This weekend we went up to Moruca, an Amerindian village north of Georgetown, to visit some other volunteers. They are also staying with a world teach volunteer from Cambridge and a Peace Corps volunteer from LA who are both slightly older and more experienced! To get there we had to cross four rivers – the Berbice, Demerara, Essequibo (which is 20 miles wide!) and down the Pomeroon and up the Moruca river. The journey was amazing especially the last bit in a speedboat through the jungle. On the way back the speedboat leaves at 5:30am so you get to see the sun rise over the jungle whilst speeding down river. It is incredible. Moruca is really beautiful – a world away from New Amsterdam. The Amerindians are quiet but friendly people. We visited the secondary and primary school and were shocked at how peaceful the place was despite having 400 kids in fairly small class rooms. Since there are no Amerindians in New Amsterdam and the population is made up of loud and lively Afro and indo Guyanese this was a big surprise to us. It was a world away from the New Amsterdam – it didn’t feel like we were in Guyana. While the people may be quiet, the jungle definitely is not. I was woken by the sound of howler monkeys at 3am on the first night which was really bizarre. There was also a tarantula on the wall of the bathroom and hundreds of army ants working together to lift leaves and flowers many times their size. Apparently we have to go back in the rainy season to see all the monkeys and snakes. We were interrupted at 2:30am on Friday (whilst searching for the diamonds we had dropped under the table) by the neighbours telling us to call a doctor because their son was really sick. We went over to see him sweating and barely conscious on the floor. After considering the possibility of septic shock we smelt the alcohol on his breath and realised he had just passed out from drinking. They wouldn’t believe us though since their son ‘never drinks’. Even in the jungle things aren’t so different from home. The Amerindian men drink a lot and cheat on their wives a lot which makes the whole place feel slightly uneasy and claustrophobic in my opinion. It wouldn’t be a nice place to fall out with your neighbours since there is no way of getting away from them. On Saturday we got a pick up to a nice sandy beach by a creek and went swimming and fishing, Jolene caught two Hussars which we could have curried but didn’t know how.
Moruca is in a strange stage of development. They have just got mobile phones and everyone has one. Digicell (the mobile phone company) is everywhere – there are Digicell signs in the middle of the jungle. The village seems to have lost a lot of its traditions since getting contact with the outside world. A lot of people have had a glimpse of what else the world has to offer and get depressed with their own lives. There have been several suicides in the village recently. Whether the two are related I don’t know but it could be a case of ignorance being bliss. Either way I don’t think any thing will stop the village from developing – there are plans to get the Internet. Whether good or bad, things in the village are definitely changing quickly. As for education, access to the outside world can only be a good thing but at the cost of the traditions of the community.
Back at school, our head teacher came into my chemistry lesson to invidulate it with no warning. I also just happened to be teaching moles and Avagadroes law – the hardest thing to first learn in chemistry. Luckily she doesn’t know much about chemistry though so she couldn’t comment on the content! She was pleased with my teaching but concerned that I hadn’t written every small detail of what I had done and said in my lesson plan. It seems that they would rather it looked like you were teaching well on paper than actually teaching well. I am still enjoying the teaching although Jolene and I are finding it ever more concerning (but amusing) that we make up the chemistry department in the best school in Berbice.
Tuesday was a public holiday since it is dewali (or deepvali) the hindu festival of light. I spent the day cooking with our neighbour and spent the evening walking around the village looking at all the Diya (small lights people decorate their houses with), fireworks and small kids spinning burning steel wool around their heads. The Guyanese have a fascination with fireworks and bangers (they sound more like bombs here though). There have been several every day at school which usually involves a loud bang screaming kids and lots of smoke. There was also a firework set off outside the staff room today which meant the police were called to school.
The blackout lasted a week and we have had consistent power for a couple of days until today when it went off again. I am now in Georgetown as I have to attend a CXC chemistry workshop today and tomorrow. I am looking forward to finding my own way around Georgetown and pretty glad I have made it safely so far!
http://hazelhathwayinguyana.blog.co.uk/2008/11/01/moruca-4966285/
No comments:
Post a Comment