increasing the output of value-added organic products, and planning the second annual Bluefields Organic Expo & Sorrel Festival on December 19 & 20, 2012. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLuEgI3WoMIN_S8ExPj3GAq4caT4f_CuprgcyFfx_4987e_FyHM-TT_f_6eSMDRGrkxRn7O4IuAjJFtk4IZqr56gWqjpu2m3u98W1Eumf7SEwDZP3d6tLENLjSr-NzyqSWf-cKlEe6B4A/s1600/DSCN1076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLuEgI3WoMIN_S8ExPj3GAq4caT4f_CuprgcyFfx_4987e_FyHM-TT_f_6eSMDRGrkxRn7O4IuAjJFtk4IZqr56gWqjpu2m3u98W1Eumf7SEwDZP3d6tLENLjSr-NzyqSWf-cKlEe6B4A/s320/DSCN1076.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Products made by WOFSAS</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Unfortunately, I have a touch of the flu so I am going to cut things off here. We have the internet back up and running in our cabin, so feel free to leave a comment/question or shoot me an email.</div>
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</div>Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-83551565271302190792012-05-22T11:43:00.001-05:002012-05-22T11:43:13.431-05:00Making it Official<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uRpy3CVu2uZevF0rQZ4TNGGoxLyM_mah73XAcXbMeh_mEaepu0oFjOvzbu3zGRXE3zXkVrJ74YMyWydYWt3tUOTxlhMAMiHUdpO0YRHuP9HiGzhz2khg591IjbesvRE8M6lVXA-XsCQ/s1600/553379_3454226349337_1081140026_33100170_463926504_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9uRpy3CVu2uZevF0rQZ4TNGGoxLyM_mah73XAcXbMeh_mEaepu0oFjOvzbu3zGRXE3zXkVrJ74YMyWydYWt3tUOTxlhMAMiHUdpO0YRHuP9HiGzhz2khg591IjbesvRE8M6lVXA-XsCQ/s320/553379_3454226349337_1081140026_33100170_463926504_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linnae and I at Swearing-In Ceremony</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Well, it’s been a couple of weeks since I last updated this
blog. When last you heard from me, technical training was coming to a close and
we were getting ready to leave Woodford for Kingston (or “town” as Jamaicans
refer to it). Reconvening in “town” was a fun experience because we got to meet
up with the Trainees from the Education and Youth as Promise sectors and learn
what their previous five weeks had been like. It was a pretty exciting two
days. The first day we had a bit of training and then our sites were revealed
to us in the afternoon. Our Program Manager had been developing the sites over
the last several months; making sure that partner organizations were
appropriate for each volunteer and that housing was safe and adequate. He used
Google Earth in such a way that for each trainee, the view would start as a
zoomed out satellite image of Jamaica and then it would zoom in to the
community where each person would serve. It was then we learned our home and
work site for the next two years would be Bluefields in Westmoreland parish. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_o4jPb0a5F_50Zh4OwqSFXg45xS29USXOgAbxbroFFu1YjU_jMT4FquvDGClUcCMPurowmCNhAUoC9UMJIjOtyameqtU9hn3n1qyjf4S49rCkdwCqZ_i3eEL3Xn9kuj7BlgalCePYJXY/s1600/DSCN0962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_o4jPb0a5F_50Zh4OwqSFXg45xS29USXOgAbxbroFFu1YjU_jMT4FquvDGClUcCMPurowmCNhAUoC9UMJIjOtyameqtU9hn3n1qyjf4S49rCkdwCqZ_i3eEL3Xn9kuj7BlgalCePYJXY/s320/DSCN0962.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset over Bluefields Bay</td></tr>
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In our opinion, being placed in Bluefields was like hitting
the Super Lotto Jackpot of Peace Corps locations. Bluefields is a sleepy
bayside community of fishermen and farmers where Linnae and I are living in
rustic conditions, but have the blessings of wonderful people to work with and
turquoise waters to relax in. More about that later. The other information we
learned at the site revealing ceremony is who we will be working with. My
partner organization is the Westmoreland Organic Farmers Specially Authorized
Society (WOFSAS). The organization used to be simply named Bluefields Organic
Farmers Group, but because of the type of NGO status they wanted to qualify for
and some unfortunate naming policies, WOFSAS is their new unwieldy name. Linnae
has been assigned to the Bluefields Bay Fishermen’s Friendly Society (BBFFS). I
will commit a blog post to our duties later.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBmOlz1VkskNuBb-TIvQEZyN29GUEl68FBKLOsbeMvuZxL4KqlvfPsRJeSnX4knf3tFfxx6_KjW5aJMobqsnOkj1kSl5VgU3MKtGs_FjnDOPIry2rpeyrVJnR54httH8haTIRiZV7IvE/s1600/DSCN1000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBmOlz1VkskNuBb-TIvQEZyN29GUEl68FBKLOsbeMvuZxL4KqlvfPsRJeSnX4knf3tFfxx6_KjW5aJMobqsnOkj1kSl5VgU3MKtGs_FjnDOPIry2rpeyrVJnR54httH8haTIRiZV7IvE/s320/DSCN1000.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our little cabin</td></tr>
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OK, let me backtrack a little. So, we learned about our site
locations that first day back in Kingston. The next day, we all got to meet our
counterparts. For Linnae and I that meant meeting the presidents of WOFSAS
(Brian) and BBFFS (Wolde). The morning of that second day was spent with
introductions and small talk with our counterparts followed by lunch and then
loading all of our luggage into a van and heading west across the island for
site orientation week. When we finally arrived at our yard (in Jamaica, yard is
a term that refers to the area that a cluster of houses are located, often an
extended family situation), I breathed a sigh of relief for a few reasons: 1) I
knew we were done hauling our luggage around for a long time, 2) I could tell
immediately that there was a lot of character in our yard and community, 3) our
living conditions are as rustic as the average Peace Corps Volunteer, negating
the “Posh Corps” stereotype Jamaica gets. Linnae and I live in a 400 sq ft wooden
cabin that relies on catching rain water to fill a tank that provides our
bathing, dishwashing, and toilet water. I will admit we are a little spoiled by
the fact that the previous Volunteer was able to acquire free internet from
some high-end villas down on the bay. We happen to be in line with the signal
that is broadcast to their office and guesthouses. I will soon commit a blog
post to describing our living situation and talk about our new host-mother
“Bumpy” and the extended family in the yard. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgif6T_CR4vNTsZgTpiJwtO6_Cw4Zft_PLTGa-Y08xNwwQGcJTGDQD8nkW7PciZr7JBhwHnAyQ-LrqNUyzWye6xMDBUQkU6scQArXgtuFpM6lIOOWe7Hjveth3m_2isyZ5IK1bT8uqQgPI/s1600/DSCN0997.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgif6T_CR4vNTsZgTpiJwtO6_Cw4Zft_PLTGa-Y08xNwwQGcJTGDQD8nkW7PciZr7JBhwHnAyQ-LrqNUyzWye6xMDBUQkU6scQArXgtuFpM6lIOOWe7Hjveth3m_2isyZ5IK1bT8uqQgPI/s320/DSCN0997.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Side view of cabin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTPa7Imn9vmqJs9tjKX5ny5cu0lJc1u4lbipAFmoN3VYDfJH-N2XtqB4zmO2j5mi8bIyK9dZPVv4T5gbQZ1urgyoRRgvWyLvglZ_nFZiVLXNQ4P_282bigz7sjRKs6wvGyVMj6SMisXA/s1600/DSCN0905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTPa7Imn9vmqJs9tjKX5ny5cu0lJc1u4lbipAFmoN3VYDfJH-N2XtqB4zmO2j5mi8bIyK9dZPVv4T5gbQZ1urgyoRRgvWyLvglZ_nFZiVLXNQ4P_282bigz7sjRKs6wvGyVMj6SMisXA/s200/DSCN0905.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fixing lunch with Kevin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6Y5Qh8bFUmLJcX9dJAG9ASSVz4EZPRDD4jDpNwIOUmxaxvyTKtvze_NE7cdG97rg-cwbHcFZTcDgaGwT4Tr4nNNP4TW_DdqZwdG5u681jPEPVf2FMMDyCbZU-VJJyaKECWifADN1xXg/s1600/DSCN0885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6Y5Qh8bFUmLJcX9dJAG9ASSVz4EZPRDD4jDpNwIOUmxaxvyTKtvze_NE7cdG97rg-cwbHcFZTcDgaGwT4Tr4nNNP4TW_DdqZwdG5u681jPEPVf2FMMDyCbZU-VJJyaKECWifADN1xXg/s200/DSCN0885.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fishing beach where Linnae and I work</td></tr>
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Site orientation week mainly consisted of getting to know
community members, unpacking, and being driven around to schools and other
areas of interest. We were in Bluefields from Tuesday to Saturday morning, when
we all headed back to Kingston via public transportation. After about five
hours of travel we finally arrived at the hotel, but we were heartened by the
fact that we only had six days before swearing in, becoming official, and
starting the next phase of our adventure. There isn’t much to report on about
that week, except of course for the big swearing in ceremony at the U.S.
Ambassador’s residence.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcNfuIe7usOEJXaY81ZtI65Nmpcc1I2lqHmAEwGdRIrBAIIE5OdPjV6vsF4ibThkDbJCsjrijIM3ZowgBrJPJkYuW0Qb17tY-b_xfERLuIeno2CypAqGXzbstxPidvwXjJFv44bx33T4/s1600/DSCN0911.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcNfuIe7usOEJXaY81ZtI65Nmpcc1I2lqHmAEwGdRIrBAIIE5OdPjV6vsF4ibThkDbJCsjrijIM3ZowgBrJPJkYuW0Qb17tY-b_xfERLuIeno2CypAqGXzbstxPidvwXjJFv44bx33T4/s320/DSCN0911.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lion Fish, a delicious invasive species</td></tr>
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This year marks the 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Peace
Corps in Jamaica and also the 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Jamaican
independence from Britain. Therefore, our ceremony was a big “to do”. All in
all there were over 250 guests including a former Prime Minister, the current
Governor General, high-level Jamaican politicians, the U.S. Ambassador, the
media (we made the evening news), and more. The ceremony consisted of remarks
from the Jamaica Governor General and Peace Corps officials, a musical
performance, the administration of the oath that transferred our status from
Trainee to Volunteer, brief remarks from myself and two other Volunteers
nominated to speak on behalf of their sector, and a ceremonial cutting of the
50<sup>th</sup> Anniversary cake. It was a hot morning in Town, so I was glad to
climb back into Linnae’s supervisor’s van and cruise back to our seaside home
away from home. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik0T-RiowApgyRgVz0RRVOa7l2We3CPzqk7dFUIHS0ZLfrjQ5S_ZKtrgfwgdIKGxSAvMEkxJaNhQ0ed0yOM-zNsGPQ1fO2qn49-hRsEzs4ignCGVPxIBulBgFaBCZg8gQxsrhJkiYnJjg/s1600/DSCN0955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik0T-RiowApgyRgVz0RRVOa7l2We3CPzqk7dFUIHS0ZLfrjQ5S_ZKtrgfwgdIKGxSAvMEkxJaNhQ0ed0yOM-zNsGPQ1fO2qn49-hRsEzs4ignCGVPxIBulBgFaBCZg8gQxsrhJkiYnJjg/s320/DSCN0955.JPG" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fisherman with a stringer of snapper</td></tr>
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I realize I have condensed two weeks of hustle and bustle
into just over 900 words. Now that we are settled in, I will try to blog a
little more frequently or at least with more specificity so as to better share
our experiences in the “real” Jamaica. Until next time, <i>Walk Good</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-76510958251180223422012-05-05T12:29:00.000-05:002012-05-19T11:46:12.250-05:00Last Week, Farmer Field School, and Finding a New Home<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj859UITDjQ8XCkouMlS-zNKlBiU1CJ99Wi4v8NHmhSDw0nGt4_wveiYzotvlxwfPh4qOqcAYvq7s1yiGlbx0OLjC1xYMysyO0IbXZjvqETeBvLeFkugCxflcfbsVjH69B5vRfoBy7C3Po/s1600/DSCN0830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" mea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj859UITDjQ8XCkouMlS-zNKlBiU1CJ99Wi4v8NHmhSDw0nGt4_wveiYzotvlxwfPh4qOqcAYvq7s1yiGlbx0OLjC1xYMysyO0IbXZjvqETeBvLeFkugCxflcfbsVjH69B5vRfoBy7C3Po/s320/DSCN0830.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting the bed ready</td></tr>
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We have just finished our final week of Agriculture/Environment based training in Woodford. Like the week before, we were engaged in practice-based experiential learning. The highlight for me was the Farmer Field School that we facilitated. We also did some more work in hillside farming and companion cropping. The local extension agents from the Rural Agriculture Development Authority (RADA) spent a lot of time with us sharing their technical knowledge as well as their experiences working in the Jamaican context.</div>
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On Tuesday, we finished breaking ground in our hillside plot and inter-cropped tomatoes with scallions (the odor of the scallions repels bugs from tomatoes). This involved breaking up the soil with a large hoe and turning the soil with a large fork. Once the ground was broken up and leveled back out, we used the end of a machete to carve out little holes for the seedlings. After getting the seedlings firmly in the ground and adding a little water, we were done for the day. It all got done pretty quickly with about twelve people working at any given time.</div>
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Wednesday the RADA marketing officer for St. Andrew parish came to speak with us. I found it interesting that a lot of his work revolves around linking farmers with buyers, whereas most farmers in the U.S. have the ability to carry out this function for themselves. I look forward to learning more about the knowledge and information systems available to farmers and how varied levels of literacy affect access to these systems.</div>
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Thursday morning we held the Farmer Field School (FFS). Usually, a FFS consists of many sessions over the course of a growing season, so one could argue it wasn’t technically a FFS since it was a one-off event. Regardless, it was a good opportunity for us to become familiar with the model and to experience facilitating farmer-centered training. The official start time for the event was announced as 8:30am, but by 9:00 we had about three people. A few minutes later we were up to about seven, and then by 10:00 we had 16 participants (a lesson in “island time”). Since many of the farmers had met with us the week prior for a general discussion, we started by revisiting a few of their main concerns related to market prices and availability of market information. Since these are things that an individual farmer has little control of, we shifted the focus to another way of making more money: reducing input costs. The problem is few farmers keep records of their expenditures, so they have no idea what their cost of production is for any given crop. The intent was for the farmers to become aware of their costs and identify ways of increasing the profit margin by reducing inputs. Two or three seemed interested enough adopt the practice. As part of this session, we introduced the farmers to the Jamaica Agriculture Market Information System (JAMIS). JAMIS is a new online tool that makes weekly market prices available at various points in the chain: farmgate, municipal, wholesale, and retail. It is a pretty extensive database that relies on input from the RADA marketing officers in each parish. The idea is to make pricing more transparent and to help farmers identify better opportunities. The participant that showed the most interest in this was "Ziggy", a twenty-something farmer with a high level of literacy and business sense. It would be interesting to see how he utilizes the JAMIS system to build his enterprise.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrGl8kzN7XQHL7iHiVcF0rtugs3x0h5xuFNmAcnpAbpmRQupXzv-Pn1MThFrbcvn73aBpzFkQdIPEaEAYRdkkdn10NN7VSiZzA5VvdoxtjCxo930IsM-1ERx0eU9ufDwnVD56z-09yzE/s1600/DSCN0834.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" mea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrGl8kzN7XQHL7iHiVcF0rtugs3x0h5xuFNmAcnpAbpmRQupXzv-Pn1MThFrbcvn73aBpzFkQdIPEaEAYRdkkdn10NN7VSiZzA5VvdoxtjCxo930IsM-1ERx0eU9ufDwnVD56z-09yzE/s320/DSCN0834.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making pesticide from neem</td></tr>
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Other sessions in the FFS included making natural pesticides from neem tree leaves as well as household items like dish soap, garlic, pepper, and vinegar.A few farmers seemed interested in trying it because it is cheaper and safer to apply. Keep in mind; many of these farmers have less than two acres. Some of them were already using this technology and it resulted in good discussion within the group. For the last session, we had the farmers teach us how and why they plant certain crops according to the moon phases. The farmers really enjoyed taking on the role of teacher and we certainly learned a lot; the first quarter is a busy time for farmers! All in all the FFS was a great experience and I hope to be involved in regular training like this when I get to my permanent site.</div>
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Thursday evening we had a big potluck where all the host families and trainees got together. Many of the trainees cooked dishes too, so there was a variety of food to choose from. Most people went home with belly aches from overeating. We really enjoyed ourselves and we could tell that the families we have been with genuinely cared for us and appreciated having us stay with them for these five weeks.</div>
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Friday was spent reviewing all we have covered in training and wrapping up some administrative items in the morning. In the afternoon we worked on a special presentation we will be making in Kingston on Monday when we reconvene with the rest of Group 83 (Youth as Promise & Education sectors). I won’t give away any of the details now, but it should be pretty awesome. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EkhgTWevu4yVHiP1QIenZD5SPxl_6l3a9g4GK8oANe9TU0OTp9_R7O2-vpL0UvGmAQLq2viGk0RZfanxS3DnKC2a-xN95QZ6BSEAgn-O9FEQ7RV2ec6pf6QAzefEa9g2-OEc60nIaD8/s1600/DSCN0829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" mea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EkhgTWevu4yVHiP1QIenZD5SPxl_6l3a9g4GK8oANe9TU0OTp9_R7O2-vpL0UvGmAQLq2viGk0RZfanxS3DnKC2a-xN95QZ6BSEAgn-O9FEQ7RV2ec6pf6QAzefEa9g2-OEc60nIaD8/s320/DSCN0829.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well camoflauged insect I found on my shirt</td></tr>
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Monday afternoon, Linnae and I will find out exactly where we will be living and the Jamaican counterparts we will work with over the next two years. On Tuesday we will meet these counterparts and they will take us to our little spot on the island. We will stay there for four days and then return to Kingston for some final training as a group which will culminate with a swearing in ceremony on the 18th and the beginning of 24 months of agricultural teaching, research, and outreach. </div>
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</div>Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-12987141189709853502012-04-29T14:20:00.000-05:002012-04-29T14:20:42.361-05:00Getting Practical<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSPE_XCoKpHaZaNYGhmDQZrX3Ivj_sXCw8zbntPX4tTIiHtUOAqvIJsrLV60NURt_hBbbZG8psdCzx6Y9Ia63Y8yQIhqi8meHouLtmMjPqzqdtjiSdmZXnCN_hr-IXVgpi7hag5ci55wM/s1600/DSCN0753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSPE_XCoKpHaZaNYGhmDQZrX3Ivj_sXCw8zbntPX4tTIiHtUOAqvIJsrLV60NURt_hBbbZG8psdCzx6Y9Ia63Y8yQIhqi8meHouLtmMjPqzqdtjiSdmZXnCN_hr-IXVgpi7hag5ci55wM/s320/DSCN0753.JPG" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm like a weed-whacking Samurai</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggay_1w9oVO5d0I7yCDn2cq5PFKtGvv8TyGBGXDRXiBNf2Kokpt9bZQH0nA5-XNDgBg3MFEIZINF0A8Bq071jaA-3jAJIe3JhkFyWKOhJijuTczDr2P3ojvvyG09gRp8AXIN46LrDJbYg/s1600/DSCN0749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggay_1w9oVO5d0I7yCDn2cq5PFKtGvv8TyGBGXDRXiBNf2Kokpt9bZQH0nA5-XNDgBg3MFEIZINF0A8Bq071jaA-3jAJIe3JhkFyWKOhJijuTczDr2P3ojvvyG09gRp8AXIN46LrDJbYg/s320/DSCN0749.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prepping seed trays with Tom and RADA agent</td></tr>
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Week four of our Hub-based Training has gotten downright
practical and we loved it. The week started at a nearby demonstration plot
managed by the Rural Agriculture Development Agency (RADA) of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry. RADA is essentially the agricultural extension
service of Jamaica. This particular farm consists of about two acres and is
used to demonstrate hillside farming techniques for more sustainable farming.
First, our group helped plant some seed trays of tomato and cabbage. Afterward
we cleared weeds out of about three beds and turned the soil. The last phase
was measuring out the beds and planting some Scotch Bonnet pepper sprouts at
the appropriate intervals, giving each plant just a sprinkle of 20-20-20. I hope
one of these demonstration plots will be nearby the site Linnae and I will end
up living as they can serve as a great venue for introducing technology. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKF4103ULKDPpAp0plXMeepq5ToQCc7h-lSUy0xUWi18UrOnNfAKEhyphenhyphenCuoQsja-ll5bXBhYanG8T6JhJz8qktaPCgf7cSc26Dw3Pn67zH1h7oIEav7C6qlgOdCCMJSoviFGZGNYd_XvT0/s1600/DSCN0780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKF4103ULKDPpAp0plXMeepq5ToQCc7h-lSUy0xUWi18UrOnNfAKEhyphenhyphenCuoQsja-ll5bXBhYanG8T6JhJz8qktaPCgf7cSc26Dw3Pn67zH1h7oIEav7C6qlgOdCCMJSoviFGZGNYd_XvT0/s320/DSCN0780.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris teaching us to identify contours at ZionItes</td></tr>
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On Tuesday we switched gears a bit and took a bus up to St.
Ann parish to visit ZionItes organic farm. Managed by a Rastafarian Jamaican
(Chris) and his American wife (Lisa), the farm sits on 15 acres of a
predominantly hillside landscape. At the time we were there I would estimate
about five acres to be in production. Chris taught us about the principles of
organic farming, how to use an A-frame to determine contour, and how to
construct a compost heap out of locally available material. Lisa is the
marketing force behind the farm. She talked to us about how she has established
linkages to the high-end villas, restaurant, and hotel chefs, which has allowed
them to achieve pretty high rates of return. She also does her own
agro-processing in terms of making bread, salad dressing, and a killer hot
sauce. While we were on the farm we picked our own salad greens to eat with our
lunch of soup, fresh banana bread, homemade wheat bread, and stir fried
vegetables. The contrast of Chris and Lisa made them a lot of fun to learn
from. Chris is a mild-mannered, barefoot farmer living in the bush with his
former NYC school principal wife with noticeable remnants of Brooklyn style.
Regardless, they churn out some pretty tasty produce and seem to be having fun
doing it. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZQySSOwLY6jjCXUP35244TSiE9qtJ6cBXWSpq20O51Pn3AwKb6abNcKebDB1820HED_Q4lRLyQOWwMq5xPKSC_7mfrZjGcsnu8XceuzFc1jqQy-FOd-gKPqU0cHdcIqUU2OQXVB3eO-I/s1600/DSCN0796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZQySSOwLY6jjCXUP35244TSiE9qtJ6cBXWSpq20O51Pn3AwKb6abNcKebDB1820HED_Q4lRLyQOWwMq5xPKSC_7mfrZjGcsnu8XceuzFc1jqQy-FOd-gKPqU0cHdcIqUU2OQXVB3eO-I/s320/DSCN0796.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Setting up the lower barrier</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qEHIDl8PBamu6iNgE2nj4qOMJaxpfWt6HZ9ocV58B7e2g8QHuQ9i9-_pScdT0DVac6rufw-L6XzHAh4ijcJ8tvreJR6JNRPcfgeFL-7Ezsx9ZlRluJq8TUU0vhwShrqkarpB5BD3G_s/s1600/DSCN0798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qEHIDl8PBamu6iNgE2nj4qOMJaxpfWt6HZ9ocV58B7e2g8QHuQ9i9-_pScdT0DVac6rufw-L6XzHAh4ijcJ8tvreJR6JNRPcfgeFL-7Ezsx9ZlRluJq8TUU0vhwShrqkarpB5BD3G_s/s320/DSCN0798.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are two Aggies in this photo!</td></tr>
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Wednesday we were visited by extension agents from RADA for
some hands-on training. There is a small demo plot right next to our
training center. So, with machetes in hand we chopped down and chopped up
bamboo, cleared most of the grass off a hillside, and put in place a solid
barrier on the bottom and planted pineapple to serve as a barrier on the top of
the slope. This coming week we will further develop the plot and plant some
more crops. After three days of hands-on experience, I realize how convenient
it is to live and farm on flat land back home. If I lived down here, I’d
probably try to make it in livestock. </div>
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Thursday we visited one of the three certified organic farms
in Jamaica, which just happens to be here in Woodford. The tour was led by the
woman who runs the farm as well as the lady who is president of the Jamaica
Organic Agriculture Movement (JOAM). JOAM is an NGO which serves as the
certifying body on the island, whereas the USDA certifies farms in the U.S. This
was another worthwhile tour, but it has become apparent that there are some obstacles
to adoption of organic farming in Jamaica. Converting to organic is a knowledge
intensive process that requires more literacy and numeracy than many Jamaican
farmers have. It also takes three years to convert and during which yields
initially decline, so farmers would need to have sizeable savings as a buffer.
There is also a ceiling for demand because the country has a fairly small
middle class. There are a lot of ecologically fragile areas of the island where
organic is probably the only responsible farming method, it is just going to be
a struggle to get it to take root (pun intended).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1u0JWxwLPaK5G-fv5PWGVWgcQoT5HaiNMFcpTSpaGosuml3bQv6gid-uHWXl6mMV21Ac0MBo4TLeRzAfoilmoYIYNXSI8ynKIhb9CeAEOlUTibEbFjMtSPNxR9p_Q4Z7M_FvPVbXUFiQ/s1600/DSCN0810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1u0JWxwLPaK5G-fv5PWGVWgcQoT5HaiNMFcpTSpaGosuml3bQv6gid-uHWXl6mMV21Ac0MBo4TLeRzAfoilmoYIYNXSI8ynKIhb9CeAEOlUTibEbFjMtSPNxR9p_Q4Z7M_FvPVbXUFiQ/s320/DSCN0810.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hillside beds at organic farm in Woodford</td></tr>
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Friday we stayed inside, mainly because the rain fell most
of the day. In the morning some other volunteers and I gave brief lessons on
skills from our background that might be useful in the Ag/Env sector. I did
mine on Participatory Learning & Action (Google it) because it complements
the strategies that Peace Corps recommends for working with a community to analyze issues and act on
needs. PLA is also going to be a component of my Master’s thesis. That
afternoon, a group of local farmers came for an open forum on agricultural
issues. They graciously fielded rapid-fire questions from us on a range of
topics. I was interested to find out that marketing was chief among their
concern. I guess I expected more conversation about production issues. Some of
the market problems were regular gluts, low farmgate prices, and international
competition. I really look forward to having similar discussions with farmers
when I get to site, I just hope they will be open and motivated to work on
things at a grassroots level.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doctor Bird (male)</td></tr>
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On Saturday, Linnae and I went to church and attended a
nine-night. We arrived at the Seventh Day Adventist church at about 9:30 am.
For about the first hour there was singing and bible study. This was followed
by two baptisms and communion ceremonies. The SDA communion was an interesting
experience as they practice the washing of feet as Jesus washed the feet of his
disciples at the Lord’s Supper. The congregation was split by males and females
for the humbling practice of washing one another’s feet. One definitely feels
part of the community after that exercise. The remainder of communion was
pretty normal and consisted of the bread and wine. At about 3:00pm the church
took a recess for lunch; Linnae and I were able to come home at that point. She
and I took a nap and were pretty lazy in preparation for the nine-night (wake).
The nine-night is more or less an all-night party that is held about nine
nights after a person dies and a day or two before the funeral. We got there at
about 10:30 and left a little after 1:00, but the party was going strong. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Monday morning marks the beginning of the end of our
training. We leave Woodford on Sunday for a brief stay in Kingston where we
will find out the location of our service and our counterparts for the next 24
months. We will be getting down to the business of promoting improved
agricultural practices and community development in no time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<u>Peace Corps Masters International</u><o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve started to get a little more time to get back to
reviewing literature. I recently finished a book on Participatory Rural
Appraisal (PRA) and am now working on a book about mixed-method research in
development. My parents are soon sending my writer’s guide, statistics book,
and some other texts (how’s that for a care package?). People keep asking me
what my thesis is going to be focused on, but my answer remains that it really
depends on my community and the work that I will be doing there. I do feel
confident that it will be nested in PRA, diffusion of innovations theory, and
have a mixed-method design (qualitative and quantitative). It is a good thing this
will be social science research because it gives me the flexibility to design
and collect data based on local conditions. It must be incredibly difficult for
a natural sciences student to do PCMI.<o:p></o:p></div>Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-26540051861364581922012-04-21T11:35:00.000-05:002012-04-21T11:35:16.902-05:00World’s Fastest Man<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOTJ3FzT9glOvyahqAq84XZ34QixxhpjLRzaRZdE20csGnq599uY9_uXuwrEHpG1rLV4bl7z9wPDHYR7oIghyI45keSYVUrjSr6E1drIKALuK_tp01uVu82u1_8ZwfUHkuE2hZmWr_XY/s1600/DSCN0715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOTJ3FzT9glOvyahqAq84XZ34QixxhpjLRzaRZdE20csGnq599uY9_uXuwrEHpG1rLV4bl7z9wPDHYR7oIghyI45keSYVUrjSr6E1drIKALuK_tp01uVu82u1_8ZwfUHkuE2hZmWr_XY/s320/DSCN0715.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bolt on left (100m world record holder) Powell on right (2nd fastest)</td></tr>
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As I alluded to in last week’s post, we were hoping to catch
a glimpse of the world’s fastest man Saturday at the track meet. Sure
enough we got to see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usain_Bolt">Usain Bolt</a> and the world’s second fastest man Asafa
Powell. The track meet was held at the national stadium in Kingston under
pretty wet conditions. Rain fell in the area all day and only lightened a
little bit during the races. The event included teams competing at the primary,
high school, college, and club level (Powell and Bolt ran in separate clubs).
It was fun to watch the runners and to experience the passion Jamaicans have
for their athletes. Jamaica definitely churns out world class competitors for
being a relatively small island nation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bolt (in lead) and Powell cruise to the finish in 400m relay</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQvDY8cgMyjbZyfYqLld-yUBw-d-CDVP8lSmiVPN3tt-hqKTdC88IndUdTMDjwONKu9LoCC52I7Ieim2FjyJnMj6EMCSZziv30jowqegzt2uXPXs0RB2gNUuHJ-Z3PAidgfbIMmyKgIgo/s1600/DSCN0722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQvDY8cgMyjbZyfYqLld-yUBw-d-CDVP8lSmiVPN3tt-hqKTdC88IndUdTMDjwONKu9LoCC52I7Ieim2FjyJnMj6EMCSZziv30jowqegzt2uXPXs0RB2gNUuHJ-Z3PAidgfbIMmyKgIgo/s320/DSCN0722.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Usain Bolt: World's Fastest Man</td></tr>
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Sunday morning was time for laundry, again. Linnae and I
spent almost three hours scrubbing and scrubbing. I hate to do it, but I am
going to have to start wearing more things multiple times, at least until we
move to our permanent site and I have time to wash several times during the
week. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing in the morning so we were
confident our things would dry quickly. But, as it goes in the Blue Mountains,
the clouds suddenly began to roll in over the peaks behind us and by early afternoon we
had to move all the clothes to a line on the upstairs porch. The rest of the
day was damp and rainy. We were sweating it a little bit since we had to leave
early the next morning to travel to another parish to shadow a full-blown Peace Corps
Volunteer (PCV). Fortunately, enough clothes
were dry in the morning and what wasn’t I quickly dried with Linnae’s hair
dryer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Monday morning we walked down the hill to the square in
Woodford to start our all public transportation journey to a small community
near <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Ann's_Bay,_Jamaica">St. Ann’s Bay</a> in St. Ann parish. It was about 6:00 AM when we arrived at
the square on foot; there were about half of our group already waiting. A few
moments later one of the buses (passenger van) rolled up and we piled in. By
the time the bus was done picking up passengers in Woodford, I think we hauled
18 people to north Kingston in a bus smaller than a Ford cargo van. Once we got
to north Kingston (Papine to be specific), we found the large passenger bus
that would take us on the next leg of the journey to southeast Kingston to a
spot called the “country bus park”. Southeast Kingston is off limits to PCVs for
any purposes except traveling through, but on a bright Monday morning there
isn’t too much to worry about. We took the bus to the stop closest to the bus
park and walked the remaining four or five blocks through the market area. At
the bus park is where most of us parted ways. Each of us had to find another
smallish van/bus to take us on the next leg into the countryside. Another trainee, Linnae, and I found the one for Ocho Rios (Ochi) without any trouble.
The only problem is that you really never know when you will depart, because
you have to wait until the van is adequately full (the more people crammed in
the more the trip is worth to the driver). We sat in the van for about hour and
a couple more trainees from another Peace Corps sector joined us too. Along the
way we shared stories and training experiences. Once in Ochi, Linnae, the other
trainee and I hailed a taxi to take us to the library in St. Ann’s Bay where we
would meet our PCV for the shadowing. We linked up with her around 10:45 AM,
chatted in the library, had lunch, and hailed one more taxi to go up into the
countryside where she lives and works. Five vehicles and $710J ($8.20 USD)
later we had made it to our destination near the island’s north coast.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Shadowing the PCV was a great experience because we got so
see how she lives and interacts with folks like her host family, supervisor,
project partners, and locals. Some PCVs like her need to be very self-directed
and motivated. This is because some PCVs are placed with an agency or
organization that can keep them very busy, whereas others are underemployed and
have to take initiative to start education and/or community oriented projects
on their own. Things didn’t work out at her previous site, so she had been
moved to her new community three months ago. Therefore, she was still focusing
mainly on integration and building relationships and trust with the people in
the area. This might seem like a waste of time, but it is actually the single
most effective way to ensure personal safety in Jamaica, not to mention it is
necessary for identifying needs and assets for addressing issues. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On Tuesday we went with the PCVs supervisor to do a
gardening lesson at a basic school (preschool) in the much more affluent
Discovery Bay. The school was run by Canadian expats and may have been better
equipped than the one I once attended; definitely an anomaly on the island. The
kids were great though and it was really good practice for working with that
age group.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Overall, we had a good time chatting and learning from the
PCV we shadowed. She gave us tips for shopping, traveling, and working as a
volunteer. We cooked a great meal of snapper, yam, and a curry-pumpkin rundown and
ate off of plates we borrowed from the neighbor. The community is not plumbed,
so we hauled jugs of collected rainwater into the house to flush the toilet.
Everyone in the community collects rain and has to be conscious of how much
they use to avoid running out. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz2dq62cgY9KU03q-V5lQWbys_108GTgMDyVj2EWLHti1Cxun2ihZQPMmiWmTkf0lFi2jPhYjW8lDUuuPJveTTGmoELko4QQrLtdZ1gp7Ea2V5xtJa1HlnEGc0yQ10WA-YRwN6zJyA6Mo/s1600/DSCN0736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz2dq62cgY9KU03q-V5lQWbys_108GTgMDyVj2EWLHti1Cxun2ihZQPMmiWmTkf0lFi2jPhYjW8lDUuuPJveTTGmoELko4QQrLtdZ1gp7Ea2V5xtJa1HlnEGc0yQ10WA-YRwN6zJyA6Mo/s320/DSCN0736.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Human-Knot Icebreaker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Friday we conducted our second Eco-Camp, this time at a
local elementary school with sixth graders. The focus was on celebrating Earth
Day and we did activities like weeding the garden, planting trees, a nature
scavenger hunt, painting rocks for the garden, and more. I led one of the
scavenger hunt teams, dug holes for trees and helped some students plant a <a href="http://www.jamaicatravelandculture.com/national-icons/lignum-vitae.htm">Lignum Vitae</a>
tree. Linnae helped with registration, helped paint rocks, and helped out where
needed. Once again, good training and experience for us before we go out and
work with Jamaican youth on our own. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqQ45q_CN70x8yamsQMkyIHyAr6GhWRTXIKH_NH-Np0j-ez5409bLXITG6C9omdX3IWTMauIGLlU8pEzfsnfYtKYgXJ_Acb_dgIJ4TcY2bqhLqtL4sa9dtToVzXhVWYQ5kLHxxDCOvVE/s1600/DSCN0744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCqQ45q_CN70x8yamsQMkyIHyAr6GhWRTXIKH_NH-Np0j-ez5409bLXITG6C9omdX3IWTMauIGLlU8pEzfsnfYtKYgXJ_Acb_dgIJ4TcY2bqhLqtL4sa9dtToVzXhVWYQ5kLHxxDCOvVE/s320/DSCN0744.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tree planting on hillside</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just two more weeks of training remain.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Somewhere around May
7<sup>th</sup> we will learn our site locations and Jamaican counterparts. Once
that happens we will move into our new home and stay there for a few days to
get to know our host-family and the organization we will be primarily working
with. Then we will be back in Kingston for a little more training and the long
awaited swearing in at the U.S. Embassy. After that, it’s back to our community
for 24 months!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-48546324454316017822012-04-14T12:00:00.000-05:002012-04-14T12:00:54.057-05:00Wedding Bells and Pickney Yells<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2V0rDw3i2WyN0XcBfFM3MOEnNSNhTsuw1CqzomPKGWzIFD65z82EJSV6iHs1CenxJRNsGCnuWEV6U68atM4SW_i0juDE-7FnRtzVN_KyYRdHwJ2zHPaAcD3ey6Ap4n3uW5UkiaNeUEXw/s1600/DSCN0699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2V0rDw3i2WyN0XcBfFM3MOEnNSNhTsuw1CqzomPKGWzIFD65z82EJSV6iHs1CenxJRNsGCnuWEV6U68atM4SW_i0juDE-7FnRtzVN_KyYRdHwJ2zHPaAcD3ey6Ap4n3uW5UkiaNeUEXw/s320/DSCN0699.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jamaica Sunset at 3200ft </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On Monday, about nine of us Peace Corps Trainees (PCT) had
the opportunity to go to a big wedding in Kingston for a couple from here in
Woodford. We all agree that it was an interesting experience. The ceremony was
slated to begin at noon, but the bridal party didn’t start making their way
down the aisle until about 1:45; I guess that’s “island time” at play. We found
that weddings are definitely an occasion for wearing gowns and big hats or
fancy suits. Most of we PCTs were comparatively underdressed, including myself.
The Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) ceremony had many of the same components of an
American wedding with prayer, songs, praise, and exchanging of vows. However,
there was one surprising and striking difference. Our experience living with a
family and in a community of SDA Christians is that they are very conservative.
That being said, I have never heard a marriage ceremony so full of sexual
innuendo. I guess it is common practice to make light of what happens between a
bride and groom on the wedding night.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
At the reception, we learned that speeches are a staple of
such events. There were at least eight toasts and a couple of impromptu
speeches. Additionally, there were probably five or six musical performances by
very talented singers; most were family/friends. Food was served buffet style
and consisted of traditional Jamaican dishes. The final toast was made around
9:15, so we rode back home to Woodford after about eight and a half hours of
wedding festivities. The photographer and videographer definitely earned their
pay Monday and there were some tired PCTs at training Tuesday morning.</div>
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There isn’t much to highlight about training from Tuesday
through Thursday other than learning more about environmental issues on the
island and preparing a half-day Eco-Camp for some of the pickneys (children) of
Woodford. </div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-F9mLveokU47JMiFDzV4lUbyyHYxKSeZm3SLvKdDaOtPqTUvovus8N9RMbM1nMcOEdP1BMXus7W0YNe0_XKiThkNh67ZrJsWam7s9kcfeqfQLKkC4FkdkpvPWGagzy89eORhT0UehSWw/s1600/DSCN0656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-F9mLveokU47JMiFDzV4lUbyyHYxKSeZm3SLvKdDaOtPqTUvovus8N9RMbM1nMcOEdP1BMXus7W0YNe0_XKiThkNh67ZrJsWam7s9kcfeqfQLKkC4FkdkpvPWGagzy89eORhT0UehSWw/s320/DSCN0656.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linnae at the Eco-Camp Registration Table</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The Eco-Camp is an activity that is part community outreach
and part training for us volunteers. It was a great way to introduce us to
youth focused events while building some environmental awareness. Registration
opened at 8:00 AM and about 70% of the participants (5<sup>th</sup> & 6<sup>th</sup>
graders) were there by 9:30 with the rest trickling in throughout the morning.
Linnae served as the event coordinator and me as one of four House (group)
Leaders. The children played games and did activities based on things like the
water cycle, competition for resources, misuse of agro-chemicals, and the plant
life cycle. All in all it was a lot of fun and we learned that Jamaican
pickneys are not so different from American children. They love to play games
and compete, form little cliques, occasionally fight, but are generally
respectful of authority. We did notice that they are a likkle (little) afraid
of being wrong when asked to answer a question in front of the group.
Regardless, it was great experience and practice for our next Eco-Camp which we
will put on for a local 4-H group next week.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpX-BGfqUwtOxT2mtdyv5A_U_dvxfI3zbl_bJsYoBClcZiacpa65SC_3DN-HTQ4wLYTl0wLLnpg0nNwf-oCJH2AdKz8q49Dg-LhNgHsNg2IwtKpXPGSoBaGgXceM0MitRI6YAEjM52kk/s1600/DSCN0661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpX-BGfqUwtOxT2mtdyv5A_U_dvxfI3zbl_bJsYoBClcZiacpa65SC_3DN-HTQ4wLYTl0wLLnpg0nNwf-oCJH2AdKz8q49Dg-LhNgHsNg2IwtKpXPGSoBaGgXceM0MitRI6YAEjM52kk/s320/DSCN0661.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Students learning about the water cycle and run-off</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
Later in the afternoon on Friday, Linnae and I learned that
we will soon be traveling to Saint Ann parish to shadow a current Peace Corps
Volunteer (PCV) who has been working there for the past several months. We will
be there for a couple of nights and get to see what the PCV’s day to day
activities include, how he/she lives, and also how he/she works with project
partners. This particular PCV works with an organization called the Jamaica
Organic Agriculture Movement (JOAM), an organization that trains and certifies
farmers in organic farming. I still have much to learn about both organic and
tropical agriculture, so this should be a pretty rewarding experience. It will
also be a test of our ability to navigate public transportation, which is
prevalent and cheap here in Jamaica. Linnae and I will be traveling with
another PCT, Alyssa, who just happens to be a Texas A&M graduate. Between
our Aggie and Buckeye skills I think the three of us<a href="http://www.blogger.com/" name="_GoBack"></a> will
be just fine.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
Today our Green Initiative group is going down to Kingston
for a little R&R. Our agenda includes getting the best ice cream in town,
watching a track meet (maybe catching a glimpse of Usain Bolt), and getting
some Mexican food. We figure we might as well live a little since our permanent
placements will mostly be deep rural. Speaking of which, Linnae and I don’t
know yet what community we will live in for the next two years. Fortunately,
our Program Manager says he has known for a while where he wants to send us, so
we suspect that the site will be well prepared and appropriate for our skills
and interests.</div>Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-51200771870068348682012-04-08T10:50:00.001-05:002012-04-08T10:50:49.748-05:00Way Back in the Hills<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Greetings from the cool and misty Blue Mountains. What a
difference 3000 feet makes! Linnae, I, and ten other Peace Corps Trainees from
the Green Initiative program arrived in this small farming community called
Woodford last week. We are now in the phase of training where we focus mainly
on agriculture, environment, and culture/language topics. The days are long,
but the air is cool and the people are warm. I apologize in advance if this
blog seems a little long, but we haven’t had any internet access and there has
been a lot going on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are being accommodated in the home of Lloyd and “Auntie
Peggy” and enjoying their company and the company of their extended family.
Four of their children and at least four of their grandchildren live in the
immediate area and are a joy to be around. Just as in Hellshire, we are being
well taken care of and being introduced to new aspects of the Jamaican culture
and family/community dynamics.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmihZuhZ0eWtk572VfNFjP8m4c0J_6UXxXyKQ0cXQZnVh5Q4CKKexilTfgdKdWtgJUpEEhcIeHe7L2FDeiQH0skZQdMY-3JQyFCqbSzR6QZoc2f2NFzGsm19mTah8FaM5bouVm2WviShg/s1600/DSCN0601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmihZuhZ0eWtk572VfNFjP8m4c0J_6UXxXyKQ0cXQZnVh5Q4CKKexilTfgdKdWtgJUpEEhcIeHe7L2FDeiQH0skZQdMY-3JQyFCqbSzR6QZoc2f2NFzGsm19mTah8FaM5bouVm2WviShg/s320/DSCN0601.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue Mountains</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A typical day involves waking up around 6:00 and eating
breakfast around 7:00. Auntie Peggy feeds us well on things like johnny cakes,
callalou, mackerel, porridge, and more. After breakfast we start our way down
the hill to our training site a mile and a half away. I rather enjoy starting
the day walking through the cool morning air and greeting the schoolers (school
children) as they make their way to class as well. Our training is held at a
currently decommissioned school building and the usual day starts with language
and culture training followed by topics relevant to our jobs in agriculture
and/or environment. After class is where things get a little rough for out of
shape people like Linnae and I; for about 40 minutes we trudge back home for
the 1.5 miles ascending a little over 500 feet. Once home, the first order of business
is to take a shower.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I can usually gauge how cold the water is by how much
squealing I hear when Linnae turns the shower on. There is no water heater in
our home and the water in the mountains is COLD. It has been a while since
adrenalin has been a contributing factor in my bathing, but it is helpful now. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On Thursday we visited a park called Holywell situated
nearby at a little over 4000 feet. As the crow flies, the park is actually
closer than our training site. However, the road is not considered safe enough
for the Peace Corps van and we had to take a 10-15 mile detour. Once there we
went on a guided tour along a trail that topped off at nearly 4400 feet. Just
as we finished and were sitting under a gazebo, the mist started to roll in and
the rain began to fall. I think we were literally in a rain cloud. On the way
back down we stopped briefly at a roadside café where I had a cup of authentic
Blue Mountain Coffee, yum.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdTj9Ia5HQi_Mcr6oo0SYkA7Q5PVKwue1ZaE0ZZ-OE_UHrMOzSswVk_iOqXPndUxAXnaoP7qj2cKx9DQ5ZtNdF_Gxoks7EO8mBDFWiBW0WjCNmCTasZGz0R-xDRvHZvvPVeRpDGnC9cO4/s1600/DSCN0579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdTj9Ia5HQi_Mcr6oo0SYkA7Q5PVKwue1ZaE0ZZ-OE_UHrMOzSswVk_iOqXPndUxAXnaoP7qj2cKx9DQ5ZtNdF_Gxoks7EO8mBDFWiBW0WjCNmCTasZGz0R-xDRvHZvvPVeRpDGnC9cO4/s320/DSCN0579.JPG" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farming with a Rastaman</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On Friday morning, Linnae, a fellow trainee named Tom, and I
met with a local Rastafarian farmer for a kind of job shadowing. I was
impressed by his use of limited space and the ability to get so much to grow on
the hillside. There were bananas, plantains, beans, tomatoes, celery, yams,
cassava, and more. The farmer then showed us how to dig a hillside bed with his
hoe/mattock; it took a little bit of coaching, but I got the hang of what we
were going for pretty quick. After breaking up and leveling the soil, we made
some small trenches to put some chicken manure in before transplanting celery
shoots from a nearby patch. It was an honest morning’s work and now I feel like
I could put a garden in if Linnae and I get placed in a home on a hillside. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFLiSjXTjJtQLtCLQRYWZXwl890LABlm-TZH4H28aBLd4uhc1GfJVWNZocSTO7ebDdSmZlmuPvsaPrqzA5BA9-Zln98p093eFDn1xNjMt1m07_dEQJDJs2Hs46ysIMlHduZrIzam4LDU/s1600/DSCN0584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFLiSjXTjJtQLtCLQRYWZXwl890LABlm-TZH4H28aBLd4uhc1GfJVWNZocSTO7ebDdSmZlmuPvsaPrqzA5BA9-Zln98p093eFDn1xNjMt1m07_dEQJDJs2Hs46ysIMlHduZrIzam4LDU/s320/DSCN0584.JPG" width="320" /></a>Saturday morning we attended our first Seventh Day Adventist
(SDA) church service. We arrived at about 9:45 for a short bible study followed
by the music and sermon that lasted until 1:00. Our host family understands
that we are not SDA and that we are not used to going to church all day long on
Saturday. So, we were given a ride home to relax in the afternoon while they
went back for “round two”. Linnae and I took a nap and caught up on some
reading until they returned at 7:00. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSzh1RGsInP-k4udRSFPCZFUNmEPSM-6GKH7izNx551VBoWCSswXznan189gk_QDZ7RcLS7FnqXFrQE8-9Da_PkOfHYzkSyQ2pWeGbHCuQ_NbkFH0W77qdY5yLOvvA71vszpgKi3cuP-k/s1600/DSCN0612.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSzh1RGsInP-k4udRSFPCZFUNmEPSM-6GKH7izNx551VBoWCSswXznan189gk_QDZ7RcLS7FnqXFrQE8-9Da_PkOfHYzkSyQ2pWeGbHCuQ_NbkFH0W77qdY5yLOvvA71vszpgKi3cuP-k/s320/DSCN0612.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scrub scrub, take in the view, repeat...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This morning (Sunday) we were able to catch up on our
laundry since Saturday is our family’s day of rest. Washing clothes by hand is
a chore, but I can’t complain about the view. I think we got started around
6:30am; it is important to get the laundry on the line first thing or risk it
getting rained on before it dries. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Again, sorry for the long blog post, but this is the first
internet access we have had in a week. And to be honest, I haven’t missed it
too much. I do miss reading the news and staying current on what is going on in
the world, but we have been well entertained by our host family and are learning
about the local culture to a degree that we don’t miss the world-wide web too
much. <o:p></o:p></div>Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-32539658803702052392012-03-30T21:14:00.001-05:002012-03-30T21:14:51.115-05:00Phase One CompleteWe have essentially completed the first phase of training known as Community-based Training. Sunday we will load our packed bags onto a truck once more and move on to Hub-based Training in a small farming community at the base of the Blue Mountains. During the coming phase, our group of 35 will be split three ways according to our respective programs: Green Initiative, Youth as Promise, and Education. Our curriculum will shift to agriculture and environment based training along with culture and language. At the end of this five week training, we will be all but ready to swear in as full blown Peace Corps Volunteers; we are now referred to as Trainees.<br />
<br />
Our current host-mother has been very good to us and has given us a great introduction to Jamaica. Her care and guidance will serve us well as we integrate with a new host-family and community in the next phase. We have been spoiled a bit by the comforts of internet, cable, and a washing machine, but those luxuries will be more limited over the next several weeks and even more so when we get to our final community where we will stay for 24 months. Wish us and our fellow trainees luck as we go on to the next level.Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-11594517038173147022012-03-30T21:03:00.000-05:002012-03-30T21:03:40.208-05:00Dunn's River Falls and Jamaica Countryside<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9qQPAB3AhSReX52X0nMtLfB_bikv9Jy9zZ8qBxXyoIHVs6Hm8SwybVNEzqNJj7lQA30W8x8wUTzbTFKQqRYec3TtAwoJv9eS7JcAfuzyOe_rBp9NAYKiBrtIJx_CBiBzGaBy0noUfMA/s1600/DSCN0432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9qQPAB3AhSReX52X0nMtLfB_bikv9Jy9zZ8qBxXyoIHVs6Hm8SwybVNEzqNJj7lQA30W8x8wUTzbTFKQqRYec3TtAwoJv9eS7JcAfuzyOe_rBp9NAYKiBrtIJx_CBiBzGaBy0noUfMA/s400/DSCN0432.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dunn's River Falls</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJW5I8YKtYzCAwPv3mXrvsrtzeHSAlTV069ZAnJVikhOohLTvsMWl2Zanruep7B1lagT8cvR0BqCXKgETXQVmIByzDy7QN-dEAFmhcSns9gJd9QbVMr2cag6b42cfoMZCK6-FoAHOG4Q/s1600/DSCN0435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixJW5I8YKtYzCAwPv3mXrvsrtzeHSAlTV069ZAnJVikhOohLTvsMWl2Zanruep7B1lagT8cvR0BqCXKgETXQVmIByzDy7QN-dEAFmhcSns9gJd9QbVMr2cag6b42cfoMZCK6-FoAHOG4Q/s400/DSCN0435.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach where the trek up the falls begins</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_pmGlMTb2dY51ic8GlNXb2QSn_uJiL_NqEOLPqKG9O_4Xg7E8oK8_QYZg1fkaPoBqM19c997tTExOz2iuCWgKEdOIyJzZeOm1c0-bFYxtppt2FBqTexi8BB4mHe3IReFdbCeRpg51D8/s1600/DSCN0440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_pmGlMTb2dY51ic8GlNXb2QSn_uJiL_NqEOLPqKG9O_4Xg7E8oK8_QYZg1fkaPoBqM19c997tTExOz2iuCWgKEdOIyJzZeOm1c0-bFYxtppt2FBqTexi8BB4mHe3IReFdbCeRpg51D8/s400/DSCN0440.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Half way up</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixb54o7k7nSQ-LjHlpkmLbW7wz6kLnPVzB4ohKiT07TbFzStzIvilF0Q4CJQfpBJroZ2KAh1x-Js6x4D2CLYqQBaLhGiCFcTWCERAleuB_VixtGDfvWUKxbAd3x-pIl_gnjz3acHYuewE/s1600/DSCN0441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixb54o7k7nSQ-LjHlpkmLbW7wz6kLnPVzB4ohKiT07TbFzStzIvilF0Q4CJQfpBJroZ2KAh1x-Js6x4D2CLYqQBaLhGiCFcTWCERAleuB_VixtGDfvWUKxbAd3x-pIl_gnjz3acHYuewE/s400/DSCN0441.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Port Maria (I think)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiweJy8N1uPSGXoWNunVfYj8gT6tBUNnf4iabCKRR396HSoTAG1IflbIkpfjEdOJGCyWYmAOvjO9WajKFzqQFs-AAonIc1xdlsyrNW0DENBcINXTfWPLTInBUSBiLho9XNiKMDYsqXzNQ/s1600/DSCN0442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiweJy8N1uPSGXoWNunVfYj8gT6tBUNnf4iabCKRR396HSoTAG1IflbIkpfjEdOJGCyWYmAOvjO9WajKFzqQFs-AAonIc1xdlsyrNW0DENBcINXTfWPLTInBUSBiLho9XNiKMDYsqXzNQ/s400/DSCN0442.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Church</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW80UVTmEKQR28Ve8UY817MVLa0nE8D6pAx20_IrkY73YNXXGwM810IpF5RL5pC3wvewxWyG3S4zIgBkGzklFwpVNbjKFE1alnmTLvesGPNiSlp9E6QWmYiw3V7Hx7p0ROUXE7HV6p7-o/s1600/DSCN0446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW80UVTmEKQR28Ve8UY817MVLa0nE8D6pAx20_IrkY73YNXXGwM810IpF5RL5pC3wvewxWyG3S4zIgBkGzklFwpVNbjKFE1alnmTLvesGPNiSlp9E6QWmYiw3V7Hx7p0ROUXE7HV6p7-o/s400/DSCN0446.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coconut farm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0Rit2I6ZQ7rK84wQ_CrFbC5KBXGcu-FavkNi46c0dTTKAhaCtajUcOF5YEOxxAAEfRJBXWNcASCl00y-EaolyQPl82PxdcQhre1-29QMNuWUsXv8pV1YWSXLJek637QBuZ7y69HJBAQ/s1600/DSCN0450.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0Rit2I6ZQ7rK84wQ_CrFbC5KBXGcu-FavkNi46c0dTTKAhaCtajUcOF5YEOxxAAEfRJBXWNcASCl00y-EaolyQPl82PxdcQhre1-29QMNuWUsXv8pV1YWSXLJek637QBuZ7y69HJBAQ/s400/DSCN0450.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just cruisin along</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil57blaerxO9l52ALJ1gXCD3xqWM07EBCnYjc7rgVTS4UU2Of_VlD_gxYGlqDEz3UCOFUqP2m1oa6WlFZOt_rZR1vKmqx5lqcu9xlG_DboXVFsOUrszd0fjahIOxua2tDNm0aqfGE7_bo/s1600/DSCN0451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil57blaerxO9l52ALJ1gXCD3xqWM07EBCnYjc7rgVTS4UU2Of_VlD_gxYGlqDEz3UCOFUqP2m1oa6WlFZOt_rZR1vKmqx5lqcu9xlG_DboXVFsOUrszd0fjahIOxua2tDNm0aqfGE7_bo/s400/DSCN0451.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwtxvFJRBD3dttDhvNQDmCfdDGFGwBkEu-erA3QLEHbQfjmJ1kgQDcosANcozgq31hyB2jvRgULWl9378i4SgsGN-YYLZSgkm-Xyjl9YN4gjoVu0Gxl-l_JHLE6pJdQPNyvz_SrEXhoU/s1600/DSCN0452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwtxvFJRBD3dttDhvNQDmCfdDGFGwBkEu-erA3QLEHbQfjmJ1kgQDcosANcozgq31hyB2jvRgULWl9378i4SgsGN-YYLZSgkm-Xyjl9YN4gjoVu0Gxl-l_JHLE6pJdQPNyvz_SrEXhoU/s400/DSCN0452.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the hills</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdkccxp9M5PsL9sLpPBZkBQDyrznY6mEvweM-TFb_dS4NA3kjPoThqFomiHXvtEDYIFLTqWIn_D1NCuOn02qaf9h4oenQpdbYy7OEaZ_AgxBrmvXAdJPZf2Fz2eL_qzG32tJnGxn4oQXM/s1600/DSCN0453.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdkccxp9M5PsL9sLpPBZkBQDyrznY6mEvweM-TFb_dS4NA3kjPoThqFomiHXvtEDYIFLTqWIn_D1NCuOn02qaf9h4oenQpdbYy7OEaZ_AgxBrmvXAdJPZf2Fz2eL_qzG32tJnGxn4oQXM/s400/DSCN0453.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small town</td></tr>
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<br />Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-25649689754430120762012-03-27T13:34:00.000-05:002012-03-27T14:02:14.201-05:00Photos from Jamaica<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPee7VP5R5gWw3vOimWSbZN9sVMo3U8gkhIT74Ijbze5dVgYFnZhQTQFMpFQfKMJgdKkxIQ1oMeXOoOo3Ss1t7U3jHnc72jTW6rpUruEW4NRx3HW42A3W6DaBpOdbicve4JVO2T0nM1t4/s1600/DSCN0311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPee7VP5R5gWw3vOimWSbZN9sVMo3U8gkhIT74Ijbze5dVgYFnZhQTQFMpFQfKMJgdKkxIQ1oMeXOoOo3Ss1t7U3jHnc72jTW6rpUruEW4NRx3HW42A3W6DaBpOdbicve4JVO2T0nM1t4/s320/DSCN0311.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lives of two people for two years.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAV8sbSUzLPNZNlvW8Zx4yO4HO68LCnQ_j6e6mQmhyphenhyphenS5PRcdVP6x-JAD8wqrTHo1Veo8TjwEniLpJR4rBGTSWl3z6p9x4gVGljzT_h7kAI2HVYt3-Av_hiADByEakNfnU4US-CE-N99Q/s1600/DSCN0313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAV8sbSUzLPNZNlvW8Zx4yO4HO68LCnQ_j6e6mQmhyphenhyphenS5PRcdVP6x-JAD8wqrTHo1Veo8TjwEniLpJR4rBGTSWl3z6p9x4gVGljzT_h7kAI2HVYt3-Av_hiADByEakNfnU4US-CE-N99Q/s320/DSCN0313.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peace Corps Trainees in Atlanta at 3:30am</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJVuSeP8q2zHOhwOQmrewVMN6F_iap9ryo0kZ_tGPSZqLM6sfyUHqjFfMp5M1V2B-lVUUNK7sPZ_cEis2Uo3FQ0wxa5pPu4t9faeohAobKXU3cV-e1k0W7vkkpt0jcgWg-RSvfhy6tvA/s1600/DSCN0318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJVuSeP8q2zHOhwOQmrewVMN6F_iap9ryo0kZ_tGPSZqLM6sfyUHqjFfMp5M1V2B-lVUUNK7sPZ_cEis2Uo3FQ0wxa5pPu4t9faeohAobKXU3cV-e1k0W7vkkpt0jcgWg-RSvfhy6tvA/s320/DSCN0318.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from airport in Kingston</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFpHI6CkAnH01Am7e-cGZ0pIoZYDf9G5_LbOT55J0CrzWkqF2po9AnFmgOkQrgx4zIKBhdxC6nzAjUv6pLZ6xB1jQ1J98yPYrvP1hm64O22e5qd7HCWbrhi0NqWpNRdvXI3Prk73g8H0/s1600/DSCN0325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFpHI6CkAnH01Am7e-cGZ0pIoZYDf9G5_LbOT55J0CrzWkqF2po9AnFmgOkQrgx4zIKBhdxC6nzAjUv6pLZ6xB1jQ1J98yPYrvP1hm64O22e5qd7HCWbrhi0NqWpNRdvXI3Prk73g8H0/s320/DSCN0325.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Colin Powell Residential Plaza, Kingston</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDIgcOrWUxvdLUwR673TKRf1tZgzauwn7Z9U0OBR-IA6LgeiotjOp8BrxsG0hztboZoBvHe7tH5SQzXNkmwXERQu4ViSUVIJoJa2XZZKO30Y4ysiyVEEBCEjyD3TsCxTn39uKJubGl0A/s1600/DSCN0329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDIgcOrWUxvdLUwR673TKRf1tZgzauwn7Z9U0OBR-IA6LgeiotjOp8BrxsG0hztboZoBvHe7tH5SQzXNkmwXERQu4ViSUVIJoJa2XZZKO30Y4ysiyVEEBCEjyD3TsCxTn39uKJubGl0A/s320/DSCN0329.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kingston</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_WdGW9n6yZRUxBwCdn9oDACifLtdLr7yyil0V5_OvcCdFmiEhrOkBjx0thYosZrJ7qB6hCkHt_A56VZgDP1s5fcaAL6etoDEvHbeDHKJcKAk_YqUmII4jszkauNNQN9zP_b3hcGnOZ5I/s1600/DSCN0335.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_WdGW9n6yZRUxBwCdn9oDACifLtdLr7yyil0V5_OvcCdFmiEhrOkBjx0thYosZrJ7qB6hCkHt_A56VZgDP1s5fcaAL6etoDEvHbeDHKJcKAk_YqUmII4jszkauNNQN9zP_b3hcGnOZ5I/s320/DSCN0335.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hellshire Beach (we won't get to live near a beach)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Dc0lzZpi5u78W-46JlZIwxKMp1jg1vS0toZ8RzUMLLw7utttCbp2TA6f1ZyZ5mcaGP_XBMz9BEUCO3yyTqY_O8qIV2OEpS1aCOO5B5YzilAEholU1wQFsqXB-oKI_0MLZlgkn-Dtf7A/s1600/DSCN0340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Dc0lzZpi5u78W-46JlZIwxKMp1jg1vS0toZ8RzUMLLw7utttCbp2TA6f1ZyZ5mcaGP_XBMz9BEUCO3yyTqY_O8qIV2OEpS1aCOO5B5YzilAEholU1wQFsqXB-oKI_0MLZlgkn-Dtf7A/s320/DSCN0340.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHBmDwukHMUX-1x2k7x-YEcq613RCX8ISOK8NRD6Cy_aGpOgRk2m_JfioLxLSA-hhne-q5WPrhfxvsei8pbuGavx3F6UFmDqwK0NzluC7P0H5BRef5Ny9WU49Hac_I-5e-8zPO8SLOjA/s1600/DSCN0343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHBmDwukHMUX-1x2k7x-YEcq613RCX8ISOK8NRD6Cy_aGpOgRk2m_JfioLxLSA-hhne-q5WPrhfxvsei8pbuGavx3F6UFmDqwK0NzluC7P0H5BRef5Ny9WU49Hac_I-5e-8zPO8SLOjA/s320/DSCN0343.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Haven't had to do this for a while</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5PUzZo9OSlHYXxXuJjCPGjQNewe1IsIteatIj40MgAxovGz-TKEBuBvQva4pzZjgQ-Zw6Z7ySy9zOAfGPZya77XhKh_ww6pWi70nO5yafTzL3SpocxW9kGu1nf_FAR_JEXOSqUCeefnE/s1600/DSCN0345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5PUzZo9OSlHYXxXuJjCPGjQNewe1IsIteatIj40MgAxovGz-TKEBuBvQva4pzZjgQ-Zw6Z7ySy9zOAfGPZya77XhKh_ww6pWi70nO5yafTzL3SpocxW9kGu1nf_FAR_JEXOSqUCeefnE/s320/DSCN0345.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trainees in our training facility</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJswXxtlCYjfmqse_-Il4_8OiwYURsRss36CWOKYPGy3SoL7L8f-AQta0JMRNrC1dv73EjaA4qrwbsbd9ODF47tzJYr-KGPBl4ao4XT0kvgaB28U3aHm-F1GI_lQaN5kzoQUCFTje_BVw/s1600/DSCN0353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJswXxtlCYjfmqse_-Il4_8OiwYURsRss36CWOKYPGy3SoL7L8f-AQta0JMRNrC1dv73EjaA4qrwbsbd9ODF47tzJYr-KGPBl4ao4XT0kvgaB28U3aHm-F1GI_lQaN5kzoQUCFTje_BVw/s320/DSCN0353.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">University of the West Indies, Jamaica branch</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinzGm0f8VNFh3N_UDxkf1xG5SsnJipUplYWO21HRQYvoaFyyLr7qRnHME6r7m3h2Tuk9NpDGrxNSfqo1EfFT9xoctqXT5IsnOuqSld6GWhXEkp5jOBELPME3WfhWRBaPZAqyRUyxcZMk/s1600/DSCN0355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinzGm0f8VNFh3N_UDxkf1xG5SsnJipUplYWO21HRQYvoaFyyLr7qRnHME6r7m3h2Tuk9NpDGrxNSfqo1EfFT9xoctqXT5IsnOuqSld6GWhXEkp5jOBELPME3WfhWRBaPZAqyRUyxcZMk/s320/DSCN0355.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aquaduct</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyUDPPrW1hm7xW094jNj2Mgpmfac2Au1KXCXSj-K4Wg5Xztff2eHEquyu0MRCoRTl9JXgjkVkZN8bkzSZYndw8tAGsgSbl7NAPjZhG8UVOPb_1UFO0YSGZkYnMZEr-DCXvTKivD2ajMds/s1600/DSCN0359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyUDPPrW1hm7xW094jNj2Mgpmfac2Au1KXCXSj-K4Wg5Xztff2eHEquyu0MRCoRTl9JXgjkVkZN8bkzSZYndw8tAGsgSbl7NAPjZhG8UVOPb_1UFO0YSGZkYnMZEr-DCXvTKivD2ajMds/s320/DSCN0359.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linnae and fellow trainee</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-raTQCuXUF54ig7oPizQYbwYzcOXA_2_dcuICbBEKRNY5lUPw9x1Ax6wHd7SeWDU0Afu2FVN0cIfCEs7OcZ8L2dEJiV3zIHFWo138qurxIPVj6NmwYMHbzYVNUaFkw405Fmyl0b0d18/s1600/DSCN0362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-raTQCuXUF54ig7oPizQYbwYzcOXA_2_dcuICbBEKRNY5lUPw9x1Ax6wHd7SeWDU0Afu2FVN0cIfCEs7OcZ8L2dEJiV3zIHFWo138qurxIPVj6NmwYMHbzYVNUaFkw405Fmyl0b0d18/s320/DSCN0362.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steel drum session</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPc6gYujqVglTaBLbb08Zzx2Sko6Snaz8zYKGzThYEZxh7JVAIN9kTjw6C04qMm9jbQAIMbQ5U4BOTS52SmbQm23HjgYdkyjZajJpUJ-NpvP3IZjjamqfp1QlIw3bL1NGjsKyjW_V1rg/s1600/DSCN0363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPc6gYujqVglTaBLbb08Zzx2Sko6Snaz8zYKGzThYEZxh7JVAIN9kTjw6C04qMm9jbQAIMbQ5U4BOTS52SmbQm23HjgYdkyjZajJpUJ-NpvP3IZjjamqfp1QlIw3bL1NGjsKyjW_V1rg/s320/DSCN0363.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pans (drums)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx3d-XUgwappCuFh9VHGvq31lgZK08N2Nh3Ybfrhlq_Xnv5PCHXxw4DIhy1qJpUF7tgNzNO-tEZpVjpxrOsOD-xCC8Twn1BTS0HMpTnCmRiVRUJADYojEpTbtrhyphenhyphenjLShWRBFHbTrA19hc/s1600/DSCN0385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx3d-XUgwappCuFh9VHGvq31lgZK08N2Nh3Ybfrhlq_Xnv5PCHXxw4DIhy1qJpUF7tgNzNO-tEZpVjpxrOsOD-xCC8Twn1BTS0HMpTnCmRiVRUJADYojEpTbtrhyphenhyphenjLShWRBFHbTrA19hc/s320/DSCN0385.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linnae Jammin'</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhST7FB2W0bydaH4ABLghGEMAV2V7NSIPiEGLK8ib6sNoCM6o_4rTXO-nU9T1g2tK-1JTaVKWermV39cMTC1Yq2GpopdIinnahyiJ3WE3U5peHt2UHy76_yu1lC-G9E0bmQjlIFVJLmgw8/s1600/DSCN0397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhST7FB2W0bydaH4ABLghGEMAV2V7NSIPiEGLK8ib6sNoCM6o_4rTXO-nU9T1g2tK-1JTaVKWermV39cMTC1Yq2GpopdIinnahyiJ3WE3U5peHt2UHy76_yu1lC-G9E0bmQjlIFVJLmgw8/s320/DSCN0397.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me Jammin'</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqu3xLPqwvk6u_Aal_qpyM-fjQJOZzIFG6aKP65QU8lhP7ih9VfB5phJ1mI5VUVoXn6wr2twq6O8DAeoaElgNHApGsVwtEyJbBtwlpRS9GYcaZr0QV37mwDFL-Xtwz_7SLuBnj4c6k_M/s1600/DSCN0406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSqu3xLPqwvk6u_Aal_qpyM-fjQJOZzIFG6aKP65QU8lhP7ih9VfB5phJ1mI5VUVoXn6wr2twq6O8DAeoaElgNHApGsVwtEyJbBtwlpRS9GYcaZr0QV37mwDFL-Xtwz_7SLuBnj4c6k_M/s320/DSCN0406.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Training track for Usain Bolt</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2eyITpCBKVmR26TAOYbcuBNFieCkk9m4ZY4TCg2TtZtFnaBK8ZTm4BFet6HK2SRG5G0O9Q6uhkjljZD-Z-f4Z5c7y5CKelBavMOmjvSkBbo7O0XPTOvrItOyB7iQy5IlG2XV5g0499Bk/s1600/DSCN0409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2eyITpCBKVmR26TAOYbcuBNFieCkk9m4ZY4TCg2TtZtFnaBK8ZTm4BFet6HK2SRG5G0O9Q6uhkjljZD-Z-f4Z5c7y5CKelBavMOmjvSkBbo7O0XPTOvrItOyB7iQy5IlG2XV5g0499Bk/s320/DSCN0409.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add caption</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPdS37GBpQ-a2Fp_7mPbEKam8HsJIfTvHrM6NFCvvoHWXfVuOEShZ4bEoZOJ33tZkrW0prdUlZOF-AjTBV1NOggm7mpYBusxkoBL2ZrSqNCG1qQjNwcdSeINoghWzYNYx6G5zKQaAN-5k/s1600/IMG_0101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPdS37GBpQ-a2Fp_7mPbEKam8HsJIfTvHrM6NFCvvoHWXfVuOEShZ4bEoZOJ33tZkrW0prdUlZOF-AjTBV1NOggm7mpYBusxkoBL2ZrSqNCG1qQjNwcdSeINoghWzYNYx6G5zKQaAN-5k/s400/IMG_0101.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me breakin't it down</td></tr>
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<br />Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8461492721530980531.post-59445776944605179262012-03-27T12:40:00.000-05:002012-03-27T12:40:29.460-05:00Training and training some moreGreetings! We are in the second week of training and trying to absorb as much as we can about Peace Corps rules and policies in addition to language, culture, safety and security, public transportation, agriculture, and much more. Our day typically starts between 6:00-6:30 am with a brisk walk around the neighborhood or catching up on 'homework'. Nicki, our host mother cooks breakfast every morning and I have gotten used to the taste of salt-fish or mackerel first thing. I also kind of like the local instant coffee, however I am looking forward to finding a source of good ground coffee in the future.<br />
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This weekend was a lot of fun for Linnae and I. On Saturday morning we went with our host-mother to Coronation Market in downtown Kingston. The official market is open-air but under roof. There are literally hundreds of vendors selling callaloo, pumpkin, potato, ginger, scallions, thyme, oranges, grapefruit, akee, soursop, jackfruit, tamarind, bananas, plantains, breadfruit, sugar cane, and on and on. There are no set prices, so you either haggle with the vendor or just move on until you find a better price. On the perimeter there are a lot of unofficial vendors selling many of the same things, though they are a little more aggressive at calling to you and trying to get you to "spend a likkle sintin wit dem." The aisle ways are small and there are dozens of men steering their brake-less pushcarts around, narrowly missing toes and produce. There are supermarkets and produce stands in Kingston and in the surrounding parishes, but the best prices are in Coronation Market. That being said, Linnae and I will be doing our shopping close to our permanent site, not in the big city.<br />
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After the shopping experience, we dropped of the purchases at her office in town and then got on the bus (to learn how to use the local bus service) to go farther uptown to a place called Halfway Tree. This is where the main bus terminal is located as well as lots of "regular" shopping opportunities. There were even restaurants like Burger King, KFC, and Wendy's; we still haven't had any urges for fast food though. Getting on buses here takes a little bit more attitude and a little less courtesy than we are used to in the U.S.. Climbing aboard involves forming a gaggle of people and keeping people from squeezing by you. We took the bus back downtown to collect the groceries and drive home.<br />
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Sunday, we rode up to Ocho Rios on the northern side of the island. Along the way we drove through the countryside and it was nice to get out of the urban/suburban area we have been accustomed to for the last two weeks. We didn't actually spend much time in Ocho Rios (Ochi for short), but we did go to <a href="http://www.dunnsriverfallsja.com/">Dunn's River Falls</a>. The falls are probably somewhere between a waterfall and a cascade, but they are climbable and that's the attraction. You can also spend some time at a little beach there, which we did. The water was kind of interesting with cool fresh water mixing with warm salt water. As we swam we would move in and out of pockets of warm and cool. After swimming a bit, the three of us made the trek up the falls with a bunch of tourists (I know I've only been here two weeks, but I already consider myself more than a visitor). I was surprised that the rocks weren't more slippery.<br />
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We took the long way home and got to see some of the agriculture in Saint Mary parish. There were coconut groves, sugar cane fields, banana farms, and pineapple fields. As we moved into the mountains we could see some of the terrace farming and small plots the farmers have there. This was a glimpse at the kind of environment Linnae and I will likely work in. On some of the terraces there was just a single row of corn. I'm impressed that the farmer would exert so much effort to build a terrace for each row.<br />
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Linnae and I only have a few more days left in the Portmore area before Peace Corps Jamaica Group 83 gets split into our respective sectors and move to a new community. From what I hear, Green Initiative (Ag/Env) will be moving to a small community at about 3,000 ft above sea level. I'm hoping that will bring slightly cooler temperatures. We won't be able to see the brilliant blue waters of the Caribbean Sea out of our windows anymore, but I suppose we will manage. During the upcoming phase our training will shift to primarily Ag/Env topics as well as language and culture. We are all looking forward to graduating from the mundane training we are going through now.<br />
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<u><b>Peace Corps Masters International</b></u><br />
As I prepared for my thesis stateside, I was drawn to participatory methods of assessment and research. I thought this was something that I would be "bringing to the table." As it turns out, this is the bread and butter for how Peace Corps Volunteers integrate and learn about their communities. PC uses two main tools, Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) and Community and Sector Inventory (CASI). We haven't gotten too deep into the methodology, but I am assuming there are a lot of similarities with what a lot of the literature calls Rapid Rural Appraisal, Participatory Rural Appraisal or Participatory Learning and Action. I'm really looking forward to learning more about PACA and CASI to see what kind of studies I could potentially develop from them.Kevin Fathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036561363696141826noreply@blogger.com0