Making it Official

Linnae and I at Swearing-In Ceremony

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. 

Sunset over Bluefields Bay

 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.

Our little cabin

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.  

Side view of cabin

Fixing lunch with Kevin

Fishing beach where Linnae and I work

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.

Lion Fish, a delicious invasive species

 This year marks the 50^th anniversary of Peace Corps in Jamaica and also the 50^th 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^th 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. 

Fisherman with a stringer of snapper

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, Walk Good.