Time just flies...when you're having fun!

And life as a Peace Corps volunteer on the islands of St. Kitts/Nevis is fun. It's also hard work, frustrating, exciting, dusty, dirty, loud (very loud), filled with surprises, meaningful and mundane... but it is never boring.

Friends and family from back home keep asking me if I'm happy? And the answer is a resounding yes! Do I miss my friends and family? Of course I do! What else to do I miss? TJ Maxx (come on - those that know me know I miss shopping at my favorite store!) We have very little selection here and less selection in sizes or colors. Most stores only carry 1 style of garment in one size, and if it ain't yours, you're out of luck. I miss Burger King. I know, silly, but a Whopper right now would taste great. I miss the ability to 'get things done now!' which just isn't the way life is done here. It's slow, easy, considerate, much more formal in both attitude and talk. This was a British country for many years - and it's a hot, tropical country. Combine the too and you have a slow-moving, polite and proper, let's talk our time to make any decision country that is still struggling to find it's place in the world. And like all countries, the divide between the very rich and the very poor is very wide.

Many of my fellow PCV's teach remedial reading in the schools. One was 'given' a group of 6 young men, all in the 6th grade, to teach. Well that turned out to mean 'teach them to read.' These 6 boys did not even know the letters of the alphabet or the phonetic sounds those letter made, let along know how to string those letters together to make words.

Another was placed at the home for mentally disabled. If you can remember what state mental hospitals were like back in the 50's, every type of patient with a mental disorder thrown together, with no regard for the patients rights or abilities or sex, you have only a small glimpse of what this place is like. Though the staff tries, it is terribly over-burdened and under-qualified to do the work they are charged to do. This PCV, with a Master's in Social Development went into work with high hopes of somehow helping. After 2 weeks they told her she would be in charge of teaching and working with the autistic children. She informed them that she was not even close to being qualified to do this type of work. They gave her a small book on the subject that had been published 20 years ago and assured her that once she read it, she would be! She was horrified and, to give her credit, she said no - something you learn that a PCV is not suppose to say. She was afraid she would do more harm that good.

And these are just 2 examples of what PCVs face where the local population is understaffed, under-qualified and has no where else to turn. Many have found that they are put in a situation where they are expected to literally 'take over' in place of their point person. That person sees having a PCV in their work place as an opportunity to take 2-3 hours 'off the job' and let the PCV do their work. We are here to assist - to help in any way we can - but we are specifically not here to lead.

So after being on-island for almost 3 months, we are beginning to see the problems and difficulties we will be facing. We sometimes wonder if the PC staff, either here or in DC bothered to read the extensive resumes we had to submit before being accepted. Too many have been put 'to work' in situations where they are not qualified or have very little interest in the work they are assigned to do by the PC. It would be so much better for all if a little more time was spent when assignments are given to match the PCVs qualifications and interests with the job they are given to do for the next 2 years. Everyone knows that when you enjoy and learn from the work you are doing, when you are doing something you know how to do and love doing, everyone involved benefits. It will be interesting to see what changes, if any, are made as President-elect Obama takes over. He has promised to overhaul and double the number of PCVs by 2011. But he must take into consideration that the Peace Corps is a 'government-run' organization and totally under-funded for the staff and number of volunteers it now has. We are all going to be watching closely during our 2 years of service to see what, and if he can actually achieve what he wants and needs to be done raise the Peace Corps to higher standards.

Okay - enough said on that subject. As for my last week - busy, busy, busy! Work on my major projects continues. The boxes of sewing supplies have started to pour in from all over the US, thanks for my industry friends who 'put the word out' and sewers from everywhere answered. Really exciting was meeting a RPCV (returned Peace Corps Volunteer) at Royal St. Kitts Golf Club a little over a month ago (Joe had served here on St. Kitts 20 years ago). After telling him about our island-youth golf program, he asked what he could do to help? This past Saturday 12 brand new sets of golf clubs, with bags, arrived for the kids! They range in sizes for our littlest players, all the way up to our oldest. If you could have seen the look on their faces! Santa Claus just came to St. Kitts early. And he tells us there is more 'stuff' on the way - shirts, gloves, balls, bag tags the kids can put on their backpacks! You never know who you might meet on a rainy day on a driving range. That person can turn out to be just who you need to help make life a whole lot better and more fun for a group of great kids! Thank you Joe!

This weeks pictures: The one of the lovely blonde is our American Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Mary Ourisman. I was fortunate to spend Thursday afternoon on Nevis with she and her staff (there for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Emergency Disaster Relief Headquarters), while Abdul had to attend and then interview her on his TV show. Then on Friday, she came over to St. Kitt's specifically to take we new PCVs to lunch. What a lovely, gracious lady. She's leaving us soon, as all ambassadorship's are political appointments, but she will be missed. The next is of the glorious Ottley's Plantation where I had breakfast with Dave & Theresa from MN. And the last is of our entire group having lunch with Ambassador Ourisman on Friday. Aren't we a good lookin bunch of PCVs!

The first concert of the season by the St. Christopher Chorale is tomorrow evening which is specifically for the island's children. Many of the school choruses will be performing, besides our group. I'm meeting with the head of the SKN Credit Bureau today to discuss how and if they can offer small-business start-up loans to qualified people here on the island, and later a meeting with the board members at Royal St. Kitts to talk about Joe's great gift and where we go from here. Another busy day. So for now...

That's all from here, talk again next week. Take care of each other.

ReAnn